[d_ray]

Forgive me if this has already been asked, but I didnt see it anywhere. Do you generally feed the raw food outside? I'm stocking my freezer with chicken backs and legs and am going to start raw, but am wondering how you control not contaminating the house with Samonella? What are people's techniques? I was thinking of using a mat of some sort and then sanitizing it after? I would feed outside in the summer, but right now, our yard is covered in snow.

 

[dagwall]

I just put a towel down under the bowl so if anything drops it hits the towel. Towel gets washed as needed. He stays over the towel now but when we first started I actually leashed him up before hand so he couldn't go anywhere with the food. He soon got comfortable with the idea of staying over the towel as I'd nudge him back anytime he started to wander away. Really didn't take long for him to understand and accept that it where he needed to stay.

 

[Kathyy]

Inside in a gated hard floored area and I mop up with vinegar and water. Gave up on the towel, especially with nice big meals that take a long time to finish.

Outside the sun is going to sterilize the ground.

 

[Shell]

I have a boot tray from Tractor Supply that is like a really large place-mat with a lip around it (only $5 and double the side of those dog feeding mats in pet stores) and I wipe it with vinegar after meals.

Or if its something they want to gnaw on for a long time and the weather is too bad to eat outside, I just keep the dog on the tile floor and wipe the floor or use a steam mop.

 

[Sibe]

I feed on a tarp. Cheap, easy to clean, easy to store. I get a big size tarp and cut it into 4 pieces. I replace it every ~6 months or as needed.

 

[d_ray]

Thanks for all of the suggestions! I will probably have to leash her to begin with as she has a tendency to take high value items into her dog bed. I may try the tarp on the kitchen floor and gate her in there while she eats. How long does it generally take a medium (60 pound) dog to eat a chicken back? Just a rough estimate? She goes through things very quickly. Are we talking minutes or hours?

 

[dagwall]

First few raw meaty bones will got slower than most once she gets used to it. I'd estimate a matter of minutes for sure.

 

[Sibe]

Agree, usually they're slow the first few meals as they're figuring it out. Dogs used to raw would eat a chicken back in about 30 seconds I'd guess. New dog, several minutes.

 

[Canyx]

I just started a thread but am realizing I maybe should have just asked raw-specific questions here...

1. If I am getting a lot of tendon in my dog's diet, can I possibly take him off the supplements (glucosamine, Vit E, fish oil) that I give him as a preventative against joint issues? He shows no signs of slowing even with a pretty active lifestyle, but he IS 8+ years... In the same vein, any sources out there that tell you if feeding a lot of natural sources of collagen might be the same, or better, than feeding joint supplements?

2. A lot of the scraps that I'm getting are discards... So not pure meat, but meat ends with tendons on them, dried meat, fat caps, etc. A lot of the prey model raw articles online agree that 80% of the diet should be meat+fats+connective tissue but any word on how much actual meat should be within that 80% ratio? Here is a picture of a typical scrap pile I'm left with:

 

[Sibe]

That is a *lot* of fat and connective tissue. You'd need to supplement with meaty meat. So you're basic breakdown is 80-10-10 being 80% meat, 10% bone, 10% organ. I've seen it broken further into 70% meat, 10% fat, 10% edible bone, 5% liver, 5% other organ.

So for taking him off joint supps, can't speak on that. No idea.

 

[Canyx]

Okeedokes, I might just supplement kibble with the occasional handful of discards then.

 

[Sibe]

I do PMR, but I actually bought a small bag of kibble last month (Merrick Grain Free) to use for dispensers and puzzles and since they never get kibble it's a high value treat now that I use for Denali's agility training and such.

 

[Canyx]

Another question... Is the occasional frozen meal okay? Forgot to have something thawed for this morning so I gave him a ~1.5lb frozen chunk of meat scraps that took a good while for him to gnaw down. I've heard that it messes with some dogs' stomachs and others are fine...

 

[taquitos]

Another question... Is the occasional frozen meal okay? Forgot to have something thawed for this morning so I gave him a ~1.5lb frozen chunk of meat scraps that took a good while for him to gnaw down. I've heard that it messes with some dogs' stomachs and others are fine...

I don't find it messes up their tummies, but I am a little leery of feeding raw rock hard frozen just because some dogs bite too hard on the frozen piece.

I know people do it though. I personally just would not do it with anything with bone

 

[Flaming]

I personally know 2 dogs that refuse to eat unless it is frozen and a third that eats thawed too fast and gets sick so has to eat frozen.


And well I'm lazy and Manna's not picky between frozen and thawed

 

[Canyx]

Thanks for the advice everyone!
We pretty much jumped into raw and I now have no issues with quantity and proportions. I'm well stocked on organs for weeks out. Raw is everything it 'promises' to be... Soro LOVES it, his poops are smaller and more infrequent. He is becoming less picky about different ages, cuts, and textures. And I'm able to procure a wide variety. His energy and health seem to be same or better.

My only issue as of now is liver causes him to have the runs. And I mean full on squits. If I feed bone on organ days, it makes it better. But if I am not prepared for that, I can pretty much expect liquid on the other end. It fixes up the next day especially going back to more meat and less organ. I calculate and I try my best to intersperse the organ throughout the week, not feeding him organ meals yet. And I do believe liver is mostly the culprit (he also gets lungs, testicles, etc). And I guess I am just hoping that he gets used to it eventually. Anyone have a projection of how long it might take a dog to get there? I know the effects of diets are not immediate and every dog is different.

 

[Kathyy]

I'd make up a lot of daily liver doses and toss him one daily rather than expect him to ever be able to handle all liver meals. He isn't young, perhaps his GIT will never be up to such a meal. Max never did go beyond bone every other day for instance and he started raw at the age of eight years where 5 year old Ginger is fine on bone twice a week along with her organs.

 

[Canyx]

Thanks Kathyy, he currently gets roughly 3 meals a week with liver but I will try to break it down further.

 

[kadylady]

Zoey does better with small amounts of organ more frequently vs larger amounts less often. And always with at least a little bit of bone. Luke can handle more. I usually portion it out and freeze in those small amounts so I can just toss in a chunk or 2 of whatever when I need to.

 

[kadylady]

I started the new puppy on raw. She's 8 weeks old. Anything I should know that's different about feeding a young puppy raw vs my adult dogs? I'm feeding her at about 10% of her current weight right now as I'm not quite sure what her expected adult weight is. Probably in the ballpark of 40# give or take.