# Raw Feeders....



## MyCodyBoy (Sep 27, 2008)

did anyone have problems getting your dogs to switch over?

I decided to buy the premade patties and bought a box of chicken. Well, trying to get Cody to eat this stuff has been a challenge. He will eat a raw chicken leg or chicken wing but he has no intrest in the patties.
I bought Urban Carnivore which has no veggies, just ground up ckicken carcus. I wanted to start simple because of his allergies but I am thinking he might love some veggies. So I threw in some peas and he just tried to eat the peas around the meat! 
I had some cooked chicken that he really wanted, so I threw some of that into the raw pattie and he ate it up. he didn't eat it fast, but he did eat it. 
ANY suggestions on getting him to eat these patties would be nice.

I have some tripe I might mix in just to get him eating.
His stools are good so far. So unless it is making him sick I guess I will keep trying to get him to enjoy it.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

Try searing them just a bit before feeding. (Let them cool first, of course!) Might get him on board, then gradually sear less, until back to fully raw form.


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## IowaGold (Nov 3, 2009)

I never had any issues switching my dogs (one was between 1 and 2, the other two were 7 week old pups), but I never tried to feed commercial raw. The cats were difficult to switch though (adult X 5)! I spent months mixing in stuff they liked with their ground RMBs (homeground, not commercial). I used canned food, LOTS of tuna, Salmon oil, etc. I also would lightly cook if needed.


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## MyCodyBoy (Sep 27, 2008)

Thanx.
I bought some Lamb with veggies in hopes that he might like that.
My thinking is he just can't smell anything. I put my nose into the container of the chicken patties and there just wasn't that strong smell that you obviously get from kibble.
I also bought an Elk leg bone with marrow and he isn't touching that either, which is so odd for him. He is acting very strange.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Just curious, if your dog is eating regular raw chicken fine, why bother with the patties?


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

FlyingQuizini said:


> Try searing them just a bit before feeding. (Let them cool first, of course!) Might get him on board, then gradually sear less, until back to fully raw form.



Second this. 

I think you were spot on about it being related to smell, MyCodyBoy. The raw patties, especially if they are still a little frozen at mealtime, have little to no smell. Searing it lightly will help bring out a little bit of the meaty smell. I used to feed Nature's Variety patties to Sam when we first did a raw diet, and definitely noticed that they didn't smell at all. Fortunately neither of my chow hounds have EVER turned their noses up at raw meat, so we had a very easy time making the switch with both of them.


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## MyCodyBoy (Sep 27, 2008)

Loisiana said:


> Just curious, if your dog is eating regular raw chicken fine, why bother with the patties?


mostly because it is easier. But I think if I price it out the patties would be cheaper then buying the meat, the veggies and the suppliments. For example. 2lbs of stewing beef is about $5 in the store. Plus I would have to buy the veggies and suppliments. 8 patties (1lbs each) of chicken, bone and organ is $13 for the Urban Carnivore and the Arusha sells Lamb with supplements, bone, organ and veggies at $18 for 8 patties.
I also love the fact that Urban Carnivore is antibiotic free meat source. I know for a fact that none of the meats in the store are antibiotic free meats.


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## MyCodyBoy (Sep 27, 2008)

missmarstar said:


> Second this.
> 
> I think you were spot on about it being related to smell, MyCodyBoy. The raw patties, especially if they are still a little frozen at mealtime, have little to no smell. Searing it lightly will help bring out a little bit of the meaty smell. I used to feed Nature's Variety patties to Sam when we first did a raw diet, and definitely noticed that they didn't smell at all. Fortunately neither of my chow hounds have EVER turned their noses up at raw meat, so we had a very easy time making the switch with both of them.


yup. I added 1/2 a pattie of tripe to 1 pattie of chicken and he ate ti all up with no issues.
I will try cooking the pattie very lightly tonight to see what he does as I can't give him tripe with every meal.


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## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

I was going to say either add tripe or urban offal to the chicken. Tripe usually convinces any dog to eat! (back to the whole 'dogs like poop' thing...)

Also, he may totally be feeling icky if it's his system detoxing. If you normally drink a coffee or two in the morning, go without caffine for a day and see how you feel. Usually if I go off coffee, by the afternoon of the first day I feel like crud and my head is pounding from the withdraw.

Lana


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## IowaGold (Nov 3, 2009)

MyCodyBoy said:


> mostly because it is easier. But I think if I price it out the patties would be cheaper then buying the meat, the veggies and the suppliments. For example. 2lbs of stewing beef is about $5 in the store. Plus I would have to buy the veggies and suppliments. 8 patties (1lbs each) of chicken, bone and organ is $13 for the Urban Carnivore and the Arusha sells Lamb with supplements, bone, organ and veggies at $18 for 8 patties.
> I also love the fact that Urban Carnivore is antibiotic free meat source. I know for a fact that none of the meats in the store are antibiotic free meats.


That is a pretty decent price for pre-made, but your boy misses out on many of the benefits of raw if that's pretty much all you feed (you didn't say if you are using this as part of the diet or the whole diet). Feeding nice big bony pieces gives your dog satisfaction, cleans the teeth/keeps them clean, etc. Are you new to raw feeding? It's very common for new people to start with patties then "wean" themselves off them once they get more comfortable with the diet.

Personally I feed prey-model and do not feed veggies or lots of supplements. Especially with a big dog it's very easy to keep your average cost per pound at $1 or less per pound (you can feed less expensive chicken quarters, etc. rather than relying on expensive wings and such). That's probably not a huge deal if you're feeding one dog but I feed three goldens (senior, adult, puppy) and 5 cats, so the cost difference is huge for me!


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## MyCodyBoy (Sep 27, 2008)

IowaGold said:


> That is a pretty decent price for pre-made, but your boy misses out on many of the benefits of raw if that's pretty much all you feed (you didn't say if you are using this as part of the diet or the whole diet). Feeding nice big bony pieces gives your dog satisfaction, cleans the teeth/keeps them clean, etc. Are you new to raw feeding? It's very common for new people to start with patties then "wean" themselves off them once they get more comfortable with the diet.
> 
> Personally I feed prey-model and do not feed veggies or lots of supplements. Especially with a big dog it's very easy to keep your average cost per pound at $1 or less per pound (you can feed less expensive chicken quarters, etc. rather than relying on expensive wings and such). That's probably not a huge deal if you're feeding one dog but I feed three goldens (senior, adult, puppy) and 5 cats, so the cost difference is huge for me!


The patties I am feeding him are of the entire carcass. So he is getting the bones, organs, skin and meat.
I have also bought him an elk marrow bone to chew on but he doesn't want anything to do with it, which is so odd for him.

I did buy some Arush which has 20% veggies in their meal patties and the Urban Carnivore has 100% meat, no veggies. My plan is to feed him the patties with veggies every other day to see how his stool is. if it is soft I will cut back, if it is hard I will add more days with veggies.
I have heard "some" people have issues with not giving their dogs any vegetables so I will see how Cody does. 
But I do nto think they need them every day.

I am VERY new to all of this. This is our first week on the new diet so I wanted to start with the patties because it is easy for me. 
There is a Chicken processing plant in the City that I live in but I know that those chickens have been given antibitocs and vaccinations. I realy like the Urban Carnivore because it is basicaly an organic meat source at a really good price. 

He also seems to be ok with 2-3 partties a day, and I do only have 1 dog to feed.


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## AimeeLouise (Feb 8, 2010)

I am very new to the whole raw feeding thing.
I was hoping that some of you might be able to give me some tips and meal advice. There is so much information out there that i have become a little confused . I'm after a typical meal you feed your golden's, e.g. types of RMB and offel and veg and quantities of each and is it ok to mix two types of meat in the same meal?
Thanks so much in advance.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

I've been feeding raw for several years, but I am currently in the process of switching from a barf style diet to a prey model diet. For prey model, the diet is based on 80% meat, 10% bone, and 10% organ. 

I've never been big on following some of the "rules" of raw feeding, and my dogs have never had problems. I mix different proteins, I've even mixed raw and kibble sometimes.

Chicken quarters are great, but you have to make sure they are not enhanced. My most common source of beef is ground because I can get it so cheap. I throw in several eggs a week. Keep canned mackeral on hand. Pork is another meat you can get really cheap, but Conner is allergic to it so I just give it to the others. I've read that beef liver has more nutrients than chicken liver, but chicken liver is cheaper, so I alternate between the two. I feed beef heart and chicken gizzards (neither of those count as organs). I finally found some kidney at the store today, so I will add that in as some organ this week. Every once in a while I'll get some tripe, but it's so stinky it's not a regular on the menu here. 

I aim for 2% of body weight, so for Conner, that's 1.4 pounds of food a day. Chicken quarters are approximately a lb, so I might give one of those with a third of a lb of ground beef and maybe an egg or some liver. I've never been one to measure, don't find any need for precision. If I have a package of something I'll split it between the dogs, giving the most to Conner and Flip, a little less to Annabel, and just a small amount of it to Colby. Based on the size of that meal determines how much I will feed them of something later that day, if at all.


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## IowaGold (Nov 3, 2009)

I feed prey model and aim for about 2% also (my middle female gets a little less). The way I feed there is no such thing as "a typical meal". What I feed varies day to day, week to week, month to month. Here's a typical week (I feed once per day):

Day 1: RMB +/- muscle meat
Day 2: RMB +/- muscle meat
Day 3: Organ Meat (liver is fed 2X/month, kidney 1X/month, spleen or brain or pancreas on a rotating basis 1X/month)
Day 4: RMB +/- muscle meat
Day 5: RMB +/- muscle meat
Day 6: Tripe or eggs on a rotating basis
Day 7: RMB +/- muscle meat

So this equals about 75% RMB/meat, 15% organ meat, 15% "other". The RMB varies-lots of chicken quarters, pork spareribs, bone-in venison, rabbit, duck, goose, turkey, etc. I add muscle meat depending on how "bony" a particular RMB is. Turkey necks are pretty bony, so I add some muscle meat. Chicken quarters are relatively meaty, so I don't do a lot of muscle meat. The muscle meat can be heart, beef, fish, boneless venison/pork/etc.

I am kicking around the idea of feeding small amounts of organ meat, heart, eggs, tripe, and fish ground together on a daily basis rather than larger amounts on a rotating basis (3 parts mixed organs, 1 part of each of the rest). I works out to 15% organ, 5% each heart, eggs, tripe, fish, so it's pretty close to what I wrote above. I did this for Piper when she was young and it worked out well, giving me a place to put fish oil and glucosamine/chondroitin supplements or any other med/supplement I want to add. 

I hope this helps. I can go more into detail if needed.


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## alanckaye (Feb 7, 2009)

i RECENTLY LEARNED OF THIS DIET sorry about the caps - and researched BARF - I would love to feed my girls something healthy like this but my god, the cost is tremendous. I know this shouldn't be an issue when it comes to a loved one but they told me at BARF that each girl should have 6 patties a day which is a bag and the cost would be around 3-4 hundred a month. Does anyone know of a supplement that would add the probiotics (sp) to their kibble? thanks


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## MyCodyBoy (Sep 27, 2008)

alanckaye said:


> i RECENTLY LEARNED OF THIS DIET sorry about the caps - and researched BARF - I would love to feed my girls something healthy like this but my god, the cost is tremendous. I know this shouldn't be an issue when it comes to a loved one but they told me at BARF that each girl should have 6 patties a day which is a bag and the cost would be around 3-4 hundred a month. Does anyone know of a supplement that would add the probiotics (sp) to their kibble? thanks


6 patties a day? what size are the patties? we feed 1/2lbs patties and Cody is getting 2.5 patties per day. He is 80lbs. After a couple of weeks we will know if he needs more or less.
If the patties you can get are 1/2lbs patties you were told the wrong information. 

Someone with more experiance can tell you the percent that they are supose to eat for their body weight, but I think it is about 2-3% of their body weight per day.

We spend about $40 and get 16 patties. It all depends on the brand and sort of meat. Right now he is strickly on Llama meat untill we can clear up his ear infection. I give him a mix of patties with veggies and patties with just meat. All the patties have the complete animal carcass with added organs like heart, lung and liver and salmon oil. That is the Arusha brand.
Urband Carnivor has just meat carcass patties, Offal patties and veggie patties, and tripe patties and you can mix them up as needed.

The patties are pricey but for now with two small kids I just don't have the time to make sure I am doing things correctly for Cody's well being. I might start adding just some stewing beef to his diet 1x a week. But I love the patties for the fact that all the meat is organic and free from antibiotics and vaccinations. Something I can't say is true for store bought meat. And if I bought organic store bought meat it would cost more than $5 a day to feed Cody.


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## MyCodyBoy (Sep 27, 2008)

you can buy probitocs from the vet clinic, but I also know that a good pet store will carry them too.


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## AmbikaGR (Dec 31, 2007)

Okay as you can see there are many different ways to feed raw. So there is no "normal" way. Before putting your dog on a diet such as these you need to do your research, determine which method makes the most sense to you and then follow that general way to feed. As to the amount to feed I think that throughout the different methods for an adult dog 2% of body weight should be fed daily. So if you had a 60 lb dog that would be about 1.2 pounds per day total. Of course not all dogs read these guidelines so you may need to adjust it depending on your dog.


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## kwiland (Aug 27, 2009)

I don't know if this applies to patties, but Winnie does not like his meat cold -- if the patties are cold, that might be the issue. But, then, my dog also likes his meat on the 'ripe' side, rather than the 'fresh' side (Gross, I know. But he likes it). I think it is the smell, and the love of stinky things. I'd try to have the patties at room temp, and may add something stong smelling, like offal or fish.


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## AimeeLouise (Feb 8, 2010)

Thank you for all the input.
Bundy is devouring his meals, hasn't eaten like this since he was a puppy! he is already much more active and happy...it's only been one week! Image the results we could see in a month or two...fingers crossed.
The only issue i am finding is he is not drinking much and as a consequence he is continuously licking his lips and nose and now has a raw area above his nose. 
Any suggestions for this one?


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Dogs don't drink as much on a raw diet because there is so much water in the food they are eating.

For those worried about the cost, I could never ever afford to do patties either. Chicken is my best friend for a raw diet. Quarters, necks, backs, whole chickens, whatever I can get cheap, always under a dollar a pound. Chicken makes up the majority of their food. For everything else I make sure it is under two dollars a pound. So it ends up costing me less to feed raw than kibble. And I enjoy doing it for the dogs.


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## IowaGold (Nov 3, 2009)

My dogs don't drink as much on raw either. But none of them lick their lips excessively. Maybe his tummy isn't 100% on board with this yet? Lots of dogs lick their lips when they are feeling a bit queasy.


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## Popebendgoldens (May 16, 2008)

Loisiana said:


> Dogs don't drink as much on a raw diet because there is so much water in the food they are eating.
> 
> For those worried about the cost, I could never ever afford to do patties either. Chicken is my best friend for a raw diet. Quarters, necks, backs, whole chickens, whatever I can get cheap, always under a dollar a pound. Chicken makes up the majority of their food. For everything else I make sure it is under two dollars a pound. So it ends up costing me less to feed raw than kibble. And I enjoy doing it for the dogs.


I am very lucky to have a chicken processing plant about 45 minutes from my house. This is chicken that has no antibiotics or any other type of enhancements added to the chicken. This is human grade meat that sells in the Whole Foods for over $1.20 per pound. 

Since I drive to the processing plant, I get the chicken at $.33 per pound for chicken backs and necks. Of course I have to buy it by the 40 lb case. These backs are not the normal backs you see at the local grocery store with more bone than meat. There is a LOT of meat attached to the bone. Same is true for the chicken necks. The necks I buy are without skin and loaded with meat.


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