Skruffy n Flea

thanks, i appreciate your comment but nah, he's never once smiled that i've seen, surly sob and to be quite honest, i was only in it for the chicken necks and most butchers have that down pat... this just gave me a shove in the right direction ... i deal with a lot of idiots a lot of the time and frankly, i need to extricate myself from that kind of environment; that or i risk some serious jail time... besides, if times were that tuff, he'd be running rings around himself to keep his customers ... we weren't the biggest spenders at this butcher, but we rarely had an all up cost of less than $30 per week. some peeps deserve it, some don't - just sayin'

happy birthday bert

that was beautiful happy birthday gorgeous girl!

so yesterday, i'm at my local butcher getting my supply of rmb ... the wife serves me usually as she did yesterday, smiles, chats yada yada... this butchery is not dog friendly; last week i asked about roo tail and turkey necks ... the reply: it'd cost ya packet f'rus to get ya roo tail n turkey necks, sure we can get 'em for ya but... woteva *eyeroll* anyhoo, i'd had a bad batch of chicken necks from another place and so i'm ecstatic with the quality of theirs so i'm gushing and very happy with what they can provide so i ask if they can do a monthly order for me, saves me taking the trip every week, fortnight, etc, and package up a bag of small dog bones and 4 kilo of chicken necks [given that turkey necks are so damned hard to come by and apparantly too expensive] to which she says something like, we dun it befor and people they don't come in and yeh, we don't got much freezer space n yeah so nah, sorry *sadface* i'm okay about it, she gives me good attention, we've established a rapport etc etc etc and then she reaches for the bucket of dog bones and starts to fish out beef/lamb bones, holding them up to me, me nodding to the ones that are a good size, shaking my head to those that are too big ... allz well! then i get the hairy eye from her husband as he passes by, as he walks towards the back of the shop, and he makes this unfriendly remark about dogs, and says they've got bags of bones and i shouldn't be keeping his wife from making more money than what it would cost me for a bag of bones already bagged up [containing bones the size of my two dogs' head]! i realised he wasn't joking and remarked, staring him straight in the face, 'looks like i gotta find me another butcher', to which he says, 'yeah'!!! this was the first time i'd asked for a bag of small bones, she offered and i accepted the favour!!! she apologised profusely for his behaviour, said he was just in a bad mood, said he gets ticked when ppl don't buy their human food, i said but we do, i just do the dog stuff, gary does the human, she said 'yeah, i think i know him', kept apologising, making excuses, when i left i said nothing ... they just won't see us again... i wished i'd just left the $8 worth of necks and bones on the counter and walked out, but she did me some favours ... he was a royal prick, never once saw him smile... that kind of personality and he knows how to use a knife ... not gunna toss a brick thru his window! *rant done but i still need a butcher*

hello i wrote to my vets earlier this month and i got the following reply:

The source is pretty good then. Is that pure roo, or are there other meats in with it? Ingredients: Kangaroo Meat, Finely ground kangaroo bone, beef liver, whole egg, cultured kefir, seasonal vegetables selected from broccoli, celery, spinach, carrot, ground flax seed, bok choy, dried alfalfa leaf powder, beef kidney, beef heart, unbleached beef tripe, seasonal fruit selected from apple, pear, grapefruit, orange, dried kelp powder, garlic, capsicum. Typical Analysis: Moisture maximum - 75% Crude Protein minimum - 9.5% (35% D.M. basis) Crude Fat minimum - 3% (11% D.M. basis) Crude Fibre maximum - 3% (12% D.M basis) Calcium (Ca) minimum - 8% (D.M basis) Phosphorus (P) minimum - 4% (D.M basis) Calcium: Phosphorus Ratio - 1:0.5 this was day one on the roo meat and it's only since she ate tonight that she seems listless ... i haven't noticed her drinking at all today!!! sorry, eta: i have no plans to feed her any more roo

thanks erny i knew the roo meat would be kinda rich but i certainly didn't anticipate that reaction to it! there may be something else going on with her. the meat i purchased is the premade barf bricks - dr b's recipe :D

this is great news stormie i'm in northmead ... i haven't made any enquiries with my usual vet about titre testing but now that you report that you'll do it as a regular thing rather than a bulk thing, makes it much easier to make decisions... my two aren't due for their annuals 'til late october and i'm certainly up for having my two titre tested ... my vet will just have to understand!

i'm sorry having to write about this cuz i don't wanna turn anyone's tummy, but i'm perplexed! bella has no issue with food, and lately i've decided that i wanted to intro roo meat because both her and byron are just a tad overweight ... so off i go, get some tail and barf, and after hacking the tails into smaller pieces, i cut off some of the meat! i gave a very small amount to both dogs; byron took to it like a duck to water and in fact was almost ravenous ... no ill effects. BUT bella hesitated, sniffed, looked away, took a piece, dropped it, smelled it, picked it up, rolled it around in her mouth, dropped it again, picked it up and then decided to finally eat it ... she had maybe 3, 4 pieces about the size of a .5c coin, flat pieces, not cubed and within say 5 minutes she was retching; the 1st one produced but the following 3 times i don't think anything came up... they both had brekkie about 6 am and this was near 2pm ... what came up was a lot more than the roo meat i'd given her. apart from that, she seemed absolutely fine! so tonight, i mix maybe 2 or 3 teaspoons of roo barf in with say 4 soup spoons of lamb barf ... this gets divided between the 2 dogs. bella is generally waiting by the kitchen ready for the 'okay', but not tonight ... about 5 minutes later tho, she's ready, eats what i've given, i watch intently, she goes out the back, i follow, and she promptly starts to retch, loses it all and then twice more retches and produces a little more both times... again, apart from that she seems okay, perhaps a bit listless tho! about an hour or so later, i fed her a ckicken neck ... no issues. i did a search on this subforum and altho some roo feeders had reported the runs and some vile wind, there were some hints from others that their dogs couldn't tolerate roo meat at all, but the posters didn't elaborate... also, there was a poster, tomas i think [location: overseas], in one of those threads who indicated that switching between dry and raw rattles the dog's stomach acids; i'd mixed artemis with some lamb barf and a chicken neck, bella had eaten hers but byron had left his ... i don't know what i was thinking but i left his there and then a bit later i realised that bella had eaten byron's dry mix too. i know dogs can be unwell and seem absolutely fine and for the amount bella horked up the first time it seemed a helluva lot considering the small amount of roo meat i'd given her... any help and or suggestions would be most appreciated :D

Petbarn isn't a boutique. oops

petbarn locations

thanks i have introduced on a daily basis chicken necks cut up into say about an inch or so long and then i schmush 'em with the tenderiser [one tends to gobble 'em down if i leave it in its natural slender neck-like state ;)] ... i suppose in one day they'd each have consumed just over one full chicken neck each. will that help!??! they also get a raw, but not very meaty, bone every day of the week too [but not weekends tho]... again, thanks for your help Have you tried larger bones for the gulper, chicken wings, lamb breast or larger necks like turkey but cut up to smaller portions? i went looking for turkey necks on saturday and guess what? scarcer than hen's teeth! i'm on a quest tho to find a local supplier because, yes, i felt it would be more difficult for bella to gulp! i've used wings before but bella seems to have a delicate constitution when it comes to chicken skin and fat i think; she got the sloppies *yuck* ... i could try them again tho, see how she is now... so, is lightly crushing chicken necks not so beneficial!??! i have basically taught bella to chew necks but i don't wanna take that risk without supervision and she tends to chew them crushed because they become more broad in shape... thank you so much crisover

we have two 3-seater dark fabric lounges and i use reasonably heavy weave king-size doona covers as throws ... i cut the back of the cover away and then i lay it over the back of the couch, straighten and then tuck in the edges down the side of the seat to secure them in place. i then push it down the back of the seat and make sure the length to the floor is even. it does need straightening occasionally but i found that with all of them anyway so no biggy it works for us and because of the range of doona covers i've been able to match them each time to my decore!

thanks i have introduced on a daily basis chicken necks cut up into say about an inch or so long and then i schmush 'em with the tenderiser [one tends to gobble 'em down if i leave it in its natural slender neck-like state ] ... i suppose in one day they'd each have consumed just over one full chicken neck each. will that help!??! they also get a raw, but not very meaty, bone every day of the week too [but not weekends tho]... again, thanks for your help

What do you mean by barf here? If you want them eating vegies I wouldn't be giving them their tasty meat and bones at the same time till they start eating their vegies . dr b's barf pattie [i call 'em bricks] ... i feed 1 quarter of 1 brick per dog and that generally is an overflowing soup spoon full... thanks crisovar for the reply and the tip i'll see how i go by giving them just a taste of the vegie glop ... my understand was that to introduce a new food/flavour, add a little bit to their usual meal... Why do you need to feed extra vegies then? hello one of my mutts has the potential for anal gland issues *lordy* so it was recommended i *up* his roughage...

thanks boronia i considered adding egg but i didn't think it would defrost all that well! i'll do that next time! i don't have a huge amount of freezer space but i'll check out those small plastic dishes

What do you mean by barf here? If you want them eating vegies I wouldn't be giving them their tasty meat and bones at the same time till they start eating their vegies . dr b's barf pattie [i call 'em bricks] ... i feed 1 quarter of 1 brick per dog and that generally is an overflowing soup spoon full... thanks crisovar for the reply and the tip i'll see how i go by giving them just a taste of the vegie glop ... my understand was that to introduce a new food/flavour, add a little bit to their usual meal...

k, so i'm back and i've attempted to do right ... what a farken dilemma!!! thanks sincerely to everyone that replied so, here's the skinny: i first up oscar'd [read: finely chopped/minced] sweet potato, bok choy [or something similar] and carrot ... it wasn't slop so OH suggested i wack it thru the blender! did that but nothing was moving bar the bottom bits so he added some water, shook the jug, added some more, shook again 'til the glop started to fold... anyhoo, i end up with this godawful looking but not vile smelling concoction and go ahead and add some to my dogs' evening meal ... this meal is always raw, consisting tonight of one soup spoon of glop, more than that of barf, a smashed 1/3 of chicken neck and a 2-inch strip of beef [i think i feed 'em too much, gunna cut back, promise]... so one dog [byron] refuses to eat what i put down and the other [bella, who generally inhales her food] only half-heartedly consumes! i managed to coax byron back about 15 minutes later and he had about half but then walked away ... bella left her bowl dirty; she always, ALWAYS i tell you, eats her food with gusto and licks the colour off the inside of her bowl! i'm perturbed so off i go to research and i find this DOL thread and thought i'd hit pay dirt! so now i have a reasonable shopping list [before it was quite limited thank you raw feeding DOLers ] BUT the all-important question remains: what quantities of what products??? you have provided excellent advice already and gretel, i most certainly do intend to read that thread in its entirety :D it is very long! but if you very experienced raw feeders could provide an answer to my question i would be most grateful

k, so i've just read thru this thread and THANK GOD for peeps like you... on the other hand, i'm mortified that this situation is that far out in the open ... i'm gutted that ... sorry, i can't finish this post it's too upsetting

nice!

oh, sorry, i forgot to give my best regards to the OP i sincerely hope it works out for you and your dog and i hope i never experience what you're going thru ... it's bad enuf the health problem, let alone the lack of breeder support

i have two mutts i've never had the pleasure of owning a purebred dog and someday i surely hope i will... as for this topic, i reckon for the few bad things that happen with pups from breeders, there's thousands that succeed ... it's human nature to recall the negative rather than focus on the positive and i reckon if peeps could just turn their minds instead to all the successes, they'd be a lot less stressed about the whole thing... jmho

i agree about the price and the convenience i recently trialled it with my two swf dogs because i anticipate a dog-friendly holiday towards the end of the year ... i feed them mostly raw and i also baulked at the price but wanted an equivalent as an alternative! neither of my two flinched at the vile looking stuff sitting beneath their usual swill and neither of them left a crumb in their bowl ... licked clean! that's good advertising in my book i have to agree tho with k9katz in that when i opened the bag i was horrified at the dry, crumbly grey mess with random big bits and adding the required amount of water seemed to do sweet FA as far as reconstitution went ... that bothered me and i wondered whether i would end up with bloated unhappy dogs some time during the night but all went well apparently! i also frowned at the lack of 'other' colour and wanted to add vegies to it...

once the stitches are removed massage the healing scar with some bio oil ... a lot of ladies have probably used this in their quest for perfect skin rosehip oil might be an option too... best of luck with your endeavours

i would absolutely LOVE to learn this technique! both my dogs enjoy being massaged, one to the full extent, the other (a rescue) only partly however ... i enjoy it too because it reinforces the bond between the three of us and it makes life easier for their vet... it piques my interest because t-touch seems to take massaging to a greater and more beneficial level, even spiritual... it is definitely on my to-do list