Anyone else feed an all RAW diet?

[lv4dogs]

I used to feed raw and LOVED it, my finances & freezer space got the best of me though. Hopefully in the near future they will be started back up on it and I can not wait for that day to come!

[dab_20]

Will feeding raw make them healthier and live longer? I'd really like to start when I move out, depending on if I go to college right away. Molli and Sam will only be around 5 years old by then.

[BC_MoM]

Do they eat in one sitting?? Because I don't want meat laying around my house all day..

Also.. is blood an issue? I don't want blood all over my dogs or the house! lol

[.sarah]

Will feeding raw make them healthier and live longer? I'd really like to start when I move out, depending on if I go to college right away. Molli and Sam will only be around 5 years old by then.

In most cases they will become healthier in one aspect or another. They are getting much better nutrition and their body is able to use more of their food (and that means less poo poo ). Living longer is never for certain. You never know how long your dog will live while on kibble or on raw, since you don't have a clone and can't feed one each

Mandy's benefits - Her arthritis pain has subsided for the most part. A couple weeks ago she had a few days where I thought she was getting worse, but she had been sleeping with my parents in their bed (believe it or not the dogs have a better bed then they do ) and I think that was the source of the problem. She's been fine since she got back to sleeping on her orthopedic bed. She's also lost 2 lbs, and I have been trying for over a year to get 5 lbs off of her.

Nova's benefits - I have noticed an increased energy level. She is fine now without her supplements (she has hip and elbow dysplasia) but I still give them mostly to help prevent things from happening. She's lost 3 lbs. She didn't need to lose any, but I wanted her to so there would be less pressure on her joints. She's at a really good weight now but could lose even more and still be healthy.

Luka's benefits - There hasn't been much of a change for her. She seems about the same except now instead of running to her kennel for meal time she runs to the door

Buck's benefits - he's growing slower than his littermates. The smallest in the litter has gotten bigger than him just in the 2 weeks that they've been at their new homes.

[.sarah]

Do they eat in one sitting?? Because I don't want meat laying around my house all day..

Also.. is blood an issue? I don't want blood all over my dogs or the house! lol

My dogs eat in one sitting. They wouldn't leave their meal for nothing. I try to feed two meals a day if possible but sometimes they just get one meal around the middle of the day. Mandy did turn her nose up at rabbit and I just picked it back up and put it in the fridge and she didn't eat that time. Come next meal time I put it back out for her. She didn't eat it again. So for the next meal I gave her chicken and fed the rabbit to Nova and Luka.

I feed the dogs outside. I haven't had a problem with blood yet. It's usually absorbed pretty well in those things in the bottom of the packages. The livers I buy are kept in blood though and I just use a fork and pull them out of the container, leaving the blood behind. Blood is actually good for the dogs, and some people buy it by itself to feed (I don't think you can do that in the US though ), but I haven't gotten used the image of my dogs drinking blood just yet

[Glacier]

Mandy doesn't like it frozen, and Nova and Luka prefer it thawed or semi-frozen, so I just go ahead and thaw it (partially or completely) in the fridge over a day or mores time, depending on the size of the package.

Ah, you're well trained! I was just curious as I never thaw it! I'm just not that organized in the mornings. I just feed the meat frozen!

[.sarah]

Ah, you're well trained!

Lol I don't mind though. I have my own special section in the fridge for all of my vegetarian stuff, and it's filled with meats

[Ravette]

I am soooo sold on feeding raw!! I stayed up until 3 am researching and it has so many positive rewards that its worth trying. I know I won't be able to talk my parents into it though I'm looking forward to getting a job lmao!

[cali]

Raw feeder here, I feed based on billinghurst BEFORE any of the grinding buisness came about, I have no idea where that came from, I have met billinghurst in person, I have only resently heard that he likes everything ground? veggies need to be pulped so the dogs can get the nutrients but thats all, everything else is whole. there diet is mostly meat, bones, and organ meats, we dont give them pulped veggies everyday anymore, mostly just because of lack of time lol I love it, I will never go back to kibble, the dogs are so much better off on Raw, the effects ware even long lasting, I mean Shadow was on kibble and threw up at least once a day(on purina one, it was the only thing she could eat without throwing up 5 times a day-litterally) she was so arthritic she could no longer stand up etc.. she was switched to raw and all of it cleared up, no more throwing up, and NO signs of arthritus, when she went to her new hom she went back on kibble..and to my shock it did NOT cause her to start throwing up again, she has been on kibble of 2 years now, and her arthritus has not come back, she will be 10 years old in june, and her coat is still pure black and she still has plenty of energy, her current brother however who has been on kibble his whole life is slowing down and going grey at 5 years.

[k9krazee]

Wow Sarah, I'm impressed Very helpful info!!!

I'm very interested in feeding raw, my parents aren't too keen on the idea...yet It took them long enough to allow me to switch the gang from Iams to Nutro, lol.

[lv4dogs]

Sarah, I want to say what a great person you are, to not force your beliefs on an animal that is a carnivore. Kudos to you sweetie! Gots to love people like you!

[PinkSunshine]

Wow this thread sure has taken off

I feed all 3 of my babies pretty close to what Sarah described. I feed frozen as well, but my 3 get fed outside - always - since it takes a while for them to eat a meal and I don't want meat 'parts' thrown around my house. Pork and chicken are my 2 biggest meat ingredients, although when my fiance goes hunting, they get game as well. I do feed fish quite a lot as well.

When going over nutrition requirements with 2 different vets, I decided to add in a few different oils to their meals. Dozer's coat/skin has improved VASTLY since he was switched over to an all raw diet at 6 months old. He used to have such dry/flaky skin but now his coat is in excellent condition.

As far as cost/time goes, I do spend quite a lot of time feeding this way. I usually end up spending 3-4 hours Monday nights getting their meals ready for the week. I work and go to college, so I make sure I have the week planned out for them. I do a lot of hand washing as well

Cost is about the same as if we were feeding dog kibble. Dozer is a huge guy and eats a lot. The last time he ate dog kibble was at 6 months old, so I can't really compare what he eats now to what it would be in dog kibble, but it's not cheap to feed him, in the least. My 2 yorkies eat much less, and I'd compare what they eat to about as much as it'd cost in kibble...

[CathyBogart]

When I get my dog I will feed raw. I joined the Livejournal Rawdogs group thanks to a post made on PT and I am hooked on the idea!

[.sarah]

I am soooo sold on feeding raw!! I stayed up until 3 am researching and it has so many positive rewards that its worth trying. I know I won't be able to talk my parents into it though I'm looking forward to getting a job lmao!

That is great!

Wow Sarah, I'm impressed Very helpful info!!!

lol, I really made sure I knew what I was doing before I switched.

Sarah, I want to say what a great person you are, to not force your beliefs on an animal that is a carnivore. Kudos to you sweetie! Gots to love people like you!

Thank you!! That is so nice.

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

I don't feed a raw diet, my parents would never go for that. When I get my Toller though I'd love to start feeding her and Tango raw as that is what my breeder and other Toller breeders reccommend for the breed. Tango will be about 5 years old or so by the time comes, will I be able to switch her to a raw diet after having been a kibble fed dog for so long already?? Sarah, would you mind PMing me the links that you have? Even though I won't be getting a Toller for about 2 years, I'd like to start researching this now so that I don't have to quickly learn how to feed raw right before I get my pup...