I'd love to put my two large breeds on a raw diet... any Raw Diet Suggestions? (shepherd, poop)
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First off, gorgeous dogs! I do mostly raw (85%), though sometimes supplement with Orijen. I've seen such a positive change in my dog's health, coat, skin, energy, etc. He's a Bulldog and extremely active, lean, and healthy, and I attribute that all to his diet. I was never a fan of reaching into a bag of pellets and calling it a meal, and the major recall of 2007 convinced me to avoid giving my dog commercial dog food as a main source of nutrition.
Here are two sites that are wonderful resources for first-time feeders. All your questions should be answered, especially on the first site. That's pretty much what convinced me to make the switch and I am so glad I did. Congrats on taking a huge step in bettering your dogs' lives through excellent nutrition! Once you see the results, you'll never go back to kibble!
Mak,
I too want to thank you for posting these links. You've just convinced me to switch to raw! I was looking at the links and found some very funny recipes... Raw Feeding Recipes (http://rawfeddogs.net/Recipe/List - broken link) I was laughing so much! "take the egg and hand it to your dog"...what a simple recipe! Can't wait for the last bag of very expensive kibble to finish to start on raw!
Mak,
I too want to thank you for posting these links. You've just convinced me to switch to raw! I was looking at the links and found some very funny recipes... Raw Feeding Recipes (http://rawfeddogs.net/Recipe/List - broken link) I was laughing so much! "take the egg and hand it to your dog"...what a simple recipe! Can't wait for the last bag of very expensive kibble to finish to start on raw!
The egg...I have a funny story to go with that. So raw feeders hand the egg, shell and all, to their dogs. That's how they eat it. Well, my Bulldog was taught from very early on to have a "soft" mouth because I didn't want him to accidentally hurt people, especially kids. I handed him the egg, and he carried it to his bed, where he placed it and began to lick the shell. He had no idea that he was supposed to eat it! Hopefully, your dogs are smarter than that!
And I'm glad the sites convinced you to switch. Your dogs will love their new food!
The egg...I have a funny story to go with that. So raw feeders hand the egg, shell and all, to their dogs. That's how they eat it. Well, my Bulldog was taught from very early on to have a "soft" mouth because I didn't want him to accidentally hurt people, especially kids. I handed him the egg, and he carried it to his bed, where he placed it and began to lick the shell. He had no idea that he was supposed to eat it! Hopefully, your dogs are smarter than that!
And I'm glad the sites convinced you to switch. Your dogs will love their new food!
I feed my two knuckle heads raw and some very good kibble. My oldest boy Peter (AmStaff who is 5 now) is very finicky with his food. I've left him go hungry for days trying to get him to eat the meat as I give it to him. Nope, he'd rather starve. Won't eat meat on the bone - don't know the reason - but will eat meat that I've cubed for him. He will eat raw beef bones, but not if there is meat on them. He's the one that mostly eats kibble.
My youngest boy Gunnar, just turned 1 year, has been eating raw all his life - eats everything and anything in any form. I give them meat that I buy at the grocery store or butcher. I look for great sales on beef, chicken, turkey etc and stock up on it. Food for Less and Superior are the chains I usually find meat at rock bottom prices.
I give the boys some raw veggies now and then as well. Gunnar (Alapaha Bulldog) loves raw carrots! Thinks they are the best treats. Peter, won't even touch them!
My 90 lb Pyralab has been moved over to raw, and he's doing much better. We found that on *any* kibble, any brand, any style, he had very runny bowels. Since we feed him chicken, he's been regular and happy.
He's also trimmed up nicely and looks lean and fit.
Scarmig, same with my male GSD, runny bowels , no matter how good quality the food was, Ive tried them all. Funny thing about raw is, whatever I give him, salmon, chicken, tripe, you name it, not one time has he had that problem. !
For those of you wanting to switch, it is very very important that you just do it. Kibble WITH raw is a BAD idea. The kibble slows down the movement of the raw through the digestive tract, can make them sick.
Just keep in mind - there's A LOT more human grade meat recalls then there are dog food.
If you're going to feed raw, be educated. And get it balanced.
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