# New to RAW feeding please help me!!!



## kaiser2010 (May 3, 2010)

Kaiser is 9wks and i just started feeding him RAW yesterday, i gave him a few chicken wings and he loved it, my concern is that he swallows them, and i that scares the heck out of me, my question is can i grind the meats to a mushy consistency or it necessary to feed it as is and for the dog to break the bones?


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

At this age, grinding is fine. When he is a bit older you can give him a thigh(once they are away from littermates they may slow down on eating, though Karlo never has yet!) I would get some turkey necks and chunk them into 1/3rds(add some MM to it as it is bone heavy). That may be big enough that he will chew it, and not try to swallow. Karlo was an inhaler, gulped chicken wings/necks whole. I never had a problem. But as long as the bone/meat/organ ratio is there, for awhile, grinding may be best~keep it a bit coarse if the grinder allows it.


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## adamdude04 (Apr 15, 2010)

Wait.. so it's okay to feed them raw meats???


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## kaiser2010 (May 3, 2010)

thanks onyx girl, so what is the correct meat/bone/organ ratio for a pup? also how often do you change the meat being fed? every meal, every wk? what do u think of my breakfest? how can i improve and what am i missing in his diet? thanks


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I would keep the protein source the same for a couple weeks, maybe go with chicken leg 1/4s vs the wings(less skin, more meat) and then maybe add turkey. At his age, go with just chicken and once you start adding, do so slowly, a few days to make sure all is going well. Plain yogurt(with active cultures) raw egg, fresh(frozen) green tripe, ground beef, turkey, and if you can get game, that would be great.

Many sites sell the varieties, but much variety isn't really necessary, IMO.
I feed venison, pork, beef, chicken, turkey and some fish mostly. Only Karlo will eat fish unless it is canned jack mackarel, which is higher in sodium, so not fed often)

The ratio's for balance> MM 40%/OM 5%/RMB 55% 
overfeeding=runny poo, chalky white poo=too much bone, too much OM= runny poo

These sites have info and resources for buying raw if you can't find any with your local meat processers or butchers:
www.rawdogranch.com
informational website
www.aplaceforpaws.com
resources/info
www.taylorpondfarms.com
resources/info
www.greentripe.com
west coast resource
There are others in the stickys in the raw forums, worth spending time if you are new to rawfeeding.


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## AvaLaRue (Apr 4, 2010)

kaiser2010 said:


> Kaiser is 9wks and i just started feeding him RAW yesterday, i gave him a few chicken wings and he loved it, my concern is that he swallows them, and i that scares the heck out of me, my question is can i grind the meats to a mushy consistency or it necessary to feed it as is and for the dog to break the bones?


Ava swallowed her chicken wings whole as well. Scared me to pieces. Someone on one of my posts suggested feeding them partially frozen. I tried it and it worked!!! She chewed it for 15 minutes!! That proved to me that she could actually chew (I was beginning to wonder) and that her teeth were big enough to actually crunch thru the bones. I fed partially frozen for several days. Now that she is used to chewing, I can feed completely thawed with no problem.


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## kaiser2010 (May 3, 2010)

ok thanks so now should i go with grinding the meat or just trying to feed him quarter chicken pieces partially frozen? will his chewing technique improve eventually as his jaw gets stronger and more practices? So the bigger the peices the better? i cut up the wings thinking this would make it easier but all that did was make him swallow faster....this just scares me god forbid he choked what would i do? Lastly is it more of a danger, in rare cases i hope, that the dog chokes, or the sharp bones that may penetrate his stomach..god help little Kaser and all dogs for that matter


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## dianefbarfield (Apr 12, 2010)

I too need to know about this raw feeding.


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## mspiker03 (Dec 7, 2006)

I agree about feeding partially frozen (I usually feed this way)...but you could also try hand feeding for a bit to get them to learn how to chew as well.


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## kaiser2010 (May 3, 2010)

ok ill try it so his ability to chew up the bones will get better as he gets older? Also what is the percentage of body weight to food i should be feeding him? thank you guys for all your help, can i give him Tuna?


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## GSDSunshine (Sep 7, 2009)

You want to feed him 2% of his expected adult weight, or 10% od his 8 week weight. So if her weighed 20 lbs at 8 weeks you can start with 2 lbs a day or 16 oz each meal and then adjust as needed. 

Some dogs are just very meticulous eaters and some dogs really are just hoovers.... so them, they always have to have it frozen and in bigeger sizes. I have fed my 85 lb boy a chicken neck (tiny) and he was fine because he is great about chewing everything. So your pup might get better as he gets bigger, or he could require large pieces and partially frozen rmbs forever.


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## kaiser2010 (May 3, 2010)

ok great thanks do u feed any fruits or veggie if so how often? I feed him 1lb of tuna just now and he loved it, how often do you give your dog RMB?


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## GSDSunshine (Sep 7, 2009)

I would really recommend reading up more into a raw diet. If you read some of the links on Lauri's Raw Dog Ranch - Welcome! it will explain most fo your questions. And you feed RMBs everyday. So if your pup ate 32 oz daily, every day he would get 16 oz RMB, 14.5 MM, and 1.5 oz OM, or something like that. I would really check out the website. Also don't feed too much tuna, or too often as it is very high in mercury.


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## mspiker03 (Dec 7, 2006)

I think I would not feed so much tuna at a time - I would worry about the mercury content. Plus, you need to add some RMB's in there. I agree about reading up more on a raw diet before starting.


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## kaiser2010 (May 3, 2010)

thanks for that link it will and has helped a lot! Darn i shouldnt have given him tuna ever? Its has Mercury? i gave him some cottage cheese with plain yogurt and raw egg what do you think?


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## mspiker03 (Dec 7, 2006)

I think tuna as a topper type of thing and on occasion is fine - just not 1 lb at a time. Plus, in feeding raw you NEED to add bones and canned tuna does not have them.

I certainly wouldn't do a diet of cottage cheese, yogurt and raw egg. Those are also "topper" type items for me - ie they get their regular meal of chicken/beef/etc and then I will add those to it on occasion (although I don't really feel there is a need for cottage cheese). That should not be the main part of your diet. Raw eggs are great - I give mine them several times a week, but only one at a time. It is an addition to their regular meal.

I would read the sticky entitled our dog menus (in the BARF forum) and also the one with Raw links to read more on the raw diet. I would also read a bunch of the threads in this forum as there have been a lot of people just starting out on raw and they have a lot of good info.


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## 3K9Mom (Jun 12, 2006)

One thread in one forum is not going to give you all of the information you need to feed a dog -- especially a puppy -- a healthy raw diet. 

The links provided above are an excellent start.

There are several very good books about feeding a raw diet. 


Barf Diet for Dogs and Cats by Ian Billinghurst

Optimal Nutrition Raw and Cooked Canine Diets: the Next Level by AHCW Monica Segal 

Raw Dog Food: Make it Easy for you and Your Dog by Carina Beth MacDonald

Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats -by Kymythy Schultze


I put these in order with the best at top, but all of them are good. And Billinghurst can be repetitive and technical for the beginning raw feeder. 

All of these are available at Amazon and Dogwise.Com. Dogwise may stock additional books. I'd venture to say that if Dogwise stocks it, it's probably worthy. 

Messing up the crucial nutrients in a puppy CAN and almost certainly will cause growth abnormalities. This isn't rocket science, but we can't just dump food in a bowl and hope for the best. You need to have a basic idea of what you're doing. You'll find that as you read through this forum's BARF section (and if you look around the internet), there is disagreement (sometimes heated) about peripheral issues like vegetables, dairy, etc. But we all agree on the basics. 

You need to learn the basics.


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## kaiser2010 (May 3, 2010)

ok ill check out those links thanks, now a quick question can i then mix different sources of protein lets say liver and chicken backs together? What are some good example of breakfest meals you guys use? thanks


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## mspiker03 (Dec 7, 2006)

First off, I wouldn't start out by using liver. It is very rich and can cause the runs. I would add that in later and in very small amounts. When you start out, pick one protein source (say chicken) and you can use any part of the chicken. You should be able to get good examples of "menus" by looking at the sticky "our dogs menus" in this section.


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