For those that feed raw

[Joseph J Murphy]

I have been finding a lot of mixed info on the Internet so I thought I would ask my questions on here. 1. How long ave you fed raw? 2. How many dogs do you feed ? 3 What does the raw diet that you feed consist of ? 4. What problems have you experienced from it ? Thanks in advance for your answers


J Murphy

[Mightymite45]

A little over a year and love feeding raw. The down side is finding the time to make it. If you want to know more about it,buy the dog owners little black book ,it has alot of info on feeding raw!

[Joseph J Murphy]

MM :
I plan on buying TLBB . I just wanted some feedback from board members. ONe of my concerns is salmonella and any other type of possible food poisons and the other is any potential danger from bones particularly chicken bones.I have never intentionally fed a dog one in my life.

[APFII]

I believe it takes considerably more Caleries to digest raw meat than it does cooked meat. So I believe you would get more benefit per pound of meat by cooking first.

[HAREHOUND]

1 - 35 years 2 - 6 to 8 dogs 3 - i feed mostly chicken leg quarters/beef and venison bones n scraps. i used to feed alot of beaver in the past. 4 - i have not experienced any problems other than the fact that most any 2 dogs will fight over a big ole beef bone so ya just make sure ya got 2 lol.

i have been hearing the scary chicken bone story since i was a kid but in 35 years i have never had a problem so the story's don't scare me any more. i figure if it was a bad deal there wouldn't be any fox or coyotes around any more.

[walkerdogman85]

bones are only bad if they are cooked first feed them raw and they will be fine

[Joseph J Murphy]

Thanks for the answers so far .Good info .

[jumpNrun]

Harehound has some tuff nice dogs that will last all day. Hes doin somethin right!

[Slaux]

Joseph, I really like feeding raw, however I do not do it exclusively. It is certainly more work, and you'll need a good sized freezer. A commercial grade grinder would also be a plus. The bonus is your dogs will have nice tight stool and you'll never have to scale another tooth or pull one either. Your dogs will have pearly whites.

When feeding raw, either do it all the way, or not at all. If you mix the two, kibble and raw, your gonna have a mess, diarrhea and vomit. Kibble takes alot longer to digest than raw, so mixing the two makes for a nasty combo. You don't want to slow the system at all when feeding raw, as the raw diet has alot more bacteria in it. As far as Salomonella is concerned, freeze your meat, especially chicken and fish before feeding it. Honestly, I don't think Salomonella will hurt our tough little beagles, but it'll certainly have an effect on us. Best to seperate them at feeding time so they'll take their time and not inhale their dinner. Chicken bones are fine as long as they are raw. How many times have your dogs eaten a rabbit. Rabbit bones are very similiar to chicken bones. Also, when you first start feeding raw, give them small portions, maybe a twice a day feeding until their system gets used to it, as you may see some real loose stools the first couple of days, but after their system gets used to it they'll look more the coyote and fox scat we see in the woods. Best of luck....Steve

[Joseph J Murphy]

Steve . Very good info.It will probably be a long time before I make the switch ,if I ever do.I can't see doing it with more than four dogs.I have just started reading about it and am intrigued by the idea .Thanks very much for your answers.

[yoteslayer]

Ive only been feeding raw for a few months but It is much better for the dogs. I find it takes more pounds of raw per week then kibble, I expected it to go the other way, to keep weight on a dog. When I started I wasn't giving them enough and it showed quickly. The good news is that you can easily control their weight. I am feeding a raw turkey based emulsified(sp) feed, I buy it from a local mink farmer for .35 per pound. I would say I have to feed 13-16oz per day per dog to keep them looking fit, and they are only moderately active. if you run everyday I would say it would take 18-20oz. The last time I got feed it was frozen in 50lbs blocks, this time Im getting it fresh and Im going to fill plastic cups and freeze individualy for easier serving. I feed for 3 dogs for about $1 per day, and they look like a million bucks!!!

[HAREHOUND]

derek - thanks for the good words. hope we can get together and run again some time. your more than welcome up here any time.

steve - i do not doubt that mixing up kibble and raw could cause problems but i have never had that happen by me. i just feed kibble in the summer but during the running season i switch back and forth all the time depending on how much i am running them.

[Joseph J Murphy]

Wow ! Must be nice to do it that way !!!!

[HAREHOUND]

joseph - i don't have any rhyme or reason other than how the dogs are looking. if they ran hard or are looking a little ragged i would take a chicken leg quarter and cut it in 3 pcs. and give each dog a pcs. if there is one or 2 dogs that look a little worse or have been run a little more or harder i may give them a whole leg quarter. normally just pick up the 10 lb. bag of leg quarters at walmart for about $8.00

[redneck beagles]

i feed my older dog 1 chicken leg quarter a day raw he loves it