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chandindu wrote:

QUOTE:
hi ... i will be starting Tory on RAW within the next week ... and have already made some purchases to get us going. she is a shepherd (about 54 lbs at the moment - and still growing) ... and i'm wondering if the chicken backs are too small for her ??? ... i read on the yahoo RAW forum that someone feeds nothing but chicken backs for the first week ... they just seem so small compared to her enormous mouth !!!! .... thx for the great info here ... i'm trying to soak it all up !!! ... mel

Hey Mel,

My dog is about the same size as yours (about 50-55lbs shepherd/husky) and for a meal I give her 2 chicken leg quarters because the meat to bone ratio is great. Honestly, chicken backs are way too bony. If you're going to feed chicken backs, add a nice hunk of boneless beef or boneless meat of some other kind.
Sometimes I feed her 2 pork hawks or a big slab of some boneless beef (whatever's on sale). And for special occasions, I feed her an entire chicken (and I take her to the dog park first so she's nice and tired and has worked off her excess energy!)
If your dog is still growing then you may need to feed 3 chicken leg quarters. Add an egg (shells and all) into the meal. You want to make sure your growing dog is getting enough calories. If you notice that she's thinning out and you can see too much of her rib cage, then you have to add more meat. If you find that she's getting a little chubby, then reduce the meat intake. A lean dog is a healthy dog!

Nathalie

okay ... i guess i'm officially a member of the 'First Week of RAW Club' .... i started Tory on RAW saturday morning -- chicken, chicken, chicken -- and as i figured, she just devoured everything (even seemed like she swallowed the leg/back almost whole --- after a little bit of chewing up the bones) !!!! .... maybe took her about 30 seconds to eat her entire meal !!! her poops were normal (small, and then turned white later on in the day) until today .... this morning she had massive diarrhea while on our walk/run. it was actually liquid coming out of her butt (nothing for me to pickup in the baggie -- sorry neighbor !!!) ... i fed her the chicken quarter mostly frozen this morning and that seemed to slow her down a bit (more chewing and tearing). should i be concerned about the diarrhea at this point .... poops were normal until today (day 5) .... i can see that she is very possessive over the food -- so i am hand feeding her and trying to incorporate 'leave it' / 'get it' while i'm still hanging on to it ... i had her trained with kibble -- but this is the 'real deal' ..... thanks everyone for your support ... she is LOVIN' it !!!! ... one more question ontario folks -- where can you get whole chickens at a decent price ???? ...... mel (pembroke)

Way to go !
So glad things are going well. Keymo was a little "possesive" of his "new" food for the first week as well, but Tori will get over that.
The best thing you can do when she growls at you - is get right in her face and tell her something REALLY loud and firm " I gave you that - I can take it away", just so she knows she hasn't scared you. Which is kind of what she's doing.
She's saying "Get away - it's MY FOOD"
Take it away, if you can. She'll get the message REAL quick that she's not allowed to growl or snap at you !

Have you given her anything else other than chicken? If not, she could still be detoxing. Getting kibble out. It took Keymo abou 1.5 weeks before he was the new and improved "regular" in the poo department !

I buy chicken quarters in bulk family packs when they go on sale. I've bought a couple of whole chickens from the butcher on Kirkwood Ave in Ottawa once at $3 each!
Keep checking sales at grocery stores.
I also find that Loeb almost always has meat amongst the reg. stuff as a "priced for a quick sale".
Like last week I got lots of individual packs of chicken thighs or legs (and they were large) at like $0.89 each and staeks at less than $3 each !
The check out lady must have just thought I was cheap!
I plan on going to one more butcher here in the west end of Ottawa to ask about meat. Hopefully he'll have some good deals and if I explain it's for my dog, that it can be a little past the expiry - he should be even better. Not quite sure WHAT they do with "almost ready to expire" meat ?

okay .. another question. is there any problem feeding outside on patio stones (tory's kennel has a solid floor of patio stones). she licks the stones like crazy after her meal, but i'm wondering about any left over bacteria on the cement and the effects of the sun .... should i be worried about this ??? i know that the wolves wouldn't have cared, but just want to make sure. she is only poop'ing once a day (in the morning and still very very very runny and gross). so she's certainly not constipated --- but just only once a day. ???? ... thx. mel

Duke eats on cement. Ithink the only problem is its affected his hearing.
Be patient with the poo thing. It too shall pass
Once is fine. Is it like mucous covered?
A little of those chicken backs should firm things up.
If we were in Timmy's having this conversation, what would the people at the next table think?
You'll do fine but it's good to see you're concerned.
Well, time to go feed the bugs again.

whew ... THANKS DUKESDAD !!! .... now i'll sleep tonight. she did take a small 'firm' poop just now (that sure makes me feel better!) ... and tomorrow is another day !!! ... i guess this is all part of the adventure, eh ??? ... i have been hand feeding her for the last few days and it has helped a lot -- i definitely have all the control now ... it's not hers until i give her permission to take it away from me. i think over time, like the kibble, i will be able to order her away from her food. but wow ... does the 'real thing' ever make a difference to them !!!! thanks again .... nice to know there is help out there to guide eachother along ..... mel

KeymoFrisby wrote:

QUOTE:
:banana :clap

I plan on going to one more butcher here in the west end of Ottawa to ask about meat. Hopefully he'll have some good deals and if I explain it's for my dog, that it can be a little past the expiry - he should be even better. Not quite sure WHAT they do with "almost ready to expire" meat ?:S

Funny thing, I went to my butchers and he had all this expired freezer burnt meat for Abby... He said that he hangs on to that meat cuz they hate to waste! Now, he has a good reason to hang on to it! He gave me lots...huge roast porks, fish, deer ribs... Other stuff I don't recognize I'm looking forward to going back on Saturday!

Dukesdad...I'm thinking about your comment about not having a butcher...do you live very far from Oshawa? or Bowmanville / Newcastle (not sure if they have a butcher shop) ...would be worth the drive if you call around and get a butcher to set aside a box of meat for you? Just wondering...

michelle
the places you mention are over an hour away, and with the price of gas....
I do alright though. I've got about 40 lbs. of chicken backs,at a quarter a pound. This week No Frills has boneless pork loin for 99 a pound. mix and match it's about 65 cents a pound. Cheaper than cheap Kibble.

Oh well, there you go!
You're further than I thought!

Yeah - what's with a mucous covered poo ?

Wed eve - Keymo ate supper
Thursday morning - no breakfast, he wouldn't eat the chicken (I held my ground)
When we came home from work , we walked him, as usual , and he did his business, as usual - BUT - it was yellow like butter colored and very mucousy (is that a word?)

Mel & Dukesdad - Keymo will eat off his patio stones as well (if he's eating outside) but he usually batters it in dirt first !

Dukesdad - I as well could just imagine what someone might think if they overheard us talking about poos the way we do! I mean, even at the vet's office, I think we'd cause the vet to listen from behind a closed door!

I think we Raw feeders are DEFINATELY poo obsessed !
But I portray it as our way to monitor their health.
If WE had stomach, etc, issues our doctor would ask us - "what have you been eating lately"