raw diet!

J

JessicaR

Forums Enthusiast
I took the big plunge today!! :biggrin2: Belle ate 3 raw chicken wings today. After the inital look of are you sure I can eat this? She ate her wings! She chewed them up real good no gulping them down. Ok so the sites I have been to on raw diets say to feed 2-3% of the dogs body weight. I started Belle at 3% since she is active, which means she is supposed to 9.6 ounces which I rounded up to 10 ounces. So that means she is supposed to eat 6 oz. RMB's, 3.5 oz. muscle meat, and .5 oz. organ meat. it also says overall balence is more important than exact amounts. Is it ok to feed her just the chicken wings for a little while so her body can adjust to raw or should I start adding muscle meat and organs also?? also when I feed her should I let her descide how much to eat or should she finnish it all? she was supposed to eat 3 1/2 chicken wings I give her 3, but she barley wanted to eat the third one. I think the only reason she ate it was because the cats were sniffing at it. :rolleyes2: I will post pics later after I get them on photobucket.
 
When starting a raw diet it is best to go slow in the beginning. Stick with only chicken for the first couple of weeks and allow her body to adjust to digesting raw. It won't cause any problems if you feed an unbalanced diet for the first short while, so don't worry about that right now. I would feed just chicken (bone in and boneless) for about 2 weeks, then slowly start adding something else. Personally, I would do organs next, mixing meals of half chicken and half organ (liver preferably, as liver needs to make up 1/2 the organ allotment of the diet, very important stuff that is!). Then try some red meat (beef, pork, rabbit, bison, elk, lamb, venison, etc.). Take things slowly, allowing at least a week or two on a new protein source to allow her to adjust and monitor for any splart-action.

I've written up a couple of articles on the prey model raw diet (PMR) that I feed. They might be helpful for more reading! When you take on the responsibility of formulating your dog's diet on your own, there is no such thing as "too much reading". :biggrin2:

Starting Raw FAQs:
http://sheltie-hair.blogspot.com/2008/09/raw-food-diet-for-dogs-starting-raw.html

Supplements:
http://sheltie-hair.blogspot.com/2008/11/supplements-for-raw-feeding.html

Average "Menu":
http://sheltie-hair.blogspot.com/2008/10/raw-food-diet-our-average-menu.html

Intro to RMBs:
http://sheltie-hair.blogspot.com/2008/09/pork-hock-specialty-intro-to-rmbs.html

And something else you might want to consider with a raw fed Sheltie ... body snood:
http://sheltie-hair.blogspot.com/2008/08/romeos-haircut.html
 
wow!! thanks for the help GeeRome your articles are great, and a big help! I will have to try the snood if Belle needs it. right now she just stands up with the wings haning out the side of her mouth. I am sure she will love the snood :rolleyes2:
 
Hi. Good for you. I feed Chinook and Maia raw too, pray model. I've only had Maia for 5 days and she is doing very well. She's on chicken ground up necks and whole chicken patties. When I first started feeding raw I read 'Give your dog a bone'. In there, Dr. Billinghurst states actually not to feed a 'balanced' meal each time, so don't worry, as long as they get a balance over a few meals it is ok. I also supplement with vitamins too, that is in the book too. Also if you want more information there is a sheltie forum that only talks about feeding raw and natural too.
You'll notice a huge difference in the coat and breath, (and the stool, for the better!)
 
thanks! another site I am on some people react negitvley to raw food. I was given a link to a site that tells the horrors of bacteria in raw food :rolleyes2: like their isnt bacteria everywhere :lol:
 
JessicaR said:
thanks! another site I am on some people react negitvley to raw food. I was given a link to a site that tells the horrors of bacteria in raw food :rolleyes2: like their isnt bacteria everywhere :lol:
Click to expand...

Exactly! If that was true, wolves would be all sick and dead, and so would all the dogs and animals that rummage through garbage and eat ROTTEN food, that is loaded with bacteria! Check out Dr. Billinghurst's web site too, he is the one that wrote that book I told you about and he's the vet that came up with the BARF diet, www.barfworld.com.

I found opposition too, but with information that I found in books and on the web, I am very happy with my choice, and so are my dogs! You should see them when I open the fridge. THey both come running into the kitchen thinking it's for them. (This does make it hard to get snacks and prepare food for me, as the little one, is right at my feet! LOL) You should see her, she claws at my calves trying to climb her way up to the counter! YOu would think she's a cat. I have NEVER seen dogs more eager and happy to get their food everyday.
 
I know what you mean :yes: Belle always ate her kibblew slowly and didnt realy care for it. now when she sees me getting out raw meat she comes running and even puts her paws on me, something she never does!! I have always thought about feeding raw but I just now got the guts to do it. I am so glad I bought turkey now! the store had them buy one get one free so I have 4 turkeys, and my mother in law cooked thanksgiving dinner this year so now I have a couple of turkeys I can process for Belle!

oh and I told that person on the other site I hope he doesnt eat his steak or hamburger any other way except for well done! :wink2:
 
I think she is getting constipated :uhoh: I give her 1 oz. of liver today hopefully that will help. it was pretty fuuny though I give her the liver and she didnt want to eat it at first. she kept spitting it back out, finally after she ate everything else she ate the liver. here I was worried about the detox phase I have read about, and she would have to do the opposite :lol:
 
Do you feed her fruits and veggies at all or tripe? That should help constipation. When I feed Chinook the chicken necks and/or wings, his stool will be rock hard, but he does not get constipated. If she ever gets a bit of diarrhea, give her some canned pumpkin. When I first switch to a new meat, like venison or elk, Chinook would get runny stool and he would scootch his butt on the ground, but that only lasts a day, then he's fine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top