[momtolabs]

I know there are stickys but didn't find one to answer my question. Would this be okay to feed? Lets say I go to the butcher and ask for Chicken wings and thighs. Start Tank out on that just to see how he does. Then where would I go from there? I know there is pre-made Raw and stuff but I have no pet stores or anything around here that have that. Plus the butcher is a lot cheaper (I am 15 and baby/dog sit for money.) I only plan on putting Tank on a Raw diet. Bentley and Mae do fine with kibble, tank does not. How did you start out? What did you feed first and then work your way up? I plan on doing 1/2 raw, 1/3 Kibble BTW.

 

[Willowy]

A Lab probably shouldn't be having chicken wings (too small, might go down whole). Quarters would be good, and thighs (chicken quarters are super cheap--10-pound bag at Wal-Mart for $7). I only give my dogs raw occasionally, usually chicken quarters and beef ribs. They probably get quarters once a week or so and ribs maybe once a month.

 

[Kayota]

Roxie is going through some bone in skin on chicken thighs right now. Make sure you check the fine print though, some of it is "enhanced" with 15% chicken broth...

 

[marsha=whitie]

First, you need to figure out how much your dog should be eating a day. You do this by taking the dogs ideal adult weight and multiplying it by .03 (3%). Chicken is the best meat to stay with, but make sure it isn't enhanced. The very maximum for enhancement is 100mg of sodium per 4oz. Start as big as possible. Try buying a whole chicken, ten figure out how many meals your dog should get out of it (ex. if its a 4lbs chicken and your dog should get 2lbs per day, then monitor your dog and take the chicken away when he has eaten a meals worth.) Starting out you will want to break the daily amount into two servings to help reduce tummy upsets. So to give you an idea, if its a 4lbs chicken and your dogs daily serving is 2lbs, you will monitor your dog and take the chicken away when 1/4 of it is gone (1st meal of the day) then do the same with the second meal, then repeat for the next day. You don't have to measure exactly, so long thatyour dog gets close to what its needs.

The reason to start big is to help prevent the dog from gulping. Some dogs literally inhale food whole, which could cause choking or obstructions. You don't want that!

After being on chicken for a few weeks, you can slowly introduce other meats. Just remember the 80/10/10 ratios. 80% meat, 10% bone, 10% organ (5% of this HAS to he liver, no exceptions). Organs can be offered later of in small amounts.

Good luck! If you have questions, just ask. There are a lot of people here who feed PMR, myself included, that will gladly help.

 

[marsha=whitie]

I missed the half and half bit. If you are going to still feed kibble, skip anything with bone. You could probably feed chicken breasts (which don't have much bone) and be okay. My dog Callie, who lives with my parents, is half raw half kibble. In the morning she gets a hunk of meat that is half of what she would be fed completely raw, then half of a kibble serving.

You could give a bone meal maybe once week or so for tooth maintenance, but I definitely wouldn't give bone too often because of all the calcium in kibble. Something the I have found to be easy is giving pork heart. They are usually around .5lbs, and are completely meat.

 

[kafkabeetle]

I missed the half and half bit. If you are going to still feed kibble, skip anything with bone. You could probably feed chicken breasts (which don't have much bone) and be okay. My dog Callie, who lives with my parents, is half raw half kibble. In the morning she gets a hunk of meat that is half of what she would be fed completely raw, then half of a kibble serving.

You could give a bone meal maybe once week or so for tooth maintenance, but I definitely wouldn't give bone too often because of all the calcium in kibble. Something the I have found to be easy is giving pork heart. They are usually around .5lbs, and are completely meat.

What's wrong with extra calcium from the bones?

 

[marsha=whitie]

What's wrong with extra calcium from the bones?

If I am correct, excess calcium can make bones brittle. I am limited to my phone, but I will try to get some resources.

 

[kafkabeetle]

If I am correct, excess calcium can make bones brittle. I am limited to my phone, but I will try to get some resources.

I swear raw feeding seems to get more complicated every day. ;p I did always wonder why percentages of bone and fat were not included in most breakdowns for balancing a raw diet. I guess because they're somewhat difficult to calculate, since you can't just remove all the bone and fat to weigh it (or it would make no sense to)?

 

[Willowy]

From what I understand from the cat forum, the calcium/phosphorus balance is more important than how much calcium. I think there are online calculators about how to balance everything.

A lot of the raw feeders on the cat forum feed boneless and supplement calcium. Because, they say, it's too hard to figure out how much bone is in something and how much calcium is available from that bone (some bones are denser than others, etc.). I suppose there's a wider margin for error with a large dog, though.