A Raw Christmas... - Page 1

For Christmas this year, aside from the usual tugs & toys, my two were treated to their first 'raw' breakfast; and as usual, they surprised me! Kalie, my prim & proper Showlines girl, took her very first raw chicken wing, and three crunches later, was looking for more. No problem! Beckett, on the other hand, had to be the clown. He picked his wing up by the tip of the wing and held it like that, then gently laid it down, licked it, and looked at me with these sad, worried eyes, like "what is this? I think it's hurt!" He laid down and studied it, turning it over & over, sniffing it, and watching Kalie and I, to see what we were doing about it. This, from my chow-hound, whose food drive is so strong I think he'd eat the car if it smelled like kibble! Only when Kalie approached him,"Excuse me, but if you're not going to eat that, may I?" Did he finally eat it....you could see the light-bulb go on in his head"Oh-this is food!" Now HE wants more, too, and I'll keep you posted on how this little experiment goes; it took a long time for me to be convinced that this was safe, and even longer yet for me to convince Carl; so we shall see...jackie harris

I love the first time a dog or puppy gets a raw wing. Several of mine carried the wing around the house, shaking it, tossing it, then they went in for the kill. My old rescue boy, was the saddest one to watch. Apparently, his first owners had never even given him a bone to gnaw. He had no idea what to do with a bone, let alone a chicken wing. Even after all these years, he still acts like the raw is something to endure. He would rather have kibble.

My girls eat their wings and backs so darn fast when they get them. If you blink you can very easily miss it go down. I always joke that they are like, munch, munch, munch, gulp! My boy on the other hand is more like munch.........munch........munch.........munch.........munch.........munch.....guess I can swallow it now. Any kind of human food that we may hand out, he's gotta take it into the living room to examine it before he eats it and then that's if he eats it. The girls ask no questions and hope tht he doesn't want to eat whatever I gave him. Although, he does love raw beef or mutten. Merry Christmas

I love the way our Jed looks on the raw diet I am feeding him. Can't wait till I can get some freezers and a little more money to afford a pallet of Common Sense dog food. (WA state manuf., shipped frozen) I'm not going to feed raw chicken parts with bones, but the ground up version and the buffalo formula that CS mixes up, rotated with the beef version, has produced stunning results! SS

My gang had lamb necks for their Christmas breakfast. The pups are now old enough to eat the neck bones too! It is such a good workout for them pulling the meat off then chewing the bone that they are satisfied all day! A full dog is a happy dog!

Merry Christmas, everyone! Hope you all have a Full Bite on the Sleeve and a Merry Retreive! Yeah, Shelley, this raw stuff makes me really nervous,I've been told my whole life to never give a dog a poultry bone, so we're starting very slow, but, so far so good! And I laughed til I cried this morning over Beckett, he is such a goof ball! So big, so silly, and so sweet; we measured him the other day, and he is still within the standard, I think he looks bigger because he's still so leggy. He's the apple of my eye!(whatever that means!) I'm so grateful that you picked him for me, you're quite the match-maker! jh

Merry Christmas all, I just wanted to add a bit from my experience with feeding meat. I have used wild game but never raw do to parasites,a microwave can kill these easy enough. Its a limited supply and I dont feed it often. I have used store bought meats but please be aware that most commercial production involves alot of anti-biotics and sometimes hormones and other growth inhancing additives especially in poultry. I now only buy my meat from small farmers I know. I have heard alot about natural cures and diets on the data base and just wanted to say I agree. But I dont trust the meats being sold thru large retail chain stores, you know who they are. Find yourself a local meat market and find out where they get they're meats. Also look for small farms you can visit and see what your buying and how its raised. The same applies to buying eggs. Oh, and dont forget the veggies, my dogs like vegetables too. Good health to all, Brent.

I just weaned a litter on raw including bones. Even the littlest guys quickly learn to methodically crunch up the bones. The only bones to avoid are cooked bones, not raw. Bones are an important part of a raw diet and shouldn't be ignored. Perhaps Louise can offer some more detailed information on the benefits of bones.

I've read some of the literature, and I agree with it, it makes sense to me; but it's just so hard to shake a lifetime of caution about feeding bones. My two had no difficulty with the first time, and once I get over hovering by them while they eat, I'm sure it will be fine....BTW, their first chicken was an free range, organically raised hen, bought at the local butcher, who raises them himself....(we should eat so well!LOL)jh

Mostly to Shelly Instead of paying that price for a pallet of Common Sense dog food. You could buy this grinder for 10 cases of that food and grind your own. I personally think the price for these pre-made raw diets are outrageous. http://www.naturmix.com/pages/products/grinders.html?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=NUSA&Category_Code=FS Birdy...