Feeding dogs raw meat

pipkin71

I have two Jack Russells and they have a fresh meat diet, which is cooked, as they tend to eat what we do or they have boiled chicken breasts if they can't have the same meal.

Following a recent discussion, the subject of feeding a raw meat diet was mentioned. I have tried the dogs on fresh mince, raw pieces of beef or steak which the male dog has gone for but the female is not so keen, she seems to prefer cooked meat. I haven't tried the chicken yet but am sure the male will go for it as he was fed raw chicken wings before we had him.

Really, I would like to hear from anyone who feeds their dog/s a raw meat diet - what are your experiences and what else do you give them.

They are regularly wormed so I'm not too worried if they have raw pork, for example, but is it better to freeze first? I'm sure someone said it was, just in case.

I would really appreciate hearing how others get on with their dog's diet and if they have noticed any difference in health after feeding them raw meat.

Thanks in advance

catkins

Hi Pipkin, I remember the other thread and I was one of the posters who said they feed raw.


It is recommended that you start off with chicken and then gradually add in other meats, fish etc. There is a lot of good information on line and, if you are on facebook, there are is a very good group called "Raw Feeding UK". There is lots and lots of information on there plus you can ask questions and people are very helpful.


I started my dog on chicken (mainly wings and thighs) and after about 3 weeks brought in another meat (beef I think - bad memory!) and then after maybe another week tried lamb and then just kept on like that.


I usually freeze all the meat for my dog, which is what quite a few people recommend and certainly I know it is recommended to freeze pork. You can give the meat still partly frozen and my dog actually seems to prefer it this way.


Ideally dogs should have a certain amount of bone each day and over the course of say a week, a mixture of meats, offal, fish. Some people feed vegetables and raw eggs are recommended too.


I have a fussy dog unfortunately (first fussy dog I have ever had) and it's a struggle for me to get him to eat the right things! He does like chicken but is not so keen on other meats. He also will not touch eggs in any form.


At the beginning I used to get stressed that he was not getting enough balance and that he was getting too much or too little bone. Now I go by his poos - too sloppy and he needs more bone, too hard and he needs less but 98% of the time his poos are fine! That's another benefit of raw feeding - very small, hardish easy to pick up poos! Oh and usually only 1 or 2 a day.


If your dogs are not fussy then it should be fairly easy to feed raw. Read up a bit, take your time giving new foods but then just try and give a good mix. You can buy whatever is cheap in butchers, supermarkets etc or when it is yellow stickered. Also there are lots of online sellers who sell chicken wings in bulk and blocks of minced meats. Offal is reasonably cheap in most butchers and supermarkets (mine won't touch it even cooked). Tripe is another thing that is very good for them but needless to say mine doesn't like it.


I mainly feed raw because my dog didn't want to eat any type of kibble or other foods and even though he still is fussy he will eat raw.


As for health benefits, well my dog is not yet 2 so is healthy anyway. His teeth are sparkling white and I know that is meant to be one of the benefits especially in older dogs, he doesn't have smelly breath or smell at all nor does he make smells! He has a lovely shiny coat but whether that is due to his food I can't be sure.


Anyway I have rambled on enough. I hope this helps and I am sure others will give advice. If you have any questions I would be happy to try and help

pipkin71

With regards the chicken wings, this is what our male was fed on, before we had him but, his poo often had blood in it and I worried that it was because of the bones.

I feel happier giving raw beef products rather than chicken.

Thanks again for the facebook page, I will look at that.

I think they have become used to having their meat cooked but I am going to aim for a couple of raw meals a week, for now.

What bones do you give to your dog?

catkins

My dog has never had blood in his poo and I haven't heard any other raw feed owners mentioning it. It might be worth asking on the facebook page about it.


There is also another good facebook group called "A Raw Start Explained".


I don't buy bones as such for my dog. He has meat with bones in it such as chicken wings and thighs, lamb beef, pork (I just buy whatever is the cheapest). I do always keep on eye on him while he is eating though and if the bone in any meat seems to be lasting a while I often take it away from him but that is just me being a worrier.

elsien

Does it work out much more expensive doing the raw feeding? I don't have the time or energy to do regular yellow sticker hunting, and the butchers round my way are more into the pile it high sell it cheap (the £30 of meat for a tenner spiel.) Aside from having nowhere to put a large freezer, I do have concerns about the animal welfare side of things from those sorts of sellers.
Plus with Gitdog being a bull terrier who can get through a black kong in a couple of hours, I'm a bit worried about the bones side of things?
Whatever I feed needs to be as cheap as I can manage without compromising too much on quality as I'm about to lose my job.

pawsies

If your dog doesn't like the meat then I would suggest flash frying it for a minute so it is still raw but the outer surface is cooked. Gets them used to the texture.

I would buy from a raw food supplier e.g. Durham Animal Feeds, Berriewoods Wholesale or a local supplier. The meat is reasonably priced and works out cheaper than kibble in my case.

krlyr

elsien wrote: »

Does it work out much more expensive doing the raw feeding?

Like with most things, you get easy, cheap and good - usually you need to pick two out of the three.

Pre-packed raw like Honey's Real Food, Natural Instinct and so on tends to be the top of the range of raw. Often human-grade, organic, locally sourced, etc., so no compromise on quality or welfare. However, it tends to be the most expensive. They work out the exact cost for you, but give some example costs here - http://www.honeysrealdogfood.com/costs.php
At £3ish a day for a large breed, it's certainly out of my budget.

Yellow-sticker food would work out cheaper than the above, and you could get some top range/organic type meats if they were available. But it's time consuming to go frequently enough to catch good deals in enough quantity, and you're not guaranteed to get what you want and in the quantity you need.

Sourcing butchers, abbatoirs and similar may help with the quantity issue, and you could stick to butchers with ethics you agreed in. However, cost could be a factor - they may be happy to give scraps and bones away for free, but for decent quality cuts they may cost more.

Raw blocks from petshops is probably one of the cheaper options, but you'll be limited in quality. I'm not sure if any of the commercial ranges are organic/free range/etc. Another downside to this method can be lack of variety or texture - they tend to be fairly mushy blocks, though you can get bags of minces and chunks.

"DIY raw" is probably one of the cheapest options, unless you get a good deal from local butchers. Suppliers like DAF, Landywoods, TDFC, etc. are available nationwide. Bulk buying may not be necessary if you can find a local stockist - for example, I have a DAF stockist who delivers weekly free of charge, so I could manage on fairly little freezer space.
Downside of them is quality and welfare. Cheap is cheap for a reason. However, I personally feel that buying cheap meat and feeding it in a balanced raw diet is better than buying commercial dog food that likely uses the same kind of cheap meat, but then processes it, dilutes it down with fillers, includes additives and so on.


Raw is becoming more popular, and as a result there is greater availability. You have more choices in sources and suppliers, to suit most budgets.

I have a spreadsheet I'm happy to share, it has the costs of a few suppliers - TDFC (so cheap and easily, but based in East/South East), The Dog Butcher (DIY but with a huge range - slightly pricier, but expanding their delivery throughout the country), DAF (at my local stockist's prices) and Bulmers (not much variety, but wide delivery area). PM me your email if you want - it will calculate the guideline amount you need to feed a day, let you put selections into a weekly meal planner, and calculate a monthly shopping list (quantity and cost), so a good way to estimate the costs.

If it helps with rough figures (feeding two large breed dogs), I pay about £40-50 a month using TDFC or DAF (DAF is a tad more expensive but more convenient because of the weekly deliveries). Bulmers would be about £50, I decided it wasn't worth ordering as the cost didn't make up for the lack of variety. The Dog Butcher worked out a bit more expensive at £85, but this would have included a fair bit more variety than the others. I wouldn't order from them regularly, but may be tempted once in a while to get some of the more unusual pieces.

pawsies

krlyr wrote: »

"Downside of them is quality and welfare. Cheap is cheap for a reason. However, I personally feel that buying cheap meat and feeding it in a balanced raw diet is better than buying commercial dog food that likely uses the same kind of cheap meat, but then processes it, dilutes it down with fillers, includes additives and so on.

Arguably the animal is being killed for human consumption anyway. The bits left off raw food suppliers would otherwise go to waste/be made into processed human food.

May aswell use the whole carcass of a factory farmed animal to reduce the need to breed and kill more.

catkins

Krylr has given lots of good info in their post.


I spend about £1 a day for a labrador sized dog but, as I say, my dog is not a very good eater. When I was trying to feed him on kibble I was buying top range kibble so it definitely works out cheaper for me.


I buy chicken wings in bulk from a local supplier who charge £6 for 5 kilos if you collect them (they do deliver but obviously make a delivery charge). They sell things like chicken backs for £2.5 for 5 kilos. I also get minced chicken from them which is £6.50 for 10 kilos but my dog is not that keen on minced meat so that lasts me ages.


If dogs will eat the mince which lots of suppliers sell and Krylr has listed quite a few, then that is probably one of the cheapest ways to feed. It seems most dogs will eat it - I think mine may not like it because it is so mushy - he seems to like crunching his food!


I only had a small freezer and wanted to buy in bulk to make it cheaper and know I had room if I saw yellow stickered meat and I was lucky enough to get a large upright freezer from Freecycle which I keep in the garage.


Buying in bulk obviously usually works out cheaper and any supplier that delivers will usually charge delivery so that could work out expensive if you only buy small amounts each time. If you really do not have room for another freezer and can only buy and store small amounts then buying from somewhere like Pets At Home may be your best bet although it's not the cheapest option.


I have tried foods like Natural Instinct, Honeys etc but they are not cheap and my dog was not keen on them. I know on the facebook groups I belong to most of the posters do not feel that foods like that are true "raw" diet and they have things added which are not meant to be part of the raw diet.

elsien

krlyr wrote: »

PM me your email if you want - it will calculate the guideline amount you need to feed a day, let you put selections into a weekly meal planner, and calculate a monthly shopping list (quantity and cost), so a good way to estimate the costs.
.

Thank you, I appreciate it. PM sent.


So you folks wouldn't have any concerns about feeding bones and chicken wings to a very strong jawed bull terrier?

antw23uk

Wouldn't have an issue letting ANY dog eat raw chicken bones. Your missing the point if you think only bull terriers can enjoy bones


My cats will go through a whole chicken carcass let alone the wings which last about 3 minutes, lol