[Hound Dog Mom]

My dogs don’t show a preference for any protein over another and don’t seem to do better or worse on any specific protein. I have fed pheasant once or twice, but the only place I can get it is Hare Today and it’s expensive so it’s something that would be reserved for an occasional treat only. I do buy ground buffalo occasionally from the grocery store to add to a pre-mix but at $9/lb. that’s only a once in a while treat as well. I really don’t believe any specific protein is more or less nutritious than another. I personally stick to chicken, turkey, beef and pork because they’re the cheapest and easiest to get. I don’t feel that feeding more novel proteins would provide any benefit, it would just be more expensive. The only time feeding a novel protein would be desirable is if your dog shows sensitivities to more common proteins or when performing an elimination diet. I would think one of my recipes would give a 50 lb. dog about 4 or 5 servings but I can’t say for sure, it really depends on the dog. I would just start her on the same number of oz. as you’ve been feeding her of a commercial raw food, monitor her body condition and go from there or figure out how how many calories she’s been eating and feed her the same number of calories.

[SandyandMila]

Yeah I figured I’d start with the same amount in oz. and increase the amount if there’s no digestive issues (diarrhea, loose stool). I would like for her to gain weight but my main concern is improving her skin and coat that has suffered due to the damage it had received this summer, it’s the main reason why I’ve focused more on starting her on raw. I’ll stick to the main proteins of beef, chicken, turkey, and pork and add others once in awhile. She hasn’t had any digestive issues so far so that’s good. Thanks for all your help.

[mah4angel]

Wanted to post some news about my progress!

I got the salmon oil and Dr. Harvey’s Multivitamin and Mineral supplement and have been adding them to his food already along with some coconut oil.
Tomorrow I should be getting the vitamin e, cod liver oil, and glandular supplements from Swanson, so I’ll be removing the Earthborn from his diet and using the supplements with the chicken grind.
Then I’ll be picking up the Xkaliber from greentripe.com on Tuesday, and will probably be adding that in sometime next week.
I was able to grab some RMB’s and organ meat, too ^_^ I got a whole ton and am doing my two week freeze now. SOOOO excited 😀
I got ox tail, pork necks, chicken feet (omg I never realized how unbelievably creepy those things were until I was walking about the grocery store with a thing of them!), chicken livers, chicken hearts and gizzards, and pork feet. I may have also gotten something else but now I don’t remember. The organ meat is all chicken because beef organs were kind of expensive (don’t recall seeing pork organ meat), and I figured it would all balance out with the RMB’s.
Unfortunately Only Natural Pet is back-ordered on the Super Daily Greens and won’t get it in till the 31st so I won’t be able to add that into my rotation for a little while. Sigh.
So we’re close to a 100% raw diet!! AHHH hehe 😀 I’m sure I will have many many many more questions and concerns along the way but I’m so glad I’ve gotten him all the way to this point ^_^

EDIT: Forgot to mention that I also got a kitchen scale! I am decidedly more excited about this than my wonderful fiancee but I’m so glad I’ll be able to measure his food out properly ^_^

• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by mah4angel.

[SandyandMila]

Love your excitement Mah4angel!! It’s very sweet that we get so excited for our pets food. I’m in the process of doing the same myself, commercial food just isn’t cutting it. 🙂

[Hound Dog Mom]

Sandy I love that second picture with the one eye closed and chicken foot hanging out of the mouth – too funny!

[mah4angel]

Hahaha I’m quite an excited, rambunctious person, but I’m so excited about finding this website and doing something amazing for my Louie so I’m just being extra excited now ^_^
OH MY GOODNESS PUGMOMSANDY HOW CREEPY!! Hahahahaha.

[SandyandMila]

HDM- Hi! How long does a whole prey (quail, rabbit) take to thaw? Not feeding them yet but would like to know beforehand. What does your pork meal recipe look like, if you don’t mind sharing. Thanks in advance. 🙂

[SandyandMila]

When feeding pork necks, should beef hearts be added due to the pork neck being not very meaty? I read somewhere that recommended that. Being that its a big portion could i just add produce and supplement and make it a whole days meal? Also when feeding half or whole chicken, are all boned consumable? Mila I’m sure could handle it, she’s a strong chewer, but just worried about little bones. :\ Thanks!

• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by SandyandMila.

[SandyandMila]

HDM- Do you refrigerate your multivitamin/mineral supplement?

[SandyandMila]

If I can’t find turkey hearts locally, can u feed the turkey necks with chicken hearts/gizzards?

[theBCnut]

Yes, they even have a name for it. Something like Frankenprey.

[SandyandMila]

Great, thanks for getting back to me.

[SandyandMila]

I gave it to the dog and she loved it, the cat wanted to partake as well. lol Is it normal for them to guard their food? She wouldn’t let me hold it. She’s never done that before.

[theBCnut]

That is how some dogs react to being given their hearts desire. It’s called resource guarding and it isn’t something you want to encourage. If she has never done it before then maybe just a sharp word will be all that is needed to discourage that behavior. For a dog that it is an ingrained behavior, you work at teaching them that when you mess with their food it is a good thing because you give even better stuff when you do that.

[SandyandMila]

Yeah, maybe because the pieces were smaller she just needed a better grasp at it. I will have to get her the longer necks.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi SanDnMila –

Yes I do refrigerate my supplement. It’s not necessary, but I believe it extends the shelf life. Also, as Patty said, you can certainly mix proteins. It won’t cause any problems, however I don’t mix proteins. I prefer to feed a single protein at each meal and rotate days certain proteins are fed so my dogs aren’t getting exposed to any single protein more than one day in a row.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.

[SandyandMila]

I’ve been getting some bad reviews from the raw feeding group regarding feeding turkey necks, I’ll still feed them occasionally since Mila really liked them but I plan on making my first order soon on Hare Today or MPC and I’ll make sure to get turkey hearts as well. They’ve been hard to find locally. Thanks for the help.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by SandyandMila.

[SandyandMila]

When you use a premix base in your recipes do you follow the feeding guidelines or follow a particular ratio? I’ve been looking into maybe using THK Preference and if I go by there feeding guidelines I would be feeding about 50% meat to 50% Preference. Shouldn’t be closer to 75:25?

[theBCnut]

In some premixes, they have an active dog guideline that is double the meat. If you are also feeding other balanced foods, I wouldn’t hesitate to go 75:25.

[mah4angel]

I’m going to start adding some minced garlic to Louie’s food. But I’m not sure how much to add. How much should I give him and how often? He weighs ten pounds.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by mah4angel.

[theBCnut]

A small clove 3 or 4 days a week. Mince it right before you feed it. I actually give mine garlic every third day, but I may not be getting all the benefits. I’m garlic challenged. I can’t peel them. I have trouble chopping them. It’s really pathetic. I just a few days ago learned the Martha Stewart method of peeling garlic and I started throwing the cloves in my little chopper thingy, so now I’m not feeling so “special” anymore. Now I might start going with the recommended 3 or 4 days in a row then 3 or 4 days off.

[SandyandMila]

Great, thanks!

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi mah4angel –

The recommended serving size for garlic is generally (I want to say I found these in Dr. Pitcairn’s book):

<10 lbs. 1/4 clove
10 – 20 lbs. 1/2 clove
20 – 40 lbs. 1 clove
40 – 50 lbs. 1 1/2 cloves
50 – 75 lbs. 2 cloves
75 – 100 lbs. 2 1/2 cloves
>100 lbs. 3 cloves

You want to give your dog at least two days off per week. You want to finely mince the garlic and let it sit for 15 minutes before feeding to release the allicin. Also, exercise caution if your dog is ever on cyclosporine or blood thinners. Garlic can increase the rate at which cyclosporine is broken down in the body and decrease its effectiveness and it may increase the efficiency of blood thinners. Aside from this, as long as you follow the appropriate dosage, garlic is a safe and beneficial addition to the dog’s diet. My girld get two cloves each three days per week.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.
• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.

[Cyndi]

LOL!! Patty, I’m “garlic challenged” too! Lmao!!

[SandyandMila]

Is ground pork ok, or should it be more of a grind mix with bone and organs?

[theBCnut]

I’ve used ground pork with a premix. It’s not OK by itself. I still freeze it for safety before I feed it.

[SandyandMila]

I have a 5 lb. box of pork neck bones I haven’t opened yet because I’m waiting for my Hare Today order to come in. By then it’ll be about 3 weeks since putting them in the freezer and I’ll be starting and all raw diet. I think I’ll start with the neck bones and see how she likes it. Just wanted to know what others thought of ground pork. 🙂

[theBCnut]

They don’t usually suggest starting with pork because it is high fat. And when I started using pork, I mixed it with turky to reduce the overall fat. Now I don’t worry about it anymore, but to start with I was careful of not shocking everybodies system.

[SandyandMila]

Yeah that’s smart. That’s probably why a lot if the commercial raw companies don’t have pork, people would be worried whether it was safe to feed.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Pork is a staple protein in our household. My dogs mostly get pork, beef, chicken and turkey. Cheapest and easiest to find.

[SandyandMila]

Those are the 4 I’m planning on feeding (following one of your templates, somewhat) with rabbit on Sunday. Just waiting for my Hare Today order comes in then it’ll be all raw. 🙂

[Hound Dog Mom]

I’m getting my meat order tomorrow from my supplier and dreading it. 350 lbs. of meat to portion, pack and freeze. It will be an all day affair. 🙁

[SandyandMila]

I’ll have to portion the tripe and turkey necks when my boyfriend isn’t home. hehe Good luck though, if we don’t see u on here we’ll know why.

[Cyndi]

Damn HDM, I dread mixing up the 1 lb packages of beef, & organs & tripe to portion them up. I’m glad I don’t have to portion up THAT much! That would suck!

[theBCnut]

I never have to do worse than partially thaw and cut into 1/4s and refreeze and that is bad enough.

[SandyandMila]

HDM- I’m trying to replicate your whole food vitamin/mineral supplement. I found everything at the natural food store except they had chlorella but not in powder form. Is wheatgrass juice powder the same as the wheatgrass powder you use? If I make this supplement minus the bee pollen I already use (granular form) and the chlorella powder, how much would I be giving her? Will that be only when I feed grind mixes?

[SandyandMila]

Is there enough calcium in Preference or do I have to supplement (egg shells or bone meal)? I used it with ground beef and tripe this am and Mila loved it, and it felt awesome feeding her something that’s so good for her. 🙂 About half of her meals are either RMBs or grind mixes so I wasn’t sure if that’d be enough bone for her or if its required with every meal?

• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by SandyandMila.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi SandyandMila –

As long as you’re following the instructions on the box (which I believe is 1:1 – 2:1 boneless meat to Preference) the calcium to phosphorus ratio will be balanced.

[SandyandMila]

Just double checking. Thanks!

[SandyandMila]

Did you read my post above? Could you please, when you get a chance? It’s the one above the Preference post.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi SandyandMila –

Sorry I didn’t even see that post!

I use regular wheat grass powder but wheat grass juice powder is fine too – it’s probably better actually, it’s more expensive which is why I use the regular wheat grass. You can use this supplement daily, it doesn’t have to just be when she eats raw. Adding a superfood boost on the days she eats kibble or dehdyrated is beneficial as well. Also, you can rotate around the ingredients as much as you want – the options really are endless. I’ve used chlorella, dulse, barley grass powder, tart cherry powder, beet juice powder, etc. etc. For dosing I’d say maybe 1/2 tsp. for small dogs, 1 – 1 1/2 tsp. for medium dogs, 1 1/2 – 2 tsp. for large dogs and 2 – 3 tsp. for giant dogs. I give my girls (70 lbs.) 2 tsp. each per day.

[SandyandMila]

So I can alternate it with the natures logic all-food fortifier, right? I couldn’t find the chlorella powder I believe they were in tablet or capsule form, but they did have in the pet section chlorella wafers called Rejuv-a-wafers. Have you used them before, what are your thoughts? I think they had other ingredients other than chlorella so I was unsure about them. If I can’t find the chlorella powder maybe I’ll substitute it with one of the others you mentioned after researching them a little, I’m sure they’re great.

[pugmomsandy]

sandyandmila:

for some chlorella –

http://www.starwest-botanicals.com/_search.php?page=1&q=chlorella

[SandyandMila]

I was hoping to find it locally. Thanks for the link.

[SandyandMila]

It’s difficult for me to order stuff online since my debit card was stolen a few weeks ago. I had to use a check for my Hare Today order and its just a long process. I rather find it nearby but if I have to I’ll buy it online.

[losul]

Sandy, If you live within MPC’s delivery area, they will take check or cash upon delivery, when you pick up.

Also many/most sites use paypal as an option, and I’m pretty sure you can link your checking account to paypal for payment instead of credit or debit cards.

[SandyandMila]

Yeah I’ll use my checking if I need to, if I can’t find the chlorella powder nearby. But I’m sure I can with a little more searching. My Paypal account I only use for ebay business.

[losul]

Sandy another thing if you would rather have an all in one, whole food, super greens/antioxidant/enzyme, I think this is a very good one you might consider. We generally use this for ourselves, sometimes the birds, only occaisonally have given to our dog.

If you move cursor to one of the pics along left side, and then to the pic, you can easily see the ingredients. It shows it not available at the moment. I just ordered more last week, the price was substantially lower, and it was still readily available. My price was only $34 and change under subscribe and save for the 28 ounce. evidently the excellent pricing brought big demand. They probably still have smaller sizes available immediately, although maybe too costly.

[losul]

Hmm. Now checking the link I just posted to see if it works, it shows another pricing, this time not directly from Amazon.

If you check again sometime later, it will very likely have the product again directly from them.

[SandyandMila]

Awesome, thanks.

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