# Ok to give a RAW meal, every so often?



## Anthony8858 (Sep 18, 2011)

I was making Kira's "stew topping" in our pressure cooker. I accidentally dropped a nice chunk of raw beef on the floor. Kira happen to be nearby, so I left it there for her.
In a nutshell, I'd swear she had a smile on her face, after eating it 

SO..... Being the wonderful doggie - daddy that I am, I would like to start giving Kira an occasional RAW meal, and will probably eventually get her to eat RAW as her regular meal. (I'm reading to many positives to ignore the benefits).

What is the best way to do this?

Can you give me very specific instructions regarding ingredients, food prep, and size of meals?


----------



## Josie/Zeus (Nov 6, 2000)

For me, occasional raw feeding does not require a complete meal- like providing % of this and that. If you want to give her chicken/beef/whatever, do so. I subscribe to KISS principle. Plus, you are feeding her high quality kibble. 

The general rule is 2% of the dogs body weight. My dog is 86 lbs and he gets 2 lbs of food, my dog is built like a tank and if I feed him less than that, he'd look like I'm starving him. Plus he works his little furry butt off everyday.


----------



## sashadog (Sep 2, 2011)

As just an occasional meal, I usually stick with meaty bones. It gives the dogs something to chew, their dinner, and takes them enough time that I get a bit of a break instead of them scarfing down their dinner in seconds and being ready to roll. Plus they love it!! Or I'll just grab a bag of the pre made raw patties to give them a treat every now and then. (With a small apartment sized fridge and three dogs, it's a dream to make my own raw...) 
I've never had any digestive issues mixing them up between good kibble and raw.


----------



## PatchonGSD (Jun 27, 2012)

Just my two cents after a bout of nasty diarrhea with Balen- dont feed the raw and kibble together in the same meal. Try to space a raw meal and a kibble meal (or non raw meal I guess) at least 12 hours apart.


----------



## Kyleigh (Oct 16, 2012)

I've been feeding raw for years, for both cats and dogs. The only caution I would give you is to keep in mind when you are feeding raw MIXED with kibble is that the raw food is much denser than the kibble. The kibble will expand in the dog's stomach, and the raw meat is dense / heavy ... so you don't want to feed the same amount of kibble AND the raw ... lots less kibble, and the raw ... or no kibble, just raw. You don't want to fill the dog's stomach so full it can barely move, and then have to worry about bloat ...


----------



## Kyleigh (Oct 16, 2012)

OOHHH PatchonGSD ... thanks for that post ... I've not feed kibble in years, so forgot about that VERY important thing to remember ... nasty diarrhea! Not something you want to experience HA HA


----------



## PatchonGSD (Jun 27, 2012)

LOL ya I learned the hard, nasty, took forever to get the stains out of the carpet-way.


----------



## Anthony8858 (Sep 18, 2011)

Kyleigh said:


> I've been feeding raw for years, for both cats and dogs. The only caution I would give you is to keep in mind when you are feeding raw MIXED with kibble is that the raw food is much denser than the kibble. The kibble will expand in the dog's stomach, and the raw meat is dense / heavy ... so you don't want to feed the same amount of kibble AND the raw ... lots less kibble, and the raw ... or no kibble, just raw. You don't want to fill the dog's stomach so full it can barely move, and then have to worry about bloat ...


 
Thanks for this. It would be very easy for someone to think they're making the kibble super-yummy.


----------



## Anthony8858 (Sep 18, 2011)

Can someone give me a sample daily menu for a 65 pound 16 month female?


----------



## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

Kyleigh said:


> I've been feeding raw for years, for both cats and dogs. The only caution I would give you is to keep in mind when you are feeding raw MIXED with kibble is that the raw food is much denser than the kibble. The kibble will expand in the dog's stomach, and the raw meat is dense / heavy ... so you don't want to feed the same amount of kibble AND the raw ... lots less kibble, and the raw ... or no kibble, just raw. You don't want to fill the dog's stomach so full it can barely move, and then have to worry about bloat ...


This is a myth. Absolutely no reason not to feed kibble and raw in the same meal. There are a ton of people out there that do this on a regular basis and it's not a problem.

You never want to over feed your dog no matter what you are feeding.


----------



## PatchonGSD (Jun 27, 2012)

Elaine said:


> This is a myth. Absolutely no reason not to feed kibble and raw in the same meal. *There are a ton of people out there that do this on a regular basis and it's not a problem.*
> 
> *It was a problem for Balen-just a warning. *
> 
> You never want to over feed your dog no matter what you are feeding.


...


----------



## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

There are dogs that can't eat various foods. So if one dog can't eat chicken, does that mean my dog shouldn't eat chicken?

The raw and kibble separation thing is a total and complete myth.


----------



## N Smith (Aug 25, 2011)

Elaine said:


> There are dogs that can't eat various foods. So if one dog can't eat chicken, does that mean my dog shouldn't eat chicken?
> 
> The raw and kibble separation thing is a total and complete myth.


Its not a "myth", its just something people need to be aware of.

No one with half a brain is going to say that raw food and kibble digest at the same rate, so if the kibble slows the raw down there is a danger of bacteria overgrowth. Dogs digestive systems are highly acidic and build short to process food quickly, which is why a raw diet is ideally designed.

Whether each individual dog can handle having both together, is dependant on that dog. Some dogs can have both in the same meal their whole lives and never have a problem, others experience severe illness right off the bat, and some never have a problem "until they do".

So to say its a "myth" is inaccurate.


----------



## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Have to say, the combo didn't work for us, either. Major runs. 
Your mileage may vary.


----------



## PatchonGSD (Jun 27, 2012)

Elaine said:


> There are dogs that can't eat various foods. So if one dog can't eat chicken, does that mean my dog shouldn't eat chicken?
> 
> The raw and kibble separation thing is a total and complete myth.



So if one dog can eat kibble and raw in the same meal, does that mean that my dog can? No. Therefore, its not a myth. Its just something to consider is all.


----------



## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

N Smith said:


> Its not a "myth", its just something people need to be aware of.
> 
> No one with half a brain is going to say that raw food and kibble digest at the same rate, so if the kibble slows the raw down there is a danger of bacteria overgrowth. Dogs digestive systems are highly acidic and build short to process food quickly, which is why a raw diet is ideally designed.
> 
> ...


This is a myth no matter how people try and come up with their own version of how the digestive system works. 

No one with half a brain is going to say that bone and muscle digest at the same rate. Strange how everything your dog eats digests at different rates, yet people continue to feed more than one food type at a time and their dogs don't get sick.


----------



## Bear GSD (Apr 12, 2012)

Elaine said:


> This is a myth. Absolutely no reason not to feed kibble and raw in the same meal. There are a ton of people out there that do this on a regular basis and it's not a problem.
> 
> You never want to over feed your dog no matter what you are feeding.


I feed 1/2 raw and 1/2 kibble and never have had any problem. I guess maybe the only difference would be I give the pre-made raw rolls that I cut up into small patties and feed with the kibble.


----------



## Anthony8858 (Sep 18, 2011)

OK, now that we solved the kibble / raw combo mystery, can we get back on topic? 

I would like a sample daily menu plan.
Be specific. I'd like to know how and what you're feeding your dogs.

Thanks


----------



## Josie/Zeus (Nov 6, 2000)

This is what I feed my dog and what it looks like.










This week, we got some goat tripe, so in a week, he gets:

~Chicken blend - Made from ground up chicken leg qtrs. packed in 2 lb. pkgs.
65% chicken leg qtrs., 25% chicken hearts, 10 % chicken liver. Leg qtrs are skinned and then some skin is added back so that there is 10% fat content in the product.

~Beef blend- Made from Ground Beef Blend with organs 10 - 15% organ meats, 10 % fat, 75 to 80% beef trim. Packaged in 2lb. packages

~Green Tripe- XKALIBER: Green Tripe, Muscle Meat, Heart, Tongue, Trachea/Gullet and Ground Bone 

~Goat Tripe 

~Turkey Necks- Ground

~Chicken frames- 40 to 50 lb. case Chicken Frames, from All Natural Free Range, hand processed chicken, Lots of meat on these.

~Venison- ground

~Chicken Leg quarters 

Sometimes- he will get Wild Boar- depending on if my supplier has it.



Chicken Frame, I cut a lot of the fat off


----------



## Josie/Zeus (Nov 6, 2000)

In Addition- 

I make his vitamins from scratch following Dr. Becker's book, plus Vit C/GlucosamineChoindrotin/Spirulina. 
He also get 2 tablespoon of Coconut Oil- Gold Labe (everyday)l and eggs 2x a week if that. 

So, raw feeding his not as easy as scooping two cups of food and be done with it. But at the same time, it is very rewarding for me and I'm sure for Koda.

~I make the vitamin mix every 3 months, no big deal, I just put all of them in a blender.


----------



## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

I am feeding Darwin's, 3 (half pound) portions a day, plus a couple of tablespoons of pumpkin . Hans also gets different oils, plus Feedsentials and Sunday Sundae. Topper is whatever meat we are having for dinner.Also, the occasional raw egg yolk, or big ol' carrot.


----------



## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

PatchonGSD said:


> So if one dog can eat kibble and raw in the same meal, does that mean that my dog can? No. Therefore, its not a myth. Its just something to consider is all.


I am starting to wonder if my dogs poop issues were because of this??? I would give them raw a couple times a week, but they always had and ate their regular food too.


----------



## RocketDog (Sep 25, 2011)

Anthony, I feed Rocket a big bone I get from the butcher a couple of times a week. Theyre beef bones he cuts for me. I've only ever had a problem once, and that's when they were a little smaller and he actually ate the whole thing-- he had one a few days in a row and it was too much calcium; his poops got a little hard and he was slightly constipated. I don't feed them as dinner, more like a snack. My son calls them an "after-bone", lol for some reason. Guess he thinks it's cute.


----------



## PatchonGSD (Jun 27, 2012)

llombardo said:


> I am starting to wonder if my dogs poop issues were because of this??? I would give them raw a couple times a week, but they always had and ate their regular food too.


As soon as Balen was off the raw for a full 24 hours- I gave Sunday Sundae,and he was on the road to being back to normal. By process of elimination- it had to have been the raw/kibble combo. I have not been brave enough to try separating the two meals by 12 hours apart yet and dont know if I will, but I am 100% convinced that the raw/kibble combo in the same meal is what was wrong.


----------



## PatchonGSD (Jun 27, 2012)

Anthony-This is a good read and gives a sample diet at the bottom. Hope this helps.

http://www.healinghope.net/downloads/canine_raw_food_diet_basics.pdf


----------



## Kyleigh (Oct 16, 2012)

Elaine said:


> This is a myth. Absolutely no reason not to feed kibble and raw in the same meal. There are a ton of people out there that do this on a regular basis and it's not a problem.
> 
> You never want to over feed your dog no matter what you are feeding.


I respectfully disagree Elaine. My best friend worked in a vet clinic for years, and has seen 3 separate cases of dogs come in with bloat ... when asked what they had eaten it was kibble mixed with raw. The owners weren't "dumb" owners either, they were aware about the potential for bloat with large chested breeds, and had taken the normal precautions. No one had mentioned anything about kibble / raw mixing / not mixing. 

I also said it was a caution, I didn't say it was a fact.


----------



## Anthony8858 (Sep 18, 2011)

PatchonGSD said:


> Anthony-This is a good read and gives a sample diet at the bottom. Hope this helps.
> 
> http://www.healinghope.net/downloads/canine_raw_food_diet_basics.pdf


Good read.

Thank you.


----------



## jae (Jul 17, 2012)

I would think for the occasional raw meal, a simple turkey neck, chicken frame, or shank steak would cut it. Since the kibble is providing all of the nutrition, it's more of a nice meal treat and shouldn't be necessary to balance out against other meals and ratios - I think. 
On the other hand, I'm curious to what's keeping you from entirely switching? You already make that stew, add a little more time in preparing daily baggies with the stew and raw meats, or cut your time even more with a simple pre-made patty and dog stew side.


----------



## ayoitzrimz (Apr 14, 2010)

Don't know what was said about mixing raw with kibble. I've never done it, but that's simply because I always wanted my dog to eat his kibble, and not wait for somethign "better" to come along. Maybe it's baseless assumption, but I felt it was right and there's no harm there.

As far as nutrients and stuff like that - There's no matter because Kira is getting a complete balanced diet from her kibble (and mine does as well, on Acana) so I just give him whatever is cheap or on sale - duck / turkey / chicken necks, beef ribs, occasional marrow bone (but be careful with weight-bearing bones), etc. I really like necks and backs and he seems to enjoy them - just guzzle them up and it gives him something to chew on.

If you are worried about the raw vs cooked issue - I wouldn't. She's not going to get Salmonella because her digestive system is much stronger and much shorter than ours so the bacteria doesn't have enough time to multiply is what I heard - now that I CAN'T verify so you need to draw your own conclusions. What I just said here is just what I heard / read and could be incorrect so be sure to look it up 

But personally, I never had a problem and I give him all kinds of stuff. Sometimes I'll even throw in a little beef heart or something which he goes nuts for (and gives him crazy diarrhea if I give too much, so gotta use some portion control lol)


----------



## Ronda (Aug 23, 2010)

Here's Saphira's menu for this week (71lb 19 month old F) 45% RMB (10.8oz) 5% ORGAN (1.2 oz) 50% (12 oz) MM

Monday AM 2 chicken backs (still a good chunk of meat on them) 
PM Beef Heart and Chicken liver

Tuesday AM 2 Chicken backs
PM Beef Tripe Chunk, Beef Sweetbread

Wednesday AM Turkey neck
PM Ground Beef Blend from butcher (includes heart meat, kidney, liver and other various beef trimmings but no bone)

Thursday AM Turkey neck
PM Tripe Chunk, Beef Sweetbread

Friday AM Turkey neck
PM Whole Mackeral

Saturday AM 1/4 Whole Chicken (These are great for a whole weekend)
PM 1/4 Whole Chicken

Sunday AM 1/4 Whole Chicken
PM 1/4 Whole Chicken

That's just what this week was...I rotate in Chicken hearts, gizzards, breasts, ground turkey, beef roasts, steaks, hamburger, etc for muscle meats. I am not as adventurous with the RMB, turkey necks and chicken backs are staples and occasionally I feed whole chickens (minus the leg bones as Saphira has a tendancy to hack those up) over a few days and Cornish game hens are perfect for cutting in half for a day's worth of food. For fish I feed whiting, mackeral, and I have some anchovies currently on order from Albersons (there meat dept. loves ordering stuff for me, they are super nice about it). Organs are liver, kidney, of chicken, beef, lamb, whatever I can find at the ethnic store. 

She gets 1 chicken foot a day usually as a treat and to ward off the urpy stomach. Maintance dose of Nupro Silver as well as added fish oil, vitamin E, coconut oil, and ACV when I can sneak it in her food.


----------



## Anthony8858 (Sep 18, 2011)

Ok... Thanks for picking up the thread. 
Someone asked why I haven't done raw yet ..,
I will honestly say that I'm extremely intimidated by whole system. 
I'm also concerned about proper food handling. 
Also not too sure where I'm getting the right chicken backs, and necks, etc. 
Kinda afraid of making a serious mistake. 

One poster showed what looked like pre-packaged raw foods (sorry on iPhone)
Some had a case of chicken parts. 

Where are you getting this stuff?


Sent from my iPhone using PG Free


----------



## Anthony8858 (Sep 18, 2011)

Ronda said:


> Here's Saphira's menu for this week (71lb 19 month old F) 45% RMB (10.8oz) 5% ORGAN (1.2 oz) 50% (12 oz) MM
> 
> Monday AM 2 chicken backs (still a good chunk of meat on them)
> PM Beef Heart and Chicken liver
> ...


Wow thank you for taking the time to do this. 
Your dog keeps you busy. 


Sent from my iPhone using PG Free


----------



## Gretchen (Jan 20, 2011)

Anthony, I know you are a good doggy dad, but I'm thinking of your wife now, how she would handle raw and the convenience factor. You may want to start out with raw the easy, convenient way like we did. Our dog likes the Nature's Variety brand, especially the venison. It is in the freezer section of the more natural pet food stores in my area. (you won't find in petsmart). It's basically an 8oz patty you thaw the night before. It has meat, bone, organ meat and some veggies. The nice thing about this company is that if you sign up, they send you coupons to your e-mail.

The Whole Foods Markets in my area also sell raw, prepackaged food, however Molly does not like the brand they sell.

A more convenient way to go is dehydrated raw.Our local pet store sells a brand but we order on-line from The Honest Kitchen. They have also sent me discounts through e-mail. 

Molly has been completely off kibble for about a month now, and her GI system loves it.


----------



## abakerrr (Aug 8, 2008)

A few months ago I started feeding my bitch raw and had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I was also very intimidated by the whole process but I would say it really isnt a big deal once you get set up and start doing it.

So I first bought a full sized freezer from a friend who was selling it dirt cheap and set it up in the garage. I did this because A. I'de be shot if my SO found green tripe in our kitchen freezer and B. I like to buy in bulk to last me months at a time so that I can spend as little time as possible doing/ planning the dog food situation. I bought eight 30# cases of parts for my first buy to stock my freezer and get started. I would say it was an expensive investment, but I know it will pay off as being significantly cheaper vs kibble in the long run. Anyways, I brought it home and it took me about five hours to individually bag everything in sandwich baggies, but i think its 1000x easier to thaw out an individual self serve bag. So if you do it, dedicate a sunday afternoon to nasty body parts and force yourself to finish what you've started. Once it was all individually bagged, at meal time I just run out to the garage, grab some sandwich baggies of organ, muscle, and bone, then put them in the kitchen sink (still in their baggies) and thaw them out/warm them up while floating in hot water. Takes about 20 minutes until they can eat it. As for salmonella and things of that sort, I don't know, I wash my hands with dish soap before and after handling the food and wash her metal bowl after feeding her. Neither of us have ever gotten sick, but that's not to say it cant happen. 

At first I alternated kibble in the AM and raw in the PM to ease any stress of transition for me. At a very basic level, I pretty much work with muscle meat, organ meat, and bone (for a ration of 45:15:40). Ill admit that I never measure anything and pretty much eyeball the portions. I'm sure other people do it differently, but this is my personal approach and I haven't killed the dog yet. If her poop looked too hard, I gave more organ. If it looked too soft, I gave more bone. I bought chicken necks, turkey necks, and chicken backs for my bone source; I bought prepackaged ground organ mix as well as prepackaged ground green tripe (YUCK) for my organ source; And I bought ground beef, venison, chicken, and quail mix for my muscle meat source. I'll also randomly pick up the discounted grocery store oddities when I see them just for a change of pace. I found a distributor through word-of-mouth from a friend and its a good setup. She emailed me a menu with prices, I emailed her back what I wanted, she let me know when the shipment was coming in (had to wait a week or so), and I picked it up. No big deal. I don't bother going to a butcher, but thats maybe because I haven't found a butcher that doesn't look at me like I have two heads when I ask for the things I need. I would start asking around and see if anything is in your area. I get the ground up rolls of muscle or organ from a company called Blue Ridge Beef which ships them directly to my distributor. Since Kai isn't an extreme chewer, I also give her the non-edible/ digestible weight-bearing bones to gnaw on and keep her busy/ clean her teeth. They are cow femurs and they CAN break teeth if your dog goes too crazy with them and they CAN block your dogs digestive track if your dog figures out how to ingest them (which is why I only give my girl the larger ones that I KNOW she cant swallow). My older aussie goes way too hard with those things and would be the dog to crack off a tooth, so she's banned from them. 

Anyways, I tend to also throw in various other things in with my dogs raw food that I think she might like or need in her diet. If I'm eating vegetables for dinner, she might get some unseasoned veggies tossed into her bowl on top of the meat. Ill randomly toss in things like applesauce, yogurt, raw eggs, sunflower seeds, honey, dried cranberries, whole blueberries, etc. I would like to get her on some coconut oil and maybe a vitamin supplement every now and then, but I haven't decided on what brand to go with yet.

I don't know if I could give you an accurate menu of what to feed because I'm always changing how much I feed my own dog depending on a few different factors. In the winter, I try to put a little more weight on her, so she eats more. When we are training hard, she also gets a little more. Some days I fast her, some days she eats twice a day and others she only eats once (but larger). It really depends on what my day has going on and how I feel like coordinating it. I imagine that before dog food was commercialized into colorful prepackaged bags, dogs ate on a relatively irregular basis and thrived without issue, so I don't stress too much about exact feeding times or amounts. Again, my personal approach.

Things i've noticed on raw: Kai's teeth have no tarter on them. She definitely has more endurance when doing hard training. I almost never find her drinking water when she is laying around the house (im assuming from all the moisture in raw vs kibble). I noticed that she has slightly more muscle definition and her coat tends to be more glossy when she isn't in season. Her feces break down in the yard and disappear within a few days (and don't smell nearly as bad!). She does place a higher value on her raw meals than she did kibble so it took me a few dinner time squabbles between the mutts to realize that the other dog needs to be kept away from her while she eats. 

Either way, I think that while it hasn't been a miracle worker like some people claim, i definitely think its a lot better for my dog and she certainly likes it a lot more. Whenever people ask me 'why' I go out of my way to feed her raw, I like to respond with "... with all the different types of food out there, could _you_ ever imagine having to eat cereal EVERYDAY for the rest of your life?"


----------



## Cheerful1 (Sep 27, 2011)

We give Joey a kibble/beef mixture in the morning, kibble in the evening.

The beef comes from a company in Glen Cove called Martin's K9 Formula Store. 

I just noticed on his website that along with pure beef, he sells Beef & Tripe Combo; Beef & Heart Combo; Beef & Liver Combo; Beef, Liver, Heart & Tripe Combo.

Would anyone recommend any or all of these combos? I know extremely little about Raw feeding.


----------



## Kyleigh (Oct 16, 2012)

I know this thread is a couple of months old ... but abakerrr's post is phenomenal ... what a great post!!!! Pretty much how I do mine, except my local organic butcher feeds his dogs like I do so it's great!


----------



## Olivers mama (Oct 13, 2010)

If a raw diet is so good, why do you have to give supplements?


----------



## Anitsisqua (Mar 25, 2012)

Olivers mama said:


> If a raw diet is so good, why do you have to give supplements?


You don't HAVE to, but some of us choose to. Even a healthy diet has some room for improvement.

As long as the raw diet is balanced: Variety of sources, Organ Meats, Bone, Etc, there's not a NEED for supplements. I just prefer to.


----------



## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

There is one very real problem that may occur if you give a raw meal occasionally.

Your dog may decide *NOT *to eat their kibble anymore.


----------



## Anthony8858 (Sep 18, 2011)

Lauri & The Gang said:


> There is one very real problem that may occur if you give a raw meal occasionally.
> 
> Your dog may decide *NOT *to eat their kibble anymore.


Oh, yes. I can see this happening. 
Just this morning, my wife made the mistake of giving her a piece of beef jerky, and put the rest in the corner of our kitchen counter. Kira knew where it was, and instead of eating her morning meal, she went and sat in that corner, and gave us her little annoying, nagging bark she does when she wants something.

If I were to give her raw, I'd have to be 100% dedicated. I can't see her eating kibble after a good raw meal... and I'm not ready to do that.


----------



## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Anthony8858 said:


> Oh, yes. I can see this happening.
> Just this morning, my wife made the mistake of giving her a piece of beef jerky, and put the rest in the corner of our kitchen counter. Kira knew where it was, and instead of eating her morning meal, she went and sat in that corner, and gave us her little annoying, nagging bark she does when she wants something.
> 
> .


Ha, she just barked?? I made homemade beef jerky and left it on the counter in a bag and my oldest(Non GSD) decided in the middle of the night to get the cat to help her get it....yes she did have icky poop for the duration of the day..serves her right


----------



## Anthony8858 (Sep 18, 2011)

llombardo said:


> *Ha, she just barked??* I made homemade beef jerky and left it on the counter in a bag and my oldest(Non GSD) decided in the middle of the night to get the cat to help her get it....yes she did have icky poop for the duration of the day..serves her right


Yes. She has this annoying, naggy, puppy bark when she calls me. It's unlike her GSD bark, it sounds like a little Pomeranian bark.
She sits there and stares in my direction, and if I don't give her the attention she wants, she gives me the little "yapper bark".. LOL


----------



## Shaolin (Jun 16, 2012)

I apologize if I'm hijacking this post, but I wanted to ask a question about the occasional RAW meal. When I make a meal that involves chicken, I'll have either a defrosted, uncooked breast or two left over, or some of the uncooked bones left. I know I won't use the chicken before it goes bad in the fridge. Is it okay to just give him the raw breast and bones? Also, a neighbor offered me some frozen, uncooked deer bones with meat left on them as well as some of the organs; heart and liver I believe. Is deer meat okay for a dog?


----------



## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Yes to all of the above. The deer bones should be treated as recreational bones.

Edited to add - if you are giving JUST the chicken bones you might want to add in some other type of raw meat. Giving too much bone can cause constipation.


----------



## Shaolin (Jun 16, 2012)

@Laurie & The Gang: I'm the only person in the house who eats dark meat, so if it's a communal recipe, I always have dark meat and bones left over. That's good to know about deer bones. My neighbor is an avid hunter and he does his own butchering. He's offered to save bones and whatnot for Finn, but I've turned him down because I wasn't sure. My vet is completely against any type of RAW Diet and gets cranky with me because I put two raw eggs in Finn's food every few days, so I can't ask her for that type of advice.

Is buying an uncooked roaster chicken, butchering it, and giving him a little bit at a time a good idea? I would love to switch to completely RAW, but...that'll never happen. I would like to give him a portion of chicken or some sort of meat for his midday meal.


----------



## Cheyanna (Aug 18, 2012)

Why not pork in the RAW diet? Anyone know? 


Sent from my iPhone using Petguide.com Free App


----------



## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I give my dogs raw pork, they handle it fine...but as far as bones, I only feed the neck bones and smaller rib bones. 
If some chops have bones on them those are ok, too. Sometimes they get gassy from pork. And some dogs just can't handle it.


----------



## Cheyanna (Aug 18, 2012)

Thanks. Fiona has been eating pork, but the link said not to feed pork.


Sent from my iPhone using Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Anitsisqua (Mar 25, 2012)

Gabe does just fine on pork, and he eats it pretty regularly.


----------

