Dog owners: do any of you feed raw?

[roadie gal]

I also put a bit of flax seed oil in his food. His coat was pretty frazzled when I got him. It's getting really glossy.

In the winter both of my dogs tend to get dry skin. I give them salmon oil, about 1/2-1tsp in their food.

[mtbdarby]

Pam - you can buy the meat already ground with the bones in. My vet sells it in either patties or a 2 pound log. Your choice of beef, chicken or lamb (smells the worst!). They also sell a bag of rice with a packet of nutrients that aren't in the ground meat and instructions on how to cook it and store it.

Lisa - dogs don't get salmonella like we do but you do need to wash their bowls after feeding them raw food so bacteria doesn't grow.

I fed both dogs raw food but obviously didn't grind it myself. I barely had the time to cook it and freeze it since I'd make a big batch for both dogs and it only has a few days shelf life in the fridge. I did it for about a year and saw great improvements in my dogs by I feel the damage had already been done with commercial food. I stopped doing it after I lost one of my dogs and during the year I did, I supplimented with an all natural dry food. These days I use the all natural dry food with some people food - brown rice, veggies, fruits, and cottage cheese on occasion.

If you want the brand of the ground meat I'd be happy to make a call for you.

[PamNY]

If you want the brand of the ground meat I'd be happy to make a call for you.

Yes! I would appreciate that. One of the friends I mentioned in my post is planning a 13th birthday celebration for her bulldog. That's really old for a bulldog, and very inspiring to me. I might make the switch soon.

Now I have to fret about taking my dog food business away from the small, independent retailer who treats every customer like royalty (and delivers my food within 30 minutes, regardless of weather). She sells some frozen raw food, but it's pricey. Hope I can buy at least something from her.

Pam

[Andrea]

So after being inspired by this thread and a LOT of research, I fed my dogs their first raw meal this morning...



Turbo, polishing off a chicken wing

[lph]

This thread is fascinating. I'd never even heard of feeding raw before, as a concept. Will have to look into it once we decide on who is the one to come home and be our new kitty

[PamNY]

Hey, Turbo looks like he approves of this change. Lloyd's had a couple of raw meals and seems to agree.

I haven't yet summoned the nerve to feed a whole chicken wing; I've been cutting them up with poultry shears.

Does anybody feed fish? I can get lovely fresh fish trimmings for $2 a pound.

Pam

[Andrea]

Even my smaller dog can chomp right through a whole chicken thigh or wing in just a few minutes! It's funny, because it used to take Turbo about 20 seconds to inhale her kibble, but now she's forced to slow down & gnaw instead.

From what I've read you can feed them just about anything!