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Post by DivineOblivion19 on Jun 24, 2005 20:42:31 GMT -5
I am researching feeding raw. I'm not going to actually switch over for a while (my parents think I'm a nutbag about the dogs and their food as it is. My mom would not let me feed raw while I live here. ). But, I want to start giving them raw treats (I want them to have nice white teeth and I would like them the eat raw bones )
A lady who is interning at our clinic this this summer feeds her dogs raw and told me to start with chicken necks. Is this the best thing to start with? I know I should start slowly to get my girls used to the raw feeding, so how often should I feed them something raw? Also, my Boston is a gulper and I've done the heimlich before, but how do I avoid (or at least reduce the risk of) choking? I just need some guidance of where to start! Thanks so much in advance!! ;D
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Post by willow on Jun 25, 2005 7:34:58 GMT -5
Personally, I wouldn't start with chicken necks. Especially if your dog gulps his food. I would find a butcher in my area, or farmer who does his own butchering, and get the biggest beef bones with lots of meat on them that I could get. I like beef neck bones, because they usually have a lot of meat, some bone, and no marrow, which can cause diarrhea in dogs who are not used to them. When I get bones with marrow I scoop out most of the marrow to prevent this.
If you want to start with chicken, I would start with a thigh or drumstick, not wings/necks.
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Post by FlatCoatedLover on Jun 25, 2005 8:51:02 GMT -5
I am not much for the slow transition I think cold turkey is better. With Lucy I transitioned her over the course of two-three months and she had tons of problems with gas, runny poops and bile barfs for most of the transition time. For Duncan we went cold turkey and he had no problems.
For gulper, or any dog for that matter, bigger is better. The smallest things my two get are leg quarters (drumstick and thigh together) and the only time they get a wing or neck is if it is attached to the rest of the bird. I think that red meats in general are better because they have a much better nurtient profile then chicken. Much of the dental benefits of raw feeding come from the action of pulling meat off of a bone so when looking for RMBs make sure there is a lot of meat on them. A couple of good things I find around here are pork or cow trotters (which the dogs love) and tongue, which I feed frozen to slow down my speed demons.
For little trainng treat bits I get the packages of chicken hearts and gizzards and dehydrate them. Depending the size you want you can leave them whole or cut them up in to smaller pieces before dehydrating. I also make liversicles from chicken and beef livers. Be careful with liver because it can cause some serious poop problems if you feed too much too fast.
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Post by DivineOblivion19 on Jun 25, 2005 16:43:14 GMT -5
Thanks so much. I'm not doing a total switch, my mother would not have it. But If I can give them some nice meaty bones as treats and to clean the teeth when my parents are gone I would be happy.
Now I have another question, HOW do I feed her? I don't know how to feed it to her so she doesn't drag it all over the floor. Any suggestions there?
edited to add: My girls do really well with diet changes ar added treats and such. I've heard of people having problems switching to the EVO but my dogs were switched over in only a couple of days without any kind of soft poops. Only a bit of gas, but Divina (my Boston) is a gas machine anyway...
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Post by Aussienot on Jun 25, 2005 19:23:39 GMT -5
Two options for keeping things neat when raw feeding. I'm assuming you have a fenced yard, so the easiest is put them outside (one at a time to avoid competition) with a bone or raw meat.
Option two is to use a towel or mat, and train the dog to keep the messy bone on the mat. It they pull it off the mat, say a negative sound, BAHH, or ARRRG and put the bone back on the mat. Keep repeating until it becomes a habit to stay on the mat.
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Post by FlatCoatedLover on Jun 25, 2005 19:35:20 GMT -5
Just to be safe I keep my dogs seperate when they eat because I don't want any problems wven though they have never shown any aggression. There are two things that I do. My younger one, Duncan, is fed in his crate. I just tell him "go to your kennel" and then give him his meal. When he is done I clean his crate with a vingar and water solution. My older one, Lucy, I feed on a rubber backed bath mat. I trained her to stay on it by picking up her food and returning it to the mat if she moved it off. I only took 10-12 times (over 3-4 meals) for her to get it and now she just settles in. The other options are to feed outside or contain in a room with an floor that is easy to clean, like tile or linolium.
As far as how to feed just hand it to her and she will figure it out. The difficult part will be what you do if she decides not to eat it. If you are all raw you would just have her go without until the next meal and then offer the same item again. But if you are mixing with kibble she may hold out for it, since it is what she is used to, or she may begin to refuse the kibble. Since I switched to raw my dogs don't even sniff twice at kibble and will look at you like you are nuts if you try to give them a grain based doggie bone (really offends the people at PetQuarters).
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Post by DivineOblivion19 on Jun 25, 2005 21:08:20 GMT -5
Thanks everyone, this forum is great! I know Divina won't refuse anything, she's a mega chow hound. There's only 2 things that she has ever refused, celery and Interceptor (heartworm preventative). If she can get her chompers on food she will eat it!
Cori is a different story. I'm certain she never had anything besides the Ol Roy that her "breeder" was feeding her and she's very leery of eating anything that isn't her dog food. If she sees Divina eating it then I'm sure she'll give it a try as well. My girls are very good about eating near each other but leaving the other alone. We've never had a problem with that. They are very respectful of each other, which I am extremely thankful for. ;D
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Post by willow on Jun 26, 2005 10:17:46 GMT -5
I always feed my dogs their RMB's outside, unless the weather is really nasty. Then I give them a ground meat meal inside, or put a towel down for each in the mud room.
It's kind of funny, too. If I feed them in seperate areas outside, one will pick up its bone and go lie close to the other one! They like to be close to each other when they eat, eventhough they never bother each other. Other times they couldn't care less if they are with each other.
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Post by DivineOblivion19 on Jun 26, 2005 14:41:48 GMT -5
It's kind of funny, too. If I feed them in seperate areas outside, one will pick up its bone and go lie close to the other one! They like to be close to each other when they eat, eventhough they never bother each other. Other times they couldn't care less if they are with each other. Mine like to be close to each other too. Sometimes (rarely) Divina will actually put her bone on Cori and chew it that way. Since she's the dominant dog Cori just acts like nothing is happening.
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Post by Kona on Jun 27, 2005 13:16:22 GMT -5
Thanks from me, too. Although I don't raw feed, I learn a lot from all of you.
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Post by icygirlie on Jul 6, 2005 14:36:44 GMT -5
I was told and read somewhere that any kind of poultry bone is not the kind of bone you want to give your dogs as they can splinter and cause problems for the animals.
Can anyone confirm?
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Post by Am on Jul 6, 2005 19:27:35 GMT -5
Monsta has had no problems eating chicken necks or carcasses - mind you he has a biiiiiig mouth. I though that feeding pretty much any type of raw bone was OK? I've heard of cooked chicken bones being a problem, but I think that's true of most types of cooked bones.
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Post by sibemom on Jul 6, 2005 20:25:52 GMT -5
YOU GET AN "A" for that answer. Cooked bones are the ones that should be avoided because heating them makes them brittle. Raw bones ESPECIALLY poultry are kind of rubbery in a sense when they are raw. The trick to feeding poultry is to FEED BIG, that way the dog has to knaw and work on it for a longer length of time which causes the digestive juices to flow. Feeding big also curbs the GULPERS. Keep up the good work
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Post by sheila99 on Jul 18, 2005 21:37:03 GMT -5
Yes, I agree....great job...
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