Liver?

[JayJayisme]

Okay, so I've got my pups eating raw meaty bones, mostly chicken but sometimes pork or beef ribs, every 2 to 3 days supplemented in between with high quality kibble. Let's get past the kibble here. I've stated before that I can't do a 100% prey model raw diet for reasons I don't want to get in to right now. But that is my goal at some point in time in the near future.

In the interim, I've introduced organ meat to them and they will eat heart and gizzard. But neither of them will touch liver no matter what.

I've tossed them raw chicken and beef liver and they just walk away. I've tried not feeding them anything else for a day and they still won't touch it. I've tried lightly cooking it and no-go. They just let it sit there all day long until it turns into liver jerky. Still, they will not touch it.

They eat well otherwise and are very healthy so I guess the question is, how important is liver specifically to their diet? Should I pursue this or let it go? I'm sure I can get them to eat it eventually if I work on it but is the effort worth it? Is it that essential to their diet? I hated liver as a kid and now as an adult so I've got to empathize with them a little on this. Nobody can make me eat it either unless, perhaps, I find myself literally starving.

RFD?

[RawFedDogs]

In the interim, I've introduced organ meat to them and they will eat heart and gizzard. But neither of them will touch liver no matter what.

For nutritional purposes neither heart nor gizzard are organs. Both are muscles.

They eat well otherwise and are very healthy so I guess the question is, how important is liver specifically to their diet?

Once you are feeding a raw diet only, it is critical.

Should I pursue this or let it go? I'm sure I can get them to eat it eventually if I work on it but is the effort worth it?

Yes, definatly pursue this.

Is it that essential to their diet?

Yes

Here are some tips to get them to eat it. Try serving it partially frozen. I think its the texture that most dogs don't like. I don't think anything tastes bad to a dog.

Here's what worked for me with 4 different dogs. I feed my dogs fish once a week. Usually this is canned salmon. I began putting just a very small tiny piece of liver in their fish. I also had chunks beef heart and a raw egg mixed in. It was mixed into kinda of a mush. I gradually increased the amount of liver and I don't think they ever noticed. Now they will eat a glob of liver without by itself without a problem.

Liver is without a doubt the most important organ you can feed them. Liver contains iron, Vitamin A, Vitamin B-12, Vitamin B-6, Vitamin D, taurine, and many minerals. If you can only feed one organ, feed liver.

[whiteleo]

Liver is pretty important in a prey model raw diet, one thing you might try is freeze the liver annd then take it out to defrost, before it is completely defrosted cut it up and offer it to the dogs. My dogs wouldn't touch liver in any form, this is how I feed them their essentials liver, kidneys, etc. on a regular basis, it's more about the feel of it than the taste I think.

[Unosmom]

Uno wouldnt eat it at first either, so what I did was place it in boiling water, for only about 20 seconds and take it out immidiately, let it cool and serve. I started to wean him off it and now he eats raw just fine, though I still used baked liver as treats.

[JayJayisme]

All,

Thanks for the suggestions. I have tried the flash cooking idea, both in boiling water and in a frying pan with a little olive oil. I just barely cooked the outside to see if that would be enough to get them to take an interest in the liver. This is exactly what I did with meat in the beginning because one of my pups wouldn't touch raw meat when I first tried to feed it to him.

As far as the liver though, they still showed absolutely zero interest in it even after cooking the outside. The weird thing is that they will both usually poke or lick something before they decide whether or not to eat it. But not liver. Just a quick sniff then they walk away. No curiosity whatsoever.

Anyway, the partially frozen liver idea sounds interesting, as does introducing it into their food by mixing small but increasing amounts into something they like. I will pursue this and try both of these suggestions. Thanks very much!

Jay

[EnglishBullTerriers]

It took quite a while and a long battle to get Owen to start eating liver. He would do the same thing and walk away without even a sniff. (It really does smell bad!) I would try all of the above mentioned 'techniques' and NOTHING worked. I put a little dab of Apple cider Vinagar on it one day and he tryed it. I also would mix it with his eggs and something else that he liked and he would do ok with it.
He eats it just fine now! :) I don't know if it was because I continued to insist on nothing else, or if he just decided that he could get past the smell and eat. He does eat it really quickly now when he gets it and I feed it half frozen! :)

[rannmiller]

I feel so lucky, my dogs have always eaten their organ meats with no problems at all.

[Doc]

Egads, why would anyone eat that nasty stuff. The only good liver is fried chicken livers in a cast iron skillet fried real hard and crispy. Now that nasty beef liver and onions is enough to make anything want to puke!