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You know, I would really really love to try this, and I don't know why, but i really find it a bit intimidating!

The same was true for us back in January - the hardest part was just diving in! Our menu looks a whole lot like the sample menus here at Leerburg. We also use the supplements recommended (and purchased) here - Grizzly Salmon Oil, Alfalfa, Kelp, and the joint mix (which contains Vit C). We add Vit E a few times per week. We also use Olewo carrots just because we find that more convenient than shredding them. The meat/bones are pretty much chicken, turkey and fish. A cracked raw egg including shell goes in the bowls every other day.

We have made adjustments as we have gone along, and more adjustments will come, I'm sure. (i.e. more veggies, and more variety of meats). I think the thing that helped us "dive in" was reading about how kibble is processed, and figuring that any raw stuff in the bowl was better than that. I don't think you will go wrong at all following the Leerburg menu!!

When we first started, we used the 2 - 3 % of ideal body weight guideline. Since we had a growing pup, a dog who needed to gain weight, and a dog who needed to lose weight, we did weigh the dogs once a week and made adjustments accordingly. Now we just go by their look. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

It sounds like a lot of work, and initially we put a lot of work into it for the sake of our dogs. As Connie (we <heart> Connie!) has mentioned, it all becomes quite routine pretty quickly.

You will not regret this!! It's worth the effort.

Here here's cheers for small, already disintegrating poops, nice breath, and good smelling dogs!!! (along with all the other benefits!)

GO FOR IT!!

Beth

I'm sort of like Wendy in that it all seems kind of complicated and a little overwhelming. I really want to get started with feeding raw because it makes so much sense to me. I just need it explained to me in a very clear, step by step and concise way.

What are the best refferences (books, DVD's, websites...)to get started with feeding raw?

Jan, your point is well taken <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />, and something that people should be aware of. I was answering this question -

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Could I start by giving him raw in the morning, and kibble at night as a gradual change over?

-and saying that it could be done. I started by giving my dog a turkey neck in the evening, and kibble for the morning meal,
seperated by about 12 hrs to allow for the different rate of digestion. I started adding more as I became more comfortable with it, and saw my dog was handling it fine. I now feed a wide variety of food. I do make sure to do is seperate raw and kibble meals by at least 10 hrs. I probably should have added a little more information with my last post.

So (coming from someone who is reletivly new to feeding raw), do your research, start simple, and gradually add food as your dogs system becomes accustomed to a new way of eating.

Everything you need to know you will find right here. Use your 'Search' and you will find TONS of information. Check some posts from this thread (Connie Sutherland) and you will find sites that answer all your questions and even give you sample meals. Lack of knowledge on this site is no excuse not to feed raw <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> .

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Everything you need to know you will find right here. Use your 'Search' and you will find TONS of information. Check some posts from this thread (Connie Sutherland) and you will find sites that answer all your questions and even give you sample meals. Lack of knowledge on this site is no excuse not to feed raw <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> .

Yep!

The idea, if you can't hand the dog a whole prey animal (a chicken, a rabbit, etc.), is to duplicate that proportion of bones and meat and organs.

Chicken backs and necks are remarkable close to that ratio, if you add 5-10% organ meat (slowly and gradually). Supplement with some processed produce (to mimic prey stomach contents or very ripe fallen produce picked up by scavenger dogs) and some salmon oil for Omega 3s, which we lose by not feeding brains, eyeballs, etc., and that's the basic diet.

Once you see the idea behind all the percentages, which is to duplicate an ideal wild diet, it falls into place.

But if you read these 50 Q & As
http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm
and Cindy's new page, it will all be clear! I SWEAR!
http://leerburg.com/feedingarawdiet.htm

30 minutes total (or less) of reading, and I doubt that many questions will remain.

ok, i started my reading and i have a quick question....
on Cindy's page she said if you're going to do gradual to mix raw meat into kibble and then gradually omit the kibble.
But, shouldn't raw meals & kibble meals be fed at different times due to the digestion process?
just playing devils advocate here, i know she knows what she's doing...lol.
my main worry is if i switch right over to raw, it will cause diarrhea, and I hate coming home to that.

Without going back to read Cindy's page, memory tells me she was referring to puppies being switched over gradually because of their sensitive digestive systems. Personally, I would make the switch cold turkey. Add some canned, 100% pure pumpkin to each meal to help with the poopers if you want, but regardless, I don't think you will have a huge mess to clean up. Go a little heavier on the RMBS at first, and then gradually add in the muscle/organ meat/veggies. You dog will not starve nor will he suffer any major health problems during the short time it takes for you to get comfortable with raw and his stomach to learn to digest it.

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Without going back to read Cindy's page, memory tells me she was referring to puppies being switched over gradually because of their sensitive digestive systems. Personally, I would make the switch cold turkey. Add some canned, 100% pure pumpkin to each meal to help with the poopers if you want, but regardless, I don't think you will have a huge mess to clean up. Go a little heavier on the RMBS at first, and then gradually add in the muscle/organ meat/veggies. You dog will not starve nor will he suffer any major health problems during the short time it takes you to get comfortable with raw and him to digest it.

I have also found that if the dog's system is surprised at first, I know it within an hour or two! <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

This will sound over-the-top (because it is), but here is what I think is a fool-proof way to start. I say it's fool-proof because I help people with their dogs' diets, and this worked for two senior dogs who had been on very bad (grain-based) diets for years, and whose first exposure to real fresh food resulted in diarrhea.

We started them with ground white-meat turkey, no skin and no bones. We chose that because it's readily available everywhere and requires no butcher intervention and no special shopping.

After a few days on that, we started (slowly) adding a little produce, salmon oil, and the real thing for RMBs, phasing out the ground white-meat turkey.

Then we slowly added organ meat and then the variety from fish, other meats, yogurt and eggs, etc.

Voila!

IMO, a few days on all white turkey with no bones and very little fat is not a dietary catastrophe. Of course, it won't do for a long-term diet, since the calcium-phosphorous (or bone-meat) ratio is not maintained with straight meat.

OTOH, I've had more dogs who made the switch very easily than dogs whose systems were temporarily upset.

A "dolop" (basically a large tablespoon) of live culture, unflavored yogurt helped us get through the first week or two of digestive adjustment, especially with our older dogs.

DIVE IN!! The water isn't nearly as cold as you think it is. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Beth