I’ve long heard that a raw diet is best. I just don’t know how to do it.
Anyone?
http://www.barfworld.com/html/barf_diet/barfdiet_specific.shtml
This is a good blueprint. It is not easy or cheap to do.
Commercial kibble is basically human food byproducts that no dog would touch with a 10 foot bone, which is coated with palatable fat prior to putting it in the bag. Yummmm....
To get started with raw diet, check out books by Ian Billinghurst (Give Your Dog a Bone, Grow Your Pups With Bones, etc). Part of the idea is that they don't just eat raw meat... its a carefully considered diet that mimics what dogs eat in the wild, modified to fit into a modern families kitchen. This includes lots of bone with that meat, some fruits and vegetables, and some oils. There is also something to the method... how much to vary what you give your dog, again to mimic the varied diet in the wild. Consider that with commercial kibble, you are giving your dog the same each thing, 1 cup or whatever of X, twice a day, for his/her entire life. That is NOT how dogs eat in the wild!
Google “Northwest Naturals” - they sell frozen meat bars (buffalo, beef, etc).
Expensive as hell, but it’s my wife’s idea - the damn dogs eat better than I do.
You go to the store and buy yourself a pack of chicken necks or leg and thigh quarters. If a large dog give them the whole quarter or three necks a day. Adjust for smaller dogs. The digestive system of a dog is nothing like a human, so don't feed them like you would a human. Their system is short and very acidic. They can eat darn near anything.
Do a Google search
I’ve been rawfeeding my dog for about three years. It was scary to switch her over and I had to come to grips with the fact that I had been brainwashed by the dog food companies. I can’t tell you how scared I was to switch her. Pretty eye-opening.
I signed up for the yahoo raw feeding group and read it for about six months before I finally got up the nerve to do it.
Here’s the link:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/
It’s the best thing I’ve ever done for my dog.
Anyone?
Easy to do. Switch them over using something like chicken wings (mostly carilege) and they learn how to chew. Then give them larger pieces (chicken legs etc.) you'll be suprised how fast they learn what to do.
I've been feeding raw for years. You have dogs with lean, muscled bodies, clean white teeth, no doggy breath, and very little to pick up in the yard. If you need more info just freepmail me.
My boy is a 2 year old GSD. We gave him premium dog food for 3 months after we got him as a pup. We switched to the raw diet. He loves it. Until recently, he ate only once a day, at his insistence.
He won’t even eat a dry dog-treat when folks offer them to him. He politely takes it and sets it on the ground. The only thing that he gets cooked is beef liver, just for treats.... and the only reason we cook it, is for our connivence..... a baggie of raw liver in your pocket would suck. LOL
It is expensive and about once a week, you need to commit about 30 minutes to an hour to make up his fool packages. For my best friend... he’s worth every dime and any trouble.
Other than for checkups, vaccinations and a recent ear infection (yeast), Falco has never been to a vet. He is very healthy and he looks great. Though you wouldn’t know it to see him, he is about 10 pounds underweight for his breed, but he’s still growing..... and being a little underweight for this breed is better for their hips.
He truly eats better than most people.....
It is very easy to do. My dogs have eaten a raw diet for 12 years now. There is quite a few excellent yahoo groups dedicated to the matter that have been around for many, many years — since before I started feeding raw. I live in a small town and we have a natural food pet store so i don’t have to mail order any more and I’m really happy to see her store is getting busier and busier even though a Petsmart opened at our mall a year ago. At the very least don’t feed anything with grains or artificial food coloring and stay away from allowing the vet to over-vaccinate your pets.