Terrified to go RAW..

[boxermomATL]

..but I know my girl needs it. She has so many food allergies that likely wouldn't be an issue anymore.

Every time I attempt to study up on raw feeding, I get confused and overwhelmed. Everyone says how easy it is and I'm sure once I take the plunge I will look back at my panicked self and laugh. But I do not want to take the plunge without understanding it better.

I think what might ease my mind is if you raw feeders could give me an example feeding timeline that gives me an idea of what and how much you feed over the course of a week (or however much time) to ensure you achieve the proper balance.

[Please Work]

My girl gets 1kg of food a day (split into two meals), so that would be roughly 30kg per month. 24kg muscle, 3kg offal and 3kg bone would be the rough break down of what my girl gets per month. It may be a little confusing getting used to cuts and the different meat to bone ratios but you will get the hang of it, I always think in terms of a chicken quarter beacause it is an ideal bone to meat ratio, so I compare other cuts to that. I really hope I didn't confuse you lol.

Not sure if it will be much help to you but when I started out I worked everything out over a 10 day period. My reasoning for this was to keep the 80/10/10 as simplified as I could. You could even work it out over 10 meals - that would probably be easier at first in that the equivalent to 8 muscle meals/1 bone meal/1 organ meal would equal the 80/10/10 - make sense? At first you need to introduce things slowly and personally I did not introduce offal until I knew she could handle a few sources of protein so that it was easier for me to figure out if she was having trouble handling a certain protein and it wasn't a case of too much offal too soon.

Few starter tips I found useful
* start with one protein and give only that for two weeks
* don't freak out if your dog gets the runs at first it is normal for them to go through a detox period - some don't realise this and worry raw isn't agreeing with them and go back to kibble
* add new protein sources one by one and allow the two weeks for each one
* add offal very very slowly (and I waited until she was on 3 or 4 different types of protein first) and remember that alot of dogs can't handle offal only meals, but it is quite okay to add a bit of offal as a "side" (we do this)
* don't freak out if your dog vomits up a bit of bone it sometimes happens in early stages or can be a sign that they are getting too much bone.
* After you have a few protein sources introduced don't feed the same type of protein for more than three meals in a row (I don't do more than 2)
Lastly, there are alot of lovely raw feeders on here that are very helpful so don't be shy about asking questions, and I really understand how you feel about taking the plunge lol you will be fine. Good Luck!

[gmacleod]

Here's an old thread that might help you out a bit, in terms of figuring what a typical menu over the course of a week might look like : Help with my Barf Plan

Do note that that doesn't really apply in the beginning, when you're going through a process of introducing your dog to new food (and in your case, sorting out how it goes with her allergies). It is definitely more of how things might look in 6 months' time, once you've tested all you need to test and decided what is OK for her to eat and what isn't. As you'll see, it is just a matter of feeding a range of different meats (with bone) so that the dog has adequate variety in her diet, and including offal (organ meats) regularly. The veggies, etc are quite optional - many raw feeders don't bother with those.

It also isn't necessary to be strict about the variety you feed. If it happens that one week you can't get (e.g.) lamb at any reasonable price, you don't worry about it. Include that in the diet when its on sale. A week or so with less variety doesn't kill, nor does varying what you feed according to season and price. The point is more just to ensure that you don't constantly feed the dog on the same meat type.

*******

In the beginning, of course, you don't need to worry about all that. You just pick one meat type - most people take chicken, since its cheap and easy to get. You don't have to though, it makes no difference to anything except your own convenience. If chicken is an allergy suspect, and other things are easy to obtain, you might just as well choose that something else. Maybe you choose rabbit or lamb - entirely up to you

So you take your chosen meat type, and you feed that alone for a little while. Meat "type" includes all parts of the carcass and its offal (so if you chose rabbit, it means any and all parts of the rabbit carcass). It is best that it's reasonably meaty. So all you need to do is feed that alone for 2-3 weeks and see how the dog does with it. If she does just fine, then you pick meat # 2 (again, of any type you want) and introduce that to the diet. If it goes well over a 2-3 week period (can be alternated with meat # 1), then you pick meat # 3 and add that in (now you have 3 meats to alternate between), and so on. After a little while, you'll find you've got enough things to choose from to follow a general diet plan that looks much like that linked above.

That is how things usually go. Naturally, sometimes it isn't quite so smooth and a dog might not do well on a particular type of meat. For example, some might find lamb too fatty. Or hate the taste of fish. In your case, it's possible that you might find that an existing allergy still applies to the raw form (often it doesn't, so don't be afraid to try!), and you have to exclude a certain meat type. But the above gradual introduction of new things is how you find these things out So DO try new items one by one, and you'll pretty quickly find which ones are good for her and can be included in her diet, and which ones just have to stay off the menu. Note that this applies not only to meats, but also to any veggies you choose to feed, or extras like eggs and cottage cheese.

[boxermomATL]

Thank you both for taking the time to reply.

Please Work, your 10-day suggestion did help to make things clearer for me and I think that is a routine I will try.

I suppose my next step is to find a reasonably priced raw food source. I picked up a package of 3 turkey necks while I was at our local pet store today and it was $15! But I figured I'd give them as treats over the next week or so while I continue my research. Sophie just ate one and is one happy boxer baby. The sound of the bones crunching made me wince a little bit, but she did great.

[cdnbxrlvr]

I feed raw and i'll be honest that I don't vary her meals as much as I should. Just like you I was terrified of going raw but new it was best for her and I just needed to suck it up.
I started VERY simple. Ground turkey with bone, dried kelp and herring oil. I added chicken backs about two weeks later.
If it is just a matter of getting you started that is about as simple as it gets. I am fortunate to have a poultry warehouse a few minutes from my house.
You can find weight calculations for feeding raw online. We did find that Roxy requires far more then the recommended amount through calculations. Roxy gets about 1.5lbs per meal. Her new Vet is amazed with how lean and healthy she is!

[Please Work]

Originally Posted by boxermomATL

I picked up a package of 3 turkey necks while I was at our local pet store today and it was $15!

Yikes! That is pricey, I get them over here for about $4 - $5 for 1.5kg from the grocery store, sometimes getting things like that from a grocery store or butcher/poultry place is cheaper as I find pet shops charge more for that kind of stuff.

[dharmadoodle]

You could always try pre-packed raw food from the pet store.

Don't worry I was scared once too, but you soon get into it.

A couple of small tips I would give:

1/ Never cook tripe - trust me when I tell you it will make your house smell like a farmyard (I only did it the once).

2/ Easy on the liver, a lot can cause runny poop (although some dogs can handle it). Rogue only has about 100g a week.

[bhboxer]

Look for a small butcher where you can buy chicken frames - these are typically used for soup. You should be able to get them for $1 or less per pound - even organic. They are about 50% meat and easy for the dog to chew and digest. Many ethnic markets sell great things for your dog. Around us the chinese stores sell heart, kidney, liver, pigs feet, etc - all at good prices. On a monthly basis it will cost less than a premium kibble.

Also try calling local butchers, abattoirs and see how much they will charge for their production scraps. I have found that some will just give you the stuff, especially the "saw dust" that comes off the bone saws.