Raw Diet Newbie!

Hey!

I am considering moving my boy onto the raw diet. I am slightly clueless about the whole thing and wondered is there somewhere for me to do my research??? How much to give? What to give? Any supplements needed in addition? Etc etc etc.............

All info would be greatly recieved!

Thanks
Jo

Ella is one of a few members who feed RAW, some of her topics are good for starters!

https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t14787-raw-diet

Some idea's for meals/foods you can give
https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t19197-what-s-in-the-bowl-today-graphic-photos-raw

I've just started with RAW aswell, so not too much help lol! Generally you would give 2-3% of their adult body weight e.g Bailey being 20kg should get 400-600 grams per day. What foods to give is pretty endless, chicken, turkey, beef, pork, rabbit, venison etc etc.

Some natural supplements you can give are listed here
https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t21698-natural-dog-remedies-and-doggy-first-aid

Thanks for the info!

I have found this site, not too sure if its expensive or not... trying to weigh it up http://www.wolftucker.co.uk/

They have the meat, bone and veg all in handy packs...? Confused.com!

Some RAW feeders feed veg, others don't as theres no proof that dogs get anything from veg.

I use mince just now (chicken and bone minced up) but planning on my next order being proper bones (ribs, carcasses etc) as dogs don't get the benefits of the teeth cleaning, mental stimulation from mince as they would from a chunk of meat!

Look for a RAW supplier. The most popular suppliers seem to be Landywoods, DAF (Durham Animal Feeds), Raw To Go, Raw To Paw.

Another of Ella's threads lists a lot of suppliers you could try!
https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t19502-raw-food-supplier-list?highlight=supplier+list

Well i've been made redundant! haha!

I personally wouldn't go for the premade raw in the minces with veg included, i prefer to feed whole foods as i know what is in them.

another good site is: www.preymodelraw.com

theres a good guide at the top of the page to starting

Haha you're still miles ahead Ella

Im looking forward to getting rid of the minced stuff and getting proper bones! Been constantly showing my mum your posts with the rabbits and stuff

Haha I'm sure your mum loved that!!!

Can I ask who you both use as suppliers? Called the local butchers, no help!

Popped to tesco, he had Pork belly this evening, which he loved! Tried him on a chicken wing and he wasn't too keen...

He's got more pigs belly left and also a mixture of beef mince and liver!

I use durham animal feeds, local butchers and chinese supermarket.

I also got incontact with local hunters to get free rabbits

If you can't get a local delivery (no freezer space or not in a delivery area) and you have a Morrisons supermarket neat you, you can get the bones from them - they are the only supermarket (I think) who has their own butchers in store, so they often have bones available (for stock/stew etc) at very cheap prices!

Some more info listed below may be of interest to you:

http://www.barfpetfoods.co.uk/dog-food.html

ella wrote:Haha I'm sure your mum loved that!!!

It may have persuaded her to maybe let me get some soon haha

joanna.yardy wrote:Can I ask who you both use as suppliers? Called the local butchers, no help!

Popped to tesco, he had Pork belly this evening, which he loved! Tried him on a chicken wing and he wasn't too keen...

He's got more pigs belly left and also a mixture of beef mince and liver!

I use Durham Animal Feeds. The thing is, they only come to Glasgow once a month, so I need to buy at least a months worth at a time lol! Lucky my mum let me have the big chest freezer

Durham Animal Feeds don't deliver in our area. Ah well we have enough ready to go till Sunday, will do some investigating round the area over the wknd and see what I can find!

Thanks for all the info, much appreciated

Be better to e-mail them and find out for sure. They don't mention my post code but they delivered to me fine!

I'd email to check as their website is awful, they may also recommend a distributor for you thats local

Great ideas, will give them a call today Thanks

Oh one last question... Until I find a supplier a I will be buying the meat from tesco. Are they're any meats with bones in that I should not give him or can he eat all animal bones? For example, I saw pork chops with bones... They okay?

My fiancé is slightly jealous and is convinced Tys now eats better than him!

If this is his first time on raw I'd take it slow.

Start with one protein source such as chicken for a week or 2 till he is used to it then add another in slowly! Changing onto raw from kibble can have an effect on his stomach (runny bum)!

Saying that, anything in the supermarket is fine I'd say, any bone is fine apart from weight bearing bones from cows! Someone with more experience may know better though!

yeh, weight bearing bones are supposed to be bad as they can fracture their teeth, yet most high street shops (cooked/roasted - which is supposed to be worse) - even DAF sell them (raw) .. so many opinions around it's difficult to know what to believe....

I've seen people say that raw bones don't splinter and won't harm your dog - but I've just took delivery of lamb ribs and as I cracked it in half (too much for one meal) - yep - sure enough the bone splintered ..

You shouldn't have cracked the ribs, should have cut the meat between each rib to make it smaller or even let your dog eat roughly how much you would feed and then remove till the next meal.

Loads of people feed ribs with no problems. Raw bones are fine as they splinter differently to cooked bones!

I don't feed weight bearing bones cooked or raw i don't see the need

StuW wrote:You shouldn't have cracked the ribs, should have cut the meat between each rib to make it smaller or even let your dog eat roughly how much you would feed and then remove till the next meal.

Loads of people feed ribs with no problems. Raw bones are fine as they splinter differently to cooked bones!

I DID not crack the ribs as such - maybe I did not explain myself clearly enough? - I was sawing them at the spine and it splintered in my hand!!

how did it splinter? was it little bits or just broke jagged?

ella wrote:how did it splinter? was it little bits or just broke jagged?

sorry - it's broke like a blade .. I was worried it might do this when she ate it - or is it because it is still frozen? ...

that sounds fine to me, i would guess it's due to being frozen still

ella wrote:that sounds fine to me, i would guess it's due to being frozen still

Thank you for our wisdom and help during my novice days .. sorry if I don't always explain myself properly !!

haha no worries