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RAW DIET FOR MY 4 yr old

XLARGEX

Member
Ok so Max has been on kibble for all 4 years ! Is there a simple wat to introduce the raw diet and also something simple ? I just cant seem to get the answers Im looking for ....Thanks Jeff
 

seeknoxrun

Well-Known Member
Cold turkey, doesn't get much simpler than that. :)

What kind of questions were you having trouble finding answers to? I know there are a lot of threads on here about feeding raw, have you tried searching through those?
 

XLARGEX

Member
Yes I kinda have and I see the 80-10-10 Is that meat - veg - organ ? Can I feed him chickens beef venison carrots livers Just kinda wondering whats going to be easiest ! Max is around 160 and should be around 190 I gues when he was in heat he didnt eat much if that makes sense ?
 

ruthcatrin

Well-Known Member
No vegis, except as snacks or treats if the dog likes them, in general dogs don't digest them properly.

80% meat, 10% bone, 10% organs including liver (not JUST liver, other organs need to be included too).

If you think he should be about 190lbs he should be eating approx 4.75lbs of food a day to start with (you'll adjust by how he looks and what he's doing, if he's not gaining weight like you want you'll need to increase it, if he's gaining to much you feed less). Of that 4.75lbs, 3.8lbs would be meat, .45lbs would be bone and .45lbs would be organ, you'd adjust from there, for example bone will solidify his poo, so if he's constipated you'd feed less bone, or more if he's got soft poo.. Someone recently showed me this: http://preymodelraw.com/ site as a basic instruction set for how to switch your dog over. My only gripe is that they need to start the organs earlier than they do, but otherwise it looks pretty decent.

I'd suggest doing some research into what you can get locally for meat/bone/organs. There are places to order online, but if you can get it local its almost always cheaper. Check with your local grocery and butcher about ordering in bulk, check to see if you have any meat processors in your area who will sell to the average consumer, check with local farmers....
 

dpenning

Well-Known Member
check with local farmers....

Ruth, Do you grow any of your own dog food on the hoof so to speak? I've been wondering about doing that when I have the room to do so. I need to look into the laws about selling livestock as dog food... Hmmmmmm.
 

musicdeb

Well-Known Member
I agree with all that has been posted. I would like to add one thing, that once you start raw, do not add kibble to the raw diet. Stop the kibble cold turkey.

I found with Titan, that if I fail to feed him enough bone, his poop is very runny. If you feed too much bone, then the poop is chalky. You will find the right amount to get the right poop. FYI: Once they start raw, their poop is about the size of a cat's poop. They also will not drink as much water because the kibble has so many fillers they drink a lot.

Kudos to you for switching to raw. Best thing you could do for your baby!
 

ruthcatrin

Well-Known Member
check with local farmers....

Ruth, Do you grow any of your own dog food on the hoof so to speak? I've been wondering about doing that when I have the room to do so. I need to look into the laws about selling livestock as dog food... Hmmmmmm.

Not as such, if however the dogs catch themselves a wild bunny (of which we have tons) I intend to let them have it. We're considering buying some chicks next year to help keep bugs down with an eye towards feeding them to the dogs at the end of the warm weather though. If we go through with it I'll let everyone know how it works.

Most farmers, here anyway, can sell for human consumption as long as certain requirements are met. The issue becomes the organs and green tripe where the laws are stricter. If you have a farm that does its own slaughtering they maybe able to sell you the organs and tripe for non-human consumption, but it'll depend on local laws.
 

allformyk9s

Well-Known Member
Agree with all the above and wanted to add that when switching cold turkey you can fast for 1 day & then offer the meat - leave it down for say 15 mins if he doesnt eat it, pick it up & offere again at the next scheduled feeding. No worries if he refuses to eat for a few days - a dog can safely go w/out eating for a few days. My 2 females didnt eat for 3 days when I switched them. Good Luck!
 

Oak Hill Farm

Well-Known Member
We grow all of our own food. We butcher our own goats, sheep, rabbits and chicken. Cows and pigs we have slaughtered. As far as selling it I advise you to really look into your states laws and USDA of selling across state borders. We are not allowed to sell anything that is not butchered in a USDA facility. If it was butchered they will only give you human consumption food. You can find non USDA houses (usually Amish around here) but again, we can get all the parts but it is illegal to sell them. Also if anything is sold from the USDA facility for "non human consumption" it has nasty additives in it (as required per law).
 

Oak Hill Farm

Well-Known Member
brisket bone is the softest by far. Then ribs probably. Also if you have human consumption cuts, the T-bone is pretty soft. They are all from the rib/loin area so no real sturdy function needed.
 

angelbears

Well-Known Member
Oak, is the brisket bone something I would find in a supermarket, or would I probably need to visit a butcher shop? My apologies if you've already answered this, but what is your opinion on feeding machine cut bones? And; how can you tell if the bone is machine cut?
 

Oak Hill Farm

Well-Known Member
In my experience they are rarer in supermarkets, but can be found. I see them more in smaller stores that do their own cutting/packaging, as they generally are a leftover, and cheap comparatively.

In thick bones, hand cut is going to look rougher (you can see saw marks on it), and it usually has bone dust, (our pork chops look this way) When we use a bone blade it zips right through. Any large chunks missing were probably machine cut as well. I am not sure how (if at all) you can tell on smaller bones. As far as better? I prefer hand cut steaks personally! Bones I don't have a preference. I'm not sure I have ever noticed a difference in them.