[root]

[ originally posted by OrsonDogge ]

Since there are alot interested in feeding a raw diet, i thought i'd put some
links to some sites to help.
It's alot of reading, but DO YOUR RESEARCH before feeding raw.

I personally would not recommend new to raw people feed a puppy (until a year old) a raw diet unless you have fed a dog raw before. Puppies are delicate and their nutrition can be messed up and they need precise feeding.


http://rawfed.com/myths/

http://www.rawlearning.com/

http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm

http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/sampleraw.htm

So youre interested in feeding raw:
http://www.dogster.com/forums/Raw_Food_Diet/thread/431875

lists of what people feed
http://www.dogster.com/forums/Food_and_Nutrition/thread/409127

link to a personal feeding spreadsheet
http://www.dogster.com/forums/Raw_Food_Diet/thread/491589

"how much to feed" calculator
http://www.raw4dogs.com/calculate.htm

List of meats and their nutrients
http://mypetcarnivore.com/raw_nutrients.pdf

USDA Nutrient database
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

Dogster Raw Feeding Forum
http://www.dogster.com/forums/Raw_Food_Diet

Yahoo groups
Carnivore feed group
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/CarnivoreFeed-Supplier/

Raw Feeding group
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/

Books

(Tom Lonsdale) Work Wonders: Feed your Dog Raw Meaty Bones

(Carina Beth McDonald) Raw Dog Food: Make it Easy for You and Your Dog

(Dr. Ian Billinghurst) The BARF Diet Give Your Dog a Bone

(Kymythy Schultz) Ultimate Diet: Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats

Online raw suppliers

West Coast:
www.greentripe.com
www.crestonvalleymeats.com
www.wholefoods4pets.com
www.socalbarf.com

East Coast:
www.hare-today.com
www.prey4pets.com
www.aplaceforpaws.com
www.mypetcarnivore.com

So youre interested in feeding raw
http://www.dogster.com/forums/Raw_Food_Diet/thread/431875

Gorge and Fast Technique
http://www.k9joy.com/dogarticles/dogfood01stomach.pdf

Why feed at varying times
http://k9joy.com/dogarticles/dogfood01conditioning.pdf

 

[Lunchbox]

A good source for green tripe: http://www.canineperformancefuels.com/

A good read for beginners: http://www.rawdogranch.com

 

[maryellen]

For those that feed raw, here is a compiled list of books, websites, etc courtesy of someone else
some great websites and books for those wanting to go to BARF diets with their dogs:

www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm
www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html
www.sundaysaver.com/

pets.groups.yahoo.com/gro...-Supplier/
Books:
The BARF Diet by Ian Billinghurst, DVM
Home-Prepared Dog & Cat Diets: the Healthful Alternative
by Donald R. Strombeck
Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats by Kymythy Schultze
Work Wonders by Tom Lonsdale, DVM
The Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog by Wendy Volhard
Switching To Raw by Susan K. Johnson
The New Natural Cat by Anitra Frazier
Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats by Richard Pitcairn, DVM and Susan Hubble Pitcarin
The Complete Herbal Handbook for the Dog and Cat by Juliette de Bairacli Levy
Raw Dog Food by Carina Beth McDonald
Websites:
General Information About Raw Diets
Raw Learning Site
The Top 50 BARF FAQ for Beginners
WellPet's Nutrition Articles
Caber Feidh's Holsitic Care Articles (site owned/articles written by sfraw member, Christie Keith)
RawFed.com
US Raw Meaty Bones Organization
Raw Connections

Articles
What's Best, Cooked or Raw?
Do Dogs and Cats Need Grains?
The Importance of Feeding a Natural Diet
Natural Diet for Dogs and Cats by Jeff Levy DVM
Why Raw?
Is A Raw Diet Dangerous? by Dr. Wysong
Why Cats Shouldn't Eat Dry Food

Raw Diet Guru Websites
Richard Pitcairn
Ian Billinghurst
Wendy Volhard
Tom Lonsdale
Kymythy Schultz
Sue Johnson
Marina Zacharias - based on Juliette de Bairacli Levy's diet
Monica Segal
Feline Specific Sites
Pottenger Cats study
Cat Nutrition
Feline Future
Holisticat
Raw Fed Cats
Michelle T. bernard's diet
How to prepare fresh cat food by Christine M. Ruessheim
Canine Specific Sites
The BARF Pictorial
Raw Dog Ranch Step-by-Step Pictorial
Raw Fed Dogs
Lew Olson
Dogaware
4LoveofDog
Forums:
Raw Diet Lists
The RawFeeding List (the biggest raw diet list - you should start here if new to raw)
The RawDiet List
The RawPaws List
The RawChat List
The BARFWorld List (hosted by veterinarian, Dr. Ian Billinghurst)
The advBARF List (for advanced discussions - no beginners, please)
The Basic Raw List (for those following more of a Lonsdale/whole carcass approach)
The BARFLite List (for those who feed cooked meat or kibble in addition to raw)

General Health Lists
WellPet (the original pet health list)
The NaturalPet List
The HolisticPet List
The Pets4Homeopathy List
Feline Lists
The Holisticat List
The CatBARF List
The CatNutrition List
The RawCat List
The FelineFutureDiet List
The CatWell List (general cat health, not just diet)
Canine Lists
The K9NutritionStudyGroup List
The RawPup List (great for learning to feed puppies raw)
The RawBreeder List
The NaturalRawDog List
The SeniorRawFeeding List
Ferret List
The NaturalFerret List
For breed specific raw groups, please go to the Yahoo! Groups site and do a search for your breed "+ BARF" or "+ raw". You will usually find a list specifically tailored to fanciers of your breed and/or breed type (sighthounds, giant breeds, toy breeds, etc.)
The RawVet List is a great place to send your vet so they can learn more about raw diets!
http://www.dogaware.com/dogfeeding.html
Re: BARF websites and books
www.rawfeddogs.net/
www.leerburg.com/feedingarawdiet.htm
www.b-naturals.com/May2006.php
www.b-naturals.com/natural.php
Re: BARF websites and books
www.barfworld.com/
www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm
www.barfers.com/
www.rawdogranch.com/
www.angelfire.com/biz/fro...awFed.html
www.b-naturals.com/default.php
www.ipindex.com/
www.caberfeidh.com/index.htm
www.bowchow.com/
www.forums.doghobbyist.com/fo...p?catid=29
http://www.rawfeddogs.net/
http://rawfed.com/
http://www.rawlearning.com/

premade raw:
www.omaspride.com
www.bravodiet.com
www.naturesvariety.com
www.primalpetfoods.com
www.barfproducts.com
www.amorepetfoods.com
http://pepperdogz.com
http://www.healthypawsllc.net/m_23.asp?pa=m_23
http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/index.shtml
__________________

 

[BullyLady]

I just joined a brand new forum that is for people who have adopted Danes
from the rescue group where we got Sirius. Only a couple of people on there
feed raw and a bunch of the members are very intersted. The other member
who feeds raw didn't seem interested in guiding or helping other gather info
on how raw works, so I went ahead and typed out a "brief" overview of what raw
entails and how it works. It ended up not being so brief, but I thought it came
out really well and is a great overview of the diet as I do it (since everyone does
it a little bit differently) and kind of touches on most major questions/concerns that
people always ask me about without going into any one thing too deeply. Hope
this is able to help someone!




Okay.... So, depending on your dog's activity level, you are going to feed between 2% and 4% of the dog's body weight daily. Sirius has a ridiculously fast metabolism so he eats a full 4% of his body weight daily, sometimes even 5%. Shelby is still growing so she eats about 8% of her body weight daily. I have a cat who gets overweight if she looks at too much food, so she eats 2% of her body weight daily. You just have to watch your dog and if they look too ribby feed more, if they start to chunk out feed less. Raw tends to be a very fly by the seat of your pants way of feeding, which at first freaked me out. I like structure, I like measurements, I like to make spreadsheets, I like to know that I'm doing things right. I'm finding, though, that the longer I feed the more comfortable I become with it.

Depending on your dog, and what literature you are reading, you need between 10% and 60% of the dog's diet to be Raw Meaty Bones (RMB's) which are edible bones with alot of good meat on them. Chicken backs are very bony RMBs, chicken quarters are very meaty RMBs. I feed both my dog's about 50% RMBs (chicken quarters or backs usually, VERY cost efficient) and 50% meaty meat (meat with no bones at all). This works well for them. You will know if your dog's RMB ratio is appropriate by their poo. If it's loose then they need more bone, if they are straining then they need less bone. Again, very fly by the seat of your pants!

As far as organs..... 10% of their diets need to be organs, NOTE: Hearts do NOT count as organ meat, they are meaty meat! 5% of this needs to be liver, they NEED liver! The other 5% can be anything, kidneys, brains, gizzards, etc.... Organ meat tends to be very rich and can upset dog's systems, it is recommended that you wait six weeks into the new diet before introducing organs, and then maybe start with 5%, not the full 10%. The dog won't come to any harm by not having organs for six weeks. My grocery store sells beef liver in slices, this is handy as liver smells awful and I would hate to have to slice it myself, so look for that!!

There are two keys to raw: First, variety is the spice of life! Mix it up, you can use chicken for your RMBs all the time, but for meaty meat feed pork, beef, lamb, mutton, goat, llama, emu, chicken, turkey, beef heart, pork heart, chicken heart, tongue meat, etc... etc..... Chicken feet make tasty snacks and are CHOCK FULL of glucosamine! The mixture of meaty meat will help ensure that dietary needs are being met, as will the organ inclusion.

Raw is NOT more expensive if you do the do-it-yourself kind. If you buy premade raw like Oma's Pride or Nature's Variety you will spend more on your dog than you do on your groceries, and the meat isn't always human grade which sort of defeats the whole purpose of raw. Yes, raw is a little time consuming. I am taking 23 credits at school this semester and I work 20 hours a week, I am a busy lady but I still make time for it. To save myself time during the week I weigh and portion out and pack into ziplock bags eight days worth of food for both dogs and both cats. That way during the week all I have to do is open a bag and pour it out into the bowl and then onto homework or whatever else I am doing. This works well for me!

Where to feed? My dogs eat their food outside, I put it in a metal bowl (DO NOT use plastic, it harbors germs that you will never get out) and the dogs pick it up and take it to the grass. I do not worry about germs at all with my dog's food. I figure the germs from meat can't be any worse than the germs from the dead birds and bugs out there. For my cats I just wash out their bowls with soap and water like I would a cutting board or dishes after each meal. I've been feeding raw for six months and don't have salmonella or ecoli yet, so I guess it's not that dangerous! LOL The ick factor was big for me, but I just make sure to wash my hands well after every feeding and wash out the cat's bowls, and that's really the extent of what I do. Well, plus cleaning up the knives and cutting area from packing food on the weekends. If you cook meat on a regular basis anyways it's not going to be any cleanup that you can't handle. If you don't usually cook meat, well, it's basic meat handling skills and nothing too hard to learn.

My biggest source of info and help with the raw transition has been another Yahoo group called rawfeeding http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/ There are alot of people on there who have been feeding raw for ages and they are such a great source of information. They can be a little militant at times so don't let the attitudes throw you, take what they say with a grain of salt and learn from them.

 

[maryellen]

another great raw reading

http://www.ukrmb.co.uk/images/ww.pdf

 

[OrsonDogge]

not a totally raw site but has some awesome info on dog feeding, good for kibble feeders too.
Has a list of raw co-ops and resources for premade raw.


http://www.dogaware.com/dogfeeding.html

 

[maryellen]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/illonahaus/sets/872344/

 

[SisMorphine]

ME that is a really cool link. Thanks!

 

[maryellen]

youre welcome!!

 

[Agnese]

great to have this sticky to read all the info again. Thank you all
I just had to prove to someone in another forum that im not harming my boys feeding bones to them so having all the links on this sticky as a extra to prove my point was great (and saved time looking myself) (hope bullylady you dont mind me using your description of how you feed being pasted by me in another forum :wink: just to show that there are other people who do feed RAW with success)

 

[Agnese]

this great site where you can just type the food and can see what minerals, vitamins etc the meat,bones have
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

 

[Bella Girl]

Since when isnt this a sticky?

 

[BullyLady]

Since when isnt this a sticky?

Since they unstickied all the stickies and made an announcement with links to them instead. :?

 

[Care]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/illonahaus/sets/872344/

Lol, that's funny you posted that. I know Illona. We belong to a couple of the same groups.

I always thought Roberta's site was on here. It's here on BDB somewhere, but it's also attached to her emails to me. I will find it. It's a great resource. Not only for raw feeding but for holistic vets, books, etc...

Edit: Ok, I found it. Here it is.

 

[TMP]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/illonahaus/sets/872344/

Lol, that's funny you posted that. I know Illona. We belong to a couple of the same groups.

I always thought Roberta's site was on here. It's here on BDB somewhere, but it's also attached to her emails to me. I will find it. It's a great resource. Not only for raw feeding but for holistic vets, books, etc...

I posted her site awhile ago but I think it was lost when this forum crashed. http://lepusreg.tripod.com/NRS1a.html

 

[Care]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/illonahaus/sets/872344/

Lol, that's funny you posted that. I know Illona. We belong to a couple of the same groups.

I always thought Roberta's site was on here. It's here on BDB somewhere, but it's also attached to her emails to me. I will find it. It's a great resource. Not only for raw feeding but for holistic vets, books, etc...

I posted her site awhile ago but I think it was lost when this forum crashed. http://lepusreg.tripod.com/NRS1a.html

Ooops I never refreshed the page before I edited my post. Now it's here twice, lol. Just got some tripe from her yesterday. Jazzy LOVES her tripe mix!

 

[caroline]

i've been contemplating feeding raw lately. i'm very interested in it and for now am just going to do a lot of reading before i take the plunge. i just have one question, it may be silly but since i've had so many problems with finding a food that Rudy does not get diarrhea from, ( she is doing great on orijen fish) is it different when its raw as opposed to kibble or canned? for example if she gets diarrhea from beef protein will she get it by eating raw beef?

 

[BullyLady]

i've been contemplating feeding raw lately. i'm very interested in it and for now am just going to do a lot of reading before i take the plunge. i just have one question, it may be silly but since i've had so many problems with finding a food that Rudy does not get diarrhea from, ( she is doing great on orijen fish) is it different when its raw as opposed to kibble or canned? for example if she gets diarrhea from beef protein will she get it by eating raw beef?

Actually no, exactly the opposite in fact. Raw is, for many people, the answer to horrible food allergies!
Something about the way the meats are processed to make it into kibble doesn't agree with some dogs
and raw ends up being just fine for them. They are sometimes still sensitive to certain proteins, but it's
usually not nearly as bad as with kibble.

 

[caroline]

i've been contemplating feeding raw lately. i'm very interested in it and for now am just going to do a lot of reading before i take the plunge. i just have one question, it may be silly but since i've had so many problems with finding a food that Rudy does not get diarrhea from, ( she is doing great on orijen fish) is it different when its raw as opposed to kibble or canned? for example if she gets diarrhea from beef protein will she get it by eating raw beef?

Actually no, exactly the opposite in fact. Raw is, for many people, the answer to horrible food allergies!
Something about the way the meats are processed to make it into kibble doesn't agree with some dogs
and raw ends up being just fine for them. They are sometimes still sensitive to certain proteins, but it's
usually not nearly as bad as with kibble.

thats really great to know thanks for posting all the info everyone, most likely at some point this year i'll be switching Rudy to this.

 

[Care]

I have another source for green tripe for those in the US: http://www.hillview-farms.com/Hillview-Farms-Natural-Tripe-s/2.htm

A lady that is on my raw list knows the owners of the farm personally, and says they are honest and committed to their own dogs and
animals. The prices are pretty pricey, but if you have no other source it's worth it. They have some other goodies as well. I'm told they do free shipping for orders over 50#.