Tomorrow is the big day of starting the raw diet. I'll be picking up the ground chicken backs in the afternoon. It should have been last week, but I was a couple minutes late to get to the butcher shop and they were closed. It's 30 miles away, and I pass it every week on the way to dog class. I read Cindy's menu for a week, and we are ready, almost. I was going to follow her guidelines for the most part.
1st, my brother-in-law cleaned out the meat freezer yesterday, and gave me boxes of old meat. Beef, pork, and elk. Is it still okay to feed, some of it is 6/7 yrs old??? If it is, would I have to cut out any freezer burn, or cook any of it?
2nd question, my girl is still a good 10 pounds overweight. How do I know how much to feed her? She should weigh around 70. We've been working on her weight for about a year now. She has lost close to 20 pounds. Can I give her extra veggies to fill her up and cut back on the meat? Or would that be unhealthy not to give her the amount of meat she should have? I realize its not healthy for her to be fat. She still acts like I am starving her. Would the guidelines for a 65 pound female be okay to follow? She is a really mellow girl, and is 4 1/2 yrs old.

If she is overweight, feed her based on her ideal weight. Veggies are good to up the volume for a "hungry" dog, but they will also up the stool amount.

So far as old meat goes, my dogs get it from time to time and I do not do anything special to it. I get the "evidence" from the warden service and it is usually deer or moose over a year old. So far as the 6 or 7 years old thing... if it has an off smell or looks bad to you, you might just toss it. Use your judgement. Game can cause some gas so I would pass that out in small amounts anyway.

Thanks Deanna, that's what I was looking for.

Sue