# Give me examples of what to feed....



## ChattyCathy (Nov 22, 2008)

As you know I don't feed raw but I'm curious about it just the same. OK. For those of you who feed raw, please excuse my ignorance and give me some examples of what you feed your dogs and why certain things go together and do you add other things for them to get balanced meals per day? Such as extra vitamins or something?

Also, when you say buy meat, what kind? Do you cut it up? How do you do portion size? Per weight of dog? How do you know how to do that? (And RFD, I read your bottom link on your signature and understand it, but I want to know what you do -- and I didn't yet get to the other links I bookmarked from your other post -- but I will.) Just curious here...


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Chatty, I started with buying in bulk from my local food coop, but they say (if $ an issue 
super walmart) I'd buy 40 lbs of chicken wings, 10 lbs of chicken necks, it really depends on the dogs, my dogs wouldn't eat the chicken backs anymore after awhile, they much like the wings better. anyway, do as RFD says and do the rotation for a couple weeks before you add anything else into the mix, I had to add alittle sooner as Bull Terriers get bored easily. Good Luck, and you'll need not worry about the bacteria if your already a clean person like me!


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

ChattyCathy said:


> For those of you who feed raw, please excuse my ignorance and give me some examples of what you feed your dogs and why certain things go together and do you add other things for them to get balanced meals per day? Such as extra vitamins or something?


I feed chicken quarters and backs, turkey necks and wings, pork roasts and ribs, beef heart, beef liver, venison, canned salmon and mackerel, sometimes whole fish and raw eggs. I place ads on freespace and am given other meats and feed whatever I'm given. There are no certain things that go together. I add nothing else except one of my dogs gets glucosimine because her hip is getting bad. No other supplements are given. I feed animal parts and rarely cut up anything. Usually I will cut a Boston Butt pork roast in half and give each dog a half. I cut up beef heart just to make it easier to manage. Other than that its whole parts.



> How do you do portion size? Per weight of dog? How do you know how to do that?


An animal part is a portion. For example each dog gets a chicken back for the morning meal. A chicken quarter is a portion. One of my dogs get one quarter the other gets two. I usually cut a rack of pork ribs in half with one dog getting a larger portion than the other. Same with pork roasts or venison. Thats because one is a little overweight and she gets less. The general rule of thumb is to feed each dog 2% to 3% of their body weight each day. After that, you adjust the amouts as the dogs loose and gain weight. As you can see I don't weigh each meal. I generally know what each dogs meal will look like sizewise. If your dog keeps gaining or loosing weight you adjust more.


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## rockymtsweetie82 (Jul 24, 2008)

So animal bones are ok for dogs as long as their not cooked? (Like chicken bones)


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

Yes, my dogs eat them every day and have for 6 1/2 years. The only bones you want to be careful of are the weight bearing bones of large animals like cow femur and knuckle bones. Those are really too hard to be editable.


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## rockymtsweetie82 (Jul 24, 2008)

Good to know!


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## ChattyCathy (Nov 22, 2008)

OK. Got another question. What are the chances of dogs catching salmonella and E coli from the raw meat? I haven't checked into this yet.


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

There is almost no chance of dogs getting salmonella or e. coli from raw meat unless they are immune compromised, the meat has been sitting out in the hot sun for a day an a half, or if the raw meat is fed too close to cooked meat (and even that is debatable and hard to prove since several dogs eat like this and do just fine). Dog's digestive tracts are less than 1/3 the length of ours and their body temperatures are higher, and they have extra strong digestive juices that we don't have, so they burn through the meat hotte, faster, and more efficiently than we ever could hope to. 

I feed my dogs chicken leg quarters most days of the week and I just do like RFD does: my older dog gets the smaller leg quarters, and the younger dogs get the larger leg quarters. No precise measuring needed. I also feed beef liver and heart, sometimes tongue and kidney, canned fish (bones and all), turkey legs and necks, chicken feet (when I can find them), raw tilapia, lamb, and then whatever anyone else feels like giving me. I've gotten rabbit, pork, filet mignon, venison, game hen, and regular beef steaks before. 

Whiteleo, if you feel like shipping those chicken backs my way, I know some non-picky dogs who would be very appreciative! :biggrin:


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## ChattyCathy (Nov 22, 2008)

rannmiller said:


> There is almost no chance of dogs getting salmonella or e. coli from raw meat unless they are immune compromised, the meat has been sitting out in the hot sun for a day an a half, or if the raw meat is fed too close to cooked meat (and even that is debatable and hard to prove since several dogs eat like this and do just fine). Dog's digestive tracts are less than 1/3 the length of ours and their body temperatures are higher, and they have extra strong digestive juices that we don't have, so they burn through the meat hotte, faster, and more efficiently than we ever could hope to.
> 
> I feed my dogs chicken leg quarters most days of the week and I just do like RFD does: my older dog gets the smaller leg quarters, and the younger dogs get the larger leg quarters. No precise measuring needed. I also feed beef liver and heart, sometimes tongue and kidney, canned fish (bones and all), turkey legs and necks, chicken feet (when I can find them), raw tilapia, lamb, and then whatever anyone else feels like giving me. I've gotten rabbit, pork, filet mignon, venison, game hen, and regular beef steaks before.
> 
> Whiteleo, if you feel like shipping those chicken backs my way, I know some non-picky dogs who would be very appreciative! :biggrin:



OK. Now I have other questions.... 1) Portion size is let's say a chicken leg quarter and yet you and RFD say you feed them so much more. I guess I'm asking for the detail. I assume you don't feed it all to them at once, do you mix & match a few things. Like a chicken leg quarter and some organs. That's where I'm having my troubles is not knowing how to mix it up.  I hope I'm being clear. I'm confused and hope it's not coming through too confusing for you all.

2) When feeding animals I feed them like I would humans when it comes to keeping their food out. I don't want it to sit out for long but should something be kept out longer than intended, how long is too long?


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

Haha, the biggest difference is that RFD has Great Danes and I have medium-sized mutts! That's why his pups get so much more than mine. 

I feed them chicken leg quarters around noon and that's their food for the day. Once a week I give them beef liver and heart. Once or twice a week I give them a raw egg. Once a week I give them canned fish sometimes with an extra fish oil pill (sorry, I forgot to mention the eggs and fish oil pills in my last post, I forgot about them). Once a week I try to give them a different protein source like turkey, lamb, beef, pork, etc. This week it was turkey drumsticks, next week I'm hoping to find some well-price lamb chops or beef steaks or ribs.


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## ChattyCathy (Nov 22, 2008)

rannmiller said:


> Haha, the biggest difference is that RFD has Great Danes and I have medium-sized mutts! That's why his pups get so much more than mine.
> 
> I feed them chicken leg quarters around noon and that's their food for the day. Once a week I give them beef liver and heart. Once or twice a week I give them a raw egg. Once a week I give them canned fish sometimes with an extra fish oil pill (sorry, I forgot to mention the eggs and fish oil pills in my last post, I forgot about them). Once a week I try to give them a different protein source like turkey, lamb, beef, pork, etc. This week it was turkey drumsticks, next week I'm hoping to find some well-price lamb chops or beef steaks or ribs.


OK. Do I have this straight? You basically feed them chicken leg quarters everyday w/the mix of once/2x a week a raw egg? Is the raw egg just put in a bowl? or mixed w/anything? The canned fish, like tuna or salmon? And then once a week a different protein source. Gotta say, when you say it like this it doesn't seem so overwhelming!!!! Right now I'm in the process of looking for a house and when we move, I'll have room for a freezer and then I will either have to put up or shut up!!:biggrin: I have to ask one more thing... do you wash everything before giving it to the animals? (And, as an aside... do you raw feed your cats?) THANK YOU FOR YOUR ANSWERS. I know there's a lot of questions and I appreciate all input.


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## rockymtsweetie82 (Jul 24, 2008)

rannmiller said:


> Haha, the biggest difference is that RFD has Great Danes and I have medium-sized mutts! That's why his pups get so much more than mine.
> 
> I feed them chicken leg quarters around noon and that's their food for the day. Once a week I give them beef liver and heart. Once or twice a week I give them a raw egg. Once a week I give them canned fish sometimes with an extra fish oil pill (sorry, I forgot to mention the eggs and fish oil pills in my last post, I forgot about them). Once a week I try to give them a different protein source like turkey, lamb, beef, pork, etc. This week it was turkey drumsticks, next week I'm hoping to find some well-price lamb chops or beef steaks or ribs.


Ok haha just to be clear, (I know there's LOTS of questions between me and chattycathy) The bones are still in the drumsticks and the quarters? It's truly safe to feed them that way? I'm just nervous about it lol


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

I put the raw egg or canned fish (never both at the same time) in a bowl and let them eat it separately and I feed them all the rest of their food outside on my patio (because I rent and have carpet and beef liver is bloody). I don't ever wash the meat before giving it to them because 99% of the time it was frozen previously so it's about as sanitized as it's gonna get. Then they always take their meat out to the yard and get dirt all over it while they eat it, so I'm not sure washing it would do any good. 

And by canned fish, I mean either mackeral or pink salmon ($1.08 or $2.50/can). 

I do feed my cat raw food, but sometimes when I've forgotten to thaw hers out on time, I do feed her Blue Wilderness or Blue Buffalo canned food, which I know is not as good for her because it seems like she always poops about 10 times as much after she eats it and she seems to get chubby. 

I posted her raw food recipe in the "other pets" section if you're curious about that.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

ChattyCathy said:


> OK. Got another question. What are the chances of dogs catching salmonella and E coli from the raw meat? I haven't checked into this yet.


Zero chance. Once a guy gave me some meat because he freezer broke and the meat all ruined. That stuff smelled to high heaven. I fed it to the dogs anyway over 3 or 4 weeks and they had no ill effects from it. One of the meals smelled so bad I had to use 2 cans of room deoderiser to get the kitchen deoderized. LOL We ate out that night. :smile: 

You can't feed your dog meat that is too rotten. My Skylar used to love road kill squirrels that had been laying out in the hot Georgia sunshine for a week or so. Man those things were gross and this was before my raw feeding days. She never threw up or had diarrhea from eating them. The only fight Skylar and Zack got into was over a dead rotten squirrel. :smile:


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## rockymtsweetie82 (Jul 24, 2008)

This confuses me a little. _You can't feed your dog meat that is too rotten._ But yet, _My Skylar used to love road kill squirrels that had been laying out in the hot Georgia sunshine for a week or so. _ Isn't that pretty rotten by then?


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

ChattyCathy said:


> OK. Do I have this straight? You basically feed them chicken leg quarters everyday w/the mix of once/2x a week a raw egg?


Here is how I feed. Every morning i feed each dog a chicken back. This is no more than a snack to them. I stand at the kitchen sink and hand each dog his back. 3 or 4 evenings a week I feed chicken quarters. Again I stand at the kitchen sink and hand out whole quarters. Once or twice a week I will feed turkey necks or wings. Again, I stand at the sink and hand out whole parts. About once a week I will feed beef heart. I usually have the hearts cut into chunks about 2" X 2" X 2". I put those in bowls. About once a week, I feed a mixture of canned salmon, beef liver, raw eggs and sometimes some beef heart. That mixture is fed in bowls. About once a week I will feed a Boston Butt pork roast. It is cut in half and each half handed to the dogs at the kitchen sink. If I have venison, I will feed it once or twice a week depending on how much I have. If I have other animal parts, they will get fed in a meal when possible. I have fed whole rabbits as a meal. Somethimes they catch rabbits but I don't count those as meals. :smile:

As you can see, I rarely mix stuff together for no reason other than its just easier to hand out parts at the sink. You can mix if you wish as I do about once a week. You can mix every meal if you wish but you don't gain anything.



> The canned fish, like tuna or salmon?


Tuna, salmon or mackerel.



> Gotta say, when you say it like this it doesn't seem so overwhelming!!!!


After you've done it a few weeks, you'll be amazed at how easy it is. And watching the dogs eat is a LOT of fun. The dogs get SOOOO excited at meal time and really enjoy their meals.



> do you wash everything before giving it to the animals?


Hehe, no ... they usually lay in the floor and eat it. Sometimes I feed them outside and the food gets pretty dirty as they eat it. It's just dirt. NBD. :smile:



> (And, as an aside... do you raw feed your cats?)


Yes. When the dogs get chicken, the cats get either drumsticks or chicken wings. Usually drumsticks because they are cheaper. When the dogs get beef heart, I cut up a little for the cats. I also cut them off a portion of the pork roast. I also divide a can of fish between them. The dogs and cats eat pretty much the same diet.



> THANK YOU FOR YOUR ANSWERS.


THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST! :smile:


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## LoveNewfies (Jun 18, 2008)

In regards to bacterial related illnesses - I was once paranoid about this. Since, I've found that my Newf will bring some of her food out into the back yard and bury it...only to dig it up and eat it days later - winter, spring, summer and fall - she loves her meat "seasoned" as we like to call it. On the same note, my Mini Schnauzer has eaten numerous rank items with no ill effect.

My dogs get bones of various sizes - everything from poultry necks to pork necks and both dogs, one is 120 lbs and one is 17 lbs, do just fine with them. That little Schnauzer is amazing for his size and never ceases to impress me with his abilities to chew bones. He is a carnivore, no doubt.

I feed a variety as well, based around my Newf's allergies, and feed primarily pork, lamb, rabbit, salmon, turkey and venison along with various organs from such. I do feed heart on a very regular basis, but note that heart is considered muscle, not an organ. I do give organs on a regular basis - liver, kidney, etc. but only in small amounts.

I DO give supplements to my dogs, primarily my Newf, because she is a special needs dog. Both dogs do get fish oil with vitamin E.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

rockymtsweetie82 said:


> This confuses me a little. _You can't feed your dog meat that is too rotten._ But yet, _My Skylar used to love road kill squirrels that had been laying out in the hot Georgia sunshine for a week or so. _ Isn't that pretty rotten by then?


Yes, very. :smile: Imagine the most rotten decomposed meat you have ever seen and what Skylar ate would be 10 times worse. I wasn't even feeding raw at that time and it really grossed me out. Don't get me wrong ... I didn't feed it to her. She had to get to it before I could stop her. LOL It did teach me when I did start feeding raw, not to be too concerned about the freshness of the meat.

Even now during the summer, I take their evening meal out of the freezer in the morning and put it in a plastic container. Sometimes it can start to get a little odor to it before I feed it. IT HAS NEVER CAUSED A PROBLEM. :smile:


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Are sardines O.K. to feed as a fish meal?


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

rockymtsweetie82 said:


> This confuses me a little. _You can't feed your dog meat that is too rotten._


Let me reword that and maybe that will clear it up. ... There is no meat that is too rotten to feed dogs. Hehe, yeah that does make more sense. :smile:



> The bones are still in the drumsticks and the quarters? It's truly safe to feed them that way? I'm just nervous about it lol


Yes, yes, don't be :smile: Dogs have been eating raw bones for millions of years. They are will equipted physically and they know how to do it.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

whiteleo said:


> Are sardines O.K. to feed as a fish meal?


Yes they are fine.


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

RawFedDogs said:


> Let me reword that and maybe that will clear it up. ... There is no meat that is too rotten to feed dogs. Hehe, yeah that does make more sense. :smile:


Oh yes, that does make a lot more sense, I was confused too.


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## ChattyCathy (Nov 22, 2008)

rannmiller said:


> I do feed my cat raw food, but sometimes when I've forgotten to thaw hers out on time, I do feed her Blue Wilderness or Blue Buffalo canned food, which I know is not as good for her because it seems like she always poops about 10 times as much after she eats it and she seems to get chubby.
> 
> I posted her raw food recipe in the "other pets" section if you're curious about that.


I saw it and it seems pretty simple to do. Thanks.


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## ChattyCathy (Nov 22, 2008)

I have to say.... when you all break down what you do, it answers so many questions that reading papers sometimes don't and makes it much less overwhelming. And, it's great that you all are sharing your experiences w/us. Actually, I'm getting kinda excited to try it. But, I have to slow down and wait until we move to be able to freeze stuff. But, at least I can look around as to where to buy stuff now.

OK.... another question. Try to remember back to when you first started feeding raw. Were you overwhelmed and how did you overcome it? I guess I'm asking what did you do first and what did you feed first?


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

ChattyCathy said:


> OK.... another question. Try to remember back to when you first started feeding raw. Were you overwhelmed and how did you overcome it? I guess I'm asking what did you do first and what did you feed first?


You have to remember you don't just all of a sudden start feeding 7 course meals. If you remember from my web page, you will feed nothing but chicken backs for the first week. Thats very simple. The next week you feed chicken backs in the morning and chicken quarters in the evening. Thats very little more complicated. The next week you will feed chicken backs in the morning and alternate between chicken quarters and turkey necks or wings in the evening. The third week, you will add like one meal of pork roast or pork ribs or something. So you just gradually add stuff which keeps it pretty simple. Eventually you get to the point you just reach in the freezer and pull something out and not pay a lot of attention to what it is. :smile:


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

When I first started raw I was pretty darn excited. I ran out and bought chicken drumsticks to start because I saw some on sale at the grocery store. I was ready to rip the chicken out of my dogs' mouths at the first sign of trouble, but at first they seemed nervous to try it themselves, like they weren't supposed to be eating "people food." When I assured them they weren't going to get into trouble they were so happy they started chowing down. It took them a day or two to get the hang of it, but once they did, I could tell drumsticks were way too small for my lab/pit mix who prefers to inhale her food so she was constantly trying to swallow them whole without chewing. 

It just looked so natural for them to be eating raw meat and bones with these looks of concentration and euphoria on their faces, I was hooked after that. I located the famed 10 lbs bags of chicken leg quarters, got some chicken livers, loaded up my freezer, put in a call to my mom and friends to ask for any and all freezer-burned/unwanted meat and haven't looked back since. 

I did feel excited, nervous, and a tad bit overwhelmed at first, but after that first meal it was like "What was I so worried about?" Now it's just so normal for me, so part of my routine I don't even notice anything as being an inconvenience any more than scooping dog food was. Actually it's less inconvenient because now I don't have to worry about measuring and supplementing and not mixing up the bowls and the dog food was in the laundry room closet. Now I don't have to walk that whole extra 15 feet to get to their food, it's right in the same place I am every morning anyway: the kitchen. Very convenient for us lazy folk :biggrin:


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## ChattyCathy (Nov 22, 2008)

RawFedDogs said:


> You have to remember you don't just all of a sudden start feeding 7 course meals. If you remember from my web page, you will feed nothing but chicken backs for the first week. Thats very simple. The next week you feed chicken backs in the morning and chicken quarters in the evening. Thats very little more complicated. The next week you will feed chicken backs in the morning and alternate between chicken quarters and turkey necks or wings in the evening. The third week, you will add like one meal of pork roast or pork ribs or something. So you just gradually add stuff which keeps it pretty simple. Eventually you get to the point you just reach in the freezer and pull something out and not pay a lot of attention to what it is. :smile:


Yes, I do remember, but forgot for a minute because of all the good information you guys are giving me.


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## ChattyCathy (Nov 22, 2008)

rannmiller said:


> When I first started raw I was pretty darn excited. I ran out and bought chicken drumsticks to start because I saw some on sale at the grocery store. I was ready to rip the chicken out of my dogs' mouths at the first sign of trouble, but at first they seemed nervous to try it themselves, like they weren't supposed to be eating "people food." When I assured them they weren't going to get into trouble they were so happy they started chowing down. It took them a day or two to get the hang of it, but once they did, I could tell drumsticks were way too small for my lab/pit mix who prefers to inhale her food so she was constantly trying to swallow them whole without chewing.
> 
> It just looked so natural for them to be eating raw meat and bones with these looks of concentration and euphoria on their faces, I was hooked after that. I located the famed 10 lbs bags of chicken leg quarters, got some chicken livers, loaded up my freezer, put in a call to my mom and friends to ask for any and all freezer-burned/unwanted meat and haven't looked back since.
> 
> I did feel excited, nervous, and a tad bit overwhelmed at first, but after that first meal it was like "What was I so worried about?" Now it's just so normal for me, so part of my routine I don't even notice anything as being an inconvenience any more than scooping dog food was. Actually it's less inconvenient because now I don't have to worry about measuring and supplementing and not mixing up the bowls and the dog food was in the laundry room closet. Now I don't have to walk that whole extra 15 feet to get to their food, it's right in the same place I am every morning anyway: the kitchen. Very convenient for us lazy folk :biggrin:


Gotta laugh:biggrin: cuz that's exactly what I would do.... is run right out and stock up.


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## rockymtsweetie82 (Jul 24, 2008)

My bags of dogfood are piled up on my dryer. Very much an eye sore for someone who is a clean freak. I have to measure china's food from one bag, make sure I get Duckie put in his room for feeding so he can't get out then go measure Duckie's food from his bag and make sure they're both done eating before the other can come out...It's a hassle. It'd be nice to say HAY EAT THIS!!! And give them some nice hearty meat. That'll give the saying some real meaning "Put some meat on ya bones!"


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