Sasha's Mom Posted July 17, 2008 Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 So after much reading and hemming and hawing, I found 10lb bags of chicken thighs/legs at WalMart today (for $5) and thought, what the hell... Nik took his into the grass and polished his pound off pretty quickly, albeit with chewing. Took much longer than his usual inhaling. Sassy finished next, also in the grass. Sasha, who is the main reason we're trying this (lots of licking and scratching, and her coat just looks awful these days - no proven allergies, but we are suspicious) settled down on the floor mat on the patio and spent about 10-15 minutes. Zoe drug hers off to the side yard and munched for a good 20 minutes. And looked like she was in heaven. And little Rue might just still be working on it. Nope- I think she's done. She spent the first 10 minutes playing with it, I think. There was a lot of ferocious snorking and snapping and flipping the thing around, but she really didn't start chewing for awhile. (about 30 min total entertainment for mom) So overall, everyone figured this out really, really fast. I'm not sure exactly how much is optimal, so advice appreciated. I've read 2-3% body weight, but that might have been working dogs. And Nik's definition of "work" is a walk of the perimeter and a nap. Nik 75lbs Sassy 62 lbs Sasha 48 lbs Zoe 40 lbs Rue 26 lbs (9 mo old) but growing Zoe and Rue are far more active than the others, and got more kibble than the 3 others simply because of their energy needs. They each got their morning kibble (1/2c), and 1 lb of chicken tonight. It seems that some people go "cold turkey," some switch gradually, and some feed a mix. I'd like to go to a prey model eventually, but figure I'll go sort of slow as we figure this out. I gave a couple of slivers of meat to Cat #1, who loved it; Cat #2 wanted nothing at all to do with it. (They're the ones with the worst gum disease, unfortunately, so I'm going to try to get them on it.) And now I have some very happy dogs. We'll just see how this goes. Hopefully everyone chewed enough that they're not going to hork up a wad of chicken on the rug later. Danielle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted July 18, 2008 Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 Hi Danielle, My border collies range in weight from 32 to 45 pounds, and it's the smallest and the biggest who get the most (about 1.25 lbs). The others get three quarters to a pound per day. I am also raw feeding a 100-lb guard dog who will only eat 2 pounds per day when it's hot. He'll eat a lot more in the winter. You really have to try it and adjust based on body condition. I'd caution you that legs and thighs have more bone and less muscle than you'd want as a continuous diet, particularly for the pup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc4pack Posted July 18, 2008 Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 There are a lot of good sites on prey model, plus the Yahoo raw feeding list. Good way to pick up what you need to know... and there's been some info in the archives here too. As for how much to feed it is dog dependent... and variety over the long term, with appropriate amount of bone, muscle and organ meat. When I started I never really weighed out food... I have 4 that are within 10 lbs of each other in weight but differ in age and one is an 'easy keeper'. The leaner guys get more , the easy keeper gets less. You figure it out by paying attention to your dog... don't stress about it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryP Posted July 18, 2008 Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 Usually, what we do is feed an all meat meal in the morning and feed a bone meal for dinner. We mix in organ meat and other stuff here and there and also give the occasional raw egg. My three are fed as follows: Milo (55 lbs., 23 inches, 9 years old) gets about 3/4 lbs. per day Charlie (51 lbs, 24 inches, almost 3 years old) gets about 1.25 to 1.5 lbs. per day Skittles (45 lbs., 20 inches, almost 2 years old) gets about 1 lb. per day Charlie is my most active, which is why he gets more. Ideally, I'd like to get Milo to about 52 lbs, but it's tough to get weight off of him without downright starving him. He is hypothyroid (takes medicine) and is not as active anymore due to HD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewie'sMom Posted July 18, 2008 Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 Hey Danielle, good for you getting the furkids on raw. I've had Lewie on raw for about 4 months now and he seems to be flourishing, teeth look great, coat is shiny and he has lots of energy. I was concerned that he'd lose weight but after the first month he'd gained 3 or 4 pounds. He just turned 1-year this week so in April he still had a little growing to do. Now, if I could just convince my vet that raw is good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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