# Feeding raw has changed my life!



## Girl_Loves_Hydraulics (Apr 13, 2014)

OK, so "some" of you know I was having trouble with my WGSL/WL girl Lena and her unwillingness to eat. I tried many premium dry kibbles, with no luck. It was getting so bad, that I would have to be Lena's "food cheerleader" and even resort to hand feeding just to get her to start eating. So I started looking into raw. First off, raw is not expensive...I was spending $50 every 2 weeks for 30 lbs of kibble. That equates to roughly $1.66/lb. I buy all my raw meats for either the same or much less (chicken quarters $0.59/lb along with livers). 

Everyone took so well to the raw, especially Lena. Now when it's feeding time, she literally bounds to get her food. Their feces, SOOOO much smaller, very little odor at all. Not only that, it seemed to help Lena immensely with her jaw and head muscles. Her ears were so erratic, up and down up and down, and they have slowly started stabilizing over time. I won't lie, it's even easier for me also. I buy bulk, I weigh portions out, I vacuum seal them, and I'm done. I am really asking myself, "Why did I wait SO long to do this?". It has truly made my life easier in so many ways. Ok I am done now, I just wanted to share my story for any of those still on the fence on whether or not raw is for them. I even befriended a lady on FB who hooked me up with all kinds of raw feeding places to order from. I am giving credit to all the great people on this board who have dealt with uneducated people such as myself to steer us into the right path. I appreciate it and THANK YOU!

Edited to add: Della had the worse breath before raw. It is now completely gone!


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## Bella67 (Jun 22, 2014)

Just curious, I'm in the Metro Detroit area also, where do you go to buy the food at?


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## Ace GSD (May 30, 2014)

Just started to go for organ and bone today got good deal on beef heart, beef liver and chicken neck !! will check out tripe and kidney and that chicken back/quarter. At the moment im using Blue Ridge Beef venison for meat.


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## Carriesue (Aug 13, 2012)

This is my raw fed boy(also a WGSL/WL cross), his coat became insanely shiny... the top pic is after only 3 weeks of being on raw. He was having so much digestive trouble on kibble and now he finally has normal(tiny!) poos lol. Will never go back. I understand your enthusiasm! 

Summer 2014 by Carriesue82, on Flickr

Winter 2014 by Carriesue82, on Flickr


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## Girl_Loves_Hydraulics (Apr 13, 2014)

Bella67 said:


> Just curious, I'm in the Metro Detroit area also, where do you go to buy the food at?


I go to a few places, but if you want, either this evening or tomorrow, I can message you some of the groups that I use. I do go to this place called United Meats down in Detroit. It's not super close, but the chicken leg quarters and chicken livers are normally always $0.59/lb and comes in a 40 lb box. You won't get any of the more uncommon cuts, but good for the standard ones. Side note, I bought 15 lbs of bacon for $25. It was name brand too, just not all individually packaged. The bacon is for us though not the dogs lmao.


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## Girl_Loves_Hydraulics (Apr 13, 2014)

Carriesue said:


> This is my raw fed boy(also a WGSL/WL cross), his coat became insanely shiny... the top pic is after only 3 weeks of being on raw. He was having so much digestive trouble on kibble and now he finally has normal(tiny!) poos lol. Will never go back. I understand your enthusiasm!
> 
> Summer 2014 by Carriesue82, on Flickr
> 
> Winter 2014 by Carriesue82, on Flickr


He is a gorgeous dog, and you are right that coat is just amazing! OK good I'm glad I'm not weird for being all excited over this lol.


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## SuperG (May 11, 2013)

Good for you for making the decision to feed raw.....


SuperG


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## Girl_Loves_Hydraulics (Apr 13, 2014)

SuperG said:


> Good for you for making the decision to feed raw.....
> 
> 
> SuperG


There's my pal SuperG in the house! Thank you G, I just wish I would've done it forever ago.


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## Bella67 (Jun 22, 2014)

Girl_Loves_Hydraulics said:


> I go to a few places, but if you want, either this evening or tomorrow, I can message you some of the groups that I use. I do go to this place called United Meats down in Detroit. It's not super close, but the chicken leg quarters and chicken livers are normally always $0.59/lb and comes in a 40 lb box. You won't get any of the more uncommon cuts, but good for the standard ones. Side note, I bought 15 lbs of bacon for $25. It was name brand too, just not all individually packaged. The bacon is for us though not the dogs lmao.


Okay, thanks. I'm not planning on feeding raw just wondering some good places I could buy stuff for like snacks here and there. Do you know a good place that has raw bones for good prices? Idk if you haven't heard of Cattleman's but they always used to give me lots of scrap bones for free. I'm looking into getting raw knuckle bones because I heard 1) it helps with teething puppies 2) it cleans teeth pretty good


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## Girl_Loves_Hydraulics (Apr 13, 2014)

Bella67 said:


> Okay, thanks. I'm not planning on feeding raw just wondering some good places I could buy stuff for like snacks here and there. Do you know a good place that has raw bones for good prices? Idk if you haven't heard of Cattleman's but they always used to give me lots of scrap bones for free. I'm looking into getting raw knuckle bones because I heard 1) it helps with teething puppies 2) it cleans teeth pretty good


There's a couple of co-ops on FB that people collectively order from. I'm pretty sure they have knuckle bones. I haven't purchased those as of yet, but I may. I was a little hesitant since they are more of a recreational bone from what I can gather. I think I've heard of people splitting them in half though. But for sure, I'll shoot you the links to it. There's a distributor called Sherwood in Detroit also, but you have to have a 500 lb minimum.


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## SuperG (May 11, 2013)

Oh....one other thought regarding your dog's new diet....if your vet is anything like mine...you might save yourself the headache and just tell the vet you are feeding your dog whatever brand they are selling in the big shiny bags in the vet's lobby......hopefully your vet has a different mentality than mine.


SuperG


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## Bella67 (Jun 22, 2014)

500 lb minimum?!  I would seriously need 20 freezers for that much food.


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## Girl_Loves_Hydraulics (Apr 13, 2014)

Bella67 said:


> 500 lb minimum?!  I would seriously need 20 freezers for that much food.


LOL ya it's a little much...But United Meats down in Detroit is a good one to go to. I did have one quality issue, but they allowed me to return the meat without issue and even inspected the 2nd box for me right there before exchanging. But if you're looking for smaller quantities, the co-op groups will definitely be up your alley.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Bella67 said:


> 500 lb minimum?!  I would seriously need 20 freezers for that much food.


It's why you find ppl to split order.  We have a wholesaler for grocery stores and restaurants that will deliver right to me at my office. 200# minimum. It's not hard to make, especially with 2 dogs eating. 2 cases of turkey hearts at 30# each, case of chicken necks @ 40# Already have 100#. I order meat for us thru there. Most convenient and often cheaper to buy bulk thru them. Add another 40# for chicken breast for us. Turkey necks 30#. Pork shoulder 60#. Done.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

I am always so happy when a thread like this pops up.

Good for you for taking the plunge, it really is a leap of faith. But once you see how wonderful it is, and how much dogs enjoy the food, you never go back.

Now, spread the word, and make some other dog and owner happy!


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## eddie1976E (Nov 7, 2010)

so nice to see people who have "problem dogs" when it comes to food, see dramatic results when they switch to raw. My friend had a dog that could not eat anything without either having explosive diarrhea or vomit. He went through a dozen different foods, switched to raw and never looked back. 

I wish I could go to raw, but the wife will not allow it. I'm wearing her down though. I give him chicken scraps, raw marrow bones, beef scraps, etc. He loves it.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

eddie1976E said:


> so nice to see people who have "problem dogs" when it comes to food, see dramatic results when they switch to raw. My friend had a dog that could not eat anything without either having explosive diarrhea or vomit. He went through a dozen different foods, switched to raw and never looked back.
> 
> I wish I could go to raw, but the wife will not allow it. I'm wearing her down though. I give him chicken scraps, raw marrow bones, beef scraps, etc. He loves it.


If I can wear down my parents, who are almost 80, you can wear down your wife.

Get on the Internet and find articles about what goes into kibble, and all the toxins in there, including the new information about copper overload in kibble.

My parents started to crumble when I told them about the four Ds.

Also, the four animals, one grinder video was the one that sealed the deal.


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## SuperG (May 11, 2013)

eddie1976E said:


> I wish I could go to raw, but the wife will not allow it.



What your wife's biggest concern ?

SuperCuriousG


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## eddie1976E (Nov 7, 2010)

SuperG said:


> What your wife's biggest concern ?
> 
> SuperCuriousG


She is resistant to change. She thinks its unsanitary to have raw meet around, kitchen (where he gets fed) will get really dirty and will require more cleaning, etc. 

She doesn't want to read about all the crap that goes into kibble. I need to work harder on her! But in the last 10 months, I have been able to go from "no way" to getting a call when she is at the grocery store asking if she should get chicken feet for the dog.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Are you guys vegans?

My dog doesn't leave a spot. Licks everything clean, you wouldn't ever know he just ate raw. Also, all you need is a couple of squirts of 409, a paper towel, voilà! Sanitized!


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## SuperG (May 11, 2013)

eddie1976E said:


> She is resistant to change. She thinks its unsanitary to have raw meet around, kitchen (where he gets fed) will get really dirty and will require more cleaning, etc.
> 
> She doesn't want to read about all the crap that goes into kibble. I need to work harder on her! But in the last 10 months, I have been able to go from "no way" to getting a call when she is at the grocery store asking if she should get chicken feet for the dog.


I can somewhat appreciate those concerns....but the unsanitary comment I have heard from many, always kind of puzzled me. I treat the dog's raw food exactly the same as the meat I eat...up until I cook it. It's no different...all the same risks apply...so having the same concerns for cross contamination, bacteria and general sanitary conditions are all the same.

Keep working on her, sounds like you are slowly winning her over to your side of the fence.

SuperG


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## eddie1976E (Nov 7, 2010)

Sunflowers said:


> Are you guys vegans?
> 
> My dog doesn't leave a spot. Licks everything clean, you wouldn't ever know he just ate raw. Also, all you need is a couple of squirts of 409, a paper towel, voilà! Sanitized!


No we are not...she is just a germaphobe 

My friend used to just use the swiffer spray and he'd be done cleaning in a few seconds. We are getting there. It will take some time. 

There is also the logistics. We don't have a second freezer and barely any room in our freezer for our food.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I just haven't had any luck finding stuff at a reasonable rate. I have called a couple farms and nobody is getting back to me. I would have to get really lucky for it to be cost effective for me. Even if it goes at $1.66 per pound, I need about 16 pounds(give or take, I think slightly more) a day. That comes to $26.56 a day and about $800 a month. I don't mind investing in a grinder(that is the only way my oldest will eat any chicken or necks of any sort), I already have the freezer and the time. 

So if anyone knows of a good reasonable starting point in the Chicago area I'm all ears


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## SuperG (May 11, 2013)

Sunflowers said:


> Are you guys vegans?
> 
> My dog doesn't leave a spot. Licks everything clean,



Exactly.....



SuperG


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## Girl_Loves_Hydraulics (Apr 13, 2014)

llombardo said:


> I just haven't had any luck finding stuff at a reasonable rate. I have called a couple farms and nobody is getting back to me. I would have to get really lucky for it to be cost effective for me. Even if it goes at $1.66 per pound, I need about 16 pounds(give or take, I think slightly more) a day. That comes to $26.56 a day and about $800 a month. I don't mind investing in a grinder(that is the only way my oldest will eat any chicken or necks of any sort), I already have the freezer and the time.
> 
> So if anyone knows of a good reasonable starting point in the Chicago area I'm all ears


Are you on Facebook? I found this page it might be helpful...
https://m.facebook.com/mozartswayraw


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## dogfaeries (Feb 22, 2010)

When I fed raw (a zillion years ago), I fed everyone in crates. Pretty easy to spray down a crate pan and give it a wipe. No one's dragging a chicken quarter across the floor that way!


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## Susan_GSD_mom (Jan 7, 2014)

SuperG said:


> I can somewhat appreciate those concerns....but the unsanitary comment I have heard from many, always kind of puzzled me. I treat the dog's raw food exactly the same as the meat I eat...up until I cook it. It's no different...all the same risks apply...so having the same concerns for cross contamination, bacteria and general sanitary conditions are all the same.
> 
> Keep working on her, sounds like you are slowly winning her over to your side of the fence.
> 
> SuperG


It's concern about sanitation WHERE they eat it that has me concerned, especially with bones. They would want to bring them into the livingroom to chew on them. I feed them in our mudroom/breezeway, which is carpeted. There's just nowhere they could lay and chew on raw bones that could be sanitized easily. And I have to be especially careful, because my sister has a poor immune system. So I guess I'm a little paranoid when it comes to raw meat.

Susan


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## Mrs.P (Nov 19, 2012)

Love posts like this!


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## Kyleigh (Oct 16, 2012)

I have been feeding raw for over 15 years ... and have never looked back. 

My cat became diabetic because of S/D cat food ... found a holistic vet, switched to raw, diabetes went away ... what more proof did I need?

There are a lot of myths that need to be dispelled to people that are wary about feeding dogs raw meat. 

I have made leaps and bounds in converting about 90% of my friend's dogs to raw ... have spent countless hours educating, repeating information, sending them info, having them see my dog eat, etc. The rewards are plentiful!

Here's my response to some of the concerns in this thread:

It's expensive - well, if you shop around no, it's not expensive ... it takes some adjustment, getting used to but the way I look at it ... skin allergies, teeth cleaning, and the MANY health issues that come with a dog being fed kibble for "x" number of years is VERY expensive to treat (and not even cure, because the root of these problems is what the dog is eating). So instead of having to spend say $4000 fixing my dog, I spend a bit more feeding her healthy.

(On a side note - I get mine whole sale from a slaughterhouse, and it costs me about $25 / month for the meat, bones and organ to feed my dog. My freaking cat costs more than that because he'll only eat big country raw!)

It's unsanitary - NO IT's NOT ... I'm vegetarian .. have been for over 20 years. My cat and my dog are NOT. The food is going into a bowl - the dog / cat eats it. Train your dog to not wander all over the house (not always easy - Kyleigh still wants to bury her 1/4 chicken when she gets it). But, other suggestions have been made - feed in the crate, feed on a towel and train them to stay there. My laundry room is huge, and I feed both the cat and dog in there. When they are done, I do a quick wipe of the floor and it's clean. 

Cross contamination - NOT an issue if you know how to clean. How many people thaw out their meat on the counter? When you do that, there's blood on the plate ... guess what ... you can get e coli / salmonella from that ... do you play in it? Do you splash it around? NO ... you dump it down the drain and wash the plate. Same concept with your dog's raw meat. Put it in a bowl, wash the container. The dog is done eating ... pick up the bowl, wash well, wipe the area and you're done!

Resistant to change ... this one for me is the hardest thing to grasp ... we hear people over and over and over say how they love their dog and will do ANYTHING for their dog ... and yet they still feed kibble (or crap) to their dog. These people are not really willing to do ANYTHING for their dog, they are willing to do what makes THEM comfortable. Well, guess what ... your dog was not designed to eat food that can sit in a bag on a shelf for 2 years without going bad (come to think about it, neither were humans!)

At the very least try it for a month … I guarantee you will see the difference in your dog’s fur, teeth, poop, breath, and over all general health. 
It’s hard and complicated – Again, no it’s not. There is TONS of information out there on how to do it properly. There are a couple of people on here that sell the supplements for raw diets (CARMsPACK comes to mind).

I beg people to give it a shot for at least a month … It kills me to read threads, see dogs that have all these allergies, health issues, that I KNOW can be fixed if the dog was simply on a better diet … 

I’ll get off my soapbox now … (and this post is NOT meant to come down on people that still feed kibble. At the end of the day, it is your dog and your choice. I’ve just had so many amazing positive stories from friends about the amazing changes that have been made in their dog when they switched from kibble to raw that I just want EVERYONE to do and have happy healthy dogs!)


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

What is the ratio again? 80-10-10? What supplements do they absolutely need?


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## Mrs.P (Nov 19, 2012)

llombardo said:


> What is the ratio again? 80-10-10? What supplements do they absolutely need?


As a guideline; 
80% meat muscle 
10% actual bone
10% organ half of which will be liver.



Supplements will depend on the 'holes' in the diet you are feeding -what you are not providing or able to provide will need to be supplemented.


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## SuperG (May 11, 2013)

Susan_GSD_mom said:


> It's concern about sanitation WHERE they eat it that has me concerned, especially with bones. They would want to bring them into the livingroom to chew on them. I feed them in our mudroom/breezeway, which is carpeted. There's just nowhere they could lay and chew on raw bones that could be sanitized easily. And I have to be especially careful, because my sister has a poor immune system. So I guess I'm a little paranoid when it comes to raw meat.
> 
> Susan



I guess I got lucky.....when my current raw fed girl was just starting her raw diet I did something based on what my brother in law ( raw feeder for years to 4 dogs ) mentioned. He described how there were times when his herd would be eating that on occasion he would find a half chewed bone stashed between the cushions of the couch or other select spots....always a wonderful surprise I am certain....He ended up crating his dogs during feeding time...problem solved I guess. Since I have never used crates, I decided my pup would have a specific area to eat any RMBs or other items if they were not in her food bowl. I took a bath towel and laid it on the kitchen floor and created a little ritual..I'd put the dog on sit/wait in the living room and lay the towel on the floor then get the item to be consumed and give the dog the hand signal for a come front and give the pup it's meaty bone etc...pup would start eating it on the towel...pup moved it off the towel, I'd tell her to "keep it on the towel " and remove the food item from her mouth and place it back on the towel....rinse and repeat as necessary. Perhaps it took a week or two of this but as each day went by during this time period there were less and less incidents which required my repositioning of her food items. She knows to eat on the bath towel...no doubts about it. A side effect of this process created behavior on her behalf which is amusing to me every time I take a bath towel out into the kitchen..the dog immediately goes to her spot in the living room..awaits patiently for the towel to be placed, food to appear and the come front signal to be given.

The only criticism I have received for this process ( initially ) is by those who think it is completely wrong to ever take a dog's bone/food from it while eating for fear of making a snarling monster out of it. Personally, I think it had the exact opposite effect on my dog.


SuperG


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## Girl_Loves_Hydraulics (Apr 13, 2014)

SuperG said:


> I guess I got lucky.....when my current raw fed girl was just starting her raw diet I did something based on what my brother in law ( raw feeder for years to 4 dogs ) mentioned. He described how there were times when his herd would be eating that on occasion he would find a half chewed bone stashed between the cushions of the couch or other select spots....always a wonderful surprise I am certain....He ended up crating his dogs during feeding time...problem solved I guess. Since I have never used crates, I decided my pup would have a specific area to eat any RMBs or other items if they were not in her food bowl. I took a bath towel and laid it on the kitchen floor and created a little ritual..I'd put the dog on sit/wait in the living room and lay the towel on the floor then get the item to be consumed and give the dog the hand signal for a come front and give the pup it's meaty bone etc...pup would start eating it on the towel...pup moved it off the towel, I'd tell her to "keep it on the towel " and remove the food item from her mouth and place it back on the towel....rinse and repeat as necessary. Perhaps it took a week or two of this but as each day went by during this time period there were less and less incidents which required my repositioning of her food items. She knows to eat on the bath towel...no doubts about it. A side effect of this process created behavior on her behalf which is amusing to me every time I take a bath towel out into the kitchen..the dog immediately goes to her spot in the living room..awaits patiently for the towel to be placed, food to appear and the come front signal to be given.
> 
> The only criticism I have received for this process ( initially ) is by those who think it is completely wrong to ever take a dog's bone/food from it while eating for fear of making a snarling monster out of it. Personally, I think it had the exact opposite effect on my dog.
> 
> ...


I crate my dogs. Just makes it easier so if someone finishes before everyone else (Della), the other dogs aren't being bothered by a fuzzy doggy vulture lol. Easy clean, I just use a non toxic cleaner spray wipe it up and just wipe one more time with just water to take up any residual left over.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

As far as where they eat, this is a training thing, and completely under the owner's control.

Hans eats in his pen. The floor is tile. The area that gets "contaminated" as he eats is maybe about 2 square ft. He licks that area clean, there's no blood, no mess, you can barely tell he ate there. When he is done, I pick up the bowl and spray it with 409, then I spray the small area with 409 and wipe with a paper towel. I get the kitchen cleaner type, which will kill everything in sight from E. coli to salmonella, you name it, it kills it.

I then spray and wipe with a pet safe cleaner, so that the 409 residue is not in his pen. The less contact with strong chemicals, the better, in my opinion.

That's it. Takes 15 seconds to do this.

As others have said, you defrost the food in the dog bowl, I don't even pour the blood down the drain, I sop it up with a paper towel and it goes directly into the trash. Nothing gets on the counter or in the kitchen.
I also wear gloves when I handle any meat, including the one for us.

Friends of mine have trained their GSD to eat either on a towel or a mat. I don't want an additional object to wash, so I didn't do that.

It is a lot easier and a lot less horrifying than people imagine.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

So how does one determine how much bone would be in let's say a chicken back? If I'm giving 2 backs per meal, would that cover the meat and bone part then add some liver and some hearts? Does that constitute a meal or one serving(depending on weight of course)?


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## Mrs.P (Nov 19, 2012)

llombardo said:


> So how does one determine how much bone would be in let's say a chicken back? If I'm giving 2 backs per meal, would that cover the meat and bone part then add some liver and some hearts? Does that constitute a meal or one serving(depending on weight of course)?


Balance and variety overtime. All of my meals are not completely balanced. 




To find the amount of bone in a piece of meat you will multiply the weight of the whole piece by the percentage of bone. So for example if you are feeding a 5lbs whole chicken, you will multiply 5 x the percent bone for that piece. So 5 x .31= 1.55. That means there is 1.55lbs of bone in that whole chicken.

You can look up the percentages of bone here

Foods List

So another example: chicken quarter 
searched for 

Chicken, broilers or fryers, leg, meat and skin, raw (chicken quarter)

and then clicked full report

Food Group: Poultry Products 
Carbohydrate Factor: 3.87 Fat Factor:9.02 Protein Factor: 4.27 Nitrogen to Protein Conversion Factor: 6.25 
Refuse: 27% Refuse Description: Bone

So the refuse is 27% which according to the description is bone so just weight the chicken quarter and 27% of the weight is bone. 




Show Foods


Hope the links work.


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## Carriesue (Aug 13, 2012)

I bought some cheap white towels(bleach in the wash) and trained Ollie to eat on them, if he accidentally goes off the towel I will tell him to pick it up and he will move it back. Occasionally I will just feed on the tile kitchen floor and will just go in after and sanitize with some vinegar water. It's no less sanitary than preparing raw meat to cook for yourself. I know several people with autoimmune issues myself included who feed raw with no problems. Sanitize wash hands boom done.  You can also use gloves, when I first started with raw I used medical grade gloves because I didn't want to touch stuff lol but I quickly got over it.

I feed a modified prey model diet, you don't actually have to feed whole prey with it... It's mostly frakenprey and I'll toss my GSD a whole rabbit, quail, duck etc a few times a month. Some people don't believe in supplements but I do because I can't afford to feed grass fed and factory farmed animals are missing things like omega 3's so I give fish oil or feed whole fresh oily fish a once or twice a week. I also use carmspack's supplements and will give some puréed fruits and veg a couple times a week just to fill in any holes there may possibly be.

I feed as many proteins as I can get my hands on, I got lucky and found a local emu farmer and buy a couple hundred pounds from him once or twice a year and have another supplier where I get beef, turkey, duck, lamb, fish, venison, etc. My GSD seems to be allergic to chicken and pork, of course the two cheapest proteins lol.  Defintely not cheaper than kibble for me because of where I live, not a lot of farms, hunters, etc but it saves me money in vet bills in the long run!


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## Carriesue (Aug 13, 2012)

I'm kicking myself for not taking before and after photos, I just didn't expect to see this change so quickly! The biggest thing I noticed after I switched was one of my older dogs had nasty nasty yellow teeth with red inflamed gums and needed them cleaned often, his breath was god awful too... 

Within 3 weeks of switching to raw I noticed his teeth were suddenly whiter and his mouth didn't look as inflamed. Now I've been feeding raw for almost a year and you would never have known how awful his teeth were, his teeth are pearly white, gums are pink and healthy and I can't smell any breath odor... I never once brushed his teeth during this process, it was an incredible change.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I called a couple people and the pricing is just crazy. I finally called the guy I get the knuckle bones from and he said that right now prices for protein is unprecedent(extremely high). It's expected to stay that way for at least another year. Everything here is sold at a premium and every part of the animal is sold at a premium before its processed


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## Girl_Loves_Hydraulics (Apr 13, 2014)

Had a lot of work the last couple of weeks with researching and price checking and couponing lol. Hit up some awesome deals these few weeks. Local place had 10 lb bags of chicken leg quarters for $3.80 a piece, so I purchased 160 lbs. Another awesome find, Kroger just ended a sale on turkey breast. 88 cents a lb! It was a lot of work, but I was pretty pleased. After buying like 16 of them (I know I know), I deboned everything and put it all through a grinder. So now I got tons of ground turkey. Next mission: Local place has pork butts and necks on sale for 77 cents a lb. I think I'm gonna need another deep freezer lol


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Just for future ref: You don't need to debone the turkey breast. That cartilage and small rib bones should grind right up.


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## Girl_Loves_Hydraulics (Apr 13, 2014)

Jax08 said:


> Just for future ref: You don't need to debone the turkey breast. That cartilage and small rib bones should grind right up.


I did it through my food processor, and it's kinda a cheapy one so I was worried I would mess it up. I ended up tossing the breast carcasses to the pack. I beat the crap outta Bear's though with a meat mallet since he still has baby teeth lol...I'm telling you, my family thinks I'm totally crazy for going this far in feeding them :crazy:


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

lol Tasin grinder. Will save you much time!


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## Kyleigh (Oct 16, 2012)

Do you research on pork ... it has to be frozen for min 2 weeks to make sure all the bacteria is dead ...


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## Girl_Loves_Hydraulics (Apr 13, 2014)

Kyleigh said:


> Do you research on pork ... it has to be frozen for min 2 weeks to make sure all the bacteria is dead ...


I have and thank you!


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## Carriesue (Aug 13, 2012)

Kyleigh said:


> Do you research on pork ... it has to be frozen for min 2 weeks to make sure all the bacteria is dead ...


This is not the case for US commercial pork, it is completely safe whereas Wild boar does need to be froze for awhile first. Also freezing doesn't kill bacteria, it's meant to kill parasites.


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## Kyleigh (Oct 16, 2012)

Thanks Carriesue ... I was in a huge rush, and don't have access to lots of sites at work to put links in ... but just wanted to bring it up!!!!

All these firewalls at work, I'm impressed I can even get on here !


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