looking to switch from dry food - Page 2

I have had great success in feeding Oma's Pride. Not sure if you are in the US or not. They have a great variety of foods available. It can be pricey, so I also feed chicken backs a few times a week. The backs are great for stretching the commercial raw diet a bit longer. They also help keep those teeth free of tarter. Her coat has never looked better since I completely switched over to raw. I do also try to give supplement from K9 power products. I don't mean to sound like a commercial, but I know several people using the products, including myself, with great success. Make sure you do a very, very gradual change. Start out with something simple and small. Like chicken wings. Maybe one a day untill the stomach settles into processing the raw. Like about a week. Green Tripe is also very good for settling the stomach. There are several commercial raw diets available if you would rather not make it yourself. I just find it more convienent for me.

Good Luck

I couldn't agree more about the wonders the raw bone does for the teeth. My male was on kibble until about 7 months ago. Before the raw, he had "normal" teeth but it was looking like he would need to go in for a dental soon, even though I gave him plenty of things like cow hooves to chew, and snacks that were supposed to clean teeth.
The raw bones every day has removed all of the build up, and my puppies, who are 7 and 9 months have sparkling white teeth :-D*
Stacy

How expensive is Oma's pride?

Thanks to all of you for the advice, I appreciate the help. Lucy's going to love this change!

thanks again, pam
 

I have a recipe that I used when I first started wanting to feed raw.  The beauty of it is, you can freezed it in patties and cook it if you like.  Make sure it's in an air-tight bag and drop it in boiling water.  I can give you a link to the originator of the recipe, if you'd like.  I pretty much went with hers, but tweaked it.  The down side was the expense, I think I figured it was costing almost $7 a day... although, I'll never complain about spending $60 for a bag of food again!

So, I ended up going raw all the way and now I'm feeding Orijen.  I may go raw in the future again, but it just wasn't working with my goofy schedule and other issues.  Sometimes I think switching too many times causes problems.  I'll stick with Orijen until, if ever, I go raw.

The link is a video and it's long, so I don't want to embed it.  If you want it, I can send you the link.

Pam,

There are lots of way to feed raw and homemade. From people feeding rabbits (fur and all) to people pressure cooking a bunch of ingredients including bones (makes them soft, otherwise, never feed cooked bones, only raw).
 

If you are interested in feeding raw or a version of it, it's a lot of information to post here. Do some web searching and get a book or two in order to get a feel for what you are comfortable with.

One important thing, keep it simple.

I searched for the video and can't find it.  I thought I had it bookmarked but can't find it there either.  I did write it down so when I find THAT, I can share it.

I personally just throw a raw hunk of meat outside. Don't even use a bowl. 

typically, a raw fed dog does not need any supplements if there is a good variety in food.  and then a supplement or two can be added if an issue arises. 

you can feed whole prey...animal with head, fur, and all the trimmings, and just leave it in the backyard until your dog finishes the carcass (may take a week or two for large animals).  but many people don't have the time, area, suppliers, or gag reflex to feed this way.

so you can also feed 80% meat, 10% bone, 5% liver, and 5% other organs.  this is considered "balanced", but you don't have to weigh and measure for every meal as long as the dog is getting the proper balance lets say within a month's time.

stay away from enhanced meats at the supermarket, like chicken that was bathed in salt water (check sodium content).  stay away from irradiated ground beef.  whole items are better, the dog gets a workout, and the teeth get cleaned.  make sure the item you are giving is large enough that your dog doesn't try to swallow it whole and possibly choke (although i've never had this problem).  ground items are fine, many people don't like feeding ground, but if it's a convenience thing ground meat is far superior to kibble.

watch your dog when she eats.  make sure you know what kind of an eater she is; gulper, nibbler, etc.  don't worry if she swallows bones.  dogs do not chew, they crush the bone until it's small enough or pliable enough for them to swallow.  bones should always be given within the meat, so don't feed totally stripped chicken frames, but you can feed chicken backs that have meat on them.

you can add veggies if it makes you feel better, but they are basically a filler and not necessary.  they won't harm your dog unless your dog has a yeast or itching problem.  your dogs teeth should be white and ears should be clean (no need for cleaning either yourself).  if you notice your dog starting to itch, or getting brown gunk in her ears, get rid of the veggies.

tons more info available.  sorry for the long email.  i'll spare you the rest of the reading.  it's a little overwhelming for some people to just jump right in, but it gets waaaay easy when you get the hang of it.

Good post, uvw.

I'm finding that a dollop of natural yogurt every day COMPLETELY handles yeast problems. Sigh. After all those shampoos and pills and vet bills....what a waste....