# pls advice!! problems with raw



## Kbroadwater (Jun 30, 2013)

i have a 7 year old gsd and a 3 year old gsd. they have always had raw occasionally their whole lives. i switched them over full time about 6 months ago or longer. my 7 yr old has always had GI issues, which seemed to subside after the full switch. however now my 3 yr old is now having allergy issues, scratching, losing hair etc.. he has never had any health issues in the past. my 7 yr old is back to having GI issues. he has very sour smelling gas and either has diarrhea or is constipated. the 3 yr old has also been either constipated or has had diarrhea. i was feeding a mixture of meets, and noticed that red meats were very rich for them, so i cut back. their diet now consists of chicken, turkey, fish once a week and little beef. i feed organ meets once or twice a week. what am i doing wrong?


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## boomer11 (Jun 9, 2013)

are you feeding them any edible bone? also some tripe would help


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## Kbroadwater (Jun 30, 2013)

yes they eat eatable bone. chicken and turkey bones. which of those bones would be more beneficial? they will eat the whole chicken, turkey legs and thighs and split breast. we have not yet tried any beef or pork bones. i would think they wold be too hard? i do give them marrow bones for recreational chewing on occasion. i have never done green tripe? where do you get that and how do you feed it?


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

What percentage of bone are they eating? Could you post an example of what they would eat in a day, along with the weights of each item?


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## boomer11 (Jun 9, 2013)

you can get green tripe from a local butcher or in a can from a natural pet store or order it on amazon. it's full of probiotics and will flush out all the bad germs and put the good ones into your dogs stomach. cleared my dogs diarrhea right up. also if your dog has allergy issues then feed just one source of meat instead of a bunch of different kinds. you'll never figure out what he's allergic to if you dont feed one at a time. your dogs daily intake per day should include 10-15% bone. you gotta feed a balanced raw diet or else raw is more harmful than feeding purina


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## Kbroadwater (Jun 30, 2013)

there food varies. once or twice a week i will give them a whole chicken 3.5 - 4.5 pounds. i always try and feed that weight regardless of the food. if its not a whole chicken, then its leg quarters with some breast or turkey legs with some breast, turkey thighs. there are days i only feed breast meet with organs or ground beef with organs. i try and stick within the 3-5 pounds per meal.once a day. my 7 yr old weighs about 160 and the 3 yr old 130. they are not over weight in fact they have lost weight from diet and exercise. they are very large gsd and now i am maintaining their weight. the only way they will eat any kind of fish, is if i mix it ground with oatmeal or something. anytime i mix with grain i add eggs and veggies. im not sure if that is a problem or not. they seem to enjoy it though. ive always been confused on the whole veggie thing?


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## Kbroadwater (Jun 30, 2013)

boomer11 said:


> you can get green tripe from a local butcher or in a can from a natural pet store or order it on amazon. it's full of probiotics and will flush out all the bad germs and put the good ones into your dogs stomach. cleared my dogs diarrhea right up. also if your dog has allergy issues then feed just one source of meat instead of a bunch of different kinds. you'll never figure out what he's allergic to if you dont feed one at a time. your dogs daily intake per day should include 10-15% bone. you gotta feed a balanced raw diet or else raw is more harmful than feeding purina



so bone everyday is acceptable? i thought it all balanced out in the end? i always try and find cuts of meat with a good amount of meat with bone. its confusing and i dont want to have to worry about weighing etc.. they have always had poultry with no problems. thats their staple food.


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

Kbroadwater said:


> so bone everyday is acceptable? i thought it all balanced out in the end? i always try and find cuts of meat with a good amount of meat with bone. its confusing and i dont want to have to worry about weighing etc.. they have always had poultry with no problems. thats their staple food.


yes bone everyday is acceptable. And while nutrients may balance over time, if you don't provide enough bone, there is no way for it to balance. The balancing idea is that if you give more than enough one day, you can give less the next, or vice versa. For instance, if I feed my dog a large piece of liver on Monday, I won't give him any on Tuesday. But if he gets a normal amount on Monday, not giving it on Tuesday does not balance out over time.

Also, over feeding can cause the GI problems. Five pounds of food is a lot! Even for a 160lb dog, that is more than 3%. Is your dog a shiloh or king shepherd? 160 is twice the size of a GSD- would you mind posting a pic. Sometimes it's easier for another person to see if your dog is overweight, since we don't see him every day.


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## boomer11 (Jun 9, 2013)

lol yeah they need bones every day. if you're feeding just meat then of course you're going to see diarrhea. and if you're feeding a huge amount of bone in another meal then of course the dog is going to be constipated. it looks like you need to do a lot more research before feeding raw. a raw diet done wrong is unhealthy for a dog. i feed my dog twice a day. for lunch he gets a chicken leg quarter and for dinner he gets gizzards and hearts. he gets an egg as a mid day snack. that comes out to roughly 15% bone per day and the rest is meat.


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

The reasons I always suggest people weigh the food - at least for the first few months - is so that they understand how much they need to feed and AVOID GI issues caused by over feeding.

Since your dogs are large I would suggest feeding twice a day instead of once. That much food in the gut at one time can cause gas problems.

Feeding too much bone in one day can cause constipation, and no bone can cause loose stools.

I would suggest setting up a meal plan and sticking to that for at least a month to get things settled.

Also - I would skip the grains and veggies (except green tripe). Dogs don't need either.

I would start by feeding the following:

7 yr old dog - 160 lbs​160 * 2.5% = 4 pounds
29 ounces of Muscle Meat
32 ounces of RMBs
3 ounces of Organ Meat

3 yr old dog - 130 lbs

24 ounces of Muscle Meat
26 ounces of RMBs
2.5 ounces of Organ Meat​


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## Kbroadwater (Jun 30, 2013)

Lauri & The Gang said:


> The reasons I always suggest people weigh the food - at least for the first few months - is so that they understand how much they need to feed and AVOID GI issues caused by over feeding.
> 
> Since your dogs are large I would suggest feeding twice a day instead of once. That much food in the gut at one time can cause gas problems.
> 
> ...






This would be your example per day?

I have done so much research. It's still confusing. My dogs are not shilo or king. They are more of the old original German breeds. Non American lines. The 7 yr old has long black hair which bills him up in looks. I will post pics when I get home


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## Kbroadwater (Jun 30, 2013)

here are some pix of my boys.

the images are attached thumbnails. the black one is the 7 yr old baron. the one with the turtle is recent and the other is about 5 years ago. btw..the turtle is about 50 pounds. baron is heavier now than 5 yrs ago. but i was just showing that they are big.

caesar is the other and he has lost a little weight since those photos.


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