# Molson starts on raw tonight!



## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

I'm curious to see how Molson does......I've been talking about switching my guys to a 50% raw diet but keep procrastinating!!!! I gave them each a raw marrow bone the other day and they all ended up with runny poo the next day. I did buy some chicken and duck necks, along with some chicken backs, so I guess I'll have to commit and just do it. I like the idea of making patties, especially when I'm feeding 3 of them. I'm on holidays next week so that might be a good time to buckle down and do some cooking!!!!

Enjoy your supper tonight Molson....you'll be eating better than us as well!!!!

p.s. How did Molson's evaluation go?????


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## esSJay (Apr 13, 2009)

When Mols was a little pup, he had some runny poops the first few times he had the raw marrow bones. It could just be a matter of your boys getting used to it. 

Would your patties include the meat, starch and veggies too? Or just veggies?



Laurie said:


> p.s. How did Molson's evaluation go?????


It went great!! She said that Molson has all the right proportions in all the right places, she is so impressed with the way his head and face are turning out, and that he would likely finish quickly in the show ring, the only things holding him back are:
- need to add more meat on his body (but once he is settled on the raw it won't be a problem to put it on)
- his coat needs a bit more... volume, I guess is the word! He has been shedding quite a bit the past few weeks, so it will come back soon I hope!

We'll wait until he matures a little bit more and maybe start him in the ring in January!


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

Awesome.....I'm sure he'll do great once he's in tip top shape (he's pretty much there now)!!!! Are you going to act as your own handler or have someone else do it? On a side note, I was looking at In the Pink's website....man, is that Marley a gorgeous dog!!!! 


For the patties, I would be using meat, veggies, fruit, starches.......I've gotten some pretty good ideas and recipes from the internet. I already make them stew regularly so now it's just a matter of doing it raw......I should hire Triton and Logan's dad to be my doggy chef!!!!!


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## HiTideGoldens (Dec 29, 2009)

I was wondering about the evaluation too! Yay for Molson! I'm a Marley admirer too! His pictures on Facebook on Molson's page are gorgeous! 

I'm going to be following your adventure into raw. Our snafu with some (maybe) bad chicken made me a bit gun shy for now. We're sticking with kibble for the moment because my husband was not impressed with the torpedo diarrhea that resulted (indoors, btw). But we may give it another shot once I learn a bit more. 

I found that Jack initially had no idea what to do with chicken. He licked it for like 20 minutes and then finally started eating it. But it still took him forever!!! Once he got used to it he took about 15 minutes to finish a chicken quarter.


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## diana_D (Jan 27, 2008)

Congratulations on the decision  You will soon see spectacular changes, and by the time he hits the show ring, he will look much better  I saw changed within 2 months, and they were so great that many thought I brought another dog to shows  

I still blame myself for not following my instinct (and listen to the wrong people) to switch Emma on raw right when we got her from the breeder.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

I think you'll love it! Molson, too.

Ranger's been thriving on his raw diet and gets SO excited for meal times. Everyone we've met in the last week has asked me what I've been feeding him - his coat is glossy and his teeth have cleaned up incredibly. Any tartar is now gone! I've been doing more of a prey-model diet since Ranger can't digest vegetables/carbs well. He gets baby carrots a few times a week and a banana in his kong every second day.

I just started a blog about Ranger's raw diet and am keeping track of everything I feed him. It's been mostly chicken (thighs, quartes, liver, gizzards) so far but we've ventured into pork (chops, trotters, and hocks), some beef (freezer-burned flank steaks, livers) and I just snagged some cheap duck meat that was about to go bad this weekend so I'll see how he does on that.

I love this raw feeding! I love making meals for Ranger and making sure he's getting everything he needs. I hate slicing up livers though...puke. Some of the raw stuff is hard for me to handle, like chicken feet and trotters! Gross. I can't wait til I get the deep freeze - I'll be calling up a butcher as soon as the freezer is ready to go. 

Ranger is starting to get picky about the temperature of his raw now. Before he was interested in everything and it was always served frozen to make sure he chewed it properly, but now he's liking it more thawed. I trust him more now with bones so I dig out what he's eating the next day and toss it in the fridge. Right now he's got a pork hock (ick) and some duck meat thawing in there. I read some dogs don't like organs, liver in particular, but Ranger LOVES liver! It's his absolute favourite...but as I found out two days ago, liver for supper and then freeze-dried liver in his kong will cause a lot of pooping...:doh:

Let us know how it goes! I love Molson updates - what a happy, handsome boy he is.


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## zephyr (Sep 29, 2009)

esSJay said:


> I called a few places and farms this morning to find sources of CHEAP meet and I am pretty happy with my findings so far! There is a Poultry factory only 2 minutes from my train station (5 mins from my house!) that sells bulk chicken backs and necks for.... *$0.34/lb*!! SCORE!! (For the US readers, that kind of price is totally unheard of in my area of Canada!)


Woah that is great!! Where is that?? (if you don't mind sharing that is!)

I've already got the chest freezer picked out for once we move in September  ... I am hoping to switch Oscar onto 2/3rd's RMBs + 1/3rd pre-made ground diet (well, something like that). Right now he only eats the premade stuff, which he does great on, but it's more pricey and not nearly as good for the teeth as the actual meat pieces!

Molson I hope you enjoy your yummy new diet... it sounds like you will be eating well!!  Also, do "fluff up" -- so you can win big in the ring next year!! That's sooo awesome


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## Katie and Paddy's Mum (Mar 31, 2010)

That's great news that Molson is venturing into raw! I have been closely reading anyone's threads that have been switching to raw and am excited that I will get to follow yours now too (and hopefully see lots more pictures of the exceptional Molson!!)
A few months back I bought a bunch of books on raw feeding online as I was seriously thinking Paddy might be better off on raw. He was having such bad ear issues and when I called their breeder they also suggested raw. We were able to get the ear under control, as his thyroid was out of balance - but the raw feeding has always been in the back of my mind. I think intimidation is what has stopped me! I always do a lot of home cooking for the dogs, so it is not necessarily a balance issue for me - but moreso the where to feed and how to handle it etc. 
I am sure Molson will thrive on it. 

That is great news about showing him. I was genuinely surprised you weren't already. He is hands-down one of the most handsome boys. If it is a coat issue that is holding him back, I am sure that will come in when his body is healthier. Right now, you said he has been having a lot of digestive issues - so once he gets all balanced, his coat will come! 

How was Molson at the breeders? Was he excited to see the other dogs?

I can imagine that raw chicken (texture especially) would be different for a dog that is used to kibble. But eating to him will become such a treat now. And it does sound like he is going to be eating well!

I look forward to hearing more and hope Molson thrives!

Kim


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## esSJay (Apr 13, 2009)

Laurie said:


> Awesome.....I'm sure he'll do great once he's in tip top shape (he's pretty much there now)!!!! Are you going to act as your own handler or have someone else do it? On a side note, I was looking at In the Pink's website....man, is that Marley a gorgeous dog!!!!
> 
> For the patties, I would be using meat, veggies, fruit, starches.......I've gotten some pretty good ideas and recipes from the internet. I already make them stew regularly so now it's just a matter of doing it raw......I should hire Triton and Logan's dad to be my doggy chef!!!!!


I don't know about the handling yet. I'd like to try it but we'll have to see how he does with me vs. how he does with Sandra (the breeder). It's all pretty new and we have lots of time to think about it and have lots of work to do!  

The patties are a great idea, I might do something similar but just with the vegetables/starches & supplements. I'm going to keep the bones & meet intact so he has something to chew on and clean those teeth. 



goldenjackpuppy said:


> I'm going to be following your adventure into raw. Our snafu with some (maybe) bad chicken made me a bit gun shy for now. We're sticking with kibble for the moment because my husband was not impressed with the torpedo diarrhea that resulted (indoors, btw). But we may give it another shot once I learn a bit more.
> 
> I found that Jack initially had no idea what to do with chicken. He licked it for like 20 minutes and then finally started eating it. But it still took him forever!!! Once he got used to it he took about 15 minutes to finish a chicken quarter.


Oh no! We had some awful diarrhea indoors last Thursday. :yuck: We have only 1 carpet in our house. It's a 5x8' shag area rug :doh:. Don't ever get shag carpet - it's way too much like grass I guess! Jay was outside powerwashing it for 2 days! His poops seem to be solidifying a bit today, and I should have the results from the fecal test at the vet's tomorrow. 



zephyr said:


> Woah that is great!! Where is that?? (if you don't mind sharing that is!)


Of course I don't mind!! 
The place closest to me is:
*Brampton Poultry Pride Ltd*
190 Wilkinson Rd,
Brampton, ON L6T 4W3
905-452-7300 

Maple Lodge Farms' Factory Outlet is at:
8301 Winston Churchill Blvd,
Brampton, ON L6Y 0A2
905-455-8340

Basically I just searched yellowpages.ca for Poultry-whol, and Poultry-retail in Brampton and there were a number of options. I'll be sure to update you if and when I find some other sources too.


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## esSJay (Apr 13, 2009)

Katie and Paddy's Mum said:


> That's great news that Molson is venturing into raw! I have been closely reading anyone's threads that have been switching to raw and am excited that I will get to follow yours now too (and hopefully see lots more pictures of the exceptional Molson!!)
> 
> A few months back I bought a bunch of books on raw feeding online as I was seriously thinking Paddy might be better off on raw. He was having such bad ear issues and when I called their breeder they also suggested raw. We were able to get the ear under control, as his thyroid was out of balance - but the raw feeding has always been in the back of my mind. I think intimidation is what has stopped me! I always do a lot of home cooking for the dogs, so it is not necessarily a balance issue for me - but moreso the where to feed and how to handle it etc.
> I am sure Molson will thrive on it.


I still have a bunch of kinks to work out for the diet, like developing a routine, figuring out how much I can prepare at once and how long it will last, where/how to keep his food separate in the fridge/freezers from our food, where we will feed him (I fed him outside today, but don't want to do that when it's raining, cold, or snowing) so that we don't have salmonella all over, etc. I'll be sure to update on how things are going and what kinds of road blocks we encounter along the way! I'm excited to have some followers! lol



Katie and Paddy's Mum said:


> That is great news about showing him. I was genuinely surprised you weren't already. He is hands-down one of the most handsome boys. If it is a coat issue that is holding him back, I am sure that will come in when his body is healthier. Right now, you said he has been having a lot of digestive issues - so once he gets all balanced, his coat will come!
> 
> How was Molson at the breeders? Was he excited to see the other dogs?
> m


Thank you so much for your comments Kim! (And others too!) The loose poops have been pretty frustrating, but I can see that he's getting his energy back as they start to firm up again. I hope that he snaps back better than ever with the raw. 

He was great at the breeder's! Unfortunately because of the poop issues, we didn't want to make the other dogs sick if it is a parasite or something that he has, so he only got to basically "meet 'n greet" the other dogs including his mommy (who we hope is preggo right now). We'll make another trip up there again soon once he's all back to normal for a real play session!


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

Awesome, Steph! I hope the raw diet works as well for Molson as it does for my boys!!


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## esSJay (Apr 13, 2009)

Oh YEAH! :doh: I wrote all that last night and never actually said how the eating part went yesterday!

I fed him in the backyard and he started off eating all of the potatoes first, followed by the beef, broccoli and then finally - the chicken! He ate the entire meal standing up but kind of leaning back a bit, with one front paw in the air and one back paw lifted up a bit too... like he was nervous that something was going to jump up out of the bowl! lol. It was a bit of an awkward stance and he spent about 10 minutes licking the flavours off of the chicken (oil, broth, etc.) before he finally took it in his mouth. He was pretty unsure of it at first, spitting it out a few times but on the 4th try he started crunching the bones. I know he enjoyed it because with every crunch came a tiny litle tail wag!  In no time he was chowin down those chicken backs like it was his full time job! He even licked the bowl clean! 

Day 1: success! 
We are skipping today and just going with the ground beef because a) only Jay is home this evening and he's grossed out by it... and b) I forgot to thaw the chicken this morning! :doh: :doh: lol


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

Good boy Molson!! I always laugh at the stories about dogs being unsure of the raw meat... mine both inhaled it the first time!! The only thing Sam was a little unsure about was a whole raw fish... he kind of looked at me like, what am I supposed to do with THIS!? but after he took a few licks he realized THIS IS FOOD!!!!


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

missmarstar said:


> Good boy Molson!! I always laugh at the stories about dogs being unsure of the raw meat... mine both inhaled it the first time!! The only thing Sam was a little unsure about was a whole raw fish... he kind of looked at me like, what am I supposed to do with THIS!? but after he took a few licks he realized THIS IS FOOD!!!!


Hahaha, Ranger was the same way. I gave him a frozen solid turkey neck as his first raw meal and his eyes went all wide and he rushed off with his "prize" and went to work eating it right away! I've read about some people having to sear the sides of the meat and bake the liver before their dogs will eat it...yeah right! Ranger loooves frozen liver.


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## Lego&Jacub (Jul 18, 2006)

Our Sawyer is no fan of liver! Geddy just inhales it : So to fix his little wagon I finally decided to cut it up and feed it with his beef "dog food" (aka chum lol). He ate the whole thing without complaint!


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## CarolinaCasey (Jun 1, 2007)

I'm so glad Molson is loving his raw diet! 

I knew Molson was originally held back as his breeder's pick for the ring, but didn't realize you would be showing him. What fantastic news!  He is surely to finish, he's gorgeous!


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## esSJay (Apr 13, 2009)

Thanks Melissa! 


On Monday night I spoke with my friend whose whole family is huge into hunting (deer, turkey, moose) and asked if they often have leftover bones and stuff from their prizes and he perked right up and said "YEAH! You want me to bring a leg bone for Molson or something?" I told him Molson will take any and all of it that they don't use! (Or as much as will fit into my freezer ) They have a huge long-weekend trip coming up in the Fall and I'm totally stoked!


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## timberwolf (Apr 1, 2009)

Good for you Steph!!
Keep us updated on how Molson makes out "raw" 

Timber had a "raw" weekend as well!
Three pieces of raw bacon he stole from the BBQ, my porkchop that he snagged before we even had a chance to BBQ it, and a bone we got him from the butcher's!
Needless to say, it wasn't easy scooping for the next couple of days


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## esSJay (Apr 13, 2009)

1st things 1st.... I just realized I'm only 5 posts away from 5,000 posts! Crazy!!

Molson had raw dinner #2 last night and it went great! He's really getting the hang of eating it now, cutting his meal time down to about 20 minutes from the 45 minutes the first day! He licked his bowl right clean. This morning I served him a raw breakfast and - holy cow - I have NEVER seen him so excited to eat! He was watching me prepare it with the biggest smile on his face, tail-a-waggin. I was carrying the bowl outside to feed him and he was bouncing around me like a freakin kangaroo on crack!  As always, I made him sit-stay while I placed his bowl on the ground, asked him to do a few push-ups and calm down before I released him to eat. He was being the most obedient boy ever!

More good news... on our walk last night he pooped the most *perfect* dog poop I've ever seen! There was no smell, it was smaller than the palm of my hand, and nice and firm. SUCH a relief after so many weeks of diarrhea and loose poops! It was great to be able to clean up the poop from the grass and not leave any behind!

I also got the results back from our vet regarding his fecal sample I brought in last Friday. Results are negative for parasites so that's a relief, although it still makes me wonder what the heck his problem was for those few weeks?! The vet called me to ask if he was still having the runny poops and I said that ever since I brought in the sample on Friday, he's been good and solid again, back to normal. I mentioned that I have just switched him to a raw diet and she made sure that I have a good mentor to work with/learn from, or if I'm going pre-made and made sure that I'm using sufficient supplements, etc. That was nice to hear that the vet is onboard with it and wants to make sure I'm doing it properly.


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

esSJay said:


> 1st things 1st.... I just realized I'm only 5 posts away from 5,000 posts! Crazy!!
> 
> Molson had raw dinner #2 last night and it went great! He's really getting the hang of eating it now, cutting his meal time down to about 20 minutes from the 45 minutes the first day! He licked his bowl right clean. This morning I served him a raw breakfast and - holy cow - I have NEVER seen him so excited to eat! He was watching me prepare it with the biggest smile on his face, tail-a-waggin. I was carrying the bowl outside to feed him and he was bouncing around me like a freakin kangaroo on crack!  As always, I made him sit-stay while I placed his bowl on the ground, asked him to do a few push-ups and calm down before I released him to eat. He was being the most obedient boy ever!
> 
> More good news... on our walk last night he pooped the most *perfect* dog poop I've ever seen! There was no smell, it was smaller than the palm of my hand, and nice and firm. SUCH a relief after so many weeks of diarrhea and loose poops! It was great to be able to clean up the poop from the grass and not leave any behind!


Isn't is sad that we get so excited about our dogs' poops!!!! We're always commenting on them...are they runny, solid, good color, etc....Only dog lovers could understand!!!

So, I forget what you said about Molson's diet...are you feeding him 100% raw or 50-50? What did his breakfast include this morning? I'm hoping to make the transition this coming week. I must admit that it makes me a little nervous though........


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## esSJay (Apr 13, 2009)

Laurie said:


> Isn't is sad that we get so excited about our dogs' poops!!!! We're always commenting on them...are they runny, solid, good color, etc....Only dog lovers could understand!!!
> 
> So, I forget what you said about Molson's diet...are you feeding him 100% raw or 50-50? What did his breakfast include this morning? I'm hoping to make the transition this coming week. I must admit that it makes me a little nervous though........


Well Pudden is the only one who comments about the colour!!  hahahaha but yes, dog poop is one of my most frequent conversations these days!

We are feeding 100% raw - for now.... Jay WAS totally onboard a few weeks ago but now he's worried about when we have people watch him for the weekends when we go away (my mom) isn't going to want raw meat all over their house (she would likely just feed him outside), or worried about how to keep it fresh when we go camping, etc. as well as how time-consuming it will be.

So I'm trying to figure out a way to stay 100% raw but finding a way around those issues. Maybe if I ground up the chicken breast, and everything else into frozen patties so that all of the food will stay in his bowl and they just have to give him a frozen puck of food?? Jay really wants to go 50% kibble though, for the sake of ease. I told him I'm going to do this for a few weeks and then figure out what to do. I'm hoping that by then he will realize that I'm the one doing all the work for it anyway, and see how well Molson is doing on it too. 


As for what I fed him yesterday/this morning, I gave him:
- 2 or 3 chicken backs (about 1.5 lbs)
- 2 scoops of boiled, unwashed potato 1/8ths
- 1/4 cup of boiled broccoli
- drizzled olive oil overtop
- 2 tbsps of organic chicken broth for flavouring
- some parsley from the garden
- in the mornings I sprinkle the probiotic powder on top for his intestines

I boiled about 5lbs of potatoes last night so it will last me through the weekend. I have another 2 days worth of thawed chicken backs in a tupperware container in my fridge to last me till the weekend too.

I'll write more tonight - gotta get some work done right now!


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

esSJay said:


> We are feeding 100% raw - for now.... Jay WAS totally onboard a few weeks ago but now he's worried about when we have people watch him for the weekends when we go away (my mom) isn't going to want raw meat all over their house (she would likely just feed him outside), or worried about how to keep it fresh when we go camping, etc. as well as how time-consuming it will be.


This is one of my concerns as well. When we go away, are the people we board the dogs with going to want to throw my guys a hunk of raw chicken???? It's bad enough I already ask them to give them bananas, their fish oil capsules and their glucosamine pills. :doh: I could probably get around this by making pre-made patties or simply by buying the pre-packaged ground meat and making patties from that. Typically, we're only gone for a week or less so it wouldn't be too bad.

Sounds like Molson is enjoying his new diet and he should, sounds delicious!!! I really have to get my guys on board!!!

Oh yeah.....work...forgot about that!!!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

esSJay said:


> Well Pudden is the only one who comments about the colour!!  hahahaha but yes, dog poop is one of my most frequent conversations these days!
> 
> We are feeding 100% raw - for now.... Jay WAS totally onboard a few weeks ago but now he's worried about when we have people watch him for the weekends when we go away (my mom) isn't going to want raw meat all over their house (she would likely just feed him outside), or worried about how to keep it fresh when we go camping, etc. as well as how time-consuming it will be.
> 
> ...


When I travel, I pre freeze individual sized packages, and they stay frozen in a cooler for a week or more. I use a few of those coolers that are meant for beverages as this size seems to keep the packages frozen the longest.

But, my girl goes to her co-owner when she is in season (3 weeks) and her co-owners' husband is adamantly opposed to raw food - he does not want it in his house. So, on average, once a week all 3 of my dogs are fed a quality kibble. This seems to be often enough to prevent problems when my girl needs to go to 'the spa' and makes their life easier taking care of her. It makes my life easier since it is occasional enough to not cause the problems that caused me to move to raw and I occassionally don't take the meat out of the freezer in time to thaw (I will not microwave their food). Right now, their bag is a grain-free formulation by Fromm's.


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