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As I state in my OP, the quality of commercial food is really bad and I don't even know what is in it. Forget the kibble, she would not even touch that. I had already switched her to canned/wet food and even that she did not like after a while. Yes, the dog will survive but will she thrive I guess is the question. She will only eat it at the point where she is basically starving.
I think the CBC thing is a bit much IMO and so is overthinking omega-3 to omega-6 ratio. It's a young dog and she's still healthy. As far as organ meat, then what should I buy? I was thinking chicken liver and gizzards and Yes, gizzards may not be organ meat but what is the goal here? To include vitamins and minerals that are not present in the chicken meat and bone I would assume. So if the gizzards provide that then so be it? I could also use calves liver.
What would be the correct ratio of meat to bone?
Do I just grind the chicken as is?
What do you use for organ meat?
This is what I feed my dogs for the most part. Occasionally I will do a few days of home cooked or The Honest Kitchen for convenience. Answer’s is about the best premade food available. My dogs also get a little raw fermented goats milk with every meal.
There are a few recipes in these links. I have not yet purchased Dr. Becker’s book as she has an updated version coming out this year. You could also look into Monica Segal as she is a nutritionist and has a wealth of free information on her site. The last link is Kimberley Gauthier and I enjoy her articles as the subject matter is broad and quite often she focuses on something I had just been wondering about. I stumbled upon her when I first started feeding raw and ran into a problem. She often discusses co-ops and has links to co-ops throughout the country as well as the major premade raw companies.
Do I just grind the chicken as is?
What do you use for organ meat?
I don't grind, the cats and 9 pound dog and 14 pound dogs even started as babies on whole raw, sorry can't help with that. They have had wings, poultry necks, drumstick ribs and thigh.
Usually pork or beef kidney, liver, heart for organ meat.
Maybe it is just me, but I recommend that you should read a raw feeding book as a guideline, THEN ask if there is something that doesn't make sense.
Otherwise the info you get will be piecemeal.
ETA there are a ton of threads like this on here. Try a search here, it has been a pretty hot topic for years.
I don't grind, the cats and 9 pound dog and 14 pound dogs even started as babies on whole raw, sorry can't help with that. They have had wings, poultry necks, drumstick ribs and thigh.
Usually pork or beef kidney, liver, heart for organ meat.
Maybe it is just me, but I recommend that you should read a raw feeding book as a guideline, THEN ask if there is something that doesn't make sense.
That last link is interesting however a lot of those ingredients will be harder to find for most everyone.
Duck, Rabbit, Green Tripe, Guinea Hen?
I got a kick out of those. It is difficult (and expensive) to find those for myself much less the dog. I'll stick with the chicken for now.
That’s why Kimberly links to co-ops as they get the grinds in bulk at a discount. I have 2 small dogs, 7 & 10# so it’s easier to just buy premade. I stopped feeding chicken about 6 months ago.
That’s why Kimberly links to co-ops as they get the grinds in bulk at a discount. I have 2 small dogs, 7 & 10# so it’s easier to just buy premade. I stopped feeding chicken about 6 months ago.
I'm guessing you missed it but I posted that exact same link further up the thread. I am not overthinking this and worry about omega-6 to omega-3 ratios or taking my dog in to the vet to have blood work done. That's taking it a bit too far IMO. I'm also not going to spend that kind of money on dog food. I watch what I eat carefully but going to the same level for my dog is a bit much.
Oh yah, LOTS of opinions and conflicting info! There always will be.
Yes, giving a chicken drumstick or whole wing to my little dog is a fun party trick for people who have never watched it happen before (I say that tongue in cheek). I give it to him outside, or in his dinner crate - I separate him because I have 2 bigger dogs.
It is too much bone to meat ratio to give daily, but I do feed that (or something similar) at least once a week. It takes about 15-20 minutes for him to get it all done, and he gets good exercise just eating.
Oh yah, LOTS of opinions and conflicting info! There always will be.
Yes, giving a chicken drumstick or whole wing to my little dog is a fun party trick for people who have never watched it happen before (I say that tongue in cheek). I give it to him outside, or in his dinner crate - I separate him because I have 2 bigger dogs.
It is too much bone to meat ratio to give daily, but I do feed that (or something similar) at least once a week. It takes about 15-20 minutes for him to get it all done, and he gets good exercise just eating.
party trick?, LOL
So since you feed them raw and do not include the bone most of the time, do you just remove the bone and then feed? Remove with a knife? just curious.
My wife, which feeds the dog most of the time and is at home all day, I work. She's sort of a vegetarian and is a bit squeamish handling raw meat, I'll have to figure that one out. That's why I may just grind it. I have a good grinder that can do this. It'll be trial and error for a while.
When I started I had a grinder, after cleaning it twice I gave it away, I am way to lazy to clean grinders and food processors
I feed bone, I never remove it. Some days I just don't feed bone. I'll feed hunks of fish or heart, pork butt roast, eggs, kidney, etc... Normally I just feed in the evening, puppies and old dogs twice a day.
I was all but vegetarian when I started feeding raw. I learned with "good" scissors (I am not to be trusted with a knife) to cut up a whole chicken, I learned by default, because even in high school I picked the freaky guy as my partner in biology because I didn't want to cut up the frog! I did the clean work.
Most guests ask if they can watch my dogs when I throw them their food. Or I let the guests do it if they aren't grossed out, and they are always fascinated.
I'm used to it now, but at first I watched them like a hawk because I was worried.
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I learned with "good" scissors (I am not to be trusted with a knife) to cut up a whole chicken, I learned by default, because even in high school I picked the freaky guy as my partner in biology because I didn't want to cut up the frog! I did the clean work.
