# Switching to Raw Diet?????



## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

After going to the pet store and buying 2 bags of dog food at $100.00 I've decided that I can have a more open mind to a raw diet. To clarify although the cost is high for regular dog food...I have to buy two different kinds(puppy/adult) and if the puppy gets into the adult food her poop gets icky. So in my mind I'm already trying to figure out what food to switch them too so that all of them are healthy and happy. I have 3 dogs...7 year old samoyed mix, 2 year old golden retriever, and 6 month old german shepherd. I see posts about RAW DIETS and I'm terrified of the chicken bones...when I was growing up this was a NO NO and could cause great harm to a dog I have now opened my mind to this and I need to hear from people who use this diet or switched to this diet..bad or good??? Help:help::help::help: I am able to feed them 2x a day--morning and night..I just need to know what and how much? I also hear berries are good for dogs, is this incorporated into the diet as well? Thanks for any advice...I need all I can get:smirk:


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## OriginalWacky (Dec 21, 2011)

llombardo said:


> After going to the pet store and buying 2 bags of dog food at $100.00 I've decided that I can have a more open mind to a raw diet. To clarify although the cost is high for regular dog food...I have to buy two different kinds(puppy/adult) and if the puppy gets into the adult food her poop gets icky. So in my mind I'm already trying to figure out what food to switch them too so that all of them are healthy and happy. I have 3 dogs...7 year old samoyed mix, 2 year old golden retriever, and 6 month old german shepherd.


I totally recommend raw, it seems that every dog I've ever worked with does much better on it, regardless of other issues. That isn't to say that raw is the ONLY way to go, but in my experience, it is the healthiest if you put some research and time into it. I've also found in the long run that it has saved me a LOT of money. 



> I see posts about RAW DIETS and I'm terrified of the chicken bones...when I was growing up this was a NO NO and could cause great harm to a dog I have now opened my mind to this and I need to hear from people who use this diet or switched to this diet..bad or good??? Help:help::help::help: I am able to feed them 2x a day--morning and night..I just need to know what and how much? I also hear berries are good for dogs, is this incorporated into the diet as well? Thanks for any advice...I need all I can get:smirk:


Cooked chicken (or fowl) bones are bad, a big no-no. Raw ones on the other hand, are great. That may be part of the confusion about not feeding bones to dogs. 

As I said above, switching my dogs to raw has been wonderful. A few things I've found besides the savings in money:

Teeth are shiny clean. I have never had a dog need a dental while I've owned them. Some that had poorer teeth when they got to me improved immensely with raw and never did need that cleaning. So, money saved AND no anesthesia for the cleaning!
Poops are way WAY less smelly, and much easier to clean up. I wouldn't go so far as to say the poop is odorless, but it comes a lot closer. And it seems that I rarely have diarrhea OR constipation with a good raw diet.
Any dogs I've had that showed allergic reactions to foods did much much better on raw, and got all their fur back and stopped all the itching. 
Almost every dog I've ever tried raw on loved it so much more than kibble, even some of my very picky eaters.

That's not even everything, just the things that popped into my head right away.

I'd say to start by taking a look at all the stickies in this forum. THen you can take a peek at Raw Dog Ranch, Raw Learning, and Raw Fed. After that, I'm sure some other raw feeders can come and give you tons more information and links.


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## Lakl (Jul 23, 2011)

This is a good place to start...

Welcome to the Raw Dog Ranch

I have 2 GSD's, a 10 yr old yorkie, and 3 yr old chihuahua on raw and it's the best thing I ever did. Hard to go back to kibble when you see the difference. I learned a lot from the above sight, and I think the owner of the sight is also a member/moderator.


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## Holmeshx2 (Apr 25, 2010)

Lakl said:


> This is a good place to start...
> 
> Welcome to the Raw Dog Ranch
> 
> I have 2 GSD's, a 10 yr old yorkie, and 3 yr old chihuahua on raw and it's the best thing I ever did. Hard to go back to kibble when you see the difference. I learned a lot from the above sight, and I think the owner of the sight is also a member/moderator.


Yes Laurie is a member of this board (moderator as well) her site is filled with tons of information to get you on the right track. It's amazing what you get used to when feeding raw that you don't notice until you have your dog side by side with a kibble fed dog. You couldn't pay me to go back to kibble however I would never tell someone to feed raw unless they gave it a lot of thought and research because I feel kibble is way better choice then a poorly prepared and thought out raw diet.


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## Lakl (Jul 23, 2011)

Holmeshx2 said:


> Yes Laurie is a member of this board (moderator as well) her site is filled with tons of information to get you on the right track. It's amazing what you get used to when feeding raw that you don't notice until you have your dog side by side with a kibble fed dog. You couldn't pay me to go back to kibble however I would never tell someone to feed raw unless they gave it a lot of thought and research because I feel kibble is way better choice then a poorly prepared and thought out raw diet.


Very true! I made some mistakes during my learning process and saw the results in my dogs and my wallet! I went back to kibble for a short time, but was not happy and the dogs werent either. That's when I found Lauri's site and really poured through the information and sat down and better planned my meals and measurements. Once I got used to it, it was easy breezy, but definitely something that needs to be well thought out and researched. Another good thing is to get your pricing and meat suppliers in a row.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Where do I go for meat suppliers? I really don't have any small good old butchers anywhere in the area, everything is the big grocery store type. And do they really eat the eggs whole? What if they play with it instead of eat it?


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Lakl said:


> This is a good place to start...
> 
> Welcome to the Raw Dog Ranch
> 
> I have 2 GSD's, a 10 yr old yorkie, and 3 yr old chihuahua on raw and it's the best thing I ever did. Hard to go back to kibble when you see the difference. I learned a lot from the above sight, and I think the owner of the sight is also a member/moderator.



I found this site earlier today, but just now learned how to navigate through it How often should the dogs get veggies/eggs? Every meal? 3x a week? I like that everything can be prepared and frozen for the week...another Sunday project When figuring on the ideal weight of the dog and all that stuff, is that based on a daily feeding or each feeding--so if it comes out to 1.0 pounds, is that per feeding or for the whole day? Example..I feed twice, is it 1.0 pounds each feeding or .50 per feeding...I'm guessing .50 per feeding but just want confirmation on that.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Anyone know where to get the breakdown for a 6 month old puppy? It states that puppies needs are different then a grown dog. That link is not working on the Raw Dog Ranch website...I tried to send an email, but I don't know if it went:help::help::help::help:


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## Miss Molly May (Feb 19, 2010)

if you go to the raw section http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/b-r-f-raw-feeding/85902-our-dogs-menus.html you will see everyones dogs daily diet this was a good resource when we started.


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## Lakl (Jul 23, 2011)

Amounts given are per day, so if you feed twice a day, then you divide the amount in two. With pups, you definitely want to feed twice a day. With pups, they get a higher percentage per body weight, but you have to gage it. I believe it's 6-8%. You will have to watch their weight and bring it up or down accordingly until you figure out how much is necessary to maintain proper weight and growth.

I thought there was a section on veggies? I don't feed my dogs veggies. It's not necessary, and I mix a good supplement and oils into their meals that is all natural and provides all the necessary vitamins. 

Google meat vendors in your area, and talk to the grocery stores and find out what they do with expired meat. Fortunately, we have a butcher where I work, and he saves me raw bones and cuts that he scraps. The local meat vendor sells me 40lb cases of chicken backs for less than $12 bucks. I also look for reduced price meat at the grocery whenever I go.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Lakl said:


> Amounts given are per day, so if you feed twice a day, then you divide the amount in two. With pups, you definitely want to feed twice a day. With pups, they get a higher percentage per body weight, but you have to gage it. I believe it's 6-8%. You will have to watch their weight and bring it up or down accordingly until you figure out how much is necessary to maintain proper weight and growth.
> 
> I thought there was a section on veggies? I don't feed my dogs veggies. It's not necessary, and I mix a good supplement and oils into their meals that is all natural and provides all the necessary vitamins.
> 
> Google meat vendors in your area, and talk to the grocery stores and find out what they do with expired meat. Fortunately, we have a butcher where I work, and he saves me raw bones and cuts that he scraps. The local meat vendor sells me 40lb cases of chicken backs for less than $12 bucks. I also look for reduced price meat at the grocery whenever I go.


I found the section on veggies What supplements do you feed and what kind of oil is used? I seen that too but it wasn't specific on the kind of oil. And where can you get powdered vitamin c to use for dogs? Thanks for all your help


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

And for a puppy I take the goal weight? I'm going with 70 pounds as the goal weight times 6% which equals 4.2 pounds a day...that seems like alot, am I doing this right?


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## Lakl (Jul 23, 2011)

llombardo said:


> And for a puppy I take the goal weight? I'm going with 70 pounds as the goal weight times 6% which equals 4.2 pounds a day...that seems like alot, am I doing this right?


No! Way too much! What is his weight now? Not his adult goal weight. The weight he should be at now. My 13 mos old male is currently 70lbs and I feed him 32oz or 2lbs a day, but he is underweight and very thin cause he's had hip issues. As he gets better, I will drop the amount.

I give feed sentials and sh-emp oil. It's one of Carmen's (Carmspack- a member and breeder) products. You can order from her, her website is Carmspack Working German Shepherd Dogs where you can find information and email her to order or you can order online at Animal Sense Pet Products Inc. Carmen give you a lot of good info on it, since she's the one that makes it. It's all natural and great stuff. I used to give salmon oil that I bought from Petsmart, but the smell of it makes me gag. It does wonders for my dogs and it doesn't take long to see the results. They have feathery soft coats, and in my pup, his pigment improved dramatically. For me, it's just easier having all the supplements in one easy to give scoop. Takes the guess work out of how much to give for each vitamin or supplement. The dogs love it and lick their bowls clean.


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## Lakl (Jul 23, 2011)

Let me see if I can find before and after pics of my pup from being on kibble, then switching to raw and Carmen's supplements...


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## Lakl (Jul 23, 2011)

Here is a pic when he was on kibble. He was still going through the coat change, but you can see that his pigment is not great.










This is about 3 weeks after I switched him to raw and started him on Carm's supplements.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Okay so the difference is amazing(pictures)...I thought that was too much food for a puppy, but if I'm using the 6%...that is of the present weight? And with adult dogs its the goal weight times the % of activity per The Raw Dog Ranch website. I spent all morning trying to find a meat supplier with no luck These butchers want $3.49 a pound for chicken wings...that is crazy:crazy:


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## Holmeshx2 (Apr 25, 2010)

For little puppies you want about 10% of their body weight 20 lbs 2 lbs of food etc... when they start getting bigger you switch to around 3% of estimated adult size. When their puppy portion gets bigger then their adult portion is generally when you switch to the adult version. No way you should be feeding 4 lbs to a puppy. Make sure you get the portions and the breakdown right it is really important with puppies since you do not want them to not get enough essential vitamins calcium etc.. and you certainly don't want too much calcium in growing pups, don't want them to grow too quick or be underfed.. puppies are hard just to start "winging it" with raw granted an adult can handle you figuring things out but a puppy can't have things messed up.


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## kbella999 (Jan 6, 2012)

I switched a couple months ago and it is the best thing I ever did. I wouldn't go back. I tell my GDS's that I need sunglasses now when I look at their teeth.


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## Minoli (Jul 19, 2011)

For meat suppliers, I just Googled where I'm from and came up with a list. I called about 10-15 places until I found one with pretty decent prices. I'll be going there for the first time this week. 

I searched: Detroit, MI meat suppliers


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## Holmeshx2 (Apr 25, 2010)

if you look on yellowpages.com and type in meat wholesale or something similar you will get some really good resources. When doing raw the best thing is get a spare freezer so you can buy in bulk and be willing to drive some. I have some amazing resources but are within an hour but definitely worth the trip and I generally have to buy between 30-60 lbs boxes.


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