Raw feeding

[Saskia Vermeulen]

Hi everyone, I have been feeding my dog Chester a raw diet since he was about 6months old as he kept getting yeast ear infections as well as breakouts on his skin. Did a bit of research on the net and started to feed him raw, no dry food at all, as that was the problem. He is now 2 and thriving, no more skin break outs at all, his ears are good, we are lucky where we live as we have a raw pet food supplier in the area,  they only sell kangaroo and chicken, meat gets processed locally, I feed him a mix of kangaroo and chicken mince, lamb bones, chicken necks, veges, eggs, rice bran, fish oil, cheese occasionally and organic yogurt. Have discussed this with my vet and I am doing the right thing. Hope this may helps some one.

 

have a good day, regards

Saskia

[Marco]

Saskia thank you for sharing your experience with raw.  My boerboel is also doing great on raw as well.

[Paul & Suzanne Dijak-Robinson]

Saskia,

Thanks for your input--always love to hear good reports on the raw-food lifestyle.  Wish we could get kangaroo here!

[Saskia Vermeulen]

The dogs love Roo, they especially love the Roo jerky its their favourite treat, every part is used, nothing gets wasted, they even dry out the tendons, its good for their teeth, nice and hard and chewy.

 

Saskia

[JMSK]

Thanks for sharing. your story is definitely encouraging me to make the switch with my boerboel, who has had what the vet said was "allergies" since he was 12 weeks old. He is now 1 year and 7 months and their is no sign of the allergies disappearing anytime soon. Also he has a strong body order as well as ear infections that i constantly have to deal with. Hopefully by changing his diet, I can eliminate these problems. Do anyone have any suggestions on how I might begin this process of changing him from kibble to raw feeding? I just purchase the book "Raw Dog Food:Make it easy for you and your dog" by Carina beth Macdonald, which helped a lot on simplifying things. However, the diet still leaves me kind of intimidated and concerned about not fulfilling my puppy's dietary needs.

[Marco]

Hello KMSK, you can be sure feeding him any type of raw diet is going to be better than what you are feeding now.  When you make the switch to raw their body needs time to adjust to it.  They can have diarrhea in the process, this also can happen when changing to a dufferent type of kibble.  I started Kenzo out with just raw chicken, and at once a day.  I fed him in the middle of the day outside, giving him time to poop it all out by the time he came in at night.  Did this I think for three days, then went back to feeding twice a day.  Started feeding him other meats after a week or so.  He now eats chicken, turkey, beef, and fish among other things.  One of the first things I noticed when he started eating raw was his dog smell went away completely.  You know that smell even after you give them a bath, pet them with your hand, and you can still smell dog.  With the problems you are having I would strongly recommend you start feeding raw.  Once you get in a system of doing it, its pretty easy to deal with.  I had put it off for a very long time, and made every excuse why I couldnt start yet.  I finally went out and bought a freezer chest, and put it in my garage.  I knew if I went out and spent money on that I would start doing what I had been putting off.  Contacted some butchers, and poultry places in the area.  I found the best places to buy cheap and in bulk.  I fill up the freezer every month or so.  I take two hours after coming home with everything and seperate meals into ziplock bags.  Pull out two bags the night before each day.  I was spending about $60 on one bag of premium kibble at two bags a month.  I now spend less and he loves eating raw, and I love watching him enjoy it.  Well thats my spill on it, and I am still new to it all.  There are plenty here to help you along your way.

[Paul & Suzanne Dijak-Robinson]

KMSK,

Great to see your post, and we wish you great success!  We have a lot of nutritional links on our website that you might also find helpful as you research raw feeding.  For us, it was doing that homework that really helped us feel confident about the diet.  As for the complete nutritional needs, 90-95% of the battle is simply getting the ratios correct: 80% meat, 10% bone and 10% organ / day.  We don't get too hung up if they have a heavy "organ" day as we simply try to make it a 2-3 day "rolling average".  Our boys may have a turkey feet today, but that means tomorrow we will try to cut back on the bone content we feed them.  You will find a lot of different schools of thought on whether or not to include fruits and vegetables in their diet as well.  We used to puree F &V early-on, but with the research we did, we ultimately fell into that "camp" that no longer includes them in their diet, though we have many customers that still do.  In any case, if you ever have any questions, we will do our best to get you the answers you need, and we are happy to hear about another convert!  Happy Feeding!

[JMSK]

Thanks Marco and Paul & Suzanne Dijak Robinson for all your encouraging words and helpful advice. After reading your comments this morning i decided to make the jump with 2 out of 3 of my dogs, my 3 yr old german shepherd and my boerboel. I'm leaving my shih tzu out of the picture for a while until I'm sure I have a handle on this. 

 

Early this evening I went to the grocery store and bought a whole chicken. I gave my 122lb german shepherd a breast back and leg, i'm thinkiing it was a little over 2lbs, with just a tiny piece of gizzard. I did the same for my 141 lb boerboel. They loved it! They ate every last drop! I think I'm going to do as you suggested Marco and leave it at one meal a day just for the first week. 

 

So what do y'all think is that a reasonable first meal, or am I leaving something out?

[Paul & Suzanne Dijak-Robinson]

JMSK,

Sounds like an excellent start--because you started!  My dad always said "it's awful hard to steer a parked car", so getting the ball rolling is usually the biggest hurdle.  If you ever need anything at all, please don't be afraid to ask.

[Marco]

Kenzo is 120lbs lean, he eats about 5lbs of raw a day if not a little more broken up in two meals.  Glad to hear you have taken the first steps.  There are a lot of people who feed their dogs once a day but only after their a year old or so.  You want to make sure they are getting enough food for the day.

[JMSK]

Thanks y'all for all the great help and advice, I'm going to increase both dogs ration today since the survived their first day of raw eating ;).

[BaptisteBoerboels]

Shani has always been raw fed and we started Deji on it the moment we got him into our arms.... we love it & of course so do they!!! ;-)