Yes but would one filet of fish be enough for them?
I would imagine they'd still be hungry.
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Yes but would one filet of fish be enough for them?
I would imagine they'd still be hungry.
A filet is usually around 1/2 lb right? Mandy, Nova, and Luka all get fed 3/4-1 lb a day, so a filet is usually fed with something else. You could feed kibble in the morning but I really wouldn't feed other raw stuff right now, except maybe chicken. You want to gradually introduce new things into their diet or they are going to have a major tummy upset.
If you do want to feed all raw one day, I would add chicken to it or if you have more fish then add that. Chicken is very bland and a good meat to start with, dogs usually don't have much problem with it.
Could I add some veggies/fruit?
I have tomatoes, carrots, and bananas.
I was thinking of chopping up the fish real fine anyways. I don't think they'd eat a big filet if I handed it to them right away.
As for feeding chicken, can I feed just regular chicken breasts (I have those) or should I wait and buy chicken legs? I was thinking chicken breasts would be better to start with?
You could add veggies and fruits, but it'll just be filler. Dogs don't need that stuff, and won't get any nutritional benefit unless if it's pureed or pulped to mimic stomach contents.
I would hand it to them whole, you might be surprised. Unless if you want to be chopping it up for them each time, you are setting yourself up for finicky dogs by doing that if they refuse it whole. ;) Fish is one of those foods that my dogs crave. Mandy goes absolutely nuts over fish, probably because it's so much stinkier than other meats.
Chicken breasts are fine, bone-in or boneless. Chicken legs are kind of small (it's easier for them to choke on smaller pieces), I'd get chicken quarters. Quarters are usually cheaper too, I just got 20 lbs for $.49/lb. Some dogs are really good with eating legs though, it all depends on what type of eater your dogs are. Nova and Luka will practically swallow a leg whole, so I usually feed them quarters or whole chickens.
Yeah, I was planning on putting the tomatoes/carrots/bananas in the food processor, making a paste out of it, then putting it over the chopped up trout.
I don't want to give them too much but I don't want them to be hungry.
If I can find a good supply I will hopefully be feeding TimberWolf Organics in the morning, and then when I have more time feeding raw for dinner.
To save on time, I take one day out every now and then and go buy everything and then package it up to make things easier. If I buy chicken quarters, I seperate them all into little baggies and then freeze them until I am ready to feed it. Otherwise a lot of things freeze into clumps and you have to thaw the whole thing to get the portion you want out, which is a pain.
My mom buys Wal-Mart deli bags on E-bay for about $.01 per bag. I package everything up into a meal portion and then freeze it all. You should see my freezer, it's so organized ;)
It takes a couple hours if I do it myself, but only about 30 minutes if I have help. My mom holds the bags open and seals them while I drop stuff in and cut up organs into portion sizes. Then when I am ready to feed I just put the dogs outside and go get four baggies of something from the fridge or freezer.
It should be the other way around, shouldn't it? Raw in the morning, kibble at night, because the raw will digest faster.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kfamr
Quote:
Originally Posted by k9krazee
I don't know, that's why i'm posting in this thread! :p
I don't feed the dogs in the morning on weekdays because I leave for work at 5am and the dogs aren't even awake. My dad does and I'm pretty sure he'd never want to feed them raw, even if I seperated it for him.
As long as you feed them about 8-10 hours apart it doesn't really matter if you feed the kibble in the morning. They should both be ready to pop out around the same time then :pQuote:
Originally Posted by k9krazee
I have a question, I've been looking into this for a really long time but I'm going to college in the fall and I KNOW that my family wouldn't keep up with it if I do start. Would it be okay to feed them raw while I'm home in the spring/summer and then go back to kibble for the fall/winter? It wouldn't cause their bodies any damage would it because the two are so drastically different?
Nope, they would benefit from it! :)
Chester hasn't had his dinner yet, but he'll be getting a whole chicken. The chicken I am getting him still has the head attached, so I was just wondering if it is okay for them to eat the beak?
Yeah, the beak is okay to eat :)
Ok, thanks! :)
Okay, so they just had their meal.
1 filet of trout
pureed carrots, banana, and a little bit of tomato on top.
All three started off by licking the trout clean.
Nala seemed to swallow it in one piece. I don't know if she chewed it at all. That's something else I was afraid of.
Simba chewed it, ate it, and looked for more.
Kiara finally ate it after putting it in her mouth and spitting it back out a billion times.
The lady who created "The Dog Food Project" website just told me that it is okay to feed raw and kibble in the same meal. She's been helping me a lot.
Ugh, so confusing.
That's awesome, Kay! =0) I'm happy your pups like their raw. I've also had no bad experiences with mixing at all... their poops just aren't as perfect as they are with all-raw. Mordy is soooo cool! I'm glad she's helping you out!
Breakfast - Gonzo had a light breakfast, because we went to a Flyball demo at 8 AM. He got a few rabbit pieces (leg quarters), a little bit of veggie mix & a whole hard-boiled egg. Fozzie got the same and he pretty much thought he died and went to heaven, with the rabbit. It was perfect sized for him :p
Lunch - A bunch of Red Barn roll treats for both of them. Apples & baby carrots (fed to them by kids sitting nearby). Fozzie got 1/3 cup of California Natural. Both got a Merrick Cow Tail to occupy them in their crates.
Dinner - Fozzie got CN. Gonzo is still pooped, so he might not eat tonight, or he'll have a little bit of chicken Farmore.
My girls all do that with fish too, they've never had a problem. I'm sure if I gave it whole or frozen it would fix that but I don't see a need to.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kfamr
You can mix kibble in, I just wouldn't reccomend it. You can try it and see if the dogs have loose stools and if they do, then don't do it again. Your call. :)
Glad Simba and Nala liked it. Kiara probably just doesn't get that it supposed to be food. I started my dogs out on chicken, and Mandy didn't understand it was food at first. She ate it, but not happily lol. She probably wouldn't have eaten it if she didn't see Luka and Nova gobble it up.
That's awesome that you're looking into raw Kay!
I still need to buy fish for my boys. I've been too lazy to look for a cheap place to get it from. One day..
Today they had ground chicken, veggies, a chicken leg and I added NuPro. They HATE NuPro! I got it because it has glucosamine in it and Kaedyn needs it since he's getting older and starting to get stiffer. The darn thing cost me $45 dollars and they won't touch their food with it in.. ack. :o
Any loose stools, Kay? I hope everything went fine :)
Today Buck had a pig ear for breakfast, and they are having pork necks for dinner. I don't know why I am feeding necks, they are so boney. My mom buys them a lot because they're on sale. I usually don't feed them, but they've had so much chicken lately I thought they needed something else ;) I'll probably give them some beef tongue too.
Their poos are fine.
Because my family sucks, they got kibble and the leftover puree today.
(No one wanted to drive me to the grocery store, yet didn't bother to tell me that they went on 2 seperate occasions today.)
Just plain kibble. :o I would like my family to feed my dogs raw, but my parents wouldn't allow it. Maybe I can convince them to though...
Hopefully Astra would gain some much needed weight, and Molly lose some. Prince loves cooked chicken, so maybe he will like it raw as well. Well wish me luck into convincing my parents!
They had venison for dinner last night with a little cottage cheese, pureed carrots (because they don't like them whole) and tomatos.
Yesterday afternoon I gave them some recreational bones (marrow & knuckle bones) because it was a little dreary & wet outside. it gave them something to do inside. ;)
Kay, I usually feed mine kibble in the AM & raw in the PM, have done it this way on & off for years and never had any problems.
They had a chicken quarter today. Buck will have some boneless buffalo for dinner tonight.
Seems all I have right now is chicken and boney things. It's time for me to place an order.
I forgot to unthaw food lastnight, so I gave her a sample of Nutro dog food we got at the fun trial last week. Of course I had to feed it to her with lots of pumpkin, or else we would have had serious diahrrea lol. Now she's chomping down on a carrot.
Chester had some lamb, and a whole egg for breakfast. He'll be having pork for dinner :)
I was just wondering what everyone thinks of this.
I got a bit of chicken from work today (I filet the chicken and saved the leftover pieces that we usually throw away - boss #1 & boss #2 (my mom) had no problem with it. :D ) I am for sure going to give that to them tonight.
However, I don't think it will fill them. They were still acting hungry after the fish.
I may just give them more fish with the chicken, but instead of doing that (and here comes the actual question) what if I soaked the dog food (TimberWolf Organics) in water and made it into a puree? Wouldn't that help a lot with digestion *IF* they were to have problems. I know for sure it would keep them from bugging me afterwards.
Also - I just got a free 8 oz bottle of "Linatone Shiny Coat" by Lambert Kay. My dogs' coats are fine, but would it be of any value to them if I gave it to them anyways?
Niņo got strait up Iams minichunk today, breakfast 1 1/4 cup, dinner the same. He got some soydog bits durring training and some liver treats also. I usually buy a bag of Bil-Jac and mix a bit in but I have no extra money at the moment and my parents believe that dogs will do fine on jewel brand dog food if they have to. :rolleyes: That's because My grandma's gigantic shep/golden lived to be 15 on hy-vee brand then later pedigree but his later years he needed supliments and such.
I DO NOT agree with fasting, however. Dogs are domesticated. Every once and a while, for example, other day when we spent the day at my grandma's condo he did not get dinner, and if you have to I think it's fine but scheduling fasting days for domesticated dogs is really going overboard in my oppinion. Tell me what good it does.
If you go to your county fair this summer and talk to some of the roaster class breeders I bet they could sell you some. :) I don't know if they would only do live though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Crazy-Cat-Lover
I don't see anything wrong with fasting. I go on routine cleanses and fasting is a part of many of them. It is meant to allow the body time to rid itself of built up toxins -- in other words, to cleanse. When the body spends it's energy digesting foods it doesn't have the energy to cleanse itself. I rarely do it with Visa, only because she loses weight too easily, but if she is at a very good weight I will take her off food for a day and only give her herbs and water.Quote:
Originally Posted by Suki Wingy
Chicken
Carrot/tomato puree with a 1/2 cup TWO mixed in.
NO ONE hesitated to eat the chicken!
Bailey had a chicken leg quarter for breakfast and dinner. He got to chew on his Buffalo bone for a while and I gave him a chicken back and neck.
I just bought 11 pounds of turkey drumsticks (very meaty ones), 11 pounds of chicken leg quarters and 4 pounds of chicken backs and necks. We couldn't make it to the meat packers for beef, so he will most likely get that next payday. :D
Suki, even with domestic dogs, they naturally do not need to eat every day. I've heard it is very healthy for them to be fasted 1 day a week, with just some tidbits... I fast Gonzo every so often, and he does not seem to care at all. If I give him a whole chicken, for instance, I will fast him the next day and maybe give him egg or pureed veggies and he does great with that. It is very natural for them to eat a big meal and go 1-2 days without food, because they still do have the same digestive system of wild dogs & wolves. Just like fasting every so often is good for people, even! Basically what Jordan said.
Gonzo got lamb Farmore for breakfast, and pureed veggies/brown rice for dinner. I thawed out half of a chicken for him tomorrow.
Fozzie got lamb Farmore for breakfast, then 2 meals of CN with veggies.
And they both just got a big slice of cantaloupe. They love it! It's really cute to watch them both get every bit of fruit from the peel part... Fozzie is now chewing on the peel, as well :p
Kay, I am glad to hear things are going well. I am not sure about the question you posted, sorry. At this point they are used to eating kibble, their stomach acidity may not be up to par and this is why sometimes dogs do not fully digest raw food when they are first introduced to it, if they were previously fed kibble. My dogs pooped out bone slivers for weeks until their digestive system built itself back up. However, when bones did appear, they were always soft and pliable (yes I took a stick and poked at their poo :p) and they never seemed to be in discomfort when pooping. So, they may have digestion problems for a couple weeks, but I'm unsure as to whether kibble would help them with it or not. I'm leaning towards no, but I don't know much about feeding kibble and raw together so I'm not sure.
This is not a good argument. Domestication has changed temperment, structure, size, fur color, fur length, etc. It has not changed their teeth or their digestive systems, so why should their diet change? Fasting is natural. It is natural for a dog, domesticated or wild, to gorge on a huge meal and then fast the next day. Humans are the ones who have made it "unnatural".Quote:
Originally Posted by Suki Wingy
I don't schedule days for them to fast. I'll feed them a pork roast and then decide that they are big and plump and ate a lot and do not need food the next day. Nova and Luka are not good at self-regulating what they eat, probably because they are Labs and have zero self control when it comes to food. 6 months of raw feeding and still no self regulating, which appeared long ago with Mandy and most other "normal" raw eaters :D If I hand Mandy a four pound chicken she'll eat about 1.5 lbs, and then I have to put it away for the next day. If I hand Nova and Luka a four pound chicken you can guarantee they'll eat the whole thing and be right back at me begging for more, even though they are the size of a whale. Buck is also self regulating right now, I hope it continues and he doesn't become a typical Lab!
The dogs ate a puree of many different meats last night, which is what my ferrets eat. I had to make room in my freezer for actual human food & this stuff was just taking up way too much room. My friend & I made too big of a batch of this stuff.
It contained (all raw & ground, bones & everything)
chicken
turkey
beef
lamb
eggs (shelss & all)
nupro (supplement)
Has anyone ordered from Rodentpro?
My friends & I often do, mainly for my ferrets though as my freezer space is limited.
It's a great company that offers many different types of meats, all of which are whole prey foods (most even contain featers/fur/etc..).
Just thought I'd share the link in case anyone else is interested. They do not ship to Puerto Rico or Canada though.
http://www.rodentpro.com/index.asp
I feel that Bailey is on the thin side, so I am upping him to 4 pounds of raw meat per day. He was getting 2, but he is too thin IMO. You can see his ribs when he turns a certain way and he is only 65 pounds at 6 months. He will be getting 4 pounds a day until he gains some weight, then I will reduce it to 3 pounds.
He had a turkey leg for breakfast, a chicken leg quarter for lunch and he will get a turkey leg and chicken quarter for dinner.
I just fed them kibble all today because I was too tired when I got home from work to put anything out for thaw.
I'm so excited because I will have a constant supply of chicken from work. My bosses don't care at all. Like I said, it's perfectly good chicken that we throw away anyways, because we have no use for it.
They used to boil it and make something called "Chicken-Que", like a shredded chicken with BBQ on a bun.
They all had a quarter of a chicken this morning and Buck had beef ribs for dinner.
Sue, I've never ordered from Rodentpro, but I've heard they are good! =/ I could never skin a rabbit though, or a guinea pig. It's hard enough to just feed it to them! I guess if your dogs can figure out to get past the pelt, it'd be ok.
Kay, that's awesome! Is the chicken boneless? That would be perfect if it had bones too, but either way that's a good deal.
Gonzo got his half of a chicken & his supplements. He just got honey in his Kong.
Fozzie got a chicken wing and he stole the chicken heart from Gonzo :p. He got CN for lunch with some hamburger meat, and he'll get CN for dinner. A minute ago, my friend Christine was over and set her Sprite down and Fozzie tipped it over... so he got half of a sprite too. :confused:
Nope, it's boneless. I plan on getting some type of meaty bones for them when I feel more safe feeding this diet. For now, it's just really to see how they do on it.
Right now they just think they are getting a treat when I feed them raw.
They don't understand that it's their dinner and they won't be getting a second treat as soon as they scarf it down.
So, I don't feel safe feeding bones, yet.