Raw food for the Midwest

[Paul & Suzanne Dijak-Robinson]

Hello, All!

 

We are so excited to have found this website, and we look forward to answering any questions you may have regarding raw feeding and welcome any and all insights from those of you that already do.  Thank you for letting us join!

 

 

[Marco]

I see you deliver to Louisville, I may have to put in a order soon.

[Paul & Suzanne Dijak-Robinson]

Yes, we deliver to both sides of the river--Jeffersonville and Louisville.  We also hit Shelbyville on our way to Lexington.

Marco said:

I see you deliver to Louisville, I may have to put in a order soon.

[Midhad]

I live in Morton Grove IL and will have to put in an order soon as well. Jimbo help me out what to order, my pup is getting sick of chicken.

[Paul & Suzanne Dijak-Robinson]

Midhad,

We have a few drop-off locations on the north side of Chicago, and you also fall within our footprint for home deliveries.  If you have any questions at all, just let us know.  We deliver to your area twice a month.

Midhad said:

I live in Morton Grove IL and will have to put in an order soon as well. Jimbo help me out what to order, my pup is getting sick of chicken.

[Phil Harris]

Hi Guys. 

I have a 7 month old female BB and an 11 year old american Bd. I have been reading this site about raw, and I am considering making a change. I have the BB on nutro large breed for puppies, two feedings a day aprox 3 cups per feeding. I give one egg a week. She is 95lbs. The ABD gets 2.5 cups a day, one feeding and he is around 80 lbs. Both dogs eat fairly slowly. How do you think I should approach the transition? Can you give me a sample week of feeding? I am a little confused though. Some sites say no protein and yet I am recomended to not feed my BB over 30% protein. I would love some help.Thanks

 

[Paul & Suzanne Dijak-Robinson]

Phil,

Thanks for reaching out to us, and we wish you the best of luck in the transition!  We will do our best to help, but the big step is doing a good bit of research on the front end.  There is a lot of really good information out there on raw feeding, and we have a decent "library" of articles posted on our home page.  As for the transition, we would suggest starting w/ a basic food source for 2-3 days and then introducing a new one.  For instance, whole ground chicken might be a good first step or whole ground turkey (meat, bones & organs).  Most of the crude protein amounts on our products run around the 15% range, so you should be in good shape there.  There are really 2 basics to raw feeding that you will see repeated over and over again: what to feed and how much.   First, what to feed: 80% meat, 10% bone and 10% organ.  Second, how much: 2-3% of your dog's ideal weight / day depending on activity level and 4-6% of your dog's CURRENT weight during the growing months.  Please note that these percentages are averages--we tend to think in 1-2 day increments ourselves.  If our boys (Bernese Mountain Dogs) eat chicken quarters or chicken backs for breakfast, than they will likely have an all-liver dinner.  You should start out by focusing on those 2 basics and get comfortable w/ those before going much beyond that.  As for meal-planning, your research will be key in getting comfortable with raw feeding, and your dogs will let you know what they do and don't like pretty quickly, so getting a meal plan together is a real "team effort".  Our boys won't touch rabbit in any form, so we have stopped trying, but it is one of our bigger sellers, so go figure.

 

Good luck, and please do not hesitate to ask questions and to let us know how it is going!!

[Phil Harris]

Thanks for replying. Please help clarify- you speak of ground turkey, chicken. I thought one of the benefits of raw, was the chewing, pulling and crunching of whole animals, or animal parts, giving dogs a workout and occupying them and also developing and cleaning teeth, jaws etc. Do yo suggest ground over whole ?

Phil Harris said:

Paul & Suzanne Dijak-Robinson said:

Phil,

 

Thanks for reaching out to us, and we wish you the best of luck in the transition!  We will do our best to help, but the big step is doing a good bit of research on the front end.  There is a lot of really good information out there on raw feeding, and we have a decent "library" of articles posted on our home page.  As for the transition, we would suggest starting w/ a basic food source for 2-3 days and then introducing a new one.  For instance, whole ground chicken might be a good first step or whole ground turkey (meat, bones & organs).  Most of the crude protein amounts on our products run around the 15% range, so you should be in good shape there.  There are really 2 basics to raw feeding that you will see repeated over and over again: what to feed and how much.   First, what to feed: 80% meat, 10% bone and 10% organ.  Second, how much: 2-3% of your dog's ideal weight / day depending on activity level and 4-6% of your dog's CURRENT weight during the growing months.  Please note that these percentages are averages--we tend to think in 1-2 day increments ourselves.  If our boys (Bernese Mountain Dogs) eat chicken quarters or chicken backs for breakfast, than they will likely have an all-liver dinner.  You should start out by focusing on those 2 basics and get comfortable w/ those before going much beyond that.  As for meal-planning, your research will be key in getting comfortable with raw feeding, and your dogs will let you know what they do and don't like pretty quickly, so getting a meal plan together is a real "team effort".  Our boys won't touch rabbit in any form, so we have stopped trying, but it is one of our bigger sellers, so go figure.

 

 

Good luck, and please do not hesitate to ask questions and to let us know how it is going!!

[Paul & Suzanne Dijak-Robinson]

Phil,

We suggested whole ground simply because it has the entire animal ground up (i.e., meat, bones & organs).  Sometimes raw feeding can be a little overwhelming, so whole-ground products sort of simplify things in the start.  However, starting out w/ chicken quarters, turkey necks, beef chunks, etc. are also good things to use as "starters", it's just that many dogs tend to take a little while to warm up to whole organs (liver, kidneys, etc.).  The raw bones are excellent ways to clean your dog's teeth, but keep in mind that the majority of the plaque build-up comes simply from feeding kibble, not a lack of crunchy objects.  Many of our clients have started out w/ simply feeding chicken quarters (since they are abundant and relatively cheap), though it is important to make sure your chicken pieces are not "enhanced" (injected w/ saline solution for plumpness), and of course are hormone, steroid, anti-biotic free.