Katiefranke - I have started looking through the links in your sig but could you recommend any actual books on the subject of Raw feeding.

I have this one already -
Work Wonders: Feed Your Dog Raw Meaty Bones: Amazon.co.uk: Tom Lonsdale: Books

and I'm just going to go and find it and give it another read.
Is it you who doesnt have a whole seperate freezer but just one drawer in your freezer?
I'd be interested in how you manage it because its the space thing that is such an issue for me.

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I did start off with scales, but now I judge by eye - so dont worry too much. For instance I know that if I give a chicken leg and thigh from an average size chicken, it is always going to be around 220-250g - perfect for one serving for my maggie (and a whole day for your dog)...

The days I havent got time to supervise and mess about with raw food with maggie, I just feed her once a day...she i s quite happy with that, especially if she had a big meal the day before...so if it helps, once you get into it, you could always feed in the evenings only. Now it is nicer weather I am feeding maggie outside too, which is much less mess for me to clear up!

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Thank u. That's a great help

nikki x

I did buy his other book - but to be honest, it has the same info about the actual diet and just loads of other empirical research into why pet food is bad and why the raw food is great.

It is a very interesting read, but you wouldnt need it to start out feeding raw.

The yahoo list is also a great place to lurk and gain info and ask questions once you have read around a bit - there is a Raw Meaty Bones one as well as a more US-based raw feeding list.

RawMeatyBones : RawMeatyBones
rawfeeding : Raw Feeding for dogs and cats!

I found that I ended up reading TOO much!!! In the end it is just best to take the plunge...I did start off just using the big drawer in my freezer. I would go up the supermarket and buy initially just chicken until she was used to it (about 2 weeks) then I introduced pork, heart, kidney and liver over the following 2-3 weeks. Then I carried on just buying these items on a weekly basis and keeping them in her drawer. Then once I got a bit more used to it, I tried duck, rabbit, beef, lamb etc etc...

In the end my OH got me another freezer!! it means i dont have to be so organised as i can bulk buy and store it in there I do have two cats to feed too though, so was getting a bit cramped in my freezer!

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Thats really helpful thanks .
So for a 14kg puppy with an expectant adult weight of 28kg which figure do I feed 2-3% of?
At the moment they both get chicken quarters and lamb bones and have been fine although Willow's poo has gone green but still formed once or twice with the lamb, these are as occasional meal replacements.

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It is 2-3% of the expected adult body weight...it is all rough measurements, so you could start with the 3% and if this seems too much, judge by eye as to how they look and then reduce if needed.

So 28kg = somewhere in the region of 560-840g per day...as you have a pup, you would want to split this into a couple of meals a day (or however many you are feeding at the mo depending on age)

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[QUOTE=katiefranke;1440577]thats actually a brilliant size!!! I didnt want to say that in case I scared you, but yep good rule of thumb to go by!

Hi

sorry to message again. I know I said previously About bones the size of chesters head etc.... He has just had a chicken thigh which weigh 100 grams and it wasn't very big. He did crunch it up so it was find just concerned that anything bigger will be over feeding him??? Any ideas?

I can find with bones can make mine sick the next morning and its got bits of bones in (they did this with some oxtail I tried),

I feed kibbles as its convenient but do get mine chicken wings (by legs do you mean drumsticks??), morrisons do dog/soup bones, they look like spines? and lamb breast as a treat a couple of times a week. Rabbit could be a cheap and interesting one.

There were some hearts on special offer this week (lambs?) are they OK too just read? and any other offal?

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hi there, sorry not been online in a couple of days...oh yep that size is fine...I tend to feed maggie once a day a lot of the time, as it is easier to feed her large pieces without overfeeding!

Also, once your dog is used to it, dont be worried about giving him a large piece and then taking it up when you think he has had enough, putting it in a bag etc and popping it back in the fridge...then give again for the next meal.

i often do this with turkey legs for maggie as they are massive and she doesnt eat it in one go! (i do have a separate drawer for the doggie stuff in the fridge though)

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