Started feeding my dogs a raw diet and have some questions?

Question

I have two Dachshunds and I decided, after a long time of debate, to start them on a completely raw diet. I have joined some Yahoo Lists to help me and I've read all of the websites...

This is where I am so far: It's been about 4 days

I feed my male dog 1 chicken quarter a day, he loves it. He had some constipation issues, and then this morning pretty bad diarrhea. I am going to change it to two or three smaller meals a day. Does that sound like that is the issue and changing the meal number will help?

Secondly, my female hates chicken. She refused to eat it even when it was cooked before, so now switching her over has been of some difficulty. She loves the bones, so I try to leave meat on a thigh bone and give it to her that way... There isn't much meat on it at all or she'll refuse to eat it. Is it okay that she isn't eating that much meat compared to bone? She has been pooping regularly, but is it providing enough nutrition?

Lastly, is there anyone on here who wouldn't mind mentoring me through this early stage a little?

Thanks

Answer 1

Have a look at the link in my source below. You are NOT feeding them well. Dogs need vegetables/fruits as well as protein. This is a common misconception, that you can just feed raw meat to your dog and they'll get all the nutrients they need. Try adding steamed veggies (broccoli, carrots, corn) to their meal.



I'd put your dogs back onto a high quality kibble until you are more experienced.

Answer 2

The constipation in your male dog is likely due to too much bone. This is really gross, but was the loose stool covered in mucus? that is an idication of intestinal irritation which can accompany too much bone in the diet. If that is the case, you can simply cut the leg bone out of the chicken quarters to see if that works, or try and find some split breasts with the bone in (meatier, but still enough bone to help newbie dogs keep good firm poo). If his poop was runny with no mucus, then my question is did you use a different source or brand for that chicken? Check all your chicken for "enhancements" like broth or other additives. If you can't find unenhanced chicken, soaking the chicken in water for a couple hours can help draw some of the solutions out.



Your female dog needs more meat! Several suggestions on getting her to eat chicken:

1. Serve it room temp

2. Sear the outside

3. Cut the meat into ribbons on the bone to make them look less intimidating

4. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on the meat, or put some inside the ribbons.

5. Tough love, make it chicken or nothing. Put the meat down for a little while, maybe 30 minutes, and if she doesn't eat it, put it in the fridge for the next meal. One day/meal going hungry won't hurt her.



Good luck and welcome to the "raw side"!

Answer 3

You can email me at [e-mail]



I've got 4 dogs and 3 ferrets on a raw diet, I've been feeding them a raw diet since October '05. I am actually a mentor for switching ferrets so I'd be happy to mentor you.



Another great site to check out is Dogster, that is where I learnt about raw feeding.

www.dogster.com

Answer 4

Hi,

I can only say what my experience is with my dogs. I've been feeding my dogs a raw diet for about 4 years now, and would not feed them anything else again. You can look it up on the internet (BARF diet). I feed them twice a day. They get minced meat (mostly poultry and bones and everything minced together) with the same amount of very finely chopped veggies, also raw. It is very important that you give them veggies also. Then I also give them one tablespoon of oil per day.

They are in perfect condition with healthy shiny coats, and has been that way ever since I started.

Answer 5

For your male - two meals is best. constipation - too much bone -loose stools and not actual diarrhea - to little bone



Bone should be only 10% of her diet if you have to find another meat source she likes. try cornish game hens, turkey, add some beef or pork to her chicken.



If you are on raw chat raw pup or raw feeding there should be someone there willing to lend a hand.



Also try the dogster forum for raw feeding

Answer 6

Congratulations on switching to a truly natural feeding regime.

Try the links below. If you have joined some raw feeding lists, you should find plenty of people there willing to help.

Answer 7

Did you already tried using Eating for Energy (120 raw food diet recipes) mechanism? Go to this url : http://www.StayEatingRaw.com/Support . It might truly benefit anyone!

Answer 8

Jacky your doing just fine with the feeding your dog that way but keep your dog healthy and keep up any visits to your vet too so keep the shots all up to date and you'll do just fine .