Half raw

S

Sheltie Bimbo

Forums Novice
After a lot of research we wanted to switch to "raw" - maybe alternating some meals with Fromm kibbles.

The problems started very soon: our Fiji doesn't like chicken unless it's cooked. He doesn't eat raw egg unless it's cooked. He's not even remotely interested in liver and we suspect he won't like organs either.

So now we're in trouble. He enjoys the cooked chicken, raw ribs, raw beef patties, and ravioli, farfalle and pasta. We're very worried that he's not getting all nutrients though.

Maybe the kibble has all the right nutrients however he's now not interest in those much, even after we changed flavor.

Help!
 
I don't really feed pasta, just meat...
Unless I sometimes feed left over, lol

It TAKES a bit of work to transition, especially with just one dog, I had the toughest time to get Toffee to eat fish or chicken, OR liver, lol
So first off, I flash fried the liver and chicken before giving it to him, JUST a little tiny bit so the outside was a little cooked only, I also cut it into smaller pieces, and made sure to keep him a little hungry to ensure he would eat the liver that night lol

The fish I ground up and that has worked, especially if I feed it half frozen
Plus after I got another dog Toffee never left much behind since, lol
After a while I didn't need to do that anymore

You don't need to worry too much about getting 'all' the nutrition right away, the good thing about raw diet provides the variety within a month and it will work to deliver what your dog needs. Keeping to about 80% meat (including 'meaty' organs like heart), 10% bone and 10% organs (half should be liver) you'll be more than fine.
I feed game, duck, lamb, pork, beef, mackerel, chicken and whatever I can get a hold of :D
I also feed tripe when I can get it, etc. Dehydrated lung makes an awesome training treat, too :D
 
I do "half raw" with Dickens, and he's flourishing on it. He's a giant Sheltie, so he gets one cup of four-star kibble per day (1/2 cup twice per day) along with three ounces of lean, raw, cubed beef. He gets a raw chicken thigh with the bone in twice a week (in lieu of a kibble feeding) and a good-sized beef short-rib bone every Friday, with lots of meat and fat on it. For treats he gets thin strips of beef jerky that I make specially for him; and an occasional treat of peanut butter in a Kong. If I'm cooking and have meat scraps, either beef or chicken, he gets some, almost always raw. For everyday treats and rewards he gets fried pork rinds. Apart from what's in his kibble, he gets no simple carbohydrates.

His weight peaked at 44 pounds at 11 months; he's now 17 months and has remained at 43 pounds since December. I think he's doing quite well on this diet, and I intend to keep him on it. For whatever it means, he's bright, strong, energetic; his coat is beautiful, and he's never been sick in the fourteen months we've had him. Some of that may be genetics, but I put much of it down to a high-protein, moderate fat, and low-carb diet.
 
Some dogs just take a while to "get" the concept of raw. When I switched Koko at age 5, he was a lost ball in the tall weeds! He had no clue what to do, and only ate raw food slathered in strawberry yogurt :lol: Now I can't get the dish down fast enough, and he loves all his dinners no matter what meat he gets! It did take a few months though.
 
Thanks for the answers, looks like we're not alone. We'll try to go slowly then.

We are still worried because at the beginning he did eat the "raw" chicken, but after he tasted the cooked one he never looked back.

We suspect the little rascal is getting spoiled.

Here's a fundamental question:

Is a "incomplete" raw diet, all kind of meat including bones, but missing livers and organs, less or more healthy than even the best kibbles? Our gut answer would be "yes" because kibbles is still so processed - can't be as healthy right? :confused2:
 
Here is my honest, raw opinion, rough and tough saying it straight up...:
Relax!

IF pup doesn't eat the food you put in front of him, put it back in fridge and serve again later :D
By the time he is actually hungry he will eat his liver and voila you got a good raw food diet happening. He won't die from not eating liver or kidney for a month... I recommend even putting in a fast day here n there, anyhow :D If the dog chose to have one cuz he won't eat what's there, then that's ok for a day :D I mean I don't let them go hungry, but I don't feed on a schedule and I don't go crazy if they skip a meal, which hardly ever happens, lol

It's actually thanks to marketing campaigns, starting as far back as the late 60's which make us believe we couldn't possibly know how to feed our dogs because 'must have FULLY BALANCED NUTRITION' seems to only mean kibble made in conglomerate factories.. . it's one of the best marketing pitches in the world... second only to invention of phrase of "Rinse and Repeat" lol
 
Toffee's Mom said:
It's actually thanks to marketing campaigns, starting as far back as the late 60's which make us believe we couldn't possibly know how to feed our dogs because 'must have FULLY BALANCED NUTRITION' seems to only mean kibble made in conglomerate factories.. . it's one of the best marketing pitches in the world... second only to invention of phrase of "Rinse and Repeat" lol
Click to expand...

They always play on the emotions, don't they? The ones that get me are those that describe dog food as "delicious!"
 
Seriously... yes, delicious sawdust :D

There certainly is high quality kibble out there, but I dare say it still isn't as good as a raw, species appropriate diet.
So my opinion is that yes, even a diet consisting of some raw and substituted with some kibble days if need be, may it be financial or worry you can't get enough protein variety... would be better than no raw at all. Anyday....
 
When I got my current BC mix, he was almost a year old, and had been feed kibble since being weened. He had no interest in chicken, raw, cooked, whatever UNLESS it was on our plates. If it was from the table, rather than the bowl, he was all over it. We noticed this first with cooked chicken, and eventually put those little chicken "wingettes" on the table with out dinner (a little gross but I don't really worry much about bacteria), and gave him one after dinner as it if it was "leftovers". He cracked it up and gobbled it down. A couple days of that, and he started eating the wing sections in with his kibble and was on raw food completely within a week.
 
Dumb question. How do you feed a raw chicken neck or thigh? Do you cut it up first? How do you deal with the mess? I read all the threads, and I would really like to include raw in Zulu's diet, but I never see any talk about how you actually feed it to your dog. :confused2:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top