# Opinions please - Aunt Jeni Raw



## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Hey - I think that was on the list of prepared raw foods that I posted? That site looks familiar. Since you have a toy, prepared raw wouldn't be nearly as expensive as it would be to feed a larger dog. I say go for it if it is what you are comfortable with and if it is going to get you to try raw for your pup. 

One of the downsides to prepared raw is that there are so many ingredients in there that you may or may not want your dog eating. Typically, a dog will react best to raw if it is introduced very blandly - such as bone-in chicken backs with fat and skin removed. If you are only feeding premade raw you will also be lacking the dental benefits of the bone-in meals, so I would go ahead and add some raw meaty bones.

I say give it a try. Like someone else on this forum once said, premade is the gateway to homemade raw.  Many who feed pre-made raw end up going to homemade raw at some point, due to the cost and desire to control what their dog eats. Those with smaller dogs might be able to stay on premade without breaking the bank!


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## pap2labc (Jun 25, 2010)

I fed Aunt Jeni's about 7 years ago and was very happy with it. One of my dogs had struvite bladder stones and a raw diet helped to keep them from forming again. I don't feed it now because with my current pack of dogs it would cost more to feed them per month than the humans! I think I would feed 130 lbs. per month?? With one small dog, though, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

Aunt Jeni has ground bone in all its formulations except beef. They suggest giving the dogs raw bones too and sell those also. I plan on using this as a breaking in measure till I have a better handle on raw. I also will be having my nieces babysit Swizzle (my husband has a business trip to France and I am going with him) and I want it to be easy to feed him. I also like to watch Swizzle when he eats bone. I don't know if this is necessary as he is a good chewer but i would rather err on the side of caution. I think he will adapt well. He has had no problems with the raw I gave him except one case of fossile poop and that only took a little extra effort to get rid of.

There are a few things I struggle with raw. Swizzle is a 5 pound toy. I read you are not suppose to cut up bones but when I weigh things out there are not a lot of bones he can eat whole. I end up giving him the whole bone anyway - chicken drumsticks, chicken wings, turkey necks but that is probably too much bone for a dog his size. I learned that hearts and gizzards are considered muscle meat and I have fed him that and chicken meat and turkey meat. I bought chicken backs and tried to cut it up to give him a reasonable size but I could not get it cut. I don't know if it is my technique or my knife but I finally gave up and froze it till I can find out what I am doing wrong. I have not fed him organ meat yet as I heard you should work that in after about 3 months. I am planning on making the liver treat someone on this forum posted and just sprinkling this into his food. Do you think this is OK - I read lots of dogs don't enjoy raw organs? I am also looking into finding sources for green tripe (that is organ meat right?). Is canned green tripe OK? I am not sure I can find fresh. 

If Swizzle was larger I would feel more comfortable but with a smaller dog there is less margin for error. I appreciate the feedback on this variety of food especially hearing how pap2labc has used it and was happy with it. Since Swizzle is only 9 months it is even more important I don't mess up and give him rickets or something. I do wish there was a guide on feeding raw to toys since I think there are challenges other dogs don't face. I also think feeding raw makes even more sense with toys because of their oral health problems. Hopefully Jeni will get me over the hump till I can become educated enough to feel raw myself.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

CT Girl said:


> Aunt Jeni has ground bone in all its formulations except beef. They suggest giving the dogs raw bones too and sell those also. I plan on using this as a breaking in measure till I have a better handle on raw. I also will be having my nieces babysit Swizzle (my husband has a business trip to France and I am going with him) and I want it to be easy to feed him. I also like to watch Swizzle when he eats bone. I don't know if this is necessary as he is a good chewer but i would rather err on the side of caution. I think he will adapt well. He has had no problems with the raw I gave him except one case of fossile poop and that only took a little extra effort to get rid of.
> 
> There are a few things I struggle with raw. Swizzle is a 5 pound toy. I read you are not suppose to cut up bones but when I weigh things out there are not a lot of bones he can eat whole. I end up giving him the whole bone anyway - chicken drumsticks, chicken wings, turkey necks but that is probably too much bone for a dog his size. I learned that hearts and gizzards are considered muscle meat and I have fed him that and chicken meat and turkey meat. I bought chicken backs and tried to cut it up to give him a reasonable size but I could not get it cut. I don't know if it is my technique or my knife but I finally gave up and froze it till I can find out what I am doing wrong. I have not fed him organ meat yet as I heard you should work that in after about 3 months. I am planning on making the liver treat someone on this forum posted and just sprinkling this into his food. Do you think this is OK - I read lots of dogs don't enjoy raw organs? I am also looking into finding sources for green tripe (that is organ meat right?). Is canned green tripe OK? I am not sure I can find fresh.
> 
> If Swizzle was larger I would feel more comfortable but with a smaller dog there is less margin for error. I appreciate the feedback on this variety of food especially hearing how pap2labc has used it and was happy with it. Since Swizzle is only 9 months it is even more important I don't mess up and give him rickets or something. I do wish there was a guide on feeding raw to toys since I think there are challenges other dogs don't face. I also think feeding raw makes even more sense with toys because of their oral health problems. Hopefully Jeni will get me over the hump till I can become educated enough to feel raw myself.


For a little guy you will have to cut the bones sometimes. Just try and make sure they are big enough that he will have to work on them rather than gulping them. 

If you are having trouble cutting through bones, I would suggest a pair of shears, that is designed for cutting through bone. I got a pair at target and they work much better than the knives I was using when I first started feeding raw.

Good luck!


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

I don't know why I did not think of shears - that will work. I was using my cleaver on the chicken backs and the way it was going one of my finger's was going to be a casualty. How do you count yogurt or pumpkin in the ratios? Or is this a rare treat that you don't even count?


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

CT Girl said:


> I don't know why I did not think of shears - that will work. I was using my cleaver on the chicken backs and the way it was going one of my finger's was going to be a casualty. How do you count yogurt or pumpkin in the ratios? Or is this a rare treat that you don't even count?


What ratios? Do you mean balancing the diet? Well, personally, I don't count it. Any extras like yogurt or pumpkin are just extras. I personally balance the diet to have approximately 80% muscle meat, 10% bone and 10% organ. I occasionally throw in a veggie slop for good measure (controversial among raw feeders and the different methods) and I occasionally give a scoop of yogurt or some pumpkin. These are not included in my balancing of the diet, though.


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## liljaker (Aug 6, 2011)

Not sure if this is still relevant, since post was in July, but I used Aunt Jeni's for Jake and he loved it. Ingredients are great, and it actually smelled good, which not all raw does. The only thing I didn't like was the larger containers, as I had to break in daily portions and it was a little time consuming.


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

Thank you liljaker. I like the quality and source of the ingredients. I have started Swizzle on this and he loves it. You do have to weigh out the portions but you would have to do this with any raw.


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## liljaker (Aug 6, 2011)

I also fed him Stella and Chewy's frozen raw and they were patties and it was much easier; smaller patties, so you could just pull out a few. But Jake liked Aunt Jennies' and Stella and Chewy's.


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## Poodlelvr (Mar 13, 2010)

Right now I am feeding my two toy poodles Stella and Chewie's freeze dried raw. It's easy to order online. They love it. I also do some home cooking for them


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## liljaker (Aug 6, 2011)

Yep, I found it great too. Also liked the frozen patties.


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## vcapata (Aug 21, 2011)

I have a friend who has used Aunt Jeni's exclusively for her Ridgebacks. She has most of her friends feeding AJ's and they all have very healthy dogs. All of the dogs are large dogs.


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