# From newbie to pro...to fresh food we go!



## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

I could never do this, I don't know how you do it. I feed an all-prepared raw and I find it a pain in the neck. I have trouble cooking for us, humans, forget about fussing over the dog's food...

Merlin is not finicky anymore, he eats any kibble I give him. His anal glands are bothering him because the stools are too compact and small. I am going back to work soon and I am seriously thinking about switching back to kibbles.

Anyway, I admire what you do but it's not for me...


----------



## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

YUM! Wishing I had a freezer!
Have you seen the size of an Apt sized freezer? Molly's lucky she's fed any raw at all Hahaha!!! (I do weigh and bag enough portions for a few weeks at a time!)


----------



## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I'm glad you have got into your stride - I am actually experimenting a bit with feeding more raw, which the cats seem to prefer. I know several people who feed their toys once a day, very successfully - I had a Papillon staying for a few days and couldn't understand why he didn't want breakfast until I discovered he was used to one large meal in the evenng. I think persuading mine that food come less often might be difficult though - there alarm clock tummies would give me little peace!


----------



## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

I have fed once a day for many, many years. It is not a problem at all.


----------



## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

We've fed twice a day for years, beginning with our big Lab, because I'd read it might reduce the risk of bloat. That may have been disproven (just like the feeding-from-an-elevated-dish recommendation, which we also followed for years, and which now appears to be associated with an increased risk of bloat), but Jazz and Blue have the same alarm clocks in their tummies that Sophy and Poppy have, so we'll continue with two-a-days here. We do alter the schedule, though, so they don't anticipate a particular time for feeding.


----------



## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Oh! That oh so reliable alarm clock in their tummies. It's precise...morning and late afternoon at exactly the time I always fed...8:30 and 4:30. :clock2: I felt TERRIBLE just cold turkey eliminating their breakfast. The poor babies. I just couldn't do it abruptly. There they are, looking up at me with every move I make in the kitchen...just couldn't do it.

What I have done is the first few days, about a week and a half ago, I gave them a very small meal...a few chunks of this and that in their bowls. Then I hand fed them some chunks but no bowl and I started varying the time a little bit...sometimes earlier, sometimes later and then still later and fewer chunks. Sometimes they got a big tablespoon of yogurt that I sat down on the floor with and let them take turns licking, then maybe a bite of one other thing. Yesterday, I think was the first day I didn't give them anything except a few shared pieces of my banana. So, they get treats and things a little bit...for training mostly. And no more bowls or even hand feeding in the morning. 

Then at 4 or 4:30 they get a big meal. I always wonder if it's too much or too little. But we'll see. They needed to lose a wee bit of weight so maybe this will do it because I don't think I'm feeding the equivalent of the former two meals, but perhaps about half again as much as one meal. I am watching their weight and feeling for their ribs carefully, as this is a switch.


----------



## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Dechi said:


> I have fed once a day for many, many years. It is not a problem at all.


Well, I've been researching and it looks like it might just be a darn good idea. In nature, there are longer breaks between meals and the way their digestion works, it gives the enzymes a chance to prepare for the next meal when there is a good break between as opposed to constantly having to work at digestion. I worried about hypoglycemia but learned that because they're getting a good, high protein, no carbs (except for the teensy bit of veggies I give them, which may not be for long as I study this more) they are not likely to have those spikes in glucose. What they eat, in other words, seems to last them longer.

Judy, I remember all that worry about bloat when I had my Doberman. They're very susceptible too. I remember keeping him quiet for an hour before and 2 hours after a meal. And raising his food bowl a little and then not raising it when the "experts" changed their minds. LOL. It went full circle and now they admit they just don't know what brings it on.


----------



## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Dechi said:


> I could never do this, I don't know how you do it. I feed an all-prepared raw and I find it a pain in the neck. I have trouble cooking for us, humans, forget about fussing over the dog's food...
> 
> Merlin is not finicky anymore, he eats any kibble I give him. His anal glands are bothering him because the stools are too compact and small. I am going back to work soon and I am seriously thinking about switching back to kibbles.
> 
> Anyway, I admire what you do but it's not for me...


Oh dear...well, how about fluffing up his poo with some canned pumpkin or some fresh veggies pureed? I know they supposedly don't need carbs but maybe the fiber aspect of it would help his stools. Either that or I was thinking it might be prudent to add some of their hair when I groom them. LOL! Seriously though...they would be eating a little hair and feathers if they were eating naturally, out in the field somewhere, no? My dogs have pretty firm poo and it's compact but not too small. I think when it's too skinny, it doesn't press against the glands. When I see coyote poo on my walks, I see hair in it and it's also compact, firm and small looking for the size of the animal. 

I know what you mean. At first this was kind of over whelming. It still takes more time to fix than putting kibble in a bowl. But it's become more routine, there's not that hesitation I had before. I just go bam, bam, bam. I have everything in a 8x8 cake pan in the fridge that I'm going to use for the next day or two, all in baggies. They're labeled. I grab some organ meat, some muscle meat, some bones, some tripe. Sprinkle on some egg shell for Jose` and a little mussel powder, squirt a pump of sardine/anchovy oil and we're good to go.


----------



## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

I started giving him a bit of kibble, hoping it would help. We'll see how this goes.


----------



## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Dechi said:


> I could never do this, I don't know how you do it. I feed an all-prepared raw and I find it a pain in the neck. I have trouble cooking for us, humans, forget about fussing over the dog's food...
> 
> Merlin is not finicky anymore, he eats any kibble I give him. His anal glands are bothering him because the stools are too compact and small. I am going back to work soon and I am seriously thinking about switching back to kibbles.
> 
> Anyway, I admire what you do but it's not for me...



Fixed the too small poop problem with Timi by adding defrosted frozen organic string beans or broccoli to every meal. She eats freeze dried raw mixed with water.


----------



## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

MollyMuiMa said:


> YUM! Wishing I had a freezer!
> Have you seen the size of an Apt sized freezer? Molly's lucky she's fed any raw at all Hahaha!!! (I do weigh and bag enough portions for a few weeks at a time!)


I know apartment sized freezers are usually just part of the fridge, right? You could still do it but you'd have to shop more often I guess. I think what you do works fine though.


----------



## seminolewind (Mar 11, 2016)

I was told they swallow less air when their bowls are raised. Now they say not?

The other thing I would be concerned about is rough housing or rolling around on the floor -I wouldn't let them do it after a meal.


----------



## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

On the subject of fridges and freezers, I had to defrost my elderly F/F yesterday without first running down the contents (it doesn't have a built in defrost). I packed the fridge part and a cool box with the contents of the freezer, including a hell of a lot of dog and cat food, defrosted the freezer as rapidly as I could, switched it back on ... and nothing happened. Light in the fridge but no whoomp. My neighbours came to the rescue with a smaller spare from their garage which we squeezed into my hall, and fortunately mine seems to have recovered this morning, now the fridge part isn't confused by all the frozen stuff. A salutory lesson to me to have a back up plan though.


----------



## seminolewind (Mar 11, 2016)

Just FYI, if you do chicken, find someone local who processes their chickens. Much cleaner. I can tell you from mine they do not carry salmonella. If they got it as an older bird it would kill them. E. coli is very common in chickens, but with the method of processing, it's also much lower risk. So you'd get cleaner chickens . I'm not talking about organic supermarket chickens, just someone who normally raises chichens.


----------



## sidewinder (Feb 3, 2016)

I'm trying to transition the Scotties over to raw, so I can start the new pup that way (gradually, of course). I want to have my method down before puppy arrives. However, I'm having some challenges. I have one dog that seems to have a more sensitive stomach and is having diarrhea issues. I thought it was because I increased the raw portion too fast, but I'm wondering if she is sensitive to the chicken. 

In the past I always fed the dogs once a day, in the evening. My transitioning method has been to feed the raw portion in the morning, and continuing with kibble (TOTW salmon) in the evening. The raw portion has been getting bigger and the kibble smaller. Until yesterday when someone (don't know which one, they have a doggie door) got the squirts. 

Any suggestions or comments? I need some help!


----------



## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Oh dear! Fjm! That's so scary. I'm so glad your neighbors came to the rescue. It's weird how the freezer started working again. I wonder if there's a bad connection or the motor is going out. (?) I'd check on that. It would really be a shame to lose all the food. 

Seminolwind...I am on the search for a local farmer where I can get some chickens. But it's not for the reason of salmonella. I am not worried about that at all. It's more about how they're raised and about omega 3's. lol.

Here's something that might be of interest:


http://k9joy.com/dogarticles/doghealth01salmonella.pdf


Myths About Raw: Are cooked diets a better alternative to raw?


----------



## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

sidewinder said:


> I'm trying to transition the Scotties over to raw, so I can start the new pup that way (gradually, of course). I want to have my method down before puppy arrives. However, I'm having some challenges. I have one dog that seems to have a more sensitive stomach and is having diarrhea issues. I thought it was because I increased the raw portion too fast, but I'm wondering if she is sensitive to the chicken.
> 
> In the past I always fed the dogs once a day, in the evening. My transitioning method has been to feed the raw portion in the morning, and continuing with kibble (TOTW salmon) in the evening. The raw portion has been getting bigger and the kibble smaller. Until yesterday when someone (don't know which one, they have a doggie door) got the squirts.
> 
> Any suggestions or comments? I need some help!


If it were me, I'd ditch the kibble altogether. And go cold "turkey." Well, chicken first. How much bone are you feeding? Have you begun organ meat? I also recommend you go on a raw food forum. I'll pm you.


----------



## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I think the FF didn't come on because the thermostat is in the fridge part, which was so cold because of all the frozen food it didn't trigger the thermostat - the answer is not to put too much frozen food in the fridge!

On dogs with squits - mine get this with too much organ meat, especially liver. 5% of 50g, which is what they get at each meal, is a miniscule amaount, but too much at any one meal has a disastrous effect, particularly upon Sophy. If they ave not got into anything else unpleasant, I would strongly suspect too much offal.


----------



## sidewinder (Feb 3, 2016)

Yup, too much beef kidney did it! I'm back to one chicken wing each for breakfast. I'm either going to go back to kibble completely so I can use mine up, THEN start the raw, or keep doing what I'm doing for now...raw AM, kibble PM. I think it would be better to go cold turkey, but I haven't really got my sources lined up at this point, and I have 2 40 lb bags of good TOTW in my pantry!

I guess I am a little paranoid about doing prey model. It just doesn't seem that it could be "complete". I plan on adding a little veg, as per Poodlebeguiled, for my peace of mind. When I did this before, years ago, half the meal was veg. Each week I bought stacks of every kind of veg at the store and did grinds with my Quisinart. The packs I froze usually had a dozen different veg's in them! LOTS OF WORK! At one point, I was feeding 5 adult Scotties, a Spoo and a litter of 6 puppies. It got to be too much when we started a kitchen remodel! Prey model looks lots easier, but I need to line up good sources.

I'm glad to have some folks to contact who have done this before. Last time, I did it all on my own. Thank heaven for the internet...but there wasn't a whole lot on there either at the time, and only a couple of books out.


----------



## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

The best site I have found is DogAware.com: Diet & Health Info for Man's Best Friend - comprehensive, based on considerable research, and regularly updated.


----------

