Greetings to everyone.

I am currently deployed to Iraq, and I am switching my dog to a raw diet when I get back. He's a 2 1/2 year old pit/lab mix, in great health. He weighs about 65 lbs. so I'm figuring about 2 lbs. of food per day. I have read 43 pages of the raw feeding forum, so I think I have a pretty good handle on the process of switching him over, thanks to the wonderful information available here. Go slow, low fat, introduce new things slowly and one thing at a time. I don't foresee any big hurdles there. I tried to find that spreadsheet that was posted here before, but I think it has been removed from the yahoo page that was linked. If anyone would be willing to share that with me, I would be grateful.

The one problem I may have is a source of variety proteins on the island. Are there any members from Oahu that deal with a co-op or particular butcher that is pet food friendly?

Thanks again for all the information here. It has made my decision to go raw so much easier.

I don't know where exactly he is located in Hawaii, but you might try PMing Eric Sacks.

I'd be glad to help you figure all the %'s and stuff like that if that is the reason you are looking for the spreadsheet.

Hi David,

I sent you a PM earlier today. Let me know if you didn't get it. I included places we buy our RAW food for our three babies....oops, I meant "dogs"

Eric,

Thank you for the timely and informative answer. I'm new to this type of board and didn't see the PM you sent me right away. I would like more information on the booth in Chinatown where you get duck necks and chicken backs. I would also like the contact information for your source of green tripe.

I checked out Cleo's page last night, as well as I could due to the poor Internet performance over here. What a wonderful looking dog. I'm glad you two have such a good relationship. My dogs have always been family members, and I understand what it means to really love a pet.

Puddles (we didn't name the poor guy) is a lab / pit mix that we got from a Navy couple on the island. He was having some dominance and aggression issues at 1-1/2 years old. He was in a dog fight, and they had to get rid of him. My mother was a fantastic dog trainer, with a lot of experience with aggressive dogs, and I grew up watching her handle dogs that were a handful. I decided to give Pud a shot, and I'm glad I did. It turns out he just needed a leader he could trust. He's a great dog on and off leash, and has really fallen into a follower's position well. My wife has been working him with an e-collar while I have been deployed, and he has responded very well.

Thanks again for your helpful PM. It will make things so much easier when I get home.

David

David,

Happy to help.

My wife is going to email me the contact info. I will PM you when I get it.

From now forward, I will only PM you regarding Hawaii sources of Raw food. Don't want to bore the others (more than I usually do, in any event )

 Quote: eric sacks

From now forward, I will only PM you regarding Hawaii sources of Raw food. Don't want to bore the others (more than I usually do, in any event )

Nah. Post it here and in the "Raw food supplier's thread" so that it will be here for future Hawaiians.:smile:

There is almost always something to learn in threads about people's sources for good raw diets. I agree about posting it to the board!

Yes please! He's a great looking dog, David. Take care and I hope you get back to him safely and soon!

 Quote: michael_wise

Post it here and in the "Raw food supplier's thread" so that it will be here for future Hawaiians.:smile:

Ok. I will post my PMs. Here goes (one more to follow):

Hi David,

Glad to hear that you are switching to raw. I have found our switch to be the best single action for the improvement of our pets heath and well being. Here's what we do:

We get our staple RMBs from Chinatown. These are duck necks and chicken carcasses. They run just $.99/lb. As you know, that's really cheap for Hawaii. If you are interested, there is one particular booth in Chinatown that we buy from. Let me know and I'll try to describe it to you.

We also get frozen ground beef from the PX at a really cheap price.

The rest of our dogs diet comes from sale items. We have a chest freezer so we really stock up when things are on sale.

Safeway has the occasional good deal on Cornish Game Hens, which Cleo loves and I feed to her whole. We buy like 15 at a time when they're on sale.

Foodland has a "discounted meats" bin where all of the meats are within a day or so of the expiration date. This is a good source of cheap variety.

Look for sales on whole chicken and chicken parts. We sometimes find whole chickens for about $1.50/lb. Whole turkeys after the holidays can be had for dirt cheat, even here in Hawaii.

I have friends who fish, so I get the occasional fresh catch. Ask around and tell your friends you'll take the fish (including bait fish) they don't want.

We also use a local company that brings in green tripe and ground buffalo. It's kind of expensive, but I'm pretty fanatical about Cleo so I rationalize this extravagance. I forget the name, but my wife knows it. If you would like their name and number, let me know and I'll send it to you.

I hope this answered your question. Let me know if I can help you with anything else.

I'd like to hear a little about your dog. If you've seen my posts, you probably know more than you would like about Cleo

OK, PM # 2 to David:

Hi David,

Here is our source for chicken carcasses and duck necks. I included the phone number, but they never pick up and their English is not all that good:

Hoong Wun Market
135 N. King St., #35-36
Honolulu, HI 96817
tel: 808-533-6452

I always deal with Virginia Lam. She's great.

For the green tripe, buffalo, etc., we use:

Sharon Rahe
Raw On Request
sharon.rawonrequest@gmail.com
808-349-1484
http://rawonrequest.com/

Feel free to tell both that Eric & Marisa Sacks referred you (don't know if it will help, but it might).

Let me know if you need anything else.

BTW, thank you for your service!