Raw/natural Chitchat

[Elfin]

Thanks Diva and FTPO!

I have put it in a food processor and mixed it with all their favourite stuff, but they still refuse to eat it. I have thrown out so much food trying different things!

I will try frying it and see how we go... thank you both again

[Bully]

Forgot to add that the vegie mix took 2 hours to make, half an hour to add and mix all ingredients and 1 and a half hours to clean the walls after lid came off blender

Shouldn't laugh, I zapped some liver in the microwave once and it exploded. It looked like a massacre - yuck!! Won't do that again ;)

[Bully]

Sorry for all of the questions but I have been wanting to do this all natural for a while. My boy (and the other 2 just not as bad)has got allergies so having a go all natural.

If I was to add chicken mince, what would that come under?

Just to add, after the dogs not having dry for 2 days now, the scratching has subsided a little so theres hope...

That's great that the scratching has stopped The cereal in processed dog food is often the cause.

[RallyValley]

Is there any "pre pack" raw mix that you can buy and know it is safe for your dogs?

[Red Fox]

Is there any "pre pack" raw mix that you can buy and know it is safe for your dogs?

Dr Billinghurst BARF patties are supposed to be very good. Expensive way to feed though.

There are a few other brands around too

[RallyValley]

Thanks I found a really good raw outlet close to me called "The Pet Chef"! I was just wondering if it is ok to feed raw food and dry food? And also are there any good informative websites or books about BARF?

[GSD's 4EVER]

Thanks I found a really good raw outlet close to me called "The Pet Chef"! I was just wondering if it is ok to feed raw food and dry food? And also are there any good informative websites or books about BARF?

If you mean together in the same meal, in my experience, yes.

[Gayle.]

I'm not sure about that, actually, Gayle - I guess it would be true if it's the individual butcher deciding to sell his scraps as pet food, but I've been told that meat that is condemned at the works is usually sold as "pet meat" to butchers, pet food manufacturers and supermarkets

Depends on the butcher. One with a small premises in a country town doesn't have the space to store "pet" meat as a seperate item, and so just minces the offcuts, offal etc from the human grade meat they are butchering. That's what my butcher does. He is part of an undercover "market" and his space is very small. I get bags of mince from him and bones, offcuts etc as well and I'm very confident it's all excellent quality, just not aesthetically pleasing for humans.

The only fresh pet meat the local supermarkets sell are offcuts....it's pretty easy to tell they are of human grade. In fact the ones Safeway sell just look like poorly cut lamb chops so I'd say they are the ends of whatever they butcher the chops from.

Their pet mince comes from third party petfood manufacturers. I've never seen fresh pet mince in the supermarkets that has been prepared by their own butchers.

[RallyValley]

That and just even in the same diet! For example my mum will not touch most of the BARF stuff but me and my dad are fine with it.. If both of us cannot be home at the dogs feeding time (a rare occurence) is it ok for the dogs to have for e.g just dry food and egg or yoghurt?

Thanks I found a really good raw outlet close to me called "The Pet Chef"! I was just wondering if it is ok to feed raw food and dry food? And also are there any good informative websites or books about BARF?

If you mean together in the same meal, in my experience, yes.

Edited October 31, 2009 by valleywa

[GSD's 4EVER]

That and just even in the same diet! For example my mum will not touch most of the BARF stuff but me and my dad are fine with it.. If both of us cannot be home at the dogs feeding time (a rare occurence) is it ok for the dogs to have for e.g just dry food and egg or yoghurt?

I'm not that strict, so I'd say "yes". Not sure what everyone else thinks.

[RallyValley]

I'm new to it but I don't really see where the problem would lie in giving dogs both. We have never fed just dry food and that thought makes me cringe... but a few websites have mentioned that you should feed BARF only... I was hoping on the a 70% raw, 30% biscuts ratio.

That and just even in the same diet! For example my mum will not touch most of the BARF stuff but me and my dad are fine with it.. If both of us cannot be home at the dogs feeding time (a rare occurence) is it ok for the dogs to have for e.g just dry food and egg or yoghurt?

I'm not that strict, so I'd say "yes". Not sure what everyone else thinks.

[Staranais]

That and just even in the same diet! For example my mum will not touch most of the BARF stuff but me and my dad are fine with it.. If both of us cannot be home at the dogs feeding time (a rare occurence) is it ok for the dogs to have for e.g just dry food and egg or yoghurt?

Thanks I found a really good raw outlet close to me called "The Pet Chef"! I was just wondering if it is ok to feed raw food and dry food? And also are there any good informative websites or books about BARF?

If you mean together in the same meal, in my experience, yes.

Yes, it's perfectly OK for most dogs, and can be a good way to ease into feeding raw. I do half raw - half commercial for my own dog (for several reasons - firstly I can't afford to feed all raw so this is a cost effective compromise for us, secondly she's only a pup so feeding part commercial means I have more leeway as regards getting her diet right, and thirdly she's trainee SAR - I'm buggered if I'm lugging raw into the bush for her or taking it on training camps, so she needs to know how to eat dry too!) :D

Some dogs apparently don't do very well on a mixture of dry and raw - I've never met one, but I've read about them. So I'd experiment and see what suits your dog best. If she's not doing well on a mixture, try raw (or a good quality dry) food alone and see if that works better.

My girl often gets kibble and yoghurt, or kibble with a whole egg mashed in, for her commercial meal. She loves it!

[Red Fox]

Thanks I found a really good raw outlet close to me called "The Pet Chef"! I was just wondering if it is ok to feed raw food and dry food? And also are there any good informative websites or books about BARF?

There are heaps of websites, just google BARF

Here's a few that might be helpful:

http://www.barfaustralia.com/index.php

http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm

http://home.earthlink.net/~pawsreflect/nutrition.html

There's also a lot of books around but personally I found the Ian Billinghurst BARF books to be the best. You can buy them through the website (first link of those above) :D

[Gayle.]

Some dogs apparently don't do very well on a mixture of dry and raw - I've never met one, but I've read about them.

I'm not sure that it's the mixing of trhe foods they don't do well on, as much as a particular component of the mixture. For example, if you gave a dog chicken and rice kibble, and added some minced lamb and the dog didn't do well, you might blame the fact that it's a mixture without further investigation. It could be that the dog is sensitive to raw lamb. Swap the lamb for beef, chicken or fish and the problem might very well go away.

[Staranais]

Some dogs apparently don't do very well on a mixture of dry and raw - I've never met one, but I've read about them.

I'm not sure that it's the mixing of trhe foods they don't do well on, as much as a particular component of the mixture. For example, if you gave a dog chicken and rice kibble, and added some minced lamb and the dog didn't do well, you might blame the fact that it's a mixture without further investigation. It could be that the dog is sensitive to raw lamb. Swap the lamb for beef, chicken or fish and the problem might very well go away.

Yes, people could easily make that mistake. But I've also talked to people who insist their dogs do well on raw, and do well on kibble, but say they get stomach upsets if the two are mixed.

My dogs have never had that issue, and I don't think it's at all common, but IMO it's a case of do what suits your particular dog. :D

[beenie]

HI all,

I've been reading this thread intently and I think I may have to give this raw food thing a go.

Some background - we have had Willow (Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier) for a month. She's 4 and a bit months old. She had been fed Eukanuba Puppy since weaning, with some raw gravy beef or chicken necks alternate days. I have noticed that she's not really interested in her food. For example, if I get her breakfast first thing in the morning (7am) she'll often sniff it, and then just walk away. I have tried adding some sunflower oil or an egg which she seems to like, but still, she never really 'wolfs' her food down. Also, the bag says that for her age and weight (about 8kg) she should be eating about 2-3 cups a day. She'd be lucky to eat 2 cups, let alone 3. She's not unwell, has firm poo, is active and full of beans - she does like to eat anything and everything she can find in the garden (grass, plums, sticks, sand from the sandpit you name it she'll give it a chew!). At first I thought it was a 'transition' thing, but I think it's more than that now.

I guess I am a bit cheesed off that I have spent $100 on dry food (yes, I got the huge bag).... only to find that she doesn't like it that much! ;)

My butcher sells dog food rolls, which when I asked he said were all kinds of meat offcuts (lamb, chicken,beef) with chopped vegies and nothing else. No grains, no preservatives etc. Would that be ok to start with? TBH I can't see myself making up my own food for her. My human kids have food intolerance issues, so I spend quite enough time making 'special' food as it is without doing it for the dog too! Don't get me wrong, I want to do better for Willow, but I'm just being honest with myself (and you) about how much time I can realistically devote to this.

Should add that I gave her a big marrow bone the first week she arrived and she has stripped it off, but still going on it - no where near done with that sucker yet!

Any advice much appreicated!

Beenie & Willow

[Got Spots]

big thumbs up here

a recent convert and the skin issues have been helped so much

They look so so so good - glossy coats, decent breath adn clean teeth

I do a bit of homemade and Dr billinghurst patties - they work out to be about $1.60 per patty if you buy a box and I only feed a half a patty each - works for us adn they love it, it doesn't last long in the bowls

supplemented with sardines, yoghurt, omega oil, chicken wings, lamb, offal - whatever else they can eat

[Red Fox]

Some dogs apparently don't do very well on a mixture of dry and raw - I've never met one, but I've read about them.

I'm not sure that it's the mixing of trhe foods they don't do well on, as much as a particular component of the mixture. For example, if you gave a dog chicken and rice kibble, and added some minced lamb and the dog didn't do well, you might blame the fact that it's a mixture without further investigation. It could be that the dog is sensitive to raw lamb. Swap the lamb for beef, chicken or fish and the problem might very well go away.

Yes, people could easily make that mistake. But I've also talked to people who insist their dogs do well on raw, and do well on kibble, but say they get stomach upsets if the two are mixed.

My dogs have never had that issue, and I don't think it's at all common, but IMO it's a case of do what suits your particular dog.

Apparently it has to do with raw and dry food being digested at different rates, so feeding both together may cause a stomach upset. May be true for some dogs but definetly not all ;)

HI all,

I've been reading this thread intently and I think I may have to give this raw food thing a go.

Some background - we have had Willow (Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier) for a month. She's 4 and a bit months old. She had been fed Eukanuba Puppy since weaning, with some raw gravy beef or chicken necks alternate days. I have noticed that she's not really interested in her food. For example, if I get her breakfast first thing in the morning (7am) she'll often sniff it, and then just walk away. I have tried adding some sunflower oil or an egg which she seems to like, but still, she never really 'wolfs' her food down. Also, the bag says that for her age and weight (about 8kg) she should be eating about 2-3 cups a day. She'd be lucky to eat 2 cups, let alone 3. She's not unwell, has firm poo, is active and full of beans - she does like to eat anything and everything she can find in the garden (grass, plums, sticks, sand from the sandpit you name it she'll give it a chew!). At first I thought it was a 'transition' thing, but I think it's more than that now.

I guess I am a bit cheesed off that I have spent $100 on dry food (yes, I got the huge bag).... only to find that she doesn't like it that much! ;)

My butcher sells dog food rolls, which when I asked he said were all kinds of meat offcuts (lamb, chicken,beef) with chopped vegies and nothing else. No grains, no preservatives etc. Would that be ok to start with? TBH I can't see myself making up my own food for her. My human kids have food intolerance issues, so I spend quite enough time making 'special' food as it is without doing it for the dog too! Don't get me wrong, I want to do better for Willow, but I'm just being honest with myself (and you) about how much time I can realistically devote to this.

Should add that I gave her a big marrow bone the first week she arrived and she has stripped it off, but still going on it - no where near done with that sucker yet!

Any advice much appreicated!

Beenie & Willow

If she's not eating much then she's probably just not hungry. A hungry dog will never starve itself because it doesn't like its food -but a fussy, not so hungry dog will

The bag isn't always right either. Just feed her what she wants and if she's not eating it all give a little less until you find the right balance. If she is losing weight then you might have a problem but if not I wouldn't worry too much

If you dont have time (or freezer space) to make your own then there's nothing wrong with feeding a good quality commercial food and adding in some fresh ingredients (yogurt, sardines, chicken necks, lamb flaps etc). Not everyone can do it and its nothing to feel guilty about. You can also buy pre-packaged BARF patties if you wanted to go that way which wouldn't work out to be too expensive for a smaller dog

[beenie]

Thanks for that SecretKei, you're right of course... if she was really hungry she'd eat.... and she does on and off. Just a bit different to my memories of our Goldie when I was a kid who lived and breathed for dinner time and would scarf down her meal quick sticks and still be hungry for more :haha:

I'll get some of the dog rolls from the butcher and supplement her meals with that and the kibble (gotta at least try to use some of it up!).

Out of intrest, how many patties would an 8-9 kg puppy need a day (she's fed 2x a day atm)? Or, what weight of raw food should I be aiming for?

[Gayle.]

Apparently it has to do with raw and dry food being digested at different rates, so feeding both together may cause a stomach upset.

I'd really like to see something scientific to back up this "theory" which to my mind sounds like nothing more than "someone on DOL said it so it must be true".

Bone and meat digest at different rates, meat and vegetables digest at different rates, fat and muscle digest at different rates. If a dog eats an entire small animal, all the parts of the animal, including the contents of it's digestive tract will all digest at different rates.