What she said.

http://www.leerburg.com/diet2.htm

EVERYone has easy access (cheap, too) to this food.

 Quote: alex corral

So when hamburger is recommended as in the Leerburg article, I assumed it was just ground beef? How many times do you feed your dogs now and where? I'm not too sure I want to have to lay a tarp in my kitchen to feed my dog. Or taking her outside is not always possible. I'm trying to keep this as simple as possible. From my understanding, the simplest, plain-jane raw is better than high quality kibble. When I get better at it, i'll add more to it, but right now I'm just trying not to overwhelm myself.

I know people who feed in the crates or in the garage or on a porch.

I used to lay down a tarp. My dogs used to drag stuff around when they were just "learning."

They don't now.

If you use the http://www.leerburg.com/diet2.htm
sample meals, you won't be excluding anything the dog needs.

 Quote: jan williamson

Don't get "junk" beef or meat that "people wouldn't eat". You want to feed human-grade food - exactly what we would eat! Beef heart is an excellent choice for muscle meat. My dogs have trouble with beef ribs - too much bone and not enough meat and the bones are almost hard enough to be considered recreational. Pork necks and riblets are a good choice if you can find them.

Just to clarify...I didn't mean "junk" food as in not human quality, I mean parts that aren't really as marketable...like beef heart, pork neck and chicken backs and necks.

Thanks to EVERYONE!

I agree with Jan. Also, you can look up in the Yellow Pages for chicken wholesale or beef wholesale, etc. I'm sure you'll find something. IN the wild dogs, wolves, dingoes, etc, never eat out of more than 2 or 3 different protein sources. Yes, they also do scavange. My point here is that if you can add variety, do so and if you don't that's ok too. I feed sometimes cow hearts and soup bone with a lot of meat, fish also; but the main diet is chicken and chicken organs (bones too of course). There's authors that support BARF and others like LOnsdale that support a simpler approach. It's up to youto do the research and come up with whatever makes you feel comfortable.
Also, dogs eventually will eat. I'm not here to cater to my dogs. They are here to work for me. I know that a dog can go without food for 2 weeks and eventually theey'll start eating. That behavior would never happen in the wild, where the strongest survives. To put it bluntly, a pack will not allow member to throw a "fit" over food. If the dog doesn't want it, remove the food and eventually they'll eat.

To add to where you can find food at wholesale. I found a local group here in Co almost a year ago when I first learned about raw. I have been putting it off to start, but this group called "corawfeeders" gets together once a month and places a very large order from redbird chicken. By placing that larger order, they get quality food at wholesale. I found it on yahoo groups.

Alex, I feed my dogs in their crates. I started that when they were puppies because it was... well, just plain easier than trying to keep them separated! I've never changed and now they run right in at mealtimes.

I have cow mats on the bottom of my crates and I simply use the Chlorox wipes after each meal to clean up where they licked everything soppy trying to get the last morsel. I do wash their crates out once a week with soapy water and then rinse.

By feeding them in their crates, everything is kept in one area and it saves me from mopping a whole floor after each meal.

I just have to comment on what an awesome thread this is. Everyone is making great contributions. I have been feeding raw for about a year but have some new ideas to try to incorporate now ie Vitamin E supplement, berries and more meat variety.

When I was researching raw feeding and had the concern of "what if I wasn't doing it right" I was advised to do annual bloodwork ie a full chemistry profile and thyroid panel. In addition to all the physical benefits from raw feeding that are visible -- the bloodwork would give me additional evidence that I was getting it right or not.

Funny addition -- my vet frowns on raw feeding and thinks my annual bloodwork is nonsense -- money spent when nothing is wrong. Misses the connection of raw feeding = healthy dog.

If your vet frowns upon wwhat you do, it wouldn't be a bad idea to research a vet that shares your same points of view. Many vets know nothing about nutrition, most get onley A COUPLE OF HOURS during their whole careers and that being taught by some dumba$$ representing the commercial food companies. It's a scam. Tell your vet you're practicing preventative medicine, not reactive! Anyway maybe this should be on another thread... Have your vet read read about periodontal disease (caused by eating kibble), hip displasi, bloating, obesity, etc, etc, etc...

Since you mentioned bloat...

Are raw fed dogs at risk for bloat like kibble fed dogs are?

As far as what I've read, no. Not nearly as much as dogs being fed kibble. I'm sure some dogs have the genetic predisposition to bloat but as far as food related I'd have to say no. What causes bloating in dogs eating kibble is the amount of fibrous material. Comapnies use this because fiber when digested by our fury friends expands in the intestins (wih water) thus giving the sensation of fullness. Fiber has a nutritional value of ZERO.