# Questions about feeding raw



## Miikkas mom (Dec 21, 2009)

Hi Folks,

I am seriously thinking about going raw for my dogs. I do have a few questions. I hope I don’t sound too terribly dumb but I know I‘m gonna sound like a complete idiot!







I have read many of the posts here on this forum but I still have questions. 

When I was a kid, I can remember my dad *constantly* telling us not to give the dogs the leftover bones, <u>particularly chicken bones</u>. Now, I’m reading that entire chicken quarters go into recipes, bones and all. This goes against everything I know. OR, am I misunderstanding something? 

When a recipe calls for meat, does it really mean RAW meat? I don’t have to brown it first? 

When feeding an egg do you really give them the shell too? 

How come the dogs don’t choke on the bones or the eggshells? Feeding them this way sounds dangerous to me. From everything I know, chicken bones splinter and can choke a dog! 

What do the acronyms RMB, MM, OM mean?

After I’ve researched the raw diet and I think it’s something I can do, I’d like to start my puppy on it. Is she too young? Is it a “the soon the better” type thing or should I wait until she is a certain age before getting started? On the flip side, I have older dogs too. Are they too old to start on a raw diet? 

Thanks for your time AND, more importantly, your knowledge!! Oh, and below is a picture of my puppy. Little Miss Miikka, chewing on a REAL RAW bone.


















Cheryl


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## rjvamp (Aug 23, 2008)

Those are great questions!!! I'm a recent convert to RAW myself. 

Your dad was right - no COOKED bones that is and that is probably what he was referring too. RAW Bones are fine. Keep in mind the recreational bones with marrow in them shouldn't be given too often since those are meant as toys not to be eaten like a chicken leg! And too much chewing on those can cause the teeth to grind down sooner than they should. Occasional marrow bones are fine for treats....but they don't eat them. When cooked is when bones can split. Keep in mind that any eating of bones though should be supervised just in case!

Eggs can be given whole and raw - but I thought that too much could inhibit some vitamin absorption - can someone clear the air on that one for me???

RMB = Raw Meaty Bones which include bones and meat (like chicken quarters, turkey necks, chicken necks). MM = muscle meat (ground beef, steak, etc... no bones.) and OM = Organ Meat (hearts and livers for example).

The meat should be RAW. I just gave Angeles a chicken quarter tonight, while Cotton and Louis had chicken wings. I also gave some pre-made RAW from Natures Variety since I didn't take the meat out of the freezer in order to give them some ground beef.

A very good website with information on feeding is http://www.rawdogranch.com Lots of good information there and on the board.

It is very important for your dog to get bones to chew in the meal - that is why Do It Yourself RAW is better than pre-made....as pre-made ALONE doesn't provide the benefit of real good teeth cleaning. It is much better than kibble (so don't get me wrong)...but chewing on the bones and tearing the meat cleans the teeth. I do pre-made RAW + Do It Yourself RAW. I hope to go all Do It Yourself RAW when I get a freezer this spring.

Welcome to the Dark Side as some told me I have now joined! There is NO going back! ;-)

Here is my thread where I started my journey....

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1319751&page=0&fpart=1



Robert


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## mspiker03 (Dec 7, 2006)

> Originally Posted By: AngelesVonLobos
> RMB = Raw Meaty Bones which include bones and meat (like chicken quarters, turkey necks, chicken necks). MM = muscle meat (ground beef, steak, etc... no bones.) and OM = Organ Meat (hearts and livers for example).


Hearts are considered MM


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## Riley's Mom (Jun 7, 2007)

http://www.rawdogranch.com is Lauri's site and she's a member here and to my understanding, considered *the* Board Expert on raw feeding. 

I think all of your questions were very good, no need to feel dumb, I think it's great your asking Q's and researching before just jumping in. 

I don't feed raw eggs with or w/o the shell. I can't get past the fear of salmonella .. yet but I'm working on it. Dogs have a very short digestive tract and things like salmonella aren't able to grow in there because it passes through before it can grow is how it was explained to me by a number of people when I questioned feeding pork. Oh ... do NOT feed pork bones cooked or raw. The raw pork bones can splinter, too. At least that's how I understand it.

I also don't feed poultry skin because they can get pancreatitis which is very serious and can kill a dog. When we buy chicken necks at the meat shop, hubby removes all the skin and then cooks the skins in water to make a chicken broth. He doesn't add any seasonings or anything else, just cooks it down good then removes the skins and throws them away. I don't feed straight raw, I use a dehydrated raw and add some meat to it. I use the chix broth occasionally instead of adding water or if I need to add a little more water I'll use the chix broth. 

I'm sure there will be better, more in depth answers from people who feed straight raw. My dogs love broasted chicken and browned ground turkey and I do give these to them mixed in the dehydrated for some variety. 

I'm sorry I can't answer your question about starting your pup at a young age because I don't know, but I'm sure someone straight-raw-experienced will come along and help w/that. Also you could check Lauri's site, it might be there. I would make sure that whatever question you post asking about raw feeding that you include your pup's age so that if there are any "special needs by age" concerns that people answer accordingly and take into consideration your pup's age.


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## rjvamp (Aug 23, 2008)

Thank you for the information on the chicken skin for the dogs - I didn't realize that! So with chicken wings or any part of the chicken do you take the skin off?


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## Raziel (Sep 29, 2009)

Bravo has a great food! Ive been feeding it to him for a yr now.(since he was 8 weeks old)
Its the WHOLE turkey ground up! Bones & all.
It also has acorn squash, green beans& broccoli.
I have given my dog a deer bone & he has eaten peices if the bone, but I am scared to feed him a whole raw chicken wing! LOL
I also give him 2 raw eggs a day.
I only feed him a little bit of pork (cooked) in the form of HAM!
He also loves beef heart& liver.
He gets ground beef once a week as a treat. (expensive!)
I also feed him bananas, apples,carrots,lettuce,etc
Everything RAW of course








Just read up on foods that are ok for dogs!
A few times I thought I could feed him something but it was actually not good for him.


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## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

Great questions! 

Here's my two cents:

1. Bones--cooked bones can splinter (even those giant basted bones they sell in pet stores for recreational use) since all moisture is removed in cooking, while raw bones still contain their moisture and spongy, porus texture. I've never had a problem with raw pork bones such as neck bones. That's actually what I started out with. But I never feed a RMB unsupervised, just to make sure everything goes down okay.

2. Raw eggs are great! You don't have to feed the shell, some people just like to throw their dog the whole egg for ease, but they don't really get too much out of the shell, but it won't harm them. In regard to the vitamin deficiency, that only occurs if you feed only the white and no yolk (or is it vise versa?) anyway, if you feed the whole egg, with white and yolk they're a great source of protein, and Anna is currently getting one a day to help with her dry, wintery skin.

3. Re: Age. I started Anna out when she was about a year (on full raw). There are several people here who start out their puppies on raw with great results. I started my senior dog, Duncan, on raw last year and he's 11-12 yo. He's never been better! His teeth are white, his fur is shiny, his poops are small and he loves it. I'm pretty sure in a year or so I'll have to cut out some of the RMB's and use more ground meat and bone to make it softer for him, but hey, he's an old fella! He gets so excited when I say "who's hungry?" he does his little happy Duncan dance! 

Feel free to ask lots of questions, this is a great place and what got me started on raw, and I don't regret it a bit. I get odd looks from friends and family, but once they see the results of a happy, healthy dog they tend to get more interested than weirded out.


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## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: AngelesVonLobosThank you for the information on the chicken skin for the dogs - I didn't realize that! So with chicken wings or any part of the chicken do you take the skin off?


It's my understanding that large amounts of fat can cause this, especially in older dogs. I only remove the fat "globs" that tend to be on my chicken backs, but leave the strip of skin that's on it and I leave skin on wings and drumsticks. They need the fats too for a healthy diet.


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## JerzeyGSD (Jun 26, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: AngelesVonLobosThank you for the information on the chicken skin for the dogs - I didn't realize that! So with chicken wings or any part of the chicken do you take the skin off?


I would leave the skin on, too. It has necessary fat and nutrients that the dog needs. So, basically, I second aubie.


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## rjvamp (Aug 23, 2008)

okay so just take the extra fatty globs off but the basic skin covering on the quarter is okay  I think I got that right - I may take a picture and post later to make sure I did it right


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## rjvamp (Aug 23, 2008)

I forgot to take pics but needless to say - they are really enjoying the RAW side of things....you know - I was even sitting back thinking that when I buy a whole chicken at 4 lbs, that I know I'm not eating the whole thing - it makes multiple meals....now I can cut it up and give them some for the day and the rest for us...of course they get it raw....so even though I don't have a big frig right now, I'm beginning to learn how to shop all at the same time now....kind of fun! And the days I give them livers I can make fried chicken livers for us! This is soooo much easier than I ever thought possible.


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