Feeding Raw Meat

[raiyo]

I'm thinking of feeding raw meet to my dog's diet along with Wellness dog food daily. Maybe a BARF diet in the future, after I understand it more. Back to topic. If you're feeding whole raw meat to your dog, wouldn't there hands/feet be all dirty when they are done? For example, when feeding a chicken drumstick, should I chop it up or leave it whole?

[jmann4]

I feed raw chicken and turkey legs, necks, and backs whole. I also take boneless breast and cut it up into smaller chunks and drop that in the bowl. I feed the legs, necks and backs outside in the yard.

My dogs don't grab the bones with their paws. They break them in half and then swallow them pretty much whole. Sometimes they do sit down and dig into the Turkey legs though.

Fish is where I have a problem. I feed whole complete fish to my dogs and man do they get nasty. It's only once per week and they looooove it so I can deal with it.

If your dog does start getting all nasty while eating raw I'd say chop it up into bits and feed that way. For younger dogs you may want to do this anyway just to get them used to the idea of eating raw food.

I'm sure those who feed BARF exclusively will have some good suggestions. I feed a mixture of dry dog food and raw food with some veggies.

[raiyo]

Thx for the tip.

One thing I wanna ask you, do you feed your raw meat and veggie at the same time? I read that it is bad for the dog's stomach. Read below

--"How you combine food groups can be crucial to your dog's health. Why? The digestive organs secret enzymes to break down food so it can be properly used by the body. When carbohydrates and proteins are eaten at the same time, the protein enzymes go to work first, and the digestion of carbohydrates must wait. While the carbohydrates are waiting around to be digested, they ferment and release toxins in the body."

[jmann4]

I really don't feed veggies that often. When I do I mix them into some yogurt. When I do mix them with meat I use small amounts. I subscribe to the school of thought that if the dogs were wild the only veggies they would eat would be from the stomach of the prey. Not very much in reality. So I keep the veggies down.

I do know some folks feed quite a few veggies in their BARF diets with good results so it's really up to you and your dog may not like them very much so that's something you'll need to figure out.

Check your other post about the BARF diet. I posted some stuff I do with my dogs.

[Reese]

hey raiyo... I have been feeding barf for almost 3 months now to both my pit and my bichon... they both love it... i read both of your posts and will just give you an overview of what i have been doing and if i miss something or if you have any questions let me know...

i feed twice a day, veg mash with ground meat in the morning and chicken/turkey necks, backs, and/or wings whole for dinner...

my veggie mash consists of a leafy green (cabbage, spinach, etc) a starchy root veg (yams, rutabaga, sweet potatoes) and then usually carrots, beets, bananas, or apples for taste. i also mix in plain yogurt, apple cider vinegar, and a ground meat (turkey, chicken, beef whatever is on sale). the veg mash and ground meat are at a 50/50 mix.

my kids also get raw marrow bones and beef femurs (these are the only bones that are tough enough for my pit to chew without splintering) for recreational chewing.

as far as temperature i take out their meal approx 12 hours before feeding so their breakfast comes out of the fridge the night before and dinner comes out before we leave for work... this is personal preference and what the dogs like better your dog(s) may not mind it cold...

oh yeah the cleanliness issue... my pit is really pretty clean about eating he doesnt use his paws on the rmbs he may drop it on the floor but other than that he just eats it... our bichon gets all around her mouth wiped when she is done but she has a lot more fur where food gets stuck... and as far as cleaning we keep both in the kitchen to eat and simply wipe the floor when they are done with a bleach/water mixture...

oh and just personal opinion.. go cold-turkey (no pun intended haha) dont mix because you will not get all the desired results if you are still feeding dry processed food in any amount... dont worry about knowing what you are doing the really great thing about barf is that your dogs will let you know if you are not feeding enough or if they arent getting enough of something or too much of something else... you will get the hang of it!

good luck and let me know if you have any other questions...

[BullyBud]

I have always heard that you should never combine raw diets with kibble because they are digested differently and can cause gi upset...you should choose one or the other.

I have never done raw so I am only going by what I have heard others say!

[jmann4]

My dogs diets vary, sometimes I mix in the natrual kibble sometimes I don't. Mainly because I'm lazy about it and forget to fix the meal in advance. So a little all natural kibble gets mixed in from time to time.

[raiyo]

How did you guys make your veggie puree? I don't want to spend 3-4 bills to buy a food processor.

My heart is like pumping and pumping. I can't wait till I start my dog on BARF. Since I switched my dog food from Science Diet to Wellness, my Collie has been eatting alot more. It's just a day and she loves it. I wonder how would my dogs react to BARF.

So far I have this down.
-Raw Meat (dinner): chicken wings
-Veggie Mash(breakfast): Whatever veggie (small amount of apple/bananna, ginger, garlic) I can find and cheap. Add yogurt, OmegaRX (Fish oil & omega 3), egg yoke/white, dried grinded eggshell, Apple Cider Vinger.
-Once a week add chopped liver, orange (soure of viti C), canned fish to veggie mash.

What do you guys think of what I got down so far? I'll be adding more raw meat to my BARF receipe once I know this thing better. Are oranges bad for dogs? I don't want to use any artifical supplements unless I need to. Anyone know a good soruce of viti E that is natural? Thanks for all those helping me out. This forum is GREAT. Very helpful people here. I still got a whole bunch of kibble left, so it'll be 1-2 months till I switch to BARF completely. In the meantime I'm going to make them eat the stuff I named above with there kibbles. So bare with my people, I'll be bugging you guys more and I hope you won't ignore me, heheh.

One more thing, what do you guys/girls use to puree the veggie mix? Blender, juicer, food processor? A brand name be nice too.

[jmann4]

Raiyo use a blender instead of a food processor. I do this for my own meals and it works as good if not better.

[raiyo]

Thx jimann4 for moving me 1 more step to BARF, heheh