# Does anyone feed a raw edit to their dogs?



## kramsay (Mar 7, 2013)

*Does anyone feed a raw diet to their dogs?*

Before I take the time to type a bunch of questions, does anyone feed a raw diet?


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Several of us do...I feed Prey Model Raw.


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## Catahoula (Feb 12, 2013)

I am starting to feed raw food too.


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## kramsay (Mar 7, 2013)

Okay then I have some questions.... 

What are the benefits? -Links to articles

Does raw really mean raw, or do you cook it?
I have always been told- once a dog gets the taste of blood it will kill, and found it to be true, has any body had problems with a raw fed dog killing other pets/livestock?

How much does it cost compared to regular dog food?, and on that note- Can you "grow" your own meat for them?
If you can, what is a good thing, I have rabbits, chickens, goats, and cattle (< not the actual good cuts my dad would kill me, just like liver, brain ect on the beef.) 
What part of an animal can they not eat?

How do you figure out how much a dog needs of raw a day? 


We currently have 1 Jack Russell puppy and 1 Mountain Curr/ Red Healer puppy and will be adding a German Shepherd in June. And that will be all the dogs for a while... I am so tired of potting training, -two puppies and one son, then I have to go through it again in June oh my! Anyways thanks for the replies


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

We tried raw (yes, not cooked) for awhile but since we don't have access to our own supply it wound up costing more.
Our LGDs get afterbirth & has not triggered adverse problems.
If you can grow your own go for it!


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

kramsay said:


> Okay then I have some questions....
> 
> What are the benefits? -Links to articles
> http://rawfeddogs.org/benefits.html
> ...


Adults get around 3% of their body weight depending on activity. Pups get around 10% of their body weight and adjusted as needed.


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## kramsay (Mar 7, 2013)

Thanks  

So at 3% the German Shepherd won't eat over 3-4lbs a day and the cur/healer will probably be at about 2lbs (we aren't really for sure how big he will get) and Nitro (Jack Russell) will probably eat 1/4- 1/2 depending on how big he gets (he is tiny)... So on the high end that's 6.5 pounds a day meaning 45.5 pounds a week and 2366 pounds a year.... Small end is 5.25 a day, 36.75 a week and 1911 a year... 
Wow that's a lot of meat...... I am pretty sure I did all of my math right...

Couple more questions....

Could I feed the bigger two dogs a whole chicken feathers and all- after it was dead? Or will that make them want to kill chickens?
^i ask because i have heard it takes forever to butcher a chicken

What about fish? We fish a lot in the summer, could they eat the remaining parts after we filet them? 

I really am trying to get to a point were we are wasting very little off of animals.

What about supplements? 

From what I have read so far they need a variety of different animals... I figure I can use all the rabbit I need to, will just have to breed more. I can raise several feeder chickens easily and low cost... I could probably afford 2 wethers a year for the dogs, how much dog meat would I get off a 60# wether? I could get weaned lambs off of a friend -not for sure of the price- but would I need lambs if I have goats, I guess it would be cheaper to fatten more of my own weathers then to buy lambs.. So maybe fatten 4-6 instead of 2? We are fattening 3 hogs so the "scraps" will go to the dogs. Also my dad butchers 5+ steers a year so I could get all of the "scraps" off of them. Also hubby hunts so they would get some deer too. I would really love to have rabbit as the staple of their diet as I can raise it cheap and a lot of it.


How do you figure out how much of what kind of meat they need a day?


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

It doesn't have to take forever to do up a chicken you can just skin them, feathers and all, like a rabbit. So making rabbit a staple you would give rabbit everyday with a little variety. Like my dogs main ration is chicken and one whole chicken feeds my 5 dogs. Then once or twice a week they get something else plus they get their organ meats once a week. Mine also get raw milk and eggs plus whole raw veggies for treats. 

Fish are fine as long as the fish you are feeding doesn't carry Salmon Poisoning. We have it here but, I know it is only in some areas. We feed our dogs ocean fish as we can get as many carcasses as we want off the commercial fishing boats. 

That 3% is top end on food. Unless you have the most hyper shepherd in the world, he isn't going to eat much more than your Cur. My Fila is 120 lbs. My Pit is 60 lbs. They both eat the same amount~2 1/2 lbs. a day.


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## kramsay (Mar 7, 2013)

goathiker said:


> It doesn't have to take forever to do up a chicken you can just skin them, feathers and all, like a rabbit. So making rabbit a staple you would give rabbit everyday with a little variety. Like my dogs main ration is chicken and one whole chicken feeds my 5 dogs. Then once or twice a week they get something else plus they get their organ meats once a week. Mine also get raw milk and eggs plus whole raw veggies for treats.
> okay great, I thought you had to pick the feathers...will have to look up a video on how to do it that way
> Okay so I would feed them rabbit with smaller amount of another meat every day then once a week give them organs, do I give them organs on top of their daily ration or give them as the daily ration? Hubby insists on eggs for them, because it makes them so shiny. I will probably be able to offer some raw milk from the goalies too.
> Fish are fine as long as the fish you are feeding doesn't carry Salmon Poisoning. We have it here but, I know it is only in some areas. We feed our dogs ocean fish as we can get as many carcasses as we want off the commercial fishing boats.
> ...


well I don't know how she will since she isn't born yet we reserved a female out of a litter due in April.. I really have no clue how much he will weigh he is 7 weeks now, mountain curs can be anywhere from 30-90#and red healers are 40-60 the guy said he thought they would be about 30-40 wBUT he is 2x the size of the others in the litter so who knows lol...

I am really thinking hard about feeding all raw, need to talk to hubby about it an see what he thinks.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

I give organs on top of their daily ration. Each dog gets a piece of liver or kidney the size of their paw and a couple chunks of heart meat. 2 of mine won't eat liver/kidney unless it's frozen. They don't like the texture of it. The fish is great trout, steelhead, and salmon are what you need to be careful of. 

Chicken is the easiest protein so, it's recommended to start with that fully and then transition new foods in after a couple weeks. Start by fasting the dog for at least 12 hours to clear his system. Then give chicken back. Be very careful of necks unless you leave them attached to the bird. They can choke a dog who tries to swallow them whole. Leaving them on the bird, they are safe as they will have to gnaw them off. The feet are great for them and most of mine like them. 

Another idea would be to raise Turkens for them as they have much less feathers and very few pin feathers to pull out. Then they would still get the goodness of the skin.


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## nchen7 (Feb 25, 2013)

http://www.rawmeatybones.com/

that website is really good too.

and, like Jill said, 3% is the top end. you can play around how much you give. when I first started out feeding raw, I was really OCD about weighing everything. now, I just feed whatever we have. if they're looking a little skinny, we up the portion until they start to look a little fat, etc etc. for our big guy, we try to give him more knuckle/feet pieces to up his glucosamine.

raw eggs are great to take the "doggie" smell away.

we don't feed offal daily. they get it once a week or so. they do get fish....they love it when it's not too fresh (so gross).

another idea for meat is if you have a butcher or fish monger close by, ask for off cuts. i lived in a city, and was able to get meat at like $2/lb (cheap for the city...).

hope that helps a bit, and not too confusing.....


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## awshucksgoatfarmvt (May 11, 2012)

*Molly is fed raw meat*

Yes and it can way less expensive than commercial food especially the frozen raw food at pet stores. It is very simple if you have one or two dogs.


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## awshucksgoatfarmvt (May 11, 2012)

*Raw is raw*

I have found a meat processing plant near me that sells organic grass fed beef tongue, heart and liver for a dollar a bl. Comes in individual packages. Also chicken backs for fifty lb is twenty dollars also use some for soup stock, In the summer I remove most of the fatty skin but not in -32 below


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