Hello Everyone,

I've been a raw foodist for 2 years now. I recently purchased an adorable German Shepherd puppy (8 weeks old) who will be joining me in my home and life this Saturday! The breeders have been feeding him duck and potatoe kibble mixed with goats milk. I told them I'd like to transition him to a raw foods diet when he's able to. I will be talking to a vet and a BARF diet friend/distributor about this for guidance. I'm just curious when you all introduced your pet to a raw foods diet and what age your pet was when you did this? For those of you with dogs, where do you get your raw recipes from (meals, treats, etc.)?

Thank you : ) Enjoy your weekends!

Pink TuTu Twirls,
Johnny

My JRT was about a year old when I started him on raw, I remember nervously putting a raw chicken wing down in front of him and held my breath as I watched him expertly crunch and swallow it in less than a minute. Why was I so surprised he knew what to do lol?

I try as much as possible to buy organic and free range chickens and organ meats. I also make sure they get a variety of vegetables and fruit. On raw they are more hungry because there's no dog food filler in their stomachs so they gobble just about everything I offer them. I think variety is important for a dogs health too. Just offer your puppy different veggies and fruits and see what he goes for.

This I found very helpful for general knowledge about canine diets:

[www.rawfed.com]

Good Luck!

Hello...I just started my 12.5 year old Lab mix on raw food. I am giving her the same food I eat daily...her breakfast is 3T ground flax seeds, 2 T. ground almonds, a couple of cups of cut up sproats and maybe a carrot cut up. Dinner is the same with cut up veggies. She loves it and is thriving.

She is overweight and has a calcified spine. So I have noticed she moves easier and has more energy.

Her diet can not be verified at this point but I do think if it is healthy for me, it will be healthier for her than all the dog foods on the market, even Merrick or Pet Promise.

Best luck to you, I would be interested what you find out.

Sarayu

You can start right away with raw. I started when my dog was 8 months only because that's how old he was when I learned about it. My other dogs were already adults when I got them and they too started instantly.

You don't need to follow any "Recipies". You don't have to supplement with anything, since the dog should be getting all his nutrients from whole foods. I spend the extra money on organic, calves liver at WholeFoods just because it's the most healthiest liver. It has more nutrients than chicken liver or beef liver. You just need to follow the basic guidlines of 60-65% raw meaty bones, 30-35% meat and 5% organs. Once you do it for a while and feel more comfortalbe with it you don't even have to stick to that every single day. The dog won't die from skipping a day of organs.

For training treats I just used ground turkey rolled up into little balls. But if that's too disgusting for you.. Bravo makes freeze dried liver treats. They're kind of like jerky treats only without the junk added..
[bravorawdiet.com]



I recommend these websites and joining these Yahoo Groups..
www.rawdogranch.com
[pets.groups.yahoo.com]
And hopefully you haven't gotten your dog "his shots" yet..
[pets.groups.yahoo.com]

Morgens Eliasen (The Peeing Post) says that unbleached green tripe should be a staple in your dogs diet. He says that is what the wolves are eating first, not the stomach contents but the stomach itself. Gross but true apparently.

I started my Maltese on raw dog food when he was 4 yrs. old, he's 8 now and doing excellently, with no problems. He's full of energy, and chases the birds and cats that come into the backyard. He helps babysit the kids in my childcare and is wonderful with them.

I feed him Praries Natual beef patties that has the veggies, fruits, oils bones and beef all mixed in, and beef stew meat cut up, 1 to 1 of both, I feed him 2 times a day. Sometimes he'll get a raw chicken wing, and I still give him rawhide bones and a fav. of his is the beef flavored bones. So, guess he's high raw

Love,
Prism

Dulset Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Morgens Eliasen (The Peeing Post) says that
> unbleached green tripe should be a staple in your
> dogs diet. He says that is what the wolves are
> eating first, not the stomach contents but the
> stomach itself. Gross but true apparently.



Yeah, I feed that every now and then. It's hard and expensive for me to get a hold of so I don't feed it often. It shouldn't be more than 5% of the diet though.

For raw meat sensitive people - Wear a mask if you choose to feed it. It reeks worse than any raw meat you've ever smelled.

Only one of my dogs and cats likes it. I have to mix a tiny bit with other food to get the others to eat it. I usually hide it in ground beef.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/12/2007 02:27AM by LikeItOrNot.

i put my picky little pup on raw when she was probably 4 months, or less. when i got her she had the WORST gas and hated eating.

i started putting raw eggs on her food, and then she ate it up, then i researched the BARF diet and added veggies, some fruits, and meat and bones. and fish oil. Never a problem.

when i got pregnant, i couldn't make all the raw food (i would pulp the veggies in my juicer and mix with the meat/marrow/eggs, some bones and such i would also put through the amazing omega) so i bought dog food again. and her teeth got plaquey, and her breath stank, and these were things i never thought of! then she stopped eating again, (post baby) and we've gone back to raw.

she's slim, beautiful, and doesn't beg or have gas. all nice in a pet. her teeth have cleaned up and her breath got better almost instantly.

where do you get the tripe stuff? is it just uncleaned bowels and stomachs?

I've bought it a the pet food store there's one brand called Urban Wolf that provides it frozen. Store bought tripe is bleached and doesn't have all the good nutritious stuff in it.

Hello I'm new here!! I'm a stay at home mom of total of 10 kids - 3 human kids, 2 JRT's(M & F), 1 Belgian Sheepdog mix(M), 3 cats(2 M & 1 F) & 1 Leopard Gecko(M) - my sons. I just started the dogs on the RAW diet a week ago!!
Mama Cass this is where I'm gonna start gettin the dogs Tripe it is RAW... [www.greentripe.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/2008 02:21AM by Joey & Shelby.