[misty073]

I noticed in the above section the weekly menu, it seems like everyone feeds their own mix. Does anyone use a premade raw dog food? I mentioned in an earlier post about switching my daughters yorkie to raw because he was having ear problems and the vet thinks its allergies and this seemed to be the best choice. We have just gotten our own dog and switched her food as well.

Our dog food contains the following :

Chicken necks & backs, chicken legs, MDM chicken, fruit and vegetables, rolled oats, water, whole eggs, molasses, salmon oil, kelp, apple cidervinegar, garlic, vitamin E and alfalfa.

Both dogs seem to be doing well but we have only been at this a short time and dont want to find out down the road that we have not given something we should have (this is the biggest reason we are using the premix from the butcher)

does this sound ok?

[briteday]

Do you trust your butcher to know about dog nutritional requirements?

[misty073]

To be honest...we dont use the butcher. I was looking into feeding raw and went into a pet supply shop to ask about it (after doing research online) and the lady said they dont carry raw but the groomer next door does. So I went over to ask some questions and she gave me some samples of three different brands. I chose the one we are using because I later found out that another mom (we take our kids to playgroup together) feeds this one to her dog and her mom does as well (and has show dogs) so I figured that if they were happy with it then we would use that one. The ingredients seem (from what I read and researched) to be very balanced for what the dogs need...I just find the more I look into raw, most people feed their own meals instead of a premix. As our dogs are only 9 and 11lbs the cost isnt bad at all (we pay 1.50 a pound for it) but I wouldnt know where to start with making it all myself (and to be perfectly honest, I find life busy enough making meals for my family of 6 LOL)

[DobManiac]

Originally Posted by misty073

Chicken necks & backs, chicken legs, MDM chicken, fruit and vegetables, rolled oats, water, whole eggs, molasses, salmon oil, kelp, apple cidervinegar, garlic, vitamin E and alfalfa.

From first glance it looks like your missing organ meat. And you should be rotating protein sources. But I'm new to this, so maybe the supplements make up for that. Hopefully someone else will comment.

But honestly raw for dogs that small really won't take long to prepare. Once you get in the swing of things, the hardest step is remembering to defrost your meat.

But it definitely can seem overbearing when looking from the outside in. Why not just put them on a really good grain less formula? EVO, Wellness Core, Merrick Before Grains, Nature's Variety Instinct or Taste of the Wild are all good brands and generally easy to find. But there are even more good grainless brands out there that I forgot to mention.

[misty073]

I wondered about the rotating...they also have a beef mix and it contains the organ meat (not sure why the chicken doesnt) we have only had our Jack russell for about a month now. But my daughter (lives with us) has a yorkie with allergies and we started with the beef and his ear issues didnt go away...now they are fine with the chicken(with the exception that she fed him kibble twice because his food wasnt thawed and he has had some minor flare up)

We just figured stick to one kind for both dogs...but now I dont know if thats Ok or not?

They say on the website in the nutritional info about the oatmeal:

Rolled Oats
- High in soluble fiber (aids in keeping cholesterol levels low).
- High in levels of manganese, zinc, iron and b vitamins.
- Low in gluten.

So I am wondering it sounds like a good addition...do you do grainless? I have read so many mixed views on this online...it is overwhelming.

[briteday]

I think grains are ok, generally speaking, if your dog is ok with it. I have one dog that doesn't do well with any grains. That's how we ended up feeding raw.

As far as the pre-made food...if I could get something for $1.50/pound pre-made I would feed that instead of doing my own raw prep.

However, I would call the manufacturer and ask them why the chicken flavor doesn't have organ meat and how they are getting vitamins A & D (usually found in liver) into the mix.

Or you could just pick up a bucket of chicken liver and dole out a small spoonful in their meals daily. When I first started raw and introduced organ meat my dogs weren't so anxious to eat organs. So to provide enough variety of organs for them I mixed 1/2 liver to 1/2 mixed organs like packages of chicken gizzards, pork kidneys, or whatever I could get, blended them in the blender and poured them into an ice cube tray. Then I would pop one cube per day into each of their bowls (my dogs are small too).

[misty073]

Thanks!!!

I will give them a call tomorrow, I also wanted to ask them why on their site they have all the nutritional info on the beef mix but not the chicken. I did give them some turkey liver at Thanksgiving and they were not that fond of it LOL. they ate around it but then finally ate it because there was still food on their plates and they never leave an empty plate LOL.

I wonder about dehydrated liver as treats?

It says vitamin A comes from the eggs (and apparently there is vitamin D in eggs as well, but not sure its enough)

Silly question but would a dog get Vit D from the sun like we do? or do they have too much hair/fur??

Oh and for most of (all the ones I looked at) those foods above I cant buy them because I live in Canada and when I put my province in they didnt accept it. (but I would rather not buy food online anyways ) I was going to post the link to the nutritional value and ingredients of our food we use...but I wasnt sure if that was allowed and dont want to break any rules