# What to do if you can't go raw?



## jenedge24 (Dec 5, 2009)

We had to treat a horrible double ear infection for our dog Bo, when we adopted him, I know he wasn't being fed quality food before. Now we have another ear infection coming on again. I'm going to change his diet, But I can't go raw (please don't make me feel bad) My stomach can't handle it! I KNOW this is the best route, BUT I just honestly can't physically, I have to prep my self to handle raw meat for my family, I usually have my husband pre cook stuff for me. Plus we aren't hunters and feeding a family meat gets costly. what are my options? My mom said she only had one GSD with allergies and her vet said Lamb and rice, But I have heard that Lamb and rice is the last thing you want to give a dog with allergies. My head is spinning. I'd rather spend money and time preventing a trip to the vet rather than spending time and money in the vets office Obviously!


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## Brightelf (Sep 5, 2001)

Here are a few ideas: 

Try a grain-free kibble. We have a sticky thread on it, too, listing lots of them, such as Wellness CORE, Orijen, EVO, Merrick's BeforeGrain, and many others to choose from.
Find one withOUT flax or barley, if you can. Some of the better, snobbier "grain-free" kibbles sneak those in. Both can cause itching-- but may not. If you can't find one without those, try them anyway.







We're mainly trying to avoid rice, corn, etc.

My best advice though: Feed premade raw. It just looks like an uncooked meatloaf. You dump it into the dog's bowl, and that's it. It isn't cheap, but it can (in many cases) stop those vet bills if the allergies are from (processed)food. 

My Second best option: Dehydrated raw. You pour it from a bag. It doesn't seem like meat. They come in medallions or patties or chunks almost like kibble. 

So, try a grain-free kibble (so many to choose from now) ... or premade raw... or dehydrated raw!







Good luck with your dog!


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## rokanhaus (Mar 20, 2006)

I would look at a high quality grain free food. Orijen, Wellness core, Innova Evo, there are several out there....

If your dog is prone to ear infections you also might want to think about adding a tsp or so of organic apple cider vinegar to his diet daily as well.


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## jenedge24 (Dec 5, 2009)

Where do you prefer to buy the Wellness core, or Evo? and where would I find the premade raw, or dehydrated? 
Eukanbua is what we have been feeding about a cup and a half 3x a day, I know it's not the best but now I feel so bad!

How do you get your dog to go near the apple cider vinegar, My dog will turn around and walk right out of the kitchen what I even open the bottle (seriously) It's kind of funny!


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## Amaruq (Aug 29, 2001)

Are you sure his allergies are food related?


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## Doc (Jan 13, 2009)

The Honest Kitchen sells several dyhydrated raw products. It's easy, 1 cup of feed plus 1 cup of warm water, let stand 5-10 minutes and feed.


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## jenedge24 (Dec 5, 2009)

I figured, I'd start with his diet. Is there anything else I can to help prevent infection, we keep his ears clean from mites & junk and do our best to keep them dry??...
Is The Honest Kitchen online?


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## Virginia (Oct 2, 2008)

You can also try http://www.petfooddirect.com. Once you start ordering they will send you 13% - 20% off coupons every once in a while, so that tends to offset the shipping. It's where I order Wellness for my cat, and Taste of the Wild for my dog. They also have the pre-made raw listed above, as well as numerous other high quality brands of food.


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## Tbarrios333 (May 31, 2009)

Your vet can do an allergy panel so you can figure out what's wrong instead of doing a costly/time consuming trial and error experiment.


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## aoshins (Jan 4, 2010)

MY GSD also had infections in both ears when I switched his and my other dogs food. One of my other dogs had an ear infection and two of them were biting on their legs. I have 6 dogs and all of them were scratching. I went back to their food, Natural Recipe, but it has catfish as the protein scource and my guess is that it is farmed fish. I wanted a protein source that wasn't from a fish farm or factory farm so I tried Taste of The Wild. It's the salmon one. My dogs are doing very well. I think you should give it a try. You can go to their website and use the store locator to find it.
Forget about spending money on allergy testing. Most if not all alllergies in our pets are from food, especially commercial.
Also don't give commercial treats. I started making my own peanut butter treats and give them apples, carrots, etc as treats. If your dog won't eat them try putting peanut butter or low fat cream cheese on them.


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## jenedge24 (Dec 5, 2009)

My Dog loves peanut butter, If there were treats that had PB,chicken, and whatever he ocasionally likes off my kids face, He'd be the happiest dog I've ever met! I haven't found a Natutal or organic treat he wants anything to do with, So I boil a few chicken breasts once or twice a week, and keep in the fridge for treats. 
Ugg..Boise Co Op have most of the brands Suggested! I'll be visiting! As Ive done research it can be cheaper to go raw, if I can use the suggestions given to somach it, I'd love to! if not I'm glad there are good options near by.


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## lucymom (Jan 2, 2009)

You can also google Oma's Pride , a distributor of premade raw, and see if there is a rep near you. The price of the premade chicken is not terrible if you buy in quantity. To get some of the high quality kibbles that have been recommended here, you may have to go to a feed store or pet supply store. Petsmart doesn't seem to carry most of them.

I understand the squeamishness and SYMPATHIZE!! I started doing raw about 6 weeks ago and am skeezed out on a daily basis. I squirted myself in the eye with raw chicken today and am convinced I'll come down with eyeball salmonella or something. I tried hacking up huge portions of beef heart, which took hours and hours, and my kitchen counters looked like a slaughterhouse floor when I was done and I was cussing and near tears most of the time. Who knew ventricles could get so big?????

The price has been okay though, thanks to a member here who found a good meat wholesaler, much MUCH cheaper than the supermarket and cheaper to feed than the kibble I'd had them on, the Wellness Ocean Fish, which they liked but was too pricey for me.

You can also add a few dollops of plain yogurt to their food, maybe some chopped frozen spinach, etc to give them some of the raw "side dishes" that some folks use.


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## jenedge24 (Dec 5, 2009)

EEEKKK!!! I don't know if I can do it!!!LOL, I'm so sorry about your eye, that sounds just like something that would happen to me. My dad was a butcher for over 40 years, so our GSD's always had raw cuz it was easiest. I know a couple farmers, and I have a NASTY slaughter house near by...YUCK I don't know if I can even get that close! There is a butcher shop too, I wonder if they could chop and grind some "repulsive goodness" for bo. They seem to be cheaper than Albertsons, winco, and walmart. What if my dog is like," hey are you going to cook that?" and doesn't want anything to do with it....does that ever happen?


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## JerzeyGSD (Jun 26, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: Ambrose4Eukanbua is what we have been feeding about a cup and a half 3x a day, I know it's not the best but now I feel so bad!


I had the same experience with Eukanuba... when Jerzey got her first yeast infection in her ear I switched her food immediately. She is currently on Blue Buffalo (I buy it at Petsmart) and is doing well. It's not grain free, but it doesn't have any corn or anything in it and she hasn't had any ear infections since she's switched.


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## JerzeyGSD (Jun 26, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: Ambrose4 What if my dog is like," hey are you going to cook that?" and doesn't want anything to do with it....does that ever happen?


Oh, that won't happen! Trust me.


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## StarryNite (Jun 2, 2009)

Lou has been on full raw since 4 or 5 months old because she was having such problems on kibble with loose stools and itching, she loves it. I recently tried to go back to giving her one meal TOTW and just her chicken quarter for dinner for convenience since it was a pain to get the K9 Kraving but no dice, she won't touch the kibble to save her life now! I now found that they have ground beef logs and ground turkey logs at wal mart for cheaper than the K9 Kraving and I just ad some chicken OM to a 1/2 lb of one of those for breakfast and a large chicken quarter for dinner. It comes out to about $1.50 (if that) a day. the chicken quarters are very cheap. $5.50 for a 10lb bag at Wal Mart and pretty easy to just throw in their crate or outside with them. The bone chewing is fantastic for their teeth as well, Lou's teeth are sparkling white from them!


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## jenedge24 (Dec 5, 2009)

Do they ever choke on the chicken bones? That's a little scary. I have seen those tubes of beef, I think My mom actually buys them (sick). that's a great idea!


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## StarryNite (Jun 2, 2009)

Well, that was my first question here when Lou first went raw, the people here definitely put me at ease on that. I do have Lulu's barf diary somewhere on here if you want to look it up, sort of a day by day from when I first started and my questions and such. Lou has had a chicken quarter every day for over 6 months now and no problems whatsoever. If you do use the ground beef and turkey instead of the pre made be sure you add some organs (chicken livers, gizzards) I also add a capsule of salmon oil to it as well







People here are really knowledgeable and can answer any question you have.

there are definitely alternatives to actually hacking up the meat and such though if you want your dog on raw. I could never go back to just kibble with Lulu, the benefits I have seen are just so fantastic with the raw diet!


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

> Originally Posted By: Ambrose4Do they ever choke on the chicken bones? That's a little scary.


*CAN* it happen? Yes. It's up to us, as owners, to be sure we know our dogs.

For example, Mauser (GSD) is a GREAT chewer. In fact, he can sometimes take TOO long to eat something!







He'll work on a turkey neck for several minutes - the same size one that Sasah can chomp down in seconds.

Now Winnie (Corgi mix) is a gulper. I learned my lesson with her first hand. I _thought_ she would chew a smaller turkey neck but she tried to swallow it whole and it got stuck. I was able to dislodge it and learned that she needs things to be cut up so that if she DID swallow without chewing it would not get stuck.

You gotta know your dogs.


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## UConnGSD (May 19, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: StarryNiteIf you do use the ground beef and turkey instead of the pre made be sure you add some organs (chicken livers, gizzards)


I thought gizzards were to be treated as MM


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## StarryNite (Jun 2, 2009)

I was thinking about that as I typed it but then I figured someone would correct me if I was wrong







I am actually unsure about the gizzards, I give Lou the hearts, gizzards and livers. I knew the livers were OM and the hearts MM but never was clear about the gizzards so I am sure you are right


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## jenedge24 (Dec 5, 2009)

haha, you guys are funny, mm om...what!







I think I have ran across your meal plans I'll seach them out again. How do you find all these random innerds to these animals? the only time I have a turkey neck or heart is on thanks giving nad to be honest since Jenny-o (or what ever) sells the precooked turkeys that might I add are surpisingly amazing, the crap with defrosting a bird and sticking my hand up its carcuss to find a bag of nasty!


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

you're not eating it why can't your stomach handle it?









there's tons of kibble and can food out there. don't worry
you'll find something.



> Originally Posted By: Ambrose4I'm going to change his diet, But I can't go raw (please don't make me feel bad) My stomach can't handle it!


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## 'Tilda's mom (Dec 29, 2009)

I feed raw but when I forget to set something out for them, or Im lazy, I feed Honest Kitchen. Its the only dog food I will buy.


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## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: Ambrose4haha, you guys are funny, mm om...what!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Most butchers can get beef heart or other stuff for you. Our butcher at Publix orders beef heart for me if I'm short between my raw supplier orders and I'm about to see if he can get turkey gizzards for me since the pups loved the ones they sold after Christmas. 

I also go to the "random animal parts" section of my grocery store. Each store has one. Sometimes its with the regular meats, sometimes its in a freezer down from the regular meats, but I can usually find turkey necks and pork necks and stuff there if I'm in a bind.


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## 3K9Mom (Jun 12, 2006)

If you really can't handle it, and if you have a butcher nearby, you can ask your butcher to grind the food, including the RMB. My local butcher will grind everything including turkey and chicken necks for no extra charge. Now, all you have to do is grab a spoon and bloop! weigh MM and bloop! weigh out RMB and bloop! weigh out OM. Toss in today's veggies, eggs, whatever, and hand the bowl to your dog. 

Granted, your dog won't have the teeth cleaning benefits of chewing on bones (you'll need to brush his teeth), but you won't have nearly the risk of choking either. 

You don't have to hack up a bunch of meat and bones. It's simple, not as messy, and your dog gets all of the health benefits.


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## jenedge24 (Dec 5, 2009)

That sounds more do-able! I don't mind brushing his teeth, especially if he's eating raw meat. I've talked to a couple hunters that I know and they said they'd gladly give me the nasties (Organs and whatever else). I like the idea of grinding it. I just can't help it, the thought for chopping up dead animal parts and feeding them to my dog....(I think I just vomited in my mouth a little).but I can handle scoop and plop!!!


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## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

> Originally Posted By: Ambrose4.... But I have heard that Lamb and rice is the last thing you want to give a dog with allergies.


It really depends on what the allergy is!!

My boy is an allergy boy, vomits on poultry, itches on beef, and right now all I feed him is lamb. Most of the time I cook it, though I'm hoping to feed some Nature's Variety lamb once in awhile, if he can tolerate it.

eta: forgot to add, just about everything goes wrong with him when he eats pork, so lamb is our only option, if we are considering "regular" meats.


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