# Need some help with RAW or wife will make me switch back to Kibble.



## Jairo Parra (Jan 10, 2013)

Thank you in advance for the responses. My wife thinks that Raw is becoming too expensive and time consuming. We have been feeding RAW Blue Ridge chubs for about 8 months now and we have found it to be difficult to always find the chubs. Also each 2lb chub is like 4 dollars. I need help in getting a recipe that I can feed my two GSDs, one 18 months and about 70lbs, and the other one 4 months and about 24lbs, and make it more coat effective that paying close to $250 monthly in their food. I like the green tripe of Blue Ridge but all the other protein can be purchased somewhere else. I just need to know what to feed them and the amounts to do it right. Please help me. 


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I only get certain specialty food from the raw vendors...green tripe and other organ meat that I can't get at a meat processor or grocery store special order.
I get turkey, duck or chicken necks special ordered, and get venison and scrap grind from a meat processor. Call around(usually ordering in bulk is cheaper) get with a local raw co-op if possible Yahoo local raw group may be helpful.

As far as amounts, doing it right, there are several stickies and threads here on the portions, etc for feeding a balanced raw diet.


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## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

Prey model raw will be 80% muscle meat, 10% bone, 5% liver, and 5% other organ. Depending on where you are located, there are many meats you can find dirt cheap. I always ask local butchers, game processors, and farm animal processors about buying meat trimmings, bones, and organs from them. You can also find a lot of cheap meat at ethnic markets.

As far as what you get, you don't need prime cuts or anything. I do a chicken/turkey base because it is easiest and cheapest to find. So a couple of typical meals for mine would be:

Meal 1: chicken quarter, beef neck bone, pork heart, pork liver, lamb kidney

Meal 2: Turkey necks, pork neck bones, beef liver, lamb trimming, beef kidney, chicken liver

You can mix it up very easily depending on what is available to you as long as you keep generally accurate ratios. For the 18 month old, it will be 2% of his body weight and for the 4 month old, 2% of his expected adult weight.

PM me if you have more questions, or surf the raw feeding forum for a bit. Raw doesn't have to be expensive. My 60 pound GSD eats for about $40 a month, $50 if I'm really stretching and getting the good stuff.


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## Carriesue (Aug 13, 2012)

Feeding pre made raw is waaaaay too pricey for large breed dogs as you're finding out. 

I bought a big chest freezer and buy in bulk from a few local sources and a few further away like Big Dan's trucking which has great pricing. I feed prey model style raw which is what the above poster mentioned, 80% muscle meat, 10% bone(though some dogs needs more or less), 5% liver and 5% misc organs. This is my favorite starter guide.... http://www.chanceslittlewebsite.com...nners_guide_to_prey_model_raw_rv.7.pdf#page19

Pre made stuff is just too expensive and doesn't work well for large dogs, good luck! I spend probably about $80-90 a month feeding four dogs, two large and two small but you could definitely do it cheaper through better sources like a co-op, local farm/processing plant or finding free meat on CL.


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## Carriesue (Aug 13, 2012)

Ideally the diet should be made up of 60% red meat, with 3-4 different protein types at the very least and I wouldn't advise feeding any beef bones especially weight bearing bones. I use chicken, turkey, pork ribs and lamb ribs as my main bone sources along with an occasional whole rabbit thrown in.


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## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

Carriesue said:


> Ideally the diet should be made up of 60% red meat, with 3-4 different protein types at the very least and I wouldn't advise feeding any beef bones especially weight bearing bones. I use chicken, turkey, pork ribs and lamb ribs as my main bone sources along with an occasional whole rabbit thrown in.


I think that can depend on the dog. While I agree not to feed weight bearing beef bones as consumable bones, I've had great luck with beef neck bones. It'll be something OP will have to decide based on how his dogs handle the bones.


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## Carriesue (Aug 13, 2012)

True it's a know thy dog thing, if you have a gulper definitely wouldn't recommend them and also wouldn't recommend them for small dogs. My GSD is a very careful eater but I just don't risk it with beef bones, I will give him an occasional pork neck though... Necks are very high in bone content.


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## Jairo Parra (Jan 10, 2013)

So, I spoke to a few butchers in town and they don't grind bone for me. They sell all types of meats and poultry but would not grind the bone. The questions I have with this is what can I do to ensure they get the bone required in their diet? The meat looks like it won't be an issue. Any info would be helpful. 


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## Jairo Parra (Jan 10, 2013)

Pax8 said:


> Prey model raw will be 80% muscle meat, 10% bone, 5% liver, and 5% other organ. Depending on where you are located, there are many meats you can find dirt cheap. I always ask local butchers, game processors, and farm animal processors about buying meat trimmings, bones, and organs from them. You can also find a lot of cheap meat at ethnic markets.
> 
> 
> 
> ...






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## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

Jairo Parra said:


> So, I spoke to a few butchers in town and they don't grind bone for me. They sell all types of meats and poultry but would not grind the bone. The questions I have with this is what can I do to ensure they get the bone required in their diet? The meat looks like it won't be an issue. Any info would be helpful.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Typically in prey model raw, you don't get ground bone. Chicken bones, duck bones, rabbit bones, young lamb bones, etc can be crunched down and consumed completely by your dog. For the puppy, I would stick with softer bones like poultry or rabbit bones.


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## Jairo Parra (Jan 10, 2013)

Pax8 said:


> Typically in prey model raw, you don't get ground bone. Chicken bones, duck bones, rabbit bones, young lamb bones, etc can be crunched down and consumed completely by your dog. For the puppy, I would stick with softer bones like poultry or rabbit bones.



Thank you, do you add any vegetables or eggs or anything like that? Can you help me with coming up with the right recepie for my dogs. I'm having trouble coming up with the right amounts of each item. 



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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Green tripe is my source for the 'green' vegetables. 
I would use duck necks, turkey necks for the RMB.
Eggs are fine, I give eggs often as we have chickens.
Pax8 posted sample meals, personally I think that is too much bone....turkey and duck necks contain a fair amount of bone, I'd not add more to it for a meal. I'd also not give so much organ in one meal either. Organ should make up only 10% max of a meal portion.
IMO, a leg 1/4 with back attached that weighs a pound or so is the perfect balanced meal(if there is organ meat included in that back section) for an 80# dog that is active. The skin also has beneficial nutrition, I never remove the skin. Turkey skin on the other hand I do take off. Turkeys are older usually, bones are denser and the skin is tough/thicker than a young meat chickens.


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## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

onyx'girl said:


> Green tripe is my source for the 'green' vegetables.
> I would use duck necks, turkey necks for the RMB.
> Eggs are fine, I give eggs often as we have chickens.
> Pax8 posted sample meals, personally I think that is too much bone....turkey and duck necks contain a fair amount of bone, I'd not add more to it for a meal. I'd also not give so much organ in one meal either. Organ should make up only 10% max of a meal portion.
> IMO, a leg 1/4 with back attached that weighs a pound or so is the perfect balanced meal(if there is organ meat included in that back section) for an 80# dog that is active. The skin also has beneficial nutrition, I never remove the skin. Turkey skin on the other hand I do take off. Turkeys are older usually, bones are denser and the skin is tough/thicker than a young meat chickens.


Yeah, that'll be where personal adjustment comes in. Kaiju's stool is only firm with a higher bone content. Any higher and he gets the powdery stool, any lower and he gets the runs. So the 80/10/10 is where the raw diet should be started, but ratios may have to be adjusted based on the dog and how you find they react to things.

I should've taken into account my meals tend to be bonier than average.


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## Carriesue (Aug 13, 2012)

Since I feed prey model raw I do not feed fruits or veg, I do not believe them to be necessary, dogs are opportunistic carnivores not omnivores.


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