I'm considering getting Purdy on a raw feed diet, but so many people are telling me so many different things that I don't know which what way to go! She's a 4 month old BC cross. I just want someone to tell me straight what they might suggest feeding her, how much and how often. And also how much this may be costing me and if I can save money compared to buying store brand dog foods! Ideally, I'd have her on NatureDiet food but she cannot stand pastes of any kind, she'll refuse to eat biscuits unless they're covered in gravy and I don't like feeding her the meat chunks because Pedigree and Bakers is, well, disgusting. I've had someone suggest Winalot tuna chunks, too?

What do you think? I just want to do right by Purdy and give her the best life I can, and a good diet would be a good step in the right direction, ha!

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So many different opinion will only add to your confusion. When i started mine on barf more than seven years ago I didn't belong to a forum so couldn't ask any advice instead I got all my info from here. Work Wonders: Feed Your Dog Raw Meaty Bones: Amazon.co.uk: Tom Lonsdale: Books
and I also took info from here Give Your Dog a Bone: The Practical Commonsense Way to Feed Dogs For a Long Healthy Life: Amazon.co.uk: Ian Billinghurst: Books

I like Tom Lonsdales book best as it's so easy to understand, very straight forward and very cheap to buy. I got Ian Billinghursts book as it contained everything I needed to know about the nutritional value of meats and offal, although I don't agree with everything he advises it's the most in depth book I have found about meat values.

Armed with the two I didn't need any extra help and have six perfectly healthy happy dogs. As far as i'm concerned you can't beat "asking" the experts!

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Flynn - Kali - Britches - Bruce - T-Bo - Marty



"For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack"

Thanks, just ordered Work Wonders: Feed Your Dog Raw Meaty Bones. Should be here in a few days If I need any help, I'll give you a shout.

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Zooplus sell Bozita in cartons - thats meat in gravy/jelly I believe

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"Life is mostly froth and bubble, Two things stand like stone,
Kindness in another’s trouble, Courage in your own”

3 meals a day, up to 3% of the breed standard adult body weight, more if you like, chicken wings, mince, remember the 10:10:80 ratio, offal, bone, meat. Introduce new stuff super slowly, especially offal.

Where you sourcing from?

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Transplanted Geordie
RIP Jake, my best dog. 10.8.10
RIP Boomerang, beautiful horse. 27.5.08

Can't go wrong with Tom's book and if you google raw meaty bones you can get his online quarterly news letter and read papers on research etc. All very interesting stuff. Tom makes it all sound so easy, which it is!

Def give me a shout anytime.

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Flynn - Kali - Britches - Bruce - T-Bo - Marty



"For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack"

Not an uncommon situation.. there are so many variations to raw feeding that people say is the best. Unfortunately all you can do is look at the merits of each and also consider what you feel is right for your dog. So much depends on your viewpoint.. Is a dog a carnivore or omnivore is a great place to start.

Work Wonders was an excellent start for us as well. A couple of links in my signature also link to some other useful areas including a starters guide. Key thing for the prey model is slow and not too much variation or quantity. Others can advise better on BARF.

Cost really comes down to sources available. Getting all meat from a supermarket will cost more than store brand dog foods. You may be able to get cheap or even free meat from a local butchers or an abattoir if one is nearby. UK Abattoirs / Slaughterhouses | The Tracing Paper may be useful but I do not live in the uk so I do not know how things work there.

Changing to raw, whatever variation is in my opinion going to be a benefit when compared to processed food.

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love works wonders book

I have it in hard copy and on my kindle and still dip into it

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The New Look Willow's Place Website
http://willowsplace.weebly.com/

Still waiting on the book. I've been reading some posts on here about raw feeding, though. It's a bit confusing for me, but that's probably because I've never done it before! For one thing, Purdy is a Border Collie cross, so we don't know how much she'll weigh at adult size as we don't know what she's cross with... But we'll try going with BC weight. The average bitch weight ranges from 14 to 17kg, so we'll go with 3% of 15-16kg, which is about 450- 480 grams, so about 465 grams 2-3 times per day would be ok, right? But she's still only 4 months, so I'm not too sure on that as puppy's could need up to 10%...

I also have no idea what offal is, or where to get a good meal for Purdy. I've heard a lot of people suggesting green tripe and beefy bones, but... :S Poor Purdy. She has a rather useless mum! Hahaha.

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A thing I have learnt since my brief change to raw is it is very hard to get wrong long term. You can get the ratios etc right over a week two week period and you dog will be perfectly fine. Don't beat yourself up or get too worried about feeding your dog exactly right everyday of it's life. The poo will show you the way

God I've changed