Courtney
01-15-2006, 02:26 AM
It seems like there are always questions about feeding raw so I'm going to post this info as a reference.
Why raw? Dogs are carnivores. Their teeth are designed to tear meat and crunch bone. My dogs eat meat, bones and organs and that's it. There are many ways to feed raw -- you can buy premixes (http://dogaware.com.hosting.domaindirect.com/dogfeeding.html#frozenraw) or even follow "recipes" to the letter or even grind veggies for hours -- but feeding big whole cuts of meaty meat is easy, cheap, and FUN! It helps clean their teeth and gives them a mental workout too.
I highly recommend you read "Work Wonders: Feed Your Dog Raw Meaty Bones" by Dr. Tom Lonsdale. It is available at amazon.com for about $10. A great read!!
Links with more info:
http://rawlearning.com/
http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding
http://www.rawfeddogs.net/
http://dogaware.com.hosting.domaindirect.com/dogfeeding.html#co-ops
There are many ways to feed raw, but I feed what is called "prey model" where you feed big cuts of meat on bone, organs, or even whole prey when possible such as whole chickens and fish. There is also BARF where people grind things, feed only necks and/or backs of chickens, and pulp up veggies...but let me tell you I am lazy and can't be bothered to do all that. The prey model way is much simpler. I go to the store, buy meat, take it home and cut it into individual portions, then freeze it till I am ready to feed. When I feed the day's meal, I take the next day's out of the freezer to defrost in the fridge. Easy, right?
Now you may ask, is it expensive? What about germs? Etc. Please check out the links, especially the rawfed.com/myths one. All do a super job of explaining.
Benefits: Lean dogs; small odorless poop; clean teeth; no dog breath; no dog odor; dinner is a workout and exercises the dogs' jaws and brains; and it's FUN! It is a great way to bond with your dog. It is fascinating to watch them work at a big piece of meat. I sit outside and enjoy mealtime with my carnivores almost every day.
I measured food when I started feeding but don't anymore. I just chop things up so they are about as big as my hand and/or fist. You will want to keep an eye on your dogs' ribs and waist. If they get skinnier, feed more. If they chunk up, just start feeding less. You should be able to see a waist behind the ribs and feel the ribs but not see them.
It does require a bit of research and reading to start feeding raw. Join that yahoo group, subscribe in digest form or just read the posts at the group web site, and just soak up all the info. You will learn how people feed, and what people feed. You can ask questions too but you will learn a lot just by reading. And of course you can ask questions on the DLC too.
Happy feeding!
Why raw? Dogs are carnivores. Their teeth are designed to tear meat and crunch bone. My dogs eat meat, bones and organs and that's it. There are many ways to feed raw -- you can buy premixes (http://dogaware.com.hosting.domaindirect.com/dogfeeding.html#frozenraw) or even follow "recipes" to the letter or even grind veggies for hours -- but feeding big whole cuts of meaty meat is easy, cheap, and FUN! It helps clean their teeth and gives them a mental workout too.
I highly recommend you read "Work Wonders: Feed Your Dog Raw Meaty Bones" by Dr. Tom Lonsdale. It is available at amazon.com for about $10. A great read!!
Links with more info:
http://rawlearning.com/
http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding
http://www.rawfeddogs.net/
http://dogaware.com.hosting.domaindirect.com/dogfeeding.html#co-ops
There are many ways to feed raw, but I feed what is called "prey model" where you feed big cuts of meat on bone, organs, or even whole prey when possible such as whole chickens and fish. There is also BARF where people grind things, feed only necks and/or backs of chickens, and pulp up veggies...but let me tell you I am lazy and can't be bothered to do all that. The prey model way is much simpler. I go to the store, buy meat, take it home and cut it into individual portions, then freeze it till I am ready to feed. When I feed the day's meal, I take the next day's out of the freezer to defrost in the fridge. Easy, right?
Now you may ask, is it expensive? What about germs? Etc. Please check out the links, especially the rawfed.com/myths one. All do a super job of explaining.
Benefits: Lean dogs; small odorless poop; clean teeth; no dog breath; no dog odor; dinner is a workout and exercises the dogs' jaws and brains; and it's FUN! It is a great way to bond with your dog. It is fascinating to watch them work at a big piece of meat. I sit outside and enjoy mealtime with my carnivores almost every day.
I measured food when I started feeding but don't anymore. I just chop things up so they are about as big as my hand and/or fist. You will want to keep an eye on your dogs' ribs and waist. If they get skinnier, feed more. If they chunk up, just start feeding less. You should be able to see a waist behind the ribs and feel the ribs but not see them.
It does require a bit of research and reading to start feeding raw. Join that yahoo group, subscribe in digest form or just read the posts at the group web site, and just soak up all the info. You will learn how people feed, and what people feed. You can ask questions too but you will learn a lot just by reading. And of course you can ask questions on the DLC too.
Happy feeding!