# hoping for help with a shopping list



## scuba_bob (May 5, 2008)

Hey guys I would love some help with a shopping list I want to get my dog on raw but I have no clue what I should feed, how much to feed a day and what to buy. This week coming up I want to start getting the raw food needed and get this going, can someone help me with a monthly shopping list and a feeding plan.


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## Countrymama (May 22, 2011)

For my household, past and present the shopping list has been..chicken (watch for allergic reaction), turkey necks, spinach, sweet potatoes, carrots,cucumbers,banana, pumpkin puree (helps settle their stomachs) eggs, salmon/mackerel, vitamin E caplets, minced garlic and yogurt. Hope that helps. All the veggies pureed to a mush with garlic and vitamin emptied into it when you serve it, fruits cut up and never serve eggs and yogurt on the same day. Yogurt works great frozen in ice cube tray and so does pumpkin- 1 or2 cubes per meal. Alternate between meat and fish meals.


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## Countrymama (May 22, 2011)

scuba_bob said:


> Hey guys I would love some help with a shopping list I want to get my dog on raw but I have no clue what I should feed, how much to feed a day and what to buy. This week coming up I want to start getting the raw food needed and get this going, can someone help me with a monthly shopping list and a feeding plan.


The standard rule I was told years back is to start with 2% of your dogs body weight and work your way to 4%...unless your dog is lazy  then tailor it to make sure they keep a healthy weight for their activity level. Some people feed three times a day with small meals, some feed in the AM and again at night...I feed a big meal at night. Make sure puppy rests for an hour after eating to avoid problems with bloat or puking. That's why I feed at night..full night for belly rest and all day to play with my son. If she doesn't eat everything or anything at first, don't worry..she'll come around. 

My standard menu is 3 days of fish/veggie/pumpkin cube..4 days meat/veggie with garlic/eggs/fruit --yogurt as a treat once a week. The garlic helps keep the bugs and ticks away, works as a heart worm deterrent.Oh, and don't panic with the poop! It'll be smaller and turn white and powdery. That's fine..it's because her body is soaking up more than it did on kibble..it's almost odorless too! I'm sure other people will have input too, this is just my take on it.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Here is what I bought this week:

Beef heart
Eye of round (on sale for $2.99/lb) 
Chicken feet 
Chicken necks
Chicken hearts
Chicken gizzards (organ )
Pork liver
2 rabbits
Fresh sardines and mackerel

My guy is a puppy, so he eats 8 ounces 3 times a day. 


Also, the most important item on my shopping list now is green tripe. He makes perfect poops with it. Whenever I ran out, not so good. Well, it could have been the bully sticks, too. 
The best green tripe I have found is from SAD Sushi in Texas.
Green tripe, green tripe delivery, SAD dog sushi green tripe, raw green tripe, fresh green tripe, organic, grass-fed, organic green tripe, grass fed green tripe, antibiotic free green tripe, Green Tripe, raw dog food, Alissa Zalneraitis, Richard Reel

Really good stuff. I ordered in chubs, let it defrost somewhat, then portioned into meatball sizes and refroze on a cookie sheet. The tripe balls went into a ziploc bag and he gets one at every meal.


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## Gilly1331 (Apr 16, 2011)

I order from a bulk supplier. I mix my orders depending on what I am missing but I do chicken backs, duck backs, turkey/chicken necks, beef kidney, beef/chicken/turkey hearts, turkey tails or wings, beef/chicken/pork liver. I also rotate duck feet/chicken feet as snacks in their meals. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to find at the grocery store pig ears, feet, snouts etc. Anything under .99cents a lb at the grocery store and sometimes they will offer you the bones for free if they are cleaning out the freezer.
I grind the fresh/frozen order with frozen veggies and then separate out the fresh ground meat into 2lb bags to freeze and take out what I need. I leave the feet, necks whole. I also add in sardines several times a week along with fresh eggs/shell. My guys also get yougart, cottage cheese, garlic, olive oil all mixed in. I'll also add in a few times a month fresh ground tripe but we get it already ground in 5 lb bags.
During hunting season my friends will take what deer or fresh kill meat they want and give us the left overs for me to grind for the dogs as well. If you drive by my yard you will occasionally see fill deer legs being munched on in the yard.

I rotate at least 3 different proteins a week and rotate which snacks they get added as well. As for off leash training I'll use veggies or fruit. Marrow bones get snacked on as well.


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## scuba_bob (May 5, 2008)

So would a days meal be like 1st meal 1 Chicken back, 2nd meal 1 Turkey neck, 3rd meal 1 Duck back? then add a heart/liver/kidney 3 times a week or every day?


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

A German Shepherd who weighs about 80 pounds needs 1 1/2 pounds of food every day, more or less depending on the dog. A puppy needs the same amount, divided into several meals a day. 
1 chicken back is not nearly enough of a meal, but it's a great way to provide the bone part. There are lots of websites that have good info. This is one:
Raw Feeding - Save Our Shepherds - German Shepherd Rescue


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## myshepharley (Feb 11, 2011)

Sunflowers said:


> A German Shepherd who weighs about 80 pounds needs 1 1/2 pounds of food every day, more or less depending on the dog. A puppy needs the same amount, divided into several meals a day.
> 1 chicken back is not nearly enough of a meal, but it's a great way to provide the bone part. There are lots of websites that have good info. This is one:
> Raw Feeding - Save Our Shepherds - German Shepherd Rescue


I went on this site and it said not to mix raw with kibble. I can not afford to go raw but would like to add some extras to one of his daily meals? Any suggestions for that?


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

I've been mixing raw and kibble for years with no problem. Some people prefer to serve it in separate meals (such as kibble for breakfast and raw for dinner). 

I would suggest reading Monica Segal's Enhancing a Commercial Diet pamphlet.


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## myshepharley (Feb 11, 2011)

I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO said:


> I've been mixing raw and kibble for years with no problem. Some people prefer to serve it in separate meals (such as kibble for breakfast and raw for dinner).
> 
> I would suggest reading Monica Segal's Enhancing a Commercial Diet pamphlet.


Can you do that without all the meat? Maybe some veg and alittle meat?


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

myshepharley said:


> Can you do that without all the meat? Maybe some veg and alittle meat?



Sure, you could enhance kibble with a lot of things, up to 1/3 of the diet. According to Monica Segal, don't add raw meaty bones unless you feed a balanced raw diet, and then you can feed up to 1/2 of the total diet.
Buy the pamphlet- best $7 you could spend.


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## myshepharley (Feb 11, 2011)

I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO said:


> Sure, you could enhance kibble with a lot of things, up to 1/3 of the diet. According to Monica Segal, don't add raw meaty bones unless you feed a balanced raw diet, and then you can feed up to 1/2 of the total diet.
> Buy the pamphlet- best $7 you could spend.


Can you only buy it online?


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

myshepharley said:


> Can you only buy it online?



I think so. Here's the link

Enhancing Commercial Diets


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## myshepharley (Feb 11, 2011)

I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO said:


> I think so. Here's the link
> 
> Enhancing Commercial Diets


Thank you so much for your help!!


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

For us, mixing was a disaster. Caused shooting diarrhea. Then again, I had an 8-week-old. Many people mix the two without problems. You just have to find what works for you.


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## scuba_bob (May 5, 2008)

So chicken backs would make up the meat and bone parts right? I would just scale it to 1.5 pounds and divide that into 2 or 3 for his meals for the day? than the next day I could switch the meat to Duck backs?... trying to make this easy and simple to start then try different things when I understand it better. Are origins to be given with each meal? or a few times a week?. Would it be ok to feed 1.5LBs of Chicken backs one day then Duck back the next day then Turkey backs the next then back to Chicken backs and start again... I want to get away from kibble but kinda confused a bit.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Backs are not enough to provide good nutrition. Check this link
Leerburg | All-Natural Diet: A Weekly Sample Feeding Schedule for Adult Dogs


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## scuba_bob (May 5, 2008)

Sunflowers said:


> Backs are not enough to provide good nutrition. Check this link
> Leerburg | All-Natural Diet: A Weekly Sample Feeding Schedule for Adult Dogs


Thank you a ton!!! that's exactly what I'm looking for  it's fine to repeat that week menu right? I'm paying about $70 for GO! Natural dog food this way would be in the same ball park for monthly food costs? on top of that I'll be adding 1 gram of Krill Oil over the fish oil, I know Krill is more $$$ but I've made the switch in my life and felt the major benefits of Krill over fish oil. Cool I got a shopping list and a meal plan for my pup, pretty fired up about getting him on a more natural and better diet.


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