bradpattison.com

It's helped me ALOT - just finished re-reading through every post a 2nd time just now LOL!

I will officially be going raw this week-end - it's my b-day tomorrow so thought tomorrow would be a good day to start lol... I've been feeding Jessie raw here and there - lamb, beef, bison, etc. - to get her ready lol..

Quick question - do you feed the meat thawed at room temp?

Also, I've heard there are benefits to fasting them, and a good, but not necessarily a required, thing to do before they start raw. My 'raw consultant' fasts his dogs every 10 to 14 days. Any thoughts?

Cheers!
Leah

YEAH ! Another Raw feeder !
Oh - and happy birthday !

Keymo eats his food, usually cold, out of the fridge. There are certain things he like frozen : smelts, liver and beef heart about 1/2 frozen.

Nope - never heard anything bout fasting. Keymo sometimes isn't to fussy about eating when it's hot. Sometimes, he's just chosses to sleep a little more, reather than eat breakfast. Sometimes he eats most of his breakfast, but not all of it.
Whatever.
I make sure that his next meal is a little larger, or if he hasn't eaten BF at all, I make sure to give him a REALLY good meal.He's hungry by then.
I let him choose. I can't force him to eat, but I would force NOT feeding him either.
I wouldn't like it if hubby said to me "nope - you need to fast today"

I DO know however, that if a dog's stomach is empty, he can throw up a kind of watery slimey stuff.
It happened to Keymo once when we started feeding raw.
Raw food digests way faster than kibble.

Thanks, Keymo! Yeah, wasn't sure if I should feed her frozen or partly frozen bone meat (I've already been feeding her 'recreational' frozen bone meat - more bone than meat..). I'll thaw it, like as if I was going to cook it for dinner lol..

I'll be picking up a chest freezer FINALLY! Not a big one - a Kenmore 7.2 c.f. one should be enough. That way I can 'meal plan', pre-cut and pre-freeze for Jess ahead of time.

Good luck with Keymo's poops and the nasty vets..

We bought a little used Kenmore freezer off Used Ottawa about 3 2 months ago!
Great deal !

When I get meat, from the G.Store or the butcher, I divide it into med. size ziplocks, and into Keymo's freezer it goes!
I keep a variety of bags in my house freezer, on the door.
I have to replensh certain things (like chicken) every couple of days.

BIG bones, still frozen a little, last a little longer, especially when they're trying to rip stuff off it

Happy Birthday, Leah!!

Both of my dog's like their meat half frozen. Slow's them down a little bit. Just a little warning if you are feeding Jessie smelts. The first time I gave them one, which were frozen, they played with it until it was thawed and then rolled on it. They smelled a little "fishy" when they were done. Pew!!

Good luck with your feeding Raw. Both have given up eating breakfast. Only feed once a day, usually later in the afternoon. Unfortunately, Pete like's to bury his and Sammie-Girl like's to find it. I figure a few more time's, Pete will figure out to eat it as quick as Sammie eat's her's.

Have a good day, tomorrow!!!

Happy Birthday Leah.
Good luck switching Jessie.
I remember when switching Duke, Iwas nervous and worried about how much, what type, frozen etc.
Now I just grab a hunk of whatever and give it to him. I've never weighed things but judged by the weight on the package. Example, 4 chicken quarters= 1 kg. divided by 2 meals equals a pain in the butt.
In no time you'll have it figured out and be a pro like all the others here, myself included, that started out in the spring.
By the way, I never bought a seperate freezer. I did by a small fridge though, as I tend to feed Duke 6 or 8 pound roasts. When I figure he's had enough, I just put it in a dish for tomorrow.
My wife didn't like it in our fridge.
People who say it's too expensive or too much work have certainly never tried it.

Happy Birthday Leah and I am sure Jessie will love the gift.

My dog will eat frozen, from the fridge, or room temp. It doesn't seem to matter at all although with stinkier stuff (tripe) and some organ meats frozen or close to it works better. The stinky frozen is for my benefit, the organs she doesn't seem to like if they are thawed. Maybe it's the texture. Meanwhile, when it comes to chicken necks, they have to be frozen or she won't have them. Your dog will let you know what it likes. Frozen can be really good if your dog is teething because they can get the soothing benefit of the cold while eating.

As far as fasting, again, this is one of those things you won't find a hard and fast answer for. It's more about the owner's belief system. To me it seems the prey feeders seem to fast their dogs more but a lot of it depends on what the dog ate. They often feed based on the size of the food. So if it's a huge feed (since they feed whole animals or birds etc.), the dog gets fasted after. In nature that is the way they eat, some days they get a big feed, other days they don't. Their stomachs are like accordions (for lack of a better comparison) which expand to allow for that kind of thing and the belief is they were meant to be totally expanded (hence why some dogs will not stop eating until they nearly explode) and then totally contracted, not the half full all the time the rest of us tend to go by. Again, it depends on your beliefs and your dog. Mine will do the bile puke if she goes without food too long and I don't like the 'fully expanded/full' idea when you consider bloat can happen.

Follow your gut and what the dog does best with. There is no one right/perfect way to raw feed. Having good whole, fresh, nutrient rich food that works with their bodies is the key, the details vary and only become critical if you discover your dog has allergies or some other concern you need to address.

Thanks, all - Lee, Joe, Keymo and a great post, JeanJean! That's what I thought - the fasting is supposed to somewhat 'mimic' the wild diet, i.e., eat a huge elk for a couple of days, then go a few days without food, scavenging, etc. I'll post any interesting stuff if/when it comes up, poops and all LOL!

Happy Birthday Lee!!!

Awesome! Good luck with the switch!

I try to feed Abby twice a day because of bloat like Jean mentionned. Also, because of that, I wait till late evening to feed. After, she's done running around for the day and is rested.

First week - Jessie's also getting 'cannon butt' liquid poops as some have mentioned lol.. The first couple of days her poops were normal - was thinking,' wahooo!', and that her Lab digestion had no problem in handling it... NOT! I feel so bad for her. She's pooped in the bedroom in the middle of the night two nights in a row - she still hasn't learned the art of rousing us to let her out (that's another story lol..). Think I will be going to a 'chicken & lamb only' diet, since right now I'm feeding her only lamb shoulders. Thought I'd start with lamb since she's had lamb meat before a few times..

I'll try the pumpkin like JeanJean mentioned. Another thing I've used is fresh plain cooked rice (not old rice - supposedly dogs can get really sick from rice that's been 'standing' too long) which seems to work.