[Cyndi]

Hi, I will try to make this as short as possible. Ok, I have a newly adopted dog Bailey. She is a 1 1/2 yr. old border collie/Pit bull mix and she weighs 50lbs. I HATE all the stuff I hear about commercial dog food. I am just recently into researching everything. I had a doberman who died at the age of 11 from an undiagnosed problem and I have a feeling it was from either commercial dog food crap, vaccines, topical flea stuff or all of the above. I am fully committed to doing better by my new dog. I just recently switched to Nature’s Variety Instinct kibble (I was using Purina One) which I feed her for breakfast. For dinner, I switched her to Deli Fresh by Freshpet. I really, really want to switch her to a raw diet, but I have no clue where/how to start, what foods to feed or not to feed, if I can afford it, etc. I’m afraid once I start I won’t know what to feed and and how much and if I am giving her the right variety of stuff. I’ve looked up raw “menus” online, but it sounds like there is so many different things that I would have to feed Bailey, that I might end up going broke. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated…

[Cyndi]

And, I forgot to mention, I don’t have a whole lot of money. I’m not even sure I’ll be able to keep up with what I just started feeding her. So, if someone can help with the cheapest raw things that I could feed my dog, with the right variety that would really help me alot!

[theBCnut]

Steve Brown’s book “Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet” is an EXCELLENT place to start.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Cyndi –

It’s wonderful that you’re considering a raw diet for your dog!

Owning three large and active dogs, I can sympathize with you on wanting to keep things cheap. My tips for keeping raw feeding budget friendly would be:

1. Rely on chicken, turkey, pork and beef as your primary protein sources – they’re the cheapest per pound.

2. Rather than feeding boneless meat and supplementing with calcium, incorporate raw meaty bones (chicken necks, turkey necks, etc.) as the calcium source. RMB’s are much cheaper per pound than boneless meat.

3. Rely on hearts and gizzards as your primary source of muscle meat in the diet. While boneless skinless chicken breast might be more appealing to a person, there’s no reason dogs need to eat these expensive cuts of meat.

4. Add things like eggs, cottage cheese, yogurt or kefir to stretch the meal a bit with some cheap but high quality animal-based protein.

5. Avoid pre-ground meats, they’re generally more expensive. Feed meat in chunks or dice it yourself.

6. Buy bulk – try to locate a wholesale supplier. Shop the manager’s specials at the grocery store.

7. Use supplements made for humans rather than for dogs, believe it or not they’re generally much cheaper. I order from Swanson Vitamins (cheap, high quality, big variety).

[Cyndi]

Thank you Pattyvaughn, I will check that out. & thank you also, Hound dog mom, all that is very good to know. Ive just been getting so overwhelmed by researching & reading all the different things that people say they feed their dogs. I really dog want to feed my dog raw, but it all just sounds too expensive to do, but if/when I do make the switch, I need to make sure I can afford it.

Any idea how much, I guess in pounds, that I will need to feed. I feed Bailey twice a day and she currently weighs 50lbs. & I’d like to keep her at that weight preferably.

Thank you both, so much, for your help!

[Cyndi]

Oh, a totally unrelated question…… How do I go about putting a picture up for my profile pic? I tried to figure it out earlier, but didnt have any luck.

[BlueDog]

Yay Cyndi! I have also recently (as in yesterday) started researching a raw food diet for my 50lb ACD. I found a page (and forgot to bookmark) that helped me decide that with his weight range, I should give him about 1000 Cal/day, or about 1.25lb each day of food, including boneless meat and raw meaty bones. HDM’s suggestions are great, and I went today all around town to local butchers, grocery stores, and even a vet that has knowledge and that supports raw food diets. I made a list of what each place had to offer based on who had better prices on things, especially harder to find things like beef hearts and turkey necks. Ended up buying 3 fryer chickens that were on sale for $0.77 a lb, and some other stuff on sale. My plan is to establish my budget that I can devote to this, price everything up, and start saving. And also to buy meat when I see it for a great price. We are lucky in my area to have access to a local butcher, several grocery stores (HEB has had the best selection of doggy type meats for decent prices) and also a natural/organic food store that has a ton of the great supplements that I have seen mentioned. Check the “Transitioning to raw” thread on this section of the forum, it has a lot of great info and I think a sample recipe from HDM. There’s also a thread “Suggested raw dog food menus” that has several recipes that HDM and others have posted.

[theBCnut]

My two very active 40 lbs dogs eat about a pound a day, one slightly more than the other. The rule of thumb is 2-3% of their body weight.

When turkey is on sale at Thanksgiving, I get 2 or 3 extras.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Cyndi –

The general feeding recommendations for raw are as follows (amounts are in % of the dog’s body weight):

1.5% – weight loss
2.0% – inactive
2.5% – adult maintenance for average activity level
3.0% – slight weight gain or active dogs
3.5% – significant weight gain or very active dogs
4.0% – puppies (8 weeks – 1 year) or working dogs
4.5%-8.0% – puppies (4-8 weeks), pregnant/lactating females or working dogs

This is a good guide, but all dogs are different so just monitor your dog’s body condition and adjust portion sizes accordingly. My 9 month old female eats about 3.5% of her weight, my 2 year old female eats about 4% of her body weight and my 8 year old male eats about 3% of his weight.

[Cyndi]

Thanks so much everyone for all the feedback! I sincerely appreciate it all. One more question, for now anyways, lol! I have read conflicting things on starting to feed raw. I have read to fast your dog for 24 hours & then just start the raw diet, starting with one meat source at a time to get them used to it, but I have also read to introduce raw food slowly, giving them some raw food mixed with their kibble each day. Which is the right way, or is there a right way to make the switch?

[theBCnut]

I started using raw as a topper and had no problems, but it could be a case of some dogs having problems and some not. When my dogs were eating enough raw to make a meal of it, I switched to feeding raw for breakfast and kibble for dinner. Now, I can feed all raw, raw and kibble, just kibble, whatever. It is all what works for you and your dog.

[Cyndi]

Thanks Patty. I just got done reading some of the threads about Darwin’s raw food. Do you think this would be a good place for me to start? I haven’t researched the cost for them yet, but Darwins sounds like a good alternative for me instead of me trying to figure out on my own if I’m feeding the rights raw foods in the right quantities. Are they really expensive, do you know?

[theBCnut]

Including shipping they top $4 a pound for me. I use some Darwin’s, but not all. When I started feeding raw, I googled homemade dog food and found DinOvite. It was an easy way to get started. I used their Yeast Starvation Diet for a bit while I read up on feeding raw. It’s a very easy recipe and I still make it occassionally with some modifications. There are a few premixes and vitamin/mineral mixes that are made to be mixed with either boneless meat or grinds that are also an easy way to get started. These are more expensive than doing it all from scratch, but less expensive than premade balanced raw diets.

[Cyndi]

Ok, I will have to do a bit more research. Atleast the food I have her on now is much better than the crap she was on. Thank you for all your help, I really do appreciate it. This all just seems so overwhelming, but I so want to do the right thing for my baby. I am so glad I found this site and you are all so polite (compared to another forum where I more or less got yelled at for asking an off topic question). Thank you so much, again, for your help!

Have a great evening! 🙂

[Cyndi]

Hey Pattyvaughn,

I was just looking at the DinOvite site, that you mentioned, and they have a recipe on there, with a video, for Homemade Dog food. What do you think about feeding just this as a primary diet? Would my dog be getting everything she needs in that diet? & I wondered why they used hard-boiled eggs and not raw eggs in that recipe. Can I get your thoughts on all this, and anyone else’s, if you don’t mind? Thanks in advance! 🙂

Oh, and what modifications would you make to make it better?

[theBCnut]

I use it in rotation, it is heavy with flax seed, so I don’t like the idea of using it all the time. When I use it, I use 9 lbs of ground meat(sometimes I use turkey and pork) and 1 lbs of organs. I add 4 0z. of apple cider vinegar. You can mix it without the eggs and then add eggs when you are ready to feed it if you want to leave the eggs raw. It doesn’t mix and store well with raw eggs.

[Cyndi]

Ok, thank you, once again, for all your help!

[Cyndi]

Hi again! I have another question, for anyone that feels like answering. I currently feed my dog Nature’s Variety Instinct grain free kibble in the morning. In the evening I feed her Deli Fresh by Fresh pet. My question is if I were to switch one of her meals for either Primal Raw frozen or Nature’s Variety Raw, which one do you think I should I eliminate? I still don’t feel comfortable switching to all raw, so I figured atleast this is a start. Thanks in advance.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Cyndi –

If you can afford it, I would eliminate the kibble. Deli Fresh is much more species-appropriate than kibble (even though NV is a high quality kibble). If you check out this website Dr. Goldstein ranks foods in terms of healthiest to least healthiest: drmarty.com/feeding.htm

[InkedMarie]

I agree with HDM.

[Cyndi]

Ok, thank you both, very much!

[Anonymous]

Hi Cyndi,

Prey Model Raw is by far the easiest and cheapest way to feed raw, in my opinion. You can spend as much or as little as you want. Since you only have one dog, it isn’t necessary to have to stock up and freeze meat if you don’t have the room or money. Your 50 lb. dog will probably need only need 1 to 1 1/2 lbs. of food per day. Buy a pack or bag of chicken leg quarters, and work around that, filling in the rest of the diet with different proteins/organs that are on sale/clearance. This does not have to be complicated, and it’s all about “balance over time”.

Of course you will want/need to feed variety, but I find that this is very affordable when you make chicken the staple. If you can get some chicken backs at the meat market, start with those for at least a couple days. They are soft/bony and recommended to start with. If you can’t find them, you can use leg quarters. You are fine feeding just chicken for a couple weeks. You will however need to start alternating in some boneless meals (every other meal if you feed 2x per day or every other day) or your dog may get too constipated from the bone. All 3 of my dogs are different, and one dog can handle more bone. You learn these things as you go along, and you adjust the diet accordingly.

Once your dog adjusts to chicken, you move onto something like turkey for a couple weeks. You can alternative it w/meals of chicken. Then you will move on to pork, beef, etc.

Heart is very rich yet very nutritious, and it’s considered muscle meat, not organ meat. It can be a staple as well for most of your boneless meals. You are fine feeding a meal of canned sardines/mackerel instead of raw once a week or so.

You don’t even need to worry about organ meat for at least 2 months. When you DO introduce it, go very slow or your dog will most likely end up with diarrhea. I’d even personally start out feeding small amounts of it along with a bony meal. Only 5 to 10% of the diet needs to be organ meat. You need to feed liver, and it’s best you feed another organ as well. If you feed chicken backs at first, your dogs will get some of the little organs that are attached early on–I never removed any of them and all was fine.

Here are foods I feed/have fed: Chicken – Frames, Backs, Leg Quarters, Legs, Breasts, Necks (to my smallest dog), Thighs, Hearts/Gizzards, Feet, Liver. Turkey: Necks, ground. Pork: Butt, Chops, Roast, Heart, Kidney, Liver, Pigs Feet. Beef: Heart, Ground, Steaks, Roast, Liver. Duck: Heads, Feet, Wings. Fish: Various frozen (thawed) and canned sardines/mackerel.

I recommend you read WORK WONDERS by Tom Lonsdale. It’s a wonderful book and easy to read/understand. Even he says that many peoples’ dogs do fine on primarily all chicken. I know my dogs get a lot of it.

Also, check out: http://www.preymodelraw.com. This site helped me learn how to feed properly.

If you’re not comfortable, you could always do a partial raw diet. I have actually been doing that for almost a couple months because I am having a graduation party soon and desperately need my freezer space for that food. So, I have been feeding part PMR and part kibble to 2 of my dogs, and PMR/canned to my other dog. Once the kibble is gone and the party is over, I would like to go back to mostly PMR, but would like to incorporate some days of canned food. Maybe you could do that OR feed raw along w/the FreshPet.

Hope this helps. Again, these are my opinions and what has worked for my dogs.

[pugmomsandy]

Here is a thread just for raw feeding:

http://www.dogforums.com/dog-food-forum/112667-raw-feeding-picture-thread-7.html

[Cyndi]

Thank you BRR3, very much! & Thanks pugmomsandy, I will check that out….. My biggest fear, and the reason I haven’t started my dog on all raw yet, is because I’m so afraid I won’t be able to give her or find the right variety she needs. The more I read up on what people feed their dogs the more confusing it is. I’m the type of person who likes easy. Yes, call me lazy, I admit I am, but it sure doesn’t sound easy to find all the things raw feeders feed their dogs. I have grocery stores by me, only one local butcher though. I haven’t checked with these places yet to find out costs and what’s available. I know it would get easier over time, once I get the hang of it, but I guess I’m just scared, because it’s up to me to make sure I’m giving her the right variety. I blame myself for the death of my other dog, because I had to put him down because I didn’t want to put him thru a bunch of tests and stuff at his age. The vet didn’t know what it was that went wrong with him and I believe it was a combination of feeding crappy commercial dog food, topical flea stuff and/or vaccinations.

I’ve looked up sample menus of raw feeders, hoping I guess to find that “one” that makes me say, ‘Yeah, THAT I can do’ but there is just so many things that people feed and to me it’s just overwhelming. I’m just afraid that I would give my Bailey the wrong things or not enough of the right things or whatever.

Thank you all for all your help. I guess it’s just up to me when I feel comfortable enough to make the switch. I really do appreciate all the help. I’ll just keep reading and researching and eventually, hopefully, I’ll just do it…

[theBCnut]

Sandy, I clicked on that link and it tried to give me a virus or something. I got one of those pop-up saying my computers security detected a virus, but it listed the wrong program. It wouldn’t let me exit, so I had to force it to end task. I ran my own scan and came up clean.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Cyndi –

Please don’t blame yourself for the death of your previous dog. We’ve all been there and made poor nutritional choices for our animals. If you didn’t know better than it wasn’t your fault. My current dogs eat a homemade raw diet – I used to feed Beneful, Dad’s, Alpo, etc. It’s a learning experience!

I completely understand your apprehension about beginning a raw diet. I was the same way when I started. I was so concerned about percentages and how many ounces of this and how many ounces of that and worried that they were missing something or getting too much of something else. You’ll get comfortable with it, trust me. I personally started with “semi-homemade” – I’d use pre-mixes to which all I had to add was meat or buy meat/organ/bone grinds to which all I had to add was veggies and supplements. I bought Steve Brown’s book “Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet” and finally got the confidence to try one of his recipes and make my first meal completely from scratch. I now formulate my dogs’ menus all on my own and they’re complete and balanced. Just start slow!

[pugmomsandy]

Yikes! You can also get there by going straight to dogforums(dot)com and searching for “raw feeding pictures thread”.

[Cyndi]

You guys have been such a big help, thank you!

So, if I kept Bailey on the Deli Fresh, which I feed her in the evenings and she gets 1/2lb. of that, and I started her off with say a chicken back for the first week or so is that ok? I do prefer to feed twice a day and if she will only need like 1-1 1/2lbs of food per day do I need to add anything else? The Deli Fresh is the Chicken, vegetable & rice flavor and I know there is alot of other ingredients and vitamins and stuff in that. Maybe, I’ll switch to the Turkey flavor, if I’m starting her raw diet with chicken…

I AM going to do this! Next time I get paid, I am going to the butcher shop by me and buying the chicken backs and we’re gonna do this! I am determined! The only thing is I’ll probably be here asking another million and one questions…….so be prepared, lol! Thanks guys!!

[InkedMarie]

Cyndi, you mentioned “easy”. Thats me, too! I feed grinds from HareToday; my husband isn’t into feeding whole meats but he’s fine with ground. They have a huge variety and for me, it cheaper than feeding a pre made raw, depending on what I get. If I buy an exotic, that may drive the cost up a bit.

[pugmomsandy]

Cyndi,

You can also find turkey backs at some grocery stores. Sprouts has them. Chicken heart and gizzards are also easy finds as is various livers. Only feed 5 % liver though.

[Anonymous]

Hi Cyndi,

I’m glad you have made this decision. It will make a big difference–especially with dental health. All the raw feeders on here are giving great advice. 🙂

Here’s a little advice I will give from observing my own dogs. When they got ALL raw, which normally consisted of a boneless meal and a bone-in meal (a leg quarter, a leg, a thigh, wing) each day, and even 2 bony meals per day, they were fine. When I started experimenting w/using dog food for one meal, and a piece of bone-in chicken for the next, I would notice their poops were getting too hard/dry at times. I know dog foods include ingredients to help firm up stools. SO…since chicken backs are SO bony, I don’t think I would feed those every single day if I were you. They are GREAT to start with, but I really think once your dog gets used to them that first week, I personally would just buy leg quarters. My one dog is 50+ pounds and I still feed him drumsticks quite a bit. If you buy a package of quarters, you can just cut the legs off each quarter too. Sometimes THAT becomes my dogs’ entire meal for the day—the drumstick becomes the breakfast, the other part becomes the dinner. I feed whole leg quarters at times too–those are great for cleaning the teeth. I just prefer feeding 2x per day, so sometimes if that’s all I have thawed, it works best to split it up into 2 meals. Plus, I have to pay close attention to portion control for my dogs.

Just keep an eye on things when you start. If stools get too firm, lay off the chicken backs for a day or two. Don’t let this scare you, as once you get going with it, it becomes very natural. I would stick with feeding only chicken for a couple weeks. People on the forum can help you along when the time comes. It’s all about how YOUR individual dog responds to this diet. Two of my dogs have NO problem with more frequent bone-in meals or even a couple days of just boneless meals. My other dog gets looser stools easily, and does better with more bone in his diet.

Good luck! 🙂

[Cyndi]

Thanks again, everyone, for all the info. I’m starting to get overwhelmed again though, lol! It doesn’t take much. I posted a question a few posts back and from what I’ve read, no one seemed to give me a definitive answer on that particular question. I’ll post that part again…. (only because I want to be absolutely sure on what I’m feeding and don’t want to start off wrong…

So, if I kept Bailey on the Deli Fresh, which I feed her in the evenings and she gets 1/2lb. of that, and I started her off with say a chicken back for the first week or so is that ok? I do prefer to feed twice a day and if she will only need like 1-1 1/2lbs of food per day do I need to add anything else? The Deli Fresh is the Chicken, vegetable & rice flavor and I know there is alot of other ingredients and vitamins and stuff in that. Maybe, I’ll switch to the Turkey flavor, if I’m starting her raw diet with chicken…

I’ll also post the ingredients of the Deli fresh/Freshpet that I plan on keeping her on, for a while anyways.

Ingredients:
Chicken, Eggs, Chicken Liver, Chicken Broth, Carrots, Brown Rice, Peas, Rice Bran, Dried Kelp, Carrageenan, Natural Flavors, Salt, Inulin, Flaxseed Oil, Green Tea Extract.

Vitamins:
Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Biotin, Riboflavin Supplement, Manganous Oxide, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid.

Minerals:
Calcium Carbonate, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Proteinate, Copper Sulfate, Niacin, Manganese Proteinate, Calcium Pantothenate, Manganous Oxide, Thiamine Mononitrate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite.

If I start her on chicken and use a chicken leg quarter or chicken back every day, is that too much bone? I think I may just be over thinking all this, and I apologize for all the questions, but I want to be sure, especially with keeping her on the Freshpet for one meal a day for a while…

Thanks again for all your help everyone! I sincerely do appreciate all your help. I’ve been printing out all your replies and referring back to it all.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Cyndi –

It would be fine to feed Fresh Pet for one meal and a chicken leg quarter for another for a week or two. Once she becomes accustomed to the raw you can start experimenting with things other than leg quarters.

[Cyndi]

Hi everyone!

I am going to start Bailey on raw this weekend. Already bought some chicken. Just waiting til I get paid so I can buy more, and buy a food scale, etc. I have a question about fasting her before I start. Do I need to fast her before she starts on raw, and for how long? Right now she eats a cup of Nature’s Variety Instinct for breakfast and Deli Fresh Chicken and Veggies for dinner, which I will be switching to her breakfast and feed her raw for dinner to start off. So, I just would like to know everyone’s thought on if I should fast her and for how long when I start her on raw. Oh and when I do fast her, how do I go about not feeling bad for not feeding her a meal? Lol! What do you guys do with your dogs or for them when you fast them?

Thanks, again, so much for all your help. The past week I have been reading just about ALL the forum topics and really trying to educate myself. It’s gotten so bad that when I want to go back and reread something I had read, I can’t find it because I can’t for the life of me remember which topic and which thread I read it on, lol!

Have a great day everyone!! 🙂

• This reply was modified 11 years, 6 months ago by Cyndi.

[theBCnut]

When I switched to raw I had a young puppy with issues and was not willing to fast him for long at all. I started adding a little raw as toppers to my dogs meals and when I was adding enough, I switched to feeding raw one meal a day.

Every one who suggests fasting usually says skipping one meal is enough. You just want the kibble to clear the system. So just arrange it so the meal before you start raw is the Deli Fresh.

My dogs don’t have any trouble with me mixing raw with kibble, feeding just kibble, and then turning around and feeding a whole meal of raw.

[Cyndi]

Ok, Thanks Patty! Also, if I start feeding Bailey a chicken leg quarter or a chicken back every day for dinner to start off to get her accustomed to raw, isn’t that too much bone per day? I don’t know the percentage of bone to meat in a back or a leg quarter, but it just seems to me like it might be too much bone per day…

[Hound Dog Mom]

Chicken backs are approx. 50% bone and leg quarters are approx. 30% bone.

[Cyndi]

Thank you Hound Dog Mom.

[Cyndi]

Hi again everyone! 🙂 The pain in the butt has another question… 😀

And for what it’s worth, I did look thru some other threads to try to answer it myself, but didn’t find the answer. Anyways, I placed an order with Hare Today, for some chicken grinds and chicken feet and chicken pieces, but today I am going to buy chicken leg quarters to start Bailey off with until I get my order from Hare Today. I would like to know if I should cut up the leg quarters into pieces or just give it to her whole, provided it weighs the appropriate amount that she’ll need for that meal? I do apologize again for all the stupid questions, but like I’ve said before I just want to make sure I’m doing everything right…

[theBCnut]

Leave it whole. You want to make sure that she learns she has to gnaw on it. If you give her small pieces she might decide gulping it is a good idea. Some people have to hold on to it or attach vise grips or something to it to slow their dogs down to start with. They do learn to slow down and chew though.

[Cyndi]

Ok, thanks so much Patty! That’s what I was planning on doing, but I just wanted to be sure.

Have a great weekend! 🙂

[Cyndi]

I just wanted to thank everyone, again, for all their help and patience with me and all my questions. Bailey just got done with her first raw dinner. I couldn’t get chicken leg quarters today, so I just bought 2 packs of thighs and 2 packs of legs. I gave her 2 thighs and 2 legs for dinner, which came to a pound even. It was such a learning experience for both of us and also very interesting to me. Bailey started just licking everything. She must have licked for like 10 minutes until I got tired of it, lol!. So I held a thigh for her while she figured out how to use her teeth to get the meat off. It didn’t take her long to get thru the first piece. I held the second piece, the leg, for a minute while she pulled some of the meat off but after a minute or so, she took it from me and did the rest on her own. It was so interesting to see her go from just licking and not really knowing what to make of it, to really using her teeth as they were meant to be used. After dinner, I let her outside and she laid down in the grass, wiped her mouth for a minute and rolled around like she was very content.

Again, thank you all again. I don’t think I would have gotten the courage up on my own to actually feed her raw, if I hadn’t read everything on this site that I did and if you awesome people hadn’t been so patient and answered my questions. 🙂 🙂 🙂

[theBCnut]

Congratulations! It’s been 8 months for us and my dogs still act like they think they are the luckiest dogs in the universe when I hand them a chunk of meat.

[Cyndi]

Thanks Patty! 🙂 I’m so glad that first meal is over and done with. I just hope it continues to be smooth sailing….

[mydogisme]

Cyndi, I live in Alabama and I hate it here too. I had a wire haired terrier/schnauzer, Dixie who I adopted when she was 9 months old, passed away yesterday at 4:30. She was only 10. She got a blood transfusion in December and I had the best internist, cardio Dr. and her vet couldn’t save my baby. I have about 12 different prescription’s here she had been on over the yrs.’ for different things up to the end when she was on Flagyl and her Dr. said we need to use i.v.s and not pills due to her stomach is so sensitive. I ordered her Royal Canin diabetic dog food, needs prescription, and she liked it ok but liked the ground round sirloin I bought better, just boiled it first. you might want to have a internist do a biopsy on her to see what is going on for sure. It is very scary as this is your baby we are talking about and not just any dog. I pray that your fur baby gets well and lives a very ,very long happy healthy life. I don’t know how to go on at this time without my baby, as she was my life .

[Cyndi]

Awwww, I am so very sorry for your loss. It sounds like you did all that you could for your Dixie & it sounds like she was very loved for a long time. That’s more than most dogs get. I lost my 11 year old Doberman in 2011 and he was my doggy soulmate. He went everywhere with me and was with me thru the loss of many family members. He was my everything. I know exactly what you’re going thru. It has been a little over a year and a half and I still miss him so very much. My new dog Bailey has helped me to move on but I still blame myself for Moose’s death. The vets never found out what was going on with him but I’m pretty sure it was a combination of the crappy food, and vaccines, etc. I vowed to Bailey I won’t let that happen to her. I am going to do everything in my power to give her a long and healthy life.

Thank you for your well wishes. I will pray you find the strength to move on, but just know that Dixie is in a better place and she’s not in any pain. She’s running around happy and healthy at the Rainbow Bridge with all the other furbabies who are there waiting for their owners. Hang in there, and when you’re ready, I know there is another dog just waiting for you to give it a loving home…

[theBCnut]

OHHHH, Mydogisme, I’m so sorry that Dixie finally lost her fight, but she doesn’t hurt anymore. It takes time to get through the pain of losing a pet that means so much to you, so please take care of yourself especially well for the next few weeks. Remember that there is another dog out there that needs you as much as Dixie did. When you find that special pup, I know it will never have the same place in your heart that Dixie had, but trust me, it will make it’s own special place, and it needs you.

[mydogisme]

Thanks Patty, Its just killing me. same when my mom died. cant replace either one.

[Cyndi]

Mydogisme, take your time to mourn, but when you’re ready I think you should look into adopting another dog. There are so many, many dogs out there who need a loving home. I wanted another Doberman when my Moose died, but I couldn’t do it. I am still grieving even after so long, but Bailey, who I adopted in January, has been a godsend. I no longer cry every single day for Moose. My Bailey makes me laugh all the time and I still think of Moose every day, but Bailey has helped me move on.

I’ll keep you in my thoughts and prayers to give you strength to get thru this.

[theBCnut]

Cyndi

Don’t you agree that Border Collies are good medicine!!

[Author]

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