# Calling the butcher....but help me?



## JMFutures (Dec 31, 2012)

Hey guys - I kinda feel silly asking this but I just have no idea what to ask for. I would really love to feed my toy poodle fresh raw. He is currently on commercial raw. I am going to call some local butchers but what do I ask them for? I am open to anything but honestly have no idea. I know I want fresh green tripe if i can get my hands on it! What else? Even if its stuff they would toss (but i also want good wholesome meat to - but again just don't know what to ask for) - - I just don't even know what to say....help?

Gibby - my toy poodle is 18 weeks old and weighs about 5 lbs. He eats Natures Variety frozen raw (Chicken, lamb, and just started duck). He also gets tripett green tripe and a whole chicken wing twice a week. This is as far as I have gone because I am clueless but am ready for the plunge!

ETA: Oh and what about if I have family and friends that hunt or fish? We live in ND.


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## JMFutures (Dec 31, 2012)

I am currently going through the sticky


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## brownlikewoah (May 3, 2012)

Unfortunately you won't be able to get the green tripe through a butcher- it is illegal in the US for a butcher to sell it (since it would be intended for human consumption blah blah, they'll only sell the bleached stuff) I had to get mine, frozen, through a local pet boutique. As for the rest of the food, you don't need to do anything special. Buy WHOLE, large cuts. As far as "stuff they would toss", the general rules is that dogs can handle more questionable things than us, use your judgement and your nose  If it stinks, don't feed it. I like to quarter chickens, freeze 3 of the chunks and let the dog work on a quarter at a time. Figure out how many ounces of meat your dog should be eating a day go from there. I learned to eyeball the amount that my dog should eat everyday, and loosely let her eat that amount before I take the meat away. I feed 80% meaty meat, 10% bone, 10% organ meat. Start off with one protein source (chicken is usually suggested) then the next week pick another, then the next another, eventually you'll be able to mix and match meats on different days. Remember, you don't need to feed rounded meals for every meal. Balance over time. Feed more organ on one day, more bone on another day, it doesn't really matter as well as it is balanced over a week or two. It's super easy once you get the hang of it (it may be worth buying a chest freezer to help stock meat while it's on sale) and you'll be saving a TON by not buying premade (and it's better for your dogs teeth too!)


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I have found useful cuts for toys are:
chicken wings (I halve them, as my dogs are fed twice a day)
chicken/duck giblets (heart, gizzard, neck, etc)
lamb ribs (one rib is about right for a single meal)
pork riblets, but only occasionally as they are very fatty
Pig/lamb/beef heart and kidney, in small quantities
Liver, in very small quantities
cheap minced beef, with quite a lot of fat
Any cheap chunks of meat that are not too fatty - skin, gristle and sinew are great! I once got several pounds for free from the bits bin, which with a bit of trimming to remove excess fat were fine.
For recreational bones, lamb shoulder bones and spines are good for littlies - although I have to watch them with the spines as they can eat them completely.

I buy frozen green tripe and frozen pet mince (human grade, but with 10% ground bone and 10% offal), as well as anything that is cheap and suitable from the butcher or supermarket. Mine don't like raw offal, so I usually cook up batches of the mince with some veg, and rotate RMB, tripe and cooked. Liver in any quantity gives them the trots, so that gets made into liver treats. They get salmon with rice once a week or so (too rich on its own!), or sardines.


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## JMFutures (Dec 31, 2012)

i had no idea about the tripe. So how does one get it fresh?


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## brownlikewoah (May 3, 2012)

JMFutures said:


> i had no idea about the tripe. So how does one get it fresh?


You have to either buy it frozen at a petstore or online, or make friends with someone who raises and butchers their own cow, sheep etc. I tried looking on craigslist to see if people would be willing to sell me just the tripe but no one was willing to, either they didn't reply or didn't want to deal with it. Some people believe that green tripe is the ultimate food and highly desirable, while others believe that while it is valuable, it isn't anything more special then any other organ and don't go out of their way to get it. Hope that helps


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## JMFutures (Dec 31, 2012)

curious....are their things the the butchers toss that I might be able to get really cheap or free? This will not by my main go to thing I was just curious.


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## brownlikewoah (May 3, 2012)

JMFutures said:


> curious....are their things the the butchers toss that I might be able to get really cheap or free? This will not by my main go to thing I was just curious.


I'm sure they have to toss things for going bad all the time, maybe you could build a relationship and make friends with them eventually and work something out, I haven't done that (yet muhahaha) I do post ads on craigslist looking for free meat though. I know not everyone would approve of this method, but I've feed two dogs for free for a month and a half by doing it. So far in the responses I've had they have been good, there is a lady who does bbq competitions and needed to clear out her freezer for the future years meat for bbq season, that was an awesome haul. Most items still have dates on them and have been frozen less than a year. Dogs can eat freezer burned meat just fine too, so keep that in mind. As long as it looks right, smells right, and is unseasoned, my dogs eat it. 
Here's a picture of my puppy Zora eating one of the free pork shoulders we got off craigslist


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## Angl (Nov 9, 2012)

Stupid question of the day...
Do you cook the chicken wings first to soften up the bones? I always thought you weren't supposed to give them chicken bones.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Not a stupid question - a very important one! RAW chicken bones are safe, especially the softer bones like wings, necks and backs. COOKED chicken bones are very dangerous! Cooking makes them more brittle, not less so, unless you pressure cook or slow cook them to a pulp.


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## JMFutures (Dec 31, 2012)

so what about fish? We have LOTS of lakes around  anything not to feed and best way to feed the fish? Just throw the whole fish to him?


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## AngelsMommy (Nov 3, 2012)

If you can get your baby to eat fish, I would do chunks for a toy unless they are very small fish.  My Angel will not touch fish, I don't really care for fish myself so for me that is fine. I would even think about fileting the fish as those bones are soooooo sharp! I still remember sticking them in my hand as a kid fishing! Not fun. 

Pressure cooking will make the bones soft as fjm says, and the fish I eat has been pressure cooked so I get bones that way. But I digress.  
You can get your tripe from the deer as it is the same as the beef or goat green tripe. But it is stinky! lol Since your family and friends hunt just ask for the stomach. I tried to do it, but the smell was too much for me at the time. I had two deer to process in one day, so no.  It was my first time processing, I did have help but I wanted to do as much as I could since it was for my baby. Having hunters willing to give you meat is a blessings and I am grateful for my friend that gave me the deer.  Feeding a standard raw is more expensive without these kinds of blessings. 


Good luck with the home made raw. I know that is has been wonderful for us!


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