One of my pups has been difficult to get weight on. We've fed a mix of raw and kibble but recently I have reduced the kibble and increased the raw and oh my goodness she is looking fantastic. Her coat is glossy and she has now caught up with her sister.

Brill, thats great news!!

__________________

Can anybody supply a shopping list for a 'newbie' raw food diet household please? We simply don't know where to begin! This is fascinating, but we are simply too confused by all the conflicting information there is out there about moving to a raw diet.

Do we simply buy whole fresh chickens and let the dogs eat the entire thing raw (I've seen this being done in many videos!)? Is frozen minced meat OK? Can dogs eat beef? I've seen several foods advertised as "contains no beef" as if this had some sort of health benefit?

SUCH confusion here, and advice would be very much appreciated! We have recently switched to what we thought was the best dry/moist food combination we could find, but since joining this forum, our eyes have been widely opened, but our heads wildly confused by the whole issue!

__________________
There is no such thing as "just a dog, "just a cat" or even "just a flea".
Always remember that humans are animals too, and to treat every living thing with respect.

"You can tell the quality of what goes into a dog, by the quantity of what comes out"

Hi there! I will try and answer all your questions, but have also PMd you - if you PM me your email address I will send you an eBook as well which might be useful.

I think when looking at a raw diet, you do really need to do a little research to decide if you can come to terms with idea - have a look at my 'the basics' post and the 'resources' posts in this thread for a good starting point.

Once you have worked out the basics of how much your dog needs per day & week, you can feed any way you like. Some like to feed two meals a day (so obviously they have to be a bit smaller like 1/4 chicken) some feed once a day, so could be a 1/2 chicken and some feed one large meal and then one smaller meal the following day etc...so the beauty is it is really up to you and your dogs! In the beginning I would suggest starting with quarters though as they probably wouldnt know what to do with a whole chicken! lol

yes you can - frozen or defrosted - however, I personally do not and would not feed mince as a regular part of the diet as the biggest benefits of raw come from eating quality whole raw foods for the teeth and gum cleaning benefits.

Yes dogs can eat pretty much ANY meat you can think of...however, some dogs have allergies to things (although quite rare) so you would need to obviously adjust to your dog. however, many people find that the 'meat' they might be allergic too in processed foods they are not allergic to at all in fresh human grade raw meat...a prime example is my maggie who was allergic to chicken in processed foods, but when eating it raw is fine! beef WAS one of the most common food allergies in dogs but this was because it was also the MOST COMMON at one point...funnily enough, now that chicken appears to be the most common, chicken is the one that most dogs are allergic too! so i think that many that state no beef is from the old thoughts around this...

If you are happy feeding what you are, then by all means carry on if you are happy and your dog is good on it. However, if you feel that feeding raw would actually be the best way to feed as many of us do, then have a bit more of a read and give it a go!

I hope that helps - but ask away with any more questions

__________________

Thanks for the comprehensive reply! I haven't read much yet, as have only just joined the forum and received your email (thanks again for that), but will continue to do so.

I'm assuming the horror stories about feeding chicken bones are total nonsense then? I'd be really nervous to see and hear them crunching on raw chicken bones, but that's probably because we've all been brainwashed to believe they are harmful? There are many videos on YouTube about this diet - it would be good to have some links to recommended videos. There are far too many for a newcomer to this diet to make sense of which are good and which are bad.

What would you recomment we start with? A chicken or a piece of raw liver or other offal from the supermarket? I am looking forward to seeing their faces that first time!

__________________
There is no such thing as "just a dog, "just a cat" or even "just a flea".
Always remember that humans are animals too, and to treat every living thing with respect.

"You can tell the quality of what goes into a dog, by the quantity of what comes out"

Hey Slingdash! I started feeding our Baxter raw food a while back and haven't looked back!

We went to the vets today - I asked the vet nurse what she thought about the BARF diet... "I'd feed mine that way if I had the time" Not quite sure what she meant but I take it as a positive angle from a pro about the diet!!

I've found that Baxter likes Chicken quarters, whole, he crunches away and loves them! Same with duck!
He's not over keen on pork steaks/chops unless I chop them up for him... lazy boy!
He loves a beef joint, takes a while for him to get through it and it helps if I cut into it first, to give him a 'head start'..
He does like mince - I used to cook it but he prefers it raw now.
Liver/Kidney - prefers in very small doses..
I also give him apple, carrots, other bits of veg.
Lamb.. he loves lamb too!

The local butcher sells us bags of food for £2....
There was a butcher in Cromer (whilst on holiday) with bags of off-cuts for nothing! Grabbed a few bags and Baxter loved them all! Butchers will happily sell you their off-cuts, or 'dogmince' for cheap, or even for free. A local farm-shop has bones available for free too!

Good luck, if you decide to go for it!

__________________
www.savelennox.co.uk
Please look up Lennox's story and sign & share the petition...


Mud-Wellies

I have just spoken to the rest of the family about this diet, and it was met with shrieks of horror and disbelief!!!

"RAW meat?! WHAT???"

"I'm not feeding our dogs raw chicken - let alone chicken bones!"

Just two of the initial responses!

I wonder how they'd react if they could see what goes into some of the commercial foods we have fed in the past!

I'm going to keep talking to them and showing them some of the information from this website and others, and I'd like to go to the butcher first thing in the morning to get their first meal.

What should I ask for? I've been before and asked for any off-cuts of bone for them to chew, but if this is going to be a regular thing, then i'll need a 'shopping list'! Any tips please?

__________________
There is no such thing as "just a dog, "just a cat" or even "just a flea".
Always remember that humans are animals too, and to treat every living thing with respect.

"You can tell the quality of what goes into a dog, by the quantity of what comes out"

good luck with the reaction... I still get it now!
A friend asked today 'Did you check with the vet that it was okay to feed raw'...
Okay? It's the most natural food for them to eat!
It's not for everyone, I understand that totally
First time I went in my local butchers I said 'Have you any bones/meat for my dog' He knew exactly what to give - been asked many, many times. In fact, I saw an old friend yesterday who worked at a butchers about 15 years ago and she remembered giving meat specifically for dogs!
Check your supermarkets too - I always hit the reduced counter and stock up on bits for the freezer!

I'm sure you'll get more advice than the little I've given you!
xx

__________________
www.savelennox.co.uk
Please look up Lennox's story and sign & share the petition...


Mud-Wellies

I bet that's what happened in the 'olden days' all the time! I must ask my grandparents what they used to do. I'm guessing there was no canned meat or bags of kibble back then!

Not at all - you've been extremely friendly and helpful - as have many other people in this great forum! I'm so glad I found it! Thank you so much and thanks to everybody else who's been so kind, helpful and supportive!

__________________
There is no such thing as "just a dog, "just a cat" or even "just a flea".
Always remember that humans are animals too, and to treat every living thing with respect.

"You can tell the quality of what goes into a dog, by the quantity of what comes out"

Scrub what I posted here before (if anybody read it). We've just been to the butcher and the supermarket and brought home a bag of goodies!

The butcher was really friendly and helpful, and said he'd had quite a few people enquiring about the raw meat and bone diet.

What we have is:

Ribs (beef, I think, but could be pork)
Pig's liver
Beef minced meat from the supermarket

I have just given the dogs a rib each, and they all love them! I am very concerned, though, because our big boy has just crunched his way through a whole rib, and is now starting on his second! I am sure he is swallowing huge chunks of sharp bone, and I'm starting to panic! Both bitches are still nibbling away at the meat on their bones on the lawn, and I don't think their jaws are strong enough to crunch through the bone.

Now we need to decide what to do with this liver and the minced beef.

Do we really just stick it in a bowl and let them eat it completely raw? Apologies if I sound overly-concerned, but this is brand new (this very morning!) to us, and we don't want to harm our beloved pack in any way.

One more thing concerns me. This was said early on in this very topic...

...yet the link to dispelling common myths says you should not feed small chicken bones from places such as chicken wings!

Still a little confused for us to know exactly what we can and cannot feed!

--------------------------------------------------

And now I've just seen this at the BARF UK website:

We have just fed several pork ribs to our dogs, and have purchased a packet of raw minced beef after reading several different topics on the BARF diet!

There is far too much conflicting information about this diet, so I think we're going to stick with the best moist/dry food combination we can find. A real shame, because we really wanted to give this a go.

__________________
There is no such thing as "just a dog, "just a cat" or even "just a flea".
Always remember that humans are animals too, and to treat every living thing with respect.

"You can tell the quality of what goes into a dog, by the quantity of what comes out"