Yonjuro

I would think that mixing the warm food into the raw would have the same effect as gently warming the barf. Having said that I don't think it is a major problem either way. The nutrient loss should be negligible ? I personally have no problem with making minor modifications to the raw diets in order to get your dog to eat it. The main thing that I think needs attention is balance and in your case this shouldn't be an issue :)

Yep - bone chewing releases serotonin (happy drug) and is one of the reasons I like to feed meat on the bone :) Chewing also makes them more tired from having to work at the meal which is a positive thing in my opinion :) All I worry about is having enough meat high in phosphorus to balance the calcium from a lot of bones. Sections of lamb neck (maybe a bit too fatty but should be okay in rotation are good for many smaller dogs, as are the wings as Perse has suggested, and I also mainly feed my meaty bones frozen or just part thawed. Sections of roo tail would be good but will need other nutrients to balance the meal and not to feed too much bone every day :) Also feeding twice a day (if not done already) may help with better metabolising of fat.

oh... Jin, Do you feed once or twice a day?

The food actually looks pretty good when I looked at the website. It seems like a small business so I wonder if you can ask them if you can get the Roo or Chicken without the potato added? Cutting out carbs might give you the edge you need :-) I understand your hesitancy to make your own. I am a meat eater and I didn't enjoy making up 20 meals today LOL It is a pretty rank job and can imagine it would be so much worse for a vegetarian. There are other commercial raw options out there, but you seem mostly happy with the current food - I know as a small business owner that I would appreciate a valued customer like yourself asking for a modification rather than switching suppliers. Worst thing they can say is that is not possible :) EDIT : Had another look at the ingredients. It is Sweet Potato as opposed to potato from the nightshade group so it really should't be too carb heavy (20% carbs per 100g sweet potato) What slightly concerns me on the Roo one is that they say 100% human grade kanga mince - which to me means no bone?? So I worry about the calcium: phosphorus ratio. Conversely the chicken says Chicken carcass which is normally around 60% bone and a fair bit of fat???

Fixed it!

Thanks Yonjuro, do you own a Shiba? No, I own the Husky, or rather he owns me :D I just admire Shibas and the spitz mentality they share with Huskies :)

Lovely dogs Shibas :) Good luck with your search and research

I completely understand this ...I am merely offering an alternative for the OPs consideration.

Its very easy to make up your own BARF style. My research indicates that a higher quality protein will give the dog a more satisfied feeling in their stomach than a food padded out with fillers or bulking ingredients normally present in many commercial foods, especially diet foods. Having a quick look at the ingredients on the food the OP is using, I would be leaning towards using kangaroo meat for its leanness and protein quality and removing the potato from the diet. My belief is that you may only need a partial cut down in meal size by adopting something like this. Note: Kangaroo on its own is not a complete meal so you will need bones, organs and veggies if you wish :-) Rabbit is also very lean, but costs can be prohibitive. Crocodile meat - woo -hoo awesome food but again very very expensive :D Maybe not a re-mortgage with the size of your dogs but something to think about.

Thats the best postI have read in a while! I am so pleased that your absolute dedication to Danny has shown improvement and has begun to smooth out the rollercoaster ride :thumbsup:

Actually while I think of it... have you had the pup vet checked to rule out any medical issues that could be causing the loose stools rather than the new diet? Odds are that it is the diet, but it might be worth ruling out other problems :-)

Yeah, give it another week, but if things don't improve pretty soon, you may need to supplement the diet or re-think what is going to work best for your pup. I am also a prey model feeder, so it is a diet I believe in and it obviously agrees with my dog - but it may not suitable for your pup right now. You can always try again once he starts to mature a little more :)

Can you please post his entire diet here please, as it's hard to offer advice from what you've posted here. edit: assuming you are feeding more than just meat and bones. It sounds like he/she is feeding prey model raw - it is normal to start on chicken with bones for a week or two before adding organs - this has pretty well been explained in the original post :)

Ronin recently got in the last couple of weeks ; A Syntek leash A syntek Longline A new Non-Stop sledding harness Some Tuff Foot Some sledding dog booties An ActiVet duo brush (formally branded as Les Pooch) and Ronin's personal favourite 1.5kg Fresh Tassy Salmon :laugh:

The only things I can think of off the top of my head is that the overall meal quantity may be too large which can often cause loose stools. When you have more bone this obviously will make it more solid regardless of the quantity. There may be small possibility that the chicken is not 100% agreeable with your dog and you are seeing a minor intolerance to the primary food of chicken. Perhaps try the 10% bone content with a beef or roo meal and see if the stools are still loose. Once you have this under control then add the organs. Best of luck and I hope you can get it under control :)

will look forward to updates :)

Yes, ^ that pretty well sums up my views as well.

I can't... It was never a consideration when my daughter was born. If you get a dog you are responsible for its life for the next 12-15 years. If you think there is a slight chance in that time that you will have a baby and can't have them live under the same roof then DONT GET THE DOG. It is all about responsibility and few people take the responsibility of dog ownership seriously.

That's so frustrating! I think the appropriate reaction should be that people rethink how they will manage their dog and baby, and make appropriate plans like screens and gates. Not just all go crazy on Arctic breeds. Thanks Jemmy :)

sigh... it wasn't even a Husky FFS. "Every dog deserves a home but not every home deserves a dog". The rescues are full of Huskies and Mallies, because foolish people want these beautiful majestic dogs but they fail to do any research and or training and they get dumped. Our group raised another $800 for Husky Rescue WA on the weekend but I don't think $8000 will be enough due to all this sensationalism Some idiot in the park this morning said my dog is the same kind that bit the babies face!

I was thinking along those lines too. The news said the baby was mauled but with a large dog and a tiny baby it could have been a case of the dog going what is this thing and picking it up by the head to investigate it, as dogs do. Curiosity rather than anything else maybe. Of course the dog shouldn't have had access to the baby though That is my guess as well. Mallies are big and powerful, I would imagine a split second of real intended harm would have been instant death of a 7 day old with soft skin and bones. Not making any excuses as I, like everyone else here only knows what the media has said. Mauling to me means repeated biting and tearing. Non life threatening injuries to me means that it can't have been so severe that there was major trauma and blood loss. Either way it is horrible for all concerned and I dearly hope that the wounds are not as bad as we might think. Horrible for the parents, but it certainly could have been far worse :-(

I suppose it was case of perceived low risk and they simply didn't consider the high consequence. It was terrible thing to happen, but I suppose they are lucky that even though the injury/s were serious they are not life threatening. Remember that this was a malamute and the baby was 7 days old, it wouldn't have taken much for it to be instant death

Prey drive with an animal not socialised to tell the difference between prey and non-prey animals can be a tragedy waiting to happen. Small dogs die in dog parks because of it. That's why you actually have to go through a process of socialising a dog, ANY dog to a new born baby... and to be extra careful with the tiny babies. This is so true, there's always a first time. How many times have you heard people shocked as their dog hasn't reacted that way before? I think of the lovely Kirty's thread on Toby, things are always fine until they're not. There is always risk with any sentient being. Weighing up the risk is important. With this mornings session at the park, I weighed up the risk - I know from experience and massive amounts of socialisation, that the risk was very very low with my Husky towards this Chi, I had also made the stereotyped assessment that the little guy would probably be snappy to my bigger dog. To say there is no risk ever would be foolhardy. With this situation and very few other dogs that could amp up a situation, I made the call that it should be okay. I have been in this same situation too many times to count. Sure we can all say things are fine until they are not, which is unfortunately true, but to live risk free is simply impossible. My assessment was very very low risk, not no risk. My daughter wants a Rabbit or guinea pig, I consider that high risk, so will not have one. I would also consider a cat high risk in my house, as such we won't get one. Many Husky people have cats but for me that is very high risk. If we brought a new baby into the house I would consider my Husky as very low risk - but the consequences of not being ever able to be 100% sure is enormous. Would I dump my dog is a rescue or advertise on gumtree? - no way! I would ensure that there was never a second of unsupervised interaction. I would also be consulting with our trainer or getting specialised baby/dog advice from a behaviourist like Kathy Kopellis McLeod - who happens to have 4 or 5 huskies and has written a book on the subject. My previous dog was 9 when my daughter was born and we were super vigilant with all interactions, and we also taught her how to interact with dogs from a very early age. She is 7 now and is an absolute natural with dogs. There is still risk that she may get bitten by a dog in public but we have done all that is possible to lower the risk as much as is possible for a outdoor loving, non-playstation child. I am not going to just stay inside or in the backyard with my Husky, so there will always be risk of or from something. My job as my dogs guardian, is to try and assess each risk as it presents but not to wrap him in cotton wool. I am proud of my boy and each time I am out I try and be an ambassador for the breed. I am not perfect, my dog is not perfect but we try to behave well to others even when some don't seem behave well towards us. I have been bitten by a dog recently that went for mine, so I put my body between them and have the scars to prove it. Low risk turned to high risk and I copped it, fortunately the consequences were not high, but this won't stop me from enjoying outdoor life with my boy :)

I am not sure if you are referring to me, but as I am one of the few Siberian Husky owners here I guess so?? I will say again, I am not insulted. I have also made comment on our husky page that it is a reminder for everyone to be extra vigilant with children and especially babies. I agree that the breed has a high prey drive - my boy has eaten 4 birds he has caught since around 14 weeks of age so he is not lacking in this regard. Just this morning a lady came into the off lead park where my boy was running amok with his greyhound mate. A lady with a Chihuahua came to the gate to ask if my wolf would be okay with her chi... I said yep, no problems. The little Chi runs like a mad thing across the park, my boys runs with. Stops, sniffs, and that it is. My point is that prey drive doesn't mean tragedy waiting to happen. FWIW the Chi took numerous jumping snaps at my boy too, my boy did not react... I'm sure he was chuckling to himself :) Either way, I know which dog I would have more trust with :) I am also not going to defend all Huskies or Arctic breeds. There are dangerous dogs out there in all breeds, I have met some Huskies that I definitely do not like and I know others that cannot be trusted with small dogs either. In any case the dog involved in this incident we are discussing was not a husky, the article HW linked from 8 years ago was.

I am not insulted as a Husky owner, but the statistics linked show "husky like dogs" at 5% The story linked by Haredown is indeed horrible, but if I plug almost any breed into google I will find something horrible especially if I go back 8 odd years like that particular story . I will say again it is a horrible incident, and I am all for education, especially as a father of a young daughter. I also don't think huskies are a good dog for many people. Like any "fashionable' dog there are hundreds of dodgey BYBs and even registered breeders punching out litter after litter and I would prefer there were much fewer of my beloved breed out there.