Raw - Page 1

Do you freez the food before giveing it to the dog?

How do you let it defreez than if so?

Thanks I am thinking of Raw but never done it so I have no idea how to approch it.

Any links or feeding sugesetion would be appreciated as well. Thanks.

One more question.

How about if I would want to feed my dog Raw only 2 to 3 days a week, and on the other day use kibbles? Any ide of the effects? Thanks.

commercial raw foods are sold frozen.. i defrost in a sink or container full of cool water, most defrosted product can last 2 - 3 days in the fridge if not used up... NEVER happens in this house.. too many mouths to feed!!

Do a google search on Dr Ian Billinghurst or The BARF diet..his website has tons of info. I recommend his newest book.. the Barf Diet.. quick read, more FAQ style.. very easy to read and find the subjects you want to further research. There are a number of  schools of thought on raw feeding, you have to choose what and if it works for you

It is ok to feed a partial kibble and raw diet.. again there are several schools of thought on this subject as well but most will say feed them at separate meals... the theory being they digest a different rates...

Good luck

I got all the information I needed from www.b-naturals.com........ I started with mixing raw and kibble (click on recipes from the Home page). You CAN feed them together by the way - you just need to add digestive enzymes to each meal to break down the kibble faster, because yes, it does take a lot longer to digest than raw. 

After getting comfortable with this program, and seeing how well my dogs were doing on it, I transitioned to all raw. You can find info on this on the same website, go to the Newsletter section. If you have questions, you can address them to the co-owner of the company: her name is Lew Olson, she has a PhD in nutrition, and YEARS of experience in researching what is best for keeping dogs healthy. You can find her E-mail address on the website. I buy most of my supplements from the same source, they are human grade and EXCELLENT.

You will need a freezer if you decide to go the whole way with this - you can then buy in bulk which is less expensive in the long run..... it may seem a little bit daunting at first, but the initial effort is more than worth it when you see how well your dogs are looking and feeling on this regimen.( I just take the next day's meals out the day before and let them defrost in the sink  overnight.)

There are basically 2 different approaches to raw food diet. 1) BARF - Billinghurst champions this approach and  DKiah gave info on it. 2)  Whole Prey - Lonsdale champions this approach; his web site is www.rawmeatybones.com and you'll find free ebooks, quickstart guidelines, faq's etc. there

Do you freeze the food before giving it to the dog? we either buy already frozen or buy 40 -65# boxes of chicken which we re-bag into serving size bags and then freeze. We will feed some of the non-pre-frozen chicken when we first get the chicken but nearly all food is frozen before feeding.

How do you let it defreez than if so? we have a large restaurant tub that we put the frozen food in the night before and let it thaw over night it's slower and some folks would not want to do this but we've never had problems.  other methods in addition to the one DKiah mentioned - most ovens have a defrost setting you could use, or it will take a day or so in the refridge depends on how thick the meat is

We started  out following Billinghurst but in a yr or so swtched to Lonsdale's approach.  But whatever choice you make there's lot of info and email group for beginners to help make the change.

Susan

edit: I need to revise what I said Lonsdale does not call his diet "Whole Prey" but uses "Raw Meaty Bones & Table Scrapes" he explains his position in this paper

http://www.rawmeatybones.com/papers.php  sorry I misrepresented his recommendation

Thanks all I will do my research now. Thanks for pointing me into right direction.

The chickens I buy come whole and frozen. I defrost a couple days worth in a large plastic container, with a lid, usually overnight, grind it and then refrigerate until its used up. I get elk/deer trim during hunting season from the local butcher (free meat and most looks hamburg grade), I bag in  gallon zip lock freezer bags and fill a large freezer with it every year.

B-Naturals, Lew Olson, as mentioned above is great souce of info. I emailed Lew once about the feeding kibble with raw and she said IHO there is no problem doing it. Leerburg has some meals, books etc. on his page as well as to the other sites mentioned.

Hi!

Check-out this web-site!www.rawlearning.com/

It's a good one to understand, even doing it part time has great benefits!

Just make sure if you grind all meats and put in bags, you have to do organ meats and muscle meats and save bones for the dog to chew..chewing is important part of a dogs needs.

Do not let your dog bury any of raw food...I discovered a female running off with raw kidneys and bury them , dig them up later...That is where you get your dog in trouble witht he ecoli and salmanilla and if dog doesnt eat raw , in 30 minutes throw all food away.

i buy in bulk, so i mix and pack 1lb of food in disposable glad lock containers.  makes things very easy.  they stack nicely in the freezer, they don't leak in the fridge, the dogs can eat out of them without making a mess, and they go right in the dishwasher afterwords.

anyway, they eat it fresh the first two or three days after i buy the meat.  and the rest of it is frozen and thawed.  i usually take 3-5 day's worth of containers (depending on the meat) out of the freezer into the fridge.  it thaws slowly, but then i just add a container to the fridge whenever i take one out to feed the dog.