# Brand new to raw and stressing out



## mtagntz (May 4, 2012)

I am new to raw and am really stressing out about it. I am terrified of bones splintering and the bacteria. I am also afraid that I can't balance his diet well enough. 

Here is all the stuff I have so far:
-Chicken Backs (with some organs and LOTS of meat attached)
-Chicken Tenders
-Beef
-Beef Bones
-Beef Liver
-Beef Tripe
-Pork
-Pork Ribs
-Salmon

I am mostly scared of the chicken backs. Is it feasible to grind the backs into patties and then freeze them so he still has to chew on them? I am just afraid of the chicken bones breaking wrong and puncturing his organs.

Is there anything I am missing? 

Thanks!


----------



## Chocx2 (Nov 16, 2009)

I understand your fear, I was the same way when I started I trusted everything I read and received encouragement from everyone on this forum. Chicken is a very soft bone if you are scared at first get a meat hammer and pound the bones inside the meat. But I would give it a shot just giving the back and let your fears go. 
What size dog do you have? Once you see the changes in your pet you will be glad you changed, it takes some time for the body to detox so stick with it. Always stay with your pet while they are eating so you can watch them while they eat.


----------



## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

mtagntz said:


> I am new to raw and am really stressing out about it. I am terrified of bones splintering and the bacteria. I am also afraid that I can't balance his diet well enough.
> 
> Here is all the stuff I have so far:
> -Chicken Backs (with some organs and LOTS of meat attached)
> ...


Your fears are perfectly normal to first timers. You are doing right starting with the backs, but at first remove the organs. You don't even need to think about organs for a couple of months. Raw chicken bones are safe. They are crunchy and fully digestable. Cooked is another story.

If you want to, you can use a hammer or kitchen mallet and smack them some to help our dog learn to chew, and as they get batter at it stop with the hammering.

Remember, dogs don't chew like we do. They will just chomp chomp a few times enough to get it down. No need to grind, the bones won't puncture anything. They are actually soft as long as they are raw. And if you grind them, you won't be getting the dental benefits from the bone that is so important.

If you read the getting started guide at preymodelraw.com, that will help you greatly too.


----------



## mtagntz (May 4, 2012)

I am feeding them to him frozen and watching him like a hawk since he tends to gulp this new yummy stuff *sigh*. 

He is 9 months old (barely). He is supposed to be around 53 pounds, but at the moment is 46. Kibble doesn't agree with him so that is why I am trying raw.

Thanks!


----------



## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

First congrats on doing this for your dog. The general concensus is have a nice drink while your dog eats it will help your nerves . Your dog will be fine with the bones. They enjoy them and they are great for their teeth. Grinding just introduced extra bacteria. Remember feeding raw is natural - it is the same food you eat. Kibble is having recalls left and right due to different issues - I would be way more worried to have that in my house than to feed raw. I have two kids, and feed 7 dogs raw and no one has gotten sick. Just relax and enjoy watching your dog. Oh, all the nutrients he needs are in meat, bone and the organs you will add in later - much later so don't worry.


----------



## VizslaMama (Feb 15, 2012)

mtagntz said:


> I am feeding them to him frozen and watching him like a hawk since he tends to gulp this new yummy stuff *sigh*.
> 
> He is 9 months old (barely). He is supposed to be around 53 pounds, but at the moment is 46. Kibble doesn't agree with him so that is why I am trying raw.
> 
> Thanks!


I feed my Vizsla frozen RMBs chicken backs/carcasses/turkey necks. I started off with thawed, but he is a HUGE gulper and tended to swallow peices just a tad too big to fit down. To save him the frustrating of bringin it back up and re-chewing, I feed frozen. He does so much better. 

I have only been feeding raw for a year. Copper was our first dog and has been on raw from the very start. I am still learning. Just like you, I was scared to heck when he ate his chicken backs, turkey neck etc!! They really do just fine. 

Bigger the better is what I have learned. I never feed Copper a RMB that is small enough to fit entirely in his mouth on the first chomp, which is why I do not like to smash them up. Either completly ground or entirely whole. 

If you can buy ground bone in chicken for a good price, but I would bother doing it myself. I can get it for a decent price so I always keep some one hand. Just because : ) I still feed more backs and necks than I do ground bone in. His teeth are white as white can be!

I don't bother with buying extra bone. Are beef bones just bones without any meat on them? 

It has been a year, and the breeder and so many others have commented that he is looking great. The vet can not beleive how good he looks and how white his teeth are. So what ever I am doing, must be good. 

I think you have a great start. If you want to know roughly what I feed my pup let me know.


----------



## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

We have an amazing co-op in Washington you might want to check out it is a yahoo group and it is WazzOr_BARF. They get amazing deals. We are getting Emu for .65 per pound about $1 with s&h etc. We also have several member more in your area with local meat sources for great prices. Walmart has great prices on chicken quarters, Costco and Cash n Carry also have great prices. Washington is one of the best places for feeding raw.


----------



## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

my pug is a gulper....i don't feed him frozen.

i just let him hork it up and re eat until he finally gets it down.

he's better now after two years, but his mouth is wider than his trachea.

i was terrified that first week.....but i couldn't let them see me be nervous, because that would make them nervous eaters...and i didn't want to interfere with their good time.

take your time...try not to overfeed, even though you want to put weight on...and soon, i promise you, you will grow to love the sound of that crunching....

and if you join our co op, you'll have so many freezers you won't know what to do...

and you can be as crazy as we are. 

breathe.


----------



## bridget246 (Oct 26, 2011)

Carlos sometimes throws up when eating because he tries so hard to gulp too much at once. I just let him re eat it all and each time he decides to chew it more and more before swallowing. It sounds bad but he is actually getting much better with the chewing. The only way to get a dog use to eating RMB is to freeze it and let them eat it. Bridget was a huge gulper with a big mouth so I held hers until she learned to chew. 

The drink idea needs to be posted as a requirement for any new raw feeder. Wow was I freaked out by what these strangers over the internet recommend I feed. 

I'm a little jealous of your meat supply. Nobody wants to sell me green tripe.


----------



## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

bridget246 said:


> . Nobody wants to sell me green tripe.


Probably because they don't have 'the stomach' for it arf arf!!


----------



## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

sozzle said:


> Probably because they don't have 'the stomach' for it arf arf!!


Totally off topic, but I still can't figure out your time. I thought you normally showed up about midnight our time, but this post blows my theory all to pieces.


----------



## creek817 (Feb 18, 2012)

xellil said:


> Totally off topic, but I still can't figure out your time. I thought you normally showed up about midnight our time, but this post blows my theory all to pieces.


Haha Nikie,
Our time changes are opposite to yours. Right now, in Texas, you would be 15 hours earlier than me on the East coast of Australia, which means 16 hours earlier than NZ. In your winter/our summer, you are 18 hours earlier than NZ. . It's a complicated pain in the bum, but since my family and friends are mostly in New Jersey, I've got it pretty much down pat!


----------



## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

creek817 said:


> Haha Nikie,
> Our time changes are opposite to yours. Right now, in Texas, you would be 15 hours earlier than me on the East coast of Australia, which means 16 hours earlier than NZ. In your winter/our summer, you are 18 hours earlier than NZ. . It's a complicated pain in the bum, but since my family and friends are mostly in New Jersey, I've got it pretty much down pat!


this is why i have two clocks on my desktop.....a former client was from brisbane...so i always knew what time it was in australia. 

you can add a clock if you are using IE...or just count your fingers and toes.


----------



## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

magicre said:


> this is why i have two clocks on my desktop.....a former client was from brisbane...so i always knew what time it was in australia.
> 
> you can add a clock if you are using IE...or just count your fingers and toes.


Well, I can figure out the time - normally sozzle posts about midnight. I don't see her posting until about then. The reason I noticed it is that I've been on here much later than normal lately. 

That would be 3pm her time. But posting at 3pm would be 6am her time.

Well I guess she could get up early. It's not like 3am her time.

And creek, you are on and off all different times so I can't even figure out any kind of pattern for you. I guess not for sozzle either although i thought i had!


----------



## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

xellil said:


> Well, I can figure out the time - normally sozzle posts about midnight. I don't see her posting until about then. The reason I noticed it is that I've been on here much later than normal lately.
> 
> That would be 3pm her time. But posting at 3pm would be 6am her time.
> 
> ...


maybe they're just messin' with your head.


----------



## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

magicre said:


> maybe they're just messin' with your head.


I think they are!

And the sad thing is they don't even know it


----------



## mtagntz (May 4, 2012)

> The general concensus is have a nice drink while your dog eats it will help your nerves


That is going to be an issue since I am not legally old enough to drink :wink:

I have found a resturaunt supplier where I get pretty good prices from  It helps a lot! I will check out the yahoo group! Thanks guys!


----------



## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

xellil said:


> Totally off topic, but I still can't figure out your time. I thought you normally showed up about midnight our time, but this post blows my theory all to pieces.


Still off topic here - sorry.

Hey I can tell you are talking about me!! No I don't get up at 6am, sod that for a game of soldiers. I get up at 7.30am and normally have a look about 8am after I've made the kids lunches for the day and then check in from time to time during the day. If it's any help we are at present 11 hours ahead of UK (GMT) and I occasionally check on The World Clock to see what the time is in other parts of the world. Sometimes when I ring my family in the UK I have to check to see if they are 11, 12 or 13 hours behind as those are time differences at certain times of the year - very confusing for my addled brain.

I am posting this at 4.56pm after having just had a nice brisk walk with Stanley around my neighbourhood.


----------



## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

mtagntz said:


> That is going to be an issue since I am not legally old enough to drink :wink:
> 
> I have found a resturaunt supplier where I get pretty good prices from  It helps a lot! I will check out the yahoo group! Thanks guys!


I know it was very naughty of me but when I was in the States when I was 16, 30 years ago I was never asked for ID in bars (and didn't have any accept my passport which I wasn't in the habit of carrying around) because I am tall and had a posh English accent (well to Americans) and I seemed to get away with it very easily.


----------



## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Oh Lord. We are contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Well, I don't drink so I will supervise.


----------



## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

sozzle said:


> I know it was very naughty of me but when I was in the States when I was 16, 30 years ago I was never asked for ID in bars (and didn't have any accept my passport which I wasn't in the habit of carrying around) because I am tall and had a posh English accent (well to Americans) and I seemed to get away with it very easily.


I had a fake ID when i was 16 and the drinking age was 18. Times were much looser then - my fake ID didn't even have a photo. And you are right - if you looked old enough they never checked.


----------



## mtagntz (May 4, 2012)

They check now, most of the time. I have ordered a margarita a few times and got a margarita


----------



## shellbell (Sep 24, 2011)

Like Liz, I was going to suggest you have a nice cocktail while you feed your first raw meal....it will help.


----------



## creek817 (Feb 18, 2012)

xellil said:


> Well, I can figure out the time - normally sozzle posts about midnight. I don't see her posting until about then. The reason I noticed it is that I've been on here much later than normal lately.
> 
> That would be 3pm her time. But posting at 3pm would be 6am her time.
> 
> ...


Haha, I work from home, so I'm pretty much on and off here all day! Not much help =)


----------



## creek817 (Feb 18, 2012)

sozzle said:


> Still off topic here - sorry.
> 
> Hey I can tell you are talking about me!! No I don't get up at 6am, sod that for a game of soldiers. I get up at 7.30am and normally have a look about 8am after I've made the kids lunches for the day and then check in from time to time during the day. If it's any help we are at present 11 hours ahead of UK (GMT) and I occasionally check on The World Clock to see what the time is in other parts of the world. Sometimes when I ring my family in the UK I have to check to see if they are 11, 12 or 13 hours behind as those are time differences at certain times of the year - very confusing for my addled brain.
> 
> I am posting this at *4.56pm* after having just had a nice brisk walk with Stanley around my neighbourhood.


ok, that makes me wrong. You are two hours ahead of me!


----------



## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

Creek - see how confusing it is even for you over the ditch. Brother in law lives in Marrickville, Sydney so we always have to think hard about time differences and my cousin in Wallan, outside Melbourne too, same thing.

Easier to email really!


----------

