Raw diet - photo dump!

[allformyk9s]

Here's a picture of Rhys at approx. 3.5 weeks.

Here's a picture of the beautiful pork shoulders I got for $1.19/lb the other day.

Dinner last night, next time I'll leave a bit more meat on the bones but for my 1st time not too bad

I turn my back for 2 seconds & Koshka comes to help herself, :lolbangtable:

The rest of these are from last night

Rhys (8 1/2 weeks)

He didnt do much with his but HAD to have one like the big dogs, stinker.

Being silly

Cecily approves for the ham hocks!

The old goat, Bobo, making it crystal clear that that was HIS ham hock :lolbangtable:

Tucker, FINALLY after 2 months of raw he used his paws for the 1st time.

Ty

Rita

Cleaning those teeth!

Tucker is POOPED after his dinner.

Unfortuntely I didnt get a 'before' picture BUT Bobos (13 1/2 yrs old) teeth when he started raw were NASTY - green gunk caked on them, HORRID breath etc... despite having dentals every 2 yrs his entire life ... 2 months on raw & check out those chompers - no more green gunky yuck

Met the lady who contacted me via my craigslist ad - I got approx. 35 lbs of freezer burned venison & she threw in 2 packs of boneless pork chops & a big bag of green beans, lol...green beans got thrown out but woohoo on the rest!!! Her son hunts so I told her when hunting season comes around again, dont forget me!

 

[bullyBug]

Great pictures!! The first one is just precious. Amazing to see them going at it so young.

ETA: Here's a short video I took of Mason's first experience with raw. He was 9 weeks old.

[video=youtube;OXhNtlurV3c]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXhNtlurV3c&context=C426e225ADvjVQa1PpcFMd 9khggqrkzHt1ci0WgDVFobTci6A0c3I=[/video]

 

[allformyk9s]

What a cutie, what big paws & a cute squishy, wrinkly face!!! He took to that right away - is that a hen or 'baby' chicken? I need to get a video of Rhys eating while he's so little.

 

[AKBull]

Boy seeing all that meat makes me wish my dang BBQ wasn't buried!

BB, watching that video makes me miss having such a little squirt around the place. I went from having a little pup staring up at me while I cook, to having a "little" pup who will steal the food out of the pan! (not really steal, but I know he's thinking about it!)

 

[bullyBug]

all- Def get as much video as you can!!! The bird was a quail and it took Mason about 4 minutes to get it down. He still has the same eating style: He'll chew, chew and chew until all the bones are crushed, and then swallow it whole.

Ak-They grow waaaaaaay to fast. I can't really remember him at that size. Everytime I watch an early video I'm like "What? When was he ever that small?!" I should have spent more time enjoying it and less hoping he was older and done with his shots so I could stop having to carry him around. (Up and down the stairs, to and from the car several times a day.) What a fool I was!!

 

[musicdeb]

The pics are so cute! YEA for raw diet!!!! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Ghostsword]

I am new to this, so forgive the silly questions.

When in the k9 unit we feed the dogs donkey meat but we cooked it.

So the meat you giving is just raw, not cooked at all? Also aren't chicken bones bad for dogs?

Thanks,
Luis


___________________________

 

[allformyk9s]

Thanks everyone!!! Yes, will get some videos & share - they grow up way too fast!


At Luis, yes completely raw. RAW chicken bones are aok as well as most bones again RAW - though you do NOT want to feed any of the weight bearing bones of large animals be it raw or cooked, for example a cows femur (those more experienced correct me if Im wrong).

Any COOKED bones however are dangerous no matter which bones they are, chicken, cow etc... they can splinter & cause lots of problems ie break your dogs teeth. Raw bones are more 'soft', bendable if you will - my dogs I hear "crunch crunch gulp" lol.

Cooking meat also causes the meat to loose some of the nutrients - for example broccoli is good for you cooked or raw though when cooked you loose some of the nutriets - therefore to get the full benefits of broccoli you should eat it raw, same can be said of raw vs cooked meat. Plus the dangers of cooked bones. Most raw diets are model after what wolves in the wild eat, it is argued that dogs are descendants of wolves (Ive seen articles saying "yes, they are" and other saying "no, they arent") wolves dont cook their meat before eating, nor should dogs raw meat be.

I could go on & on .. but I'll stop, haha. If you have any other questions feel free to ask - there are no silly questions

 

[angelbears]

Okay, I want to play.


Not sure how those last two got in here. Cane sure did love his ice cream.

 

[allformyk9s]

:lolbangtable: OMGoodness, the one of Cane eating out of the i.c. cone, so cute!! That pig head is great, how long did they take to get eaten?

 

[ruthcatrin]

big weight bearing bones are great as playtoys, not so much for eating (there are arguements for and against them, I've not looked into it closely because I've never had the oppourtunity to feed them).....but as long as the bones are RAW and your dog actually CHEWS them (ie: doesn't just swallow the chicken wing whole) they'll digest just fine and cause no problems, and infact do good things for your dog.

The pictures are all adorable!!

 

[angelbears]

Hey allfor, They didn't get it for long. We had just got Ziva, our rescue and she was showing signs of food aggression, for good reason, she was all but starved. Our other two didn't show much interest, so I just tossed it. I bought it in the middle of summer, think 102 degrees, in the shade, so I couldn't just throw it in the back and let them take a couple of days fooling with it.

I didn't get a another hog's head this winter it just never got cold enough and even though Ziva is pretty good about her food now I don't want to put that kind of pressure on her if I don't have to. I can take anything away from her and they get their treats together but I still feed her away from the other two.

 

[OdeMX]

Your dog Ty, it's awesome! I'm looking for one like that.

 

[elasticpurejoy]

Gus's appetizer this afternoon

Gus at 10 weeks giving his best at the turkey neck
[video=youtube_share;_N0neoodC7U]http://youtu.be/_N0neoodC7U[/video]

 

[bullyBug]

Love all the pictures. Baby Gus is too cute for words!

 

[Duetsche_Doggen]

Thor would LOVE you LOL!

 

[Ghostsword]

I trained dogs for 5 years in the military and we never gave them raw meat.. maybe we should have done so.

We made a soup with onions and carrots, rice and donkey meat, all bones cut in squares. Then a large pot of food at 1700. with 1kg of meat.

Ok, so we could freeze the meat then daily defrost and give to the dog, right?

So the chicken they would just eat raw and whole?

I know that wolves and wild dogs eat food raw, but they caught it, very fresh..

Thanks for the replies, learning lots.


___________________________

 

[ruthcatrin]

Yup, I usually try to have a couple days worth of meals thawed, that way I'm not usually caught short if something comes up and I can't get something thawed right away.

There are a couple different thought models, and some variation required for individual dogs, but if you go here someone recently posted a bunch of books and links to info. But yes, in theory the whole chicken, gizzerds and all, though my dog considers the average chicken to be enough for two meals, but it varies from dog to breed to age.

 

[Ghostsword]

Many thanks.

I had a look at adverts for meat, and it turns out that in south africa many people are selling male calfs. If they are healthy they would be good meat, so the raw feed is definitely achievable. And works out cheaper than dry food.

I will check the links and if there are any books I will buy them.


___________________________

 

[allformyk9s]

Angelbears - Bless Ziva's heart, she was so skinny =( Wow 102,yeah I wouldnt want to leave that out either :lolbangtable:

OdeMX - adopted Ty (and Tucker, they're litter mates) from a local animal shelter - we *think* he's a plot hound mix by his coat markings & he fits the personality description to a T. He was mostly black when he was a pup & the brindle has slowly spread, I'll post some puppy pics of him for you to see

Elasticpurejoy - omgosh Gus is SO cute, I want to gobble him up


Ghostworld - yes you can buy it & feed then or put in the fridge. I typically freeze anything over a few days (Like Ruthcatrin) worth b/c I dont want my fridge to stink up, lol. You can take it out and wait until its completely thawed and then feed. Once they're use to that try feeding a froze meal or semi froze meal every now & then so on nights you forget to thaw it it hopefully wont be an issue for them. I feed my guys whole chicken quarters or I'll take whole chickens & cut in half & divide them up that way. With buying the calves, Im unsure of how meat is monitored in South Africa, but if ever in doubt freeze meat for a good 2 weeks prior to feeding to kill off any parasites or anything. There is a lot of info online if you do a google search for "raw diet for dogs". How nice thats an option for you!!! Also like Ruthcatrin said there are several different models for feeding a raw diet...personally I just feed raw meat/bone/organ - I dont feed any fruit/veggies. Read up & pick one that works for you & your dog

And a friendly FYI: onions are toxic to dogs.