RAW food question

[Racergirl]

Please can I pick brains of you clever lot who feed raw? I've just changed my 8yo staffie over (we've done the chicken week, now we are on mixed meat packs week as per the advice of the lady at Nurture by Nature where I buy it all) but he's decided he doesn't like the meat.... The one I started him on is a chicken and fish mix, with a spoon of fruit and veg mix as well (she did warn me that some dogs aren't big fans of the veg mix) yesterday morning he wolfed it down, last night he picked at it and this morning (they are 400g packs, so 4 meals per box for him) he has flatly refused to touch it. He loves bones and chicken carci (carcasses??!!) but I don't know if he can have them early doors? She did tell me that after a week - 10 days he can have a carcass for breakfast 3 days a week and then he can have whatever he likes, so I'm reluctant to try and do things too early?

How do you lot deal with a fussy ******? I've taken out a chicken and duck to defrost for later in the hope that he just doesn't like the fish mix - but he loves raw fish whole, so I'm not sure it can be that? I can't ask in the shop till Tuesday as they are shut !!!!

Also - where does everyone get theirs from? I'm loving NBN at the moment, but I'm def up for shopping around !!!

Thankyou everyone

 

[RockinRudolph]

Congrats on going to raw! Mine have been on raw for a few months so I'm not a fountain of knowledge by all means, but I did a fair bit of research first. My little terrier will sometimes turn his nose up at one of the packets we get (minced chicken carcass), the collie gulps down everything he is given! Have you adjusted your quantities? Mine don't need as much on raw than they got on commercial food. If he doesn't eat it, I leave him with it for about 10mins and then take it away and don't worry about it. If your dog was off food for a few days and didn't seem his usual self then I'd be concerned but I wouldn't worry if it's the occassional meal.
Given that your dog has already started I can't see why a carcass would be a problem. Ours get bones regularly and often have chicken/turkey necks for breakfast to crunch on.
I get the food from Manifold Valley Meats and am really happy with them. We have a local supplier and get about a months supply at a time.
I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will be along in a bit to give better advice!

 

[Racergirl]

That's brilliant, thankyou so much!!
He did eat the chicken/duck mix tonight, so I'm hoping he's just being a fussy chap!!

I was told 10g food for each kg, so he's on 200g food a day - when the other two change over I'm hoping to have got the hang of it!!! (And to have got a chest freezer so I can buy in more bulk!)

Thankyou so much for the reply,
I do want to get this right

 

[RockinRudolph]

Ah glad he has eaten it! I bagged a fridge freezer when a friend had a new kitchen put in - it's quite handy as we can leave a fair few packs defrosting in the fridge as well as having the freezer full.

Have you looked at this website?

http://rawfeddogs.org/rawguide.html

It's a really good resource.

 

[Racergirl]

Oh brilliant - will have a look when I'm on a computer next - thankyou!!

 

[kate2000]

Hi
I've also been feeding raw for the last 4 months and WOW, what a difference in my dogs. Both king charles cavaliers - one a rescue. One girl now has no small intestinal disease after being on the raw, and the wee rescue girl has FAB skin and coat now. Brilliant.
If your dog is being fussy, you could always try a different brand? I use Nature's menu and my girls wolf down every variety I've given so far. It's gone in about 20 seconds! If you are happy to stick with the brand you use, my advice would be just to keep trying different flavours and figure out which ones your dog likes and which it doesnt.
Natures menu has veg and fruit mixed in with the meat/bones - the meat is all human grade. I go with chicken, beef, salmon etc and just chop and change between them all.
Great you are on the Raw though - you will see a big improvement in your dogs coat and teeth etc for sure

 

[Racergirl]

Thankyou kate, will look at that too

 

[Dizzykizzy]

We've fed ours raw for about 4 years now and would never go back to kibble even though the smell makes me vomit sometimes! (Hubby in charge of feeding mostly)
We get ours from DAF as they have so much choice, one of ours can't tolerate red meat.
We were told 2-3% of body weight and adjust as necessary so 10g per kilo seems very low to me. We have a fussy pup so we don't always give her the same as the others.

 

[PorkChop]

I have nine dogs, all feed raw. I use Berriewood Wholesale for most of their meat. I couldn't do it without my chest freezer. I just feed by eye, bit more boned meat if they need to loose weight, fatty meat to put weight on, I haven't found a meat that hasn't agreed with them yet. I personally don't feed extra carbs and veg, but lots of people do, though they will occasionally get leftover veg. Really pleased with how well they look on it

 

[Racergirl]

You lot are brilliant - thankyou!!!!

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Might be the veg/fruit bit. One of mine won't eat stuff like that and almost invariably throws up if he has tripe. He's fine on chicken, beef, venison, lamb. I would be tempted to source a supplier cos it might well be cheaper and you can mix it up as you choose. MVM has variety if they deliver or have a stockist near you. Here's a list of suppliers in the UK, but do a search cos new suppliers pop up all the time: http://www.petforums.co.uk/dog-health-and-nutrition/197702-raw-food-supplier-list.html

For amounts, it's meant to be 3% of breed standard weight-that's the top end and mine are fed less to keep them lean, plus they get treats :redface3: so I need to be a bit careful.

 

[Racergirl]

You're brilliant, thankyou - all of you. So pleased I've got you lot to ask - I don't feel half so stupid asking you lot !!!

I don't think he's a massive fan of the minceness of the food he's got at the moment, he won't eat at breakfast time, but he will usually be hungry enough to eat at dinner - so if that's how he wants to do it for the moment then that's what we will do!! I think/hope we will have more success when I find some chunks of meat - he quite likes pretending he's stolen it I think!!!

The lady in the shop told me the 10g per kilo thing for them - we do give them treats as well, so deliberately err on the smaller side of feeding in the hope that we control their weight!!!

I'm really hoping this takes off properly - it's him I'm worried about, the other two are gannets !!!

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Has he had chicken wings yet? You can little ones, bash them up a bit in a plastic bag with a rolling pin and hold one end as he eats so he knows not to inhale. If he's ok with those, you can move on to carcasses, drumsticks, thighs, then lamb breast (cheap from the Dog Food Company) and pig trotters, or even whole bunnies! :eek3:

 

[Racergirl]

he loves anything boney,
I just got told not to give him too many !!
He disappears for ages when he gets a carcass

 

[ribbons]

Because mine is tiny (chihuahua) I can afford to feed human grade meat rather than commercial raw for dogs. I don't mince anything, she doesn't like it that way.
She has chicken wings and drumsticks, lamb chops (we raise our own lamb), pork, liver, rabbit, pheasant and pigeon. I don't give her beef as it seems to disagree with her tummy a little.
She has it all, either on the bone or a single chunk of meat, and loves it like that, she's a bit picky with it chopped, and really not interested in more than a couple of mouthfuls if its minced.
Not much help with a bigger dog I know, as the cost would be excessive and I'm not sure if you can buy dog grade meat other than minced mixed packs, but I think its the fun of the meal mine enjoys as much as the meat.
Could you see what your local butcher has in the way of waste. Some butchers mince all off cuts and sell as pet food, could you ask for some before mincing and try it.

 

[Racergirl]

I've got a tame butcher near work, I might go and have a word with him tomorrow - hadn't thought of that, thankyou!!!

 

[planete]

I do not understand this 10g per kg thing. If you take 2% of say, 25 kg, 25kg = 25000 grammes. 2% of 25000 is 500 grammes, not 50 grammes! I do feed raw and I do not think my dog would be amused to get only 50 g a day.

 

[Racergirl]

Nope, you've lost me with that maths - a hypothetical dog who would get 50g of food a day would weigh 5kg, your hypothetical dog of 25kg would get 250g of food.
(According to the way the people in the shop advise to feed raw) 2% of 20kg would mean I would
feed him 400g a day?
I'm still a bit confused about that - I do know that 100g per meal really doesn't look much - but I'm still learning and at least he will happily eat 100g at a time

I think it's going to be very much eye for his weight...

 

[lexiedhb]

I dont think 10g per kilo is enough either you are supposed to feed between 2-3% of their ideal body weight. So for each kg a dog weighs, which is 1000g a dog should be fed between 20 and 30g of food.

so
1kg dog = 20-30g perday
5kg dog = 100- 150g per day
10kg dog =200 -300g per day
20kg dog = 400- 600 g per day

Unless they are seriously overweight I dont think you can be feeding enough..... how much do your dogs weigh? 10g per kg is only 1% body weight

Mine is 30kg and he gets about 450g a day because a) he gets snacks- pizzle, cows ears etc and b) he could do with shifting a kilo or 2

 

[Racergirl]

The one on it at the moment is 20kg - and I'd love to feed him more than they have advised (assuming I can get him to eat it!!)
All of you have said it doesn't sound enough - so I'm going to do what drives me nuts at work and go with people on an Internet forum while using my eyes!!

You lot are brilliant - it's so much clearer talking to you all !!

 

[lexiedhb]

Every thing I have ever red about raw feeding says feed 2-3% of their ideal weight, and go by eye, more for really active dogs, less for couch potatoes!!

 

[Racergirl]

heres what it says on their website ( please note - Im only putting this up to show Im not completely bonkers - she def told me that!!)

"Methods:

THE BASICS
 (These are the same for either method)

We usually start with plain minced chicken as most dogs seem able to cope with this meat very well and it has some fine minced bone in with the meat.
Take the approximate ideal weight of the dog.
For every 10 Kg of the dogs weight allow 100 grams of meat. This is just a starting weight, the general recommended feeding amount on a Raw diet is 2-3% of the animals bodyweight in meat/bone per day. This will also vary with your pet's Metabolism, Weight, Age, Exercise and Breed/Size.
Please remember that each animal is very different, just as we humans are. "

So maybe what the lady in the shop meant was to start him on the 10g/kg and then work up? (not that she said that, but Ive been very confused - maybe it was me!!)

anyway - Im off to window shop for food at the place DizzyKizzy suggested, its crazy how excited I am about this now !!!