What did your dog(s) eat today?

[Kfamr]

All three had whole Trout.

I had 2 whole trout outside between the two of them. Nala ate about a whole one, Kiara & Simba ate halves. I let them decide how much they wanted, and they both left what they didn't want and Nala took it.

[Jadapit]

So, its safe to feed them trout? Do you give them the heads and tails? My son has around 20 trout in his freezer I'm sure he would give me some for the fur kids.

[Kfamr]

So, its safe to feed them trout? Do you give them the heads and tails? My son has around 20 trout in his freezer I'm sure he would give me some for the fur kids.

Yep! Trout is fine. That's the only fish, other than canned tuna, that my three have had. Before I gave them filets of trout.

They got every single piece of the fish.


When we filet the fish we catch for ourselves, I have my brother save the remains. They can eat that, too.

[Vela]

Mine had their first raw dinner tonight, i gave them each a chicken drumstick. For breakfast they had EVO. I will expand their diets slowly, thanks to his helpful thead! It has some great ideas...thanks for posting to it!

[wolfsoul]

Nebo had his first "raw" meal last friday. Not meals like you guys feed, I'm a chicken, I bought the pre-made stuff. It wasn't cheap but he sure loved it and so far no digestive upsets that I know of. I got the Nature's Variety Venison frozen raw. I bought two 3 lb bags I'm going to feed it every few days for now and see how he does...he'll get it again tomorrow.

The store I bought it from wasn't exactly close and it's very convenient for me to just buy dog food at my work (not to mention my 20% discount..) but I'm considering buying the dry dog food of the same brand (eventually feeding it/raw every other day). I'm just wondering if it's THAT much better to make it worth the extra expense? I know basic dog food stuff but I'm no expert so any imput is appreciated...

Ingredient list/info on Nature's Variety venison formula
Ingredient list/info on Natural Balance venison formula (currently feeding)

p.s. What is millet? Isn't that something you give to birds?

The Nature's Variety definatly has better ingredients -- it has venison meal instead of just venison. Because Natural Balance just uses venison as the first ingredient, which brings it down to the fifth or sixth ingrdient (as plain venison is 70-80% moisture), the first two ingredients are actually grains. Natural Balance still uses human grade ingredients though. I've used their Duck & Potato formula before, Visa did fairly well on it. I also give her the Nature's Variety raw medallions as treats, she really enjoys them! If you buy a big bag of the Nature's Variety kibble, there's a coupon on the side for $2 your next Nature's Variety purchase, 3 pounds and up, so even if you decide not to stick to the kibble, you always get two bucks off your next raw purchase.

[anna_66]

I talked to a friend of mine at work and come to find out she has a bunch of "leftovers" in her freezer and didn't know what to do with them. Of course I volunteered to take it! So far we've gotten beef tongue (too expensive at the grocery so I've never feed it), ox tail and and beef liver and are hoping to get a bunch more meat that they've had in their freezer for a while (even venison).
Why didn't I think to ask anyone this sooner Free meat is the best!

Ohhh and next month we are going to be buying a half of a cow, we'll get all the leftovers too! I'm excited!

So far everyone is doing wonderfully and loving their raw food

I've been reading a lot and found out that you should feed pieces as large as their head to keep them from choking and/or gulping their food.
I had bought some chicken legs on sale and gave them but they just gobbled. Does anyone else have gobblers?

I see a lot of you feed tripe. Do you order it? I've never seen anything around here except for the bleached tripe they have at the grocery and I know that's of no nutritional value.

I guess I could put what I've fed today...

Bon-Whole Chicken
Roxey & Huney-Chicken quarters

[cloverfdx]

I have not posted here in a little while. Amy i am glad to hear Nebo had no ill affects from his new food .

The kids had chicken carcasses for dinner tonight, and some raw vegies. Mz Tinny is on a major diet she has put on alot of weight the last couple of months and is pretty unfit .. i am going to weigh her at the vets tomorrow.

[lv4dogs]

So, its safe to feed them trout? Do you give them the heads and tails? My son has around 20 trout in his freezer I'm sure he would give me some for the fur kids.

Dogs can get salmon poisoning (caused by Neorickettsia helminthoeca) from eating salmon, steelhead and other trout species. I had a dog die from this disease before so I am overly paranoid about feeding it. If you freeze fish for at least 24 hours it will kill the parasite that causes salmon poisoning. (I freeze it for at least 4 days, usually a couple weeks but I am paranoid).

Pork is commonly a "dirty" meat so it is also best to freeze it as well before feeding it raw.


Here's a link with some more info on the disease: http://merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index....m/bc/57305.htm

But yes, as long as you freeze it first it is safe to feed them ALL parts, although some dogs are a little picky about eating raw seafood, but just like chicken, some people believe it is usually because of the texture and not the taste. So if your dogs do not eat seafood that well try feeding it frozen or partially frozen. Often times that changes the texture enough and they may eat it more willingly.

[lv4dogs]

I've been reading a lot and found out that you should feed pieces as large as their head to keep them from choking and/or gulping their food.
I had bought some chicken legs on sale and gave them but they just gobbled. Does anyone else have gobblers?

I see a lot of you feed tripe. Do you order it? I've never seen anything around here except for the bleached tripe they have at the grocery and I know that's of no nutritional value.

Raustyk will gobble smaller pieces and Kaige will as well, but not quite as bad as Raustyk. Idealy yes you should feed pieces that are as large or larger than their heads but me personally, it's hard to get meats that large & fit them in my freezer. I generally don't feed anything smaller than a chicken quarter (unless I get a REALLY good deal). Once I get a chest freezer I will be buying larger pieces of meat.

I feed tripe but not that often because I too can not find "green" tripe (non-bleached) in my gorcery stores. I have to purchase it right from the butcher.

[.sarah]

Nova had a chicken quarter today.

Dogs can get salmon poisoning (caused by Neorickettsia helminthoeca) from eating salmon, steelhead and other trout species.

This is almost completely localized to the north Pacific ocean. I wouldn't worry about salmonoid species over here, but I can definetly understand your paranoia!

Pork is commonly a "dirty" meat so it is also best to freeze it as well before feeding it raw.

Dirty how? Are you refferring to trichinosis? It is very rare now in the US, and not a problem with pork raised for human consumption. If you're buying your meat from grocery stores or butchers, I wouldn't worry about the pork there. If it wasn't raised for humans, then I would deep freeze it for at least a week, if not more.

Does anyone else have gobblers?

I think that's pretty much guaranteed when owning a Lab Yes, my Labs are all gobblers, especially Nova and Luka. Buck is a little better since he was raised on raw, but he still eats some things like they're oysters.

I see a lot of you feed tripe. Do you order it? I've never seen anything around here except for the bleached tripe they have at the grocery and I know that's of no nutritional value.

Green tripe doesn't pass USDA's inspection. So basically, if you want tripe, you've gotta get it from somewhere else. I'm on a waiting list to get some from that supplier that I PMed you a while back.

[lv4dogs]

This is almost completely localized to the north Pacific ocean. I wouldn't worry about salmonoid species over here, but I can definetly understand your paranoia!

Yeah, like I said I am paranoid. lol I am glad you included that part, I completely forgot about it, which is odd as I always mention that. It's great to post that on a public forum because people from all over will see it, possibly people in the NW that might not of otherwise known about it. BUT some grocery stores get their seafood shipped in and even though you are buying it in the eastern parts it could still very well be NW fish. But if you catch your own fish in the eastern part, you are right, you probably don't have to worry about it.

Dirty how? Are you refferring to trichinosis? It is very rare now in the US, and not a problem with pork raised for human consumption. If you're buying your meat from grocery stores or butchers, I wouldn't worry about the pork there. If it wasn't raised for humans, then I would deep freeze it for at least a week, if not more.

Yes, I was refferring to trichnosis, and if I recall correctly I thought I have heard other people mention other parasites & the like that are commonly found in pork. I know that they are rare in the US but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Green tripe doesn't pass USDA's inspection. So basically, if you want tripe, you've gotta get it from somewhere else. I'm on a waiting list to get some from that supplier that I PMed you a while back.

I never knew that. I wonder if it is legal for them to sell it for animal consumption and not human? I get green tripe from my butcher, I hope he's not doing it illegally.

[Jadapit]

I was wondering about the pork and fresh salmon myself. I get a news letter from a guy that owns pit bulls he has fed his dogs raw for over a decade. Here is what he has to say about raw salmon and pork.



What meat sources you use is pretty much up to you. The only hard fast rules I follow are:


NO raw pork, trichinosis is still an issue unless you are POSITIVE the meat you get is clean. It's a nasty little worm that does a lot of damamge. I don't feed pork product period, it's hard for them to digest.


NO raw salmon. It can have a liver fluke that can potentially destroy your dogs liver. Cooked or canned is fine. One part of feeding raw that happens across the board, unless it's a young pup, is detox. Their system has to get rid of all the garbage that has built up over years of feeding dry food, good or bad quality. It usually takes a month with the worst case scenarios.

They smell, their coat gets dull and brittle, their skin is oily, their breath and stool stinks, then one day, bingo. Beautiful dog. It's happened to every one of my animals that I have given raw, to one degree or another.

Another concern that comes up frequently is bacteria and germs. A dogs system is designed to eat raw food. Their digestive juices are strong enough to break bones down, as a general rule they aren't very susceptible to e-Coli, listeria or salmonella.

The dogs that are going to be susceptible are the very young, the very old and those that are ill. As far as germs go, if you use the same cleaning practices you do with your own food everything should be fine. The dog bowls are cleaned after each meal, the prep surfaces are scrubbed and the utensils are washed. Common sense and good kitchen practices will keep everything in hand.

[Kfamr]

I freeze all of their food before feeding. The Trout was frozen for about 2 week.


Today they're having:

Simba:
Chicken Breasts
Carrots
Tomatoes


Nala:
1/2 Chicken Thigh
Beef
Carrots
Tomatoes


Kiara:
Chicken Thigh
Beef
Carrots
Tomatoes




Nala and Kiara are gobblers - that's why I feed frozen.

[binka_nugget]

I've been reading a lot and found out that you should feed pieces as large as their head to keep them from choking and/or gulping their food.
I had bought some chicken legs on sale and gave them but they just gobbled. Does anyone else have gobblers?

Kai's not a gobbler anymore but he used to swollow wings whole when he was young. It scared the heck out of me! I had to hold onto smaller bones for a while but he seemed to understand that he had to chew so he's fine now.

I see a lot of you feed tripe. Do you order it? I've never seen anything around here except for the bleached tripe they have at the grocery and I know that's of no nutritional value.

I feed tons of tripe! It smells horrid but the dogs LOVE it and it's pretty darn cheap too! The place I get it from sells it for .68 a pound. I also found a wholesale priced butcher who carry it.

Try your local butchers, who knows, maybe they'll be able to order it for you if they don't normally carry it.

[zoey]

sardines, oatmeal, bok choy, apple and a dog buscuit