Another Raw thread - Page 3

Here's some helpful links. And it must be green tripe!!!
http://www.greentripe.com/description.htm
http://www.saveourshepherds.org/raw.html
http://preymodelraw.com/                  Hope this helps.    Take care    Pete

I have been feeding RAW for a year and a half.  After the first year, I had our vet do a blood work up to see if there were any issues, there were not.  I feed 2.5 lbs. +/- a day.  
Day 1: 1 chicken quarter with skin and fat, boneless skinless breasts to make up the weight and a palm sized piece of liver.
Day 2: Bone-in Pork steaks with a palm sized piece of kidney.
Day 3: Same chicken meal as above.
Day 4: Beef rump roast ~2 lbs., 1 beef rib, hunk of kidney.
Repeat above list.
I do give fish oil capsules daily as my boy will not eat fish.  The diet also changes during hunting season as I add venison and elk from friends.  The only reason for the chicken every other day is because other than free meat from hunters it is the cheapest to feed.  I don't feed any veggies or fruit, I've offered him some carrots, avocado, apple, banana but he turns up his nose and won't eat anything other than meat.

How much does your GSD weigh JusticeForAll???   Pete

Pete, great links

isachev, thanks for the links surprisingly I had found them doing research.  :)  There are several people on here that feed raw that based on their posts in other threads I have come to respect as knowledgable surprisingly those guys have not posted .  I am however glad that so far it has not turned into a "bashing" thread thanks so much for that.  What is everybodies thoughts on the fruits and veggies, sweet potatoes etc.  I would think if you are feeding green tripe the veggies wouldn't really be necessary because those nutrients are going to be in the tripe digestion already started.  Also what about ground beef?? And then there are the pups, what do you give the little ones??

a nother good link http://www.freewebs.com/krisannriorawfeeding/
they do a book to which i found very helpful when i started out

Love these threads, thanks Donnerstorm ;)

I'm going to let you in on a little secret, although I think you may have figured it out already...there is no single correct way to feed a raw diet.  As long as you provide a variety of items and protein sources, your basis will be covered for a "balanced diet".

Don't worry about finding a good book, because just like internet sources, info in books will vary.  More importantly, find a mentor, someone who has been feeding raw for while...and there are plenty of knowledgeable people on this site that would be happy to help.  There is a learning curve when you start, but as soon as you learn the basics (and some of these things require trial and error with your dogs), you will easily catch up with the rest of the raw feeders.  How is that possible?  Because it's not a science...it's nature.

You can either feed prey model, franken-prey, 80/10/10, whole, ground, commercial pre-made, or anything inbetween.  You can feed plant matter, or you can choose not to.  I personally do not feed any plant matter regularly because dogs technically can't digest it...and because I start to find dirty ears.  Have I?  Sure, a slice of apple or banana once in a blue moon isn't going to kill anyone.  The only thing I always mention is, if you start to see any itching, dirty ears, or refusal to eat, omit the plant matter before making any drastic changes.

No need to cook or sear anything; just feed totally raw.

As for the 10% organ, I think someone answered before, but I can't seem to find the post.  That's just a rule of thumb, and the amount should be calculated from the weight of the meal, whether per meal, daily, or weekly.  For example, if I'm feeding 1 lb of food (16 ounces) I would feed 1.6 ounces of organs (I don't weigh anything out that exact...a little more now, a little less later).  But for the purpose of the example, of that 1.6 ounces of organs, half (or 0.8 ounces) should be liver, and the other half can be any other organ you can find - kidney, lung, spleen, pancreas, brain, etc.

Ah, ground meat, the other "debate".  Some feed it, some don't.  The theory behind not feeding ground meat is:

1. Prey is not found minced or ground in the wild.
2. Chewing whole items allows for healthy jaw exersize and teeth cleaning.
3. Grinding meat exposes all of its surface area to oxygen and possible bacteria contamination.

I personally feed any and everything, whole or ground.  Some people worry about bacterial contamination.  I do not.  Dogs can handle bacteria very well, and I know my dogs well enough to know that even if they ate contaminated ground meat, the worst that would happen is a day or two of diarrhea, and any possible subsequent contamination will not affect them as much.  Use your own judgement, and know your source.  What is the possibility that the ground meat will be contaminated > What is the possibility it will be contaiminated with something your dog can't handle > And if you're feeding ground meat for human consumption, you will already be sick before your dog, so no hamburgers for dinner?

Examples of what I feed:

Meal: ground whole chicken (or turkey) including organs, bones, and skin.

Meal: jumbo bone-in steak, or boneless chunks of beef, with a chunk of beef liver and pancreas.

Meal: oops I forgot to thaw food for the dogs...a bag of frozen beef/bison/sheep lung.

Meal: whole small chicken, or large chicken split in half.

Meal: small slab of beef ribs, quarter beef heart, and piece of beef spleen.

Meal: 2 sheep heart, 2 sheep tongues, 1 sheep kidney, chunk of sheep liver.