Raw Feeding - Mince

[walshie]

Every dog I've had has always eaten raw. Their bodies are designed to eat raw food and bone with a stomach acid twice as acidic as ours. Can't see there's anything viking in feeding a dog what it likes and gets nourishment from. I buy mine in ready minced and it's normally 80/20 meat to bone ratio. I also add tinned tomatoes, brown bread, sardines, vegetables (you have to check which are ok for dogs - some aren't) and any leftovers. Obviously not all at the same meal.
I agree with the above though. Whole rabbits are more likely to give your dog worms than deworm them, Freeze them for a couple of weeks first. I always drop the guts out. more from a mess point of view than anything.

 

[Keith Edmunds]

Every dog I've had has always eaten raw. Their bodies are designed to eat raw food and bone with a stomach acid twice as acidic as ours. Can't see there's anything viking in feeding a dog what it likes and gets nourishment from. I buy mine in ready minced and it's normally 80/20 meat to bone ratio. I also add tinned tomatoes, brown bread, sardines, vegetables (you have to check which are ok for dogs - some aren't) and any leftovers. Obviously not all at the same meal.
I agree with the above though. Whole rabbits are more likely to give your dog worms than deworm them, Freeze them for a couple of weeks first. I always drop the guts out. more from a mess point of view than anything.

Of course, the 'viking'...'muscle flexing' bit is a little tongue in cheek and it usually goes with the 100% meat disciples, whereas you are sensibly adding a whole host of other ingredients too.

Interestingly, when Salukis became popular in the 70's and 80's many of the lurcher lads didn't fully understand their requirements - socially and nutritionally. Many suffered from a lack of interaction at a young age and many struggled on a high protein (meat only) diet. Apparently the tribal bedouins fed a high carbohydrate diet and the pure bred imported saluki had become accustom to that. I have also heard of shepherds using porridge type diets.

So we do have to take into account what the domestic dog has evolved consuming since its domestication thousands of years ago.

Balanced raw meat herb and vegetable diets are good, no doubt about that. I just didn't see a significant benefit in my own dogs.

 

[RidgeBR]

In relation to worming your dogs, I do know a few people who add Diatomaceous Earth to their dogs food. They send off samples of their dogs poo for a worm count and they don’t seem to ever have issues.
I’ve not fed it, but it’s meant to work.

 

[reloader54]

In relation to worming your dogs, I do know a few people who add Diatomaceous Earth to their dogs food. They send off samples of their dogs poo for a worm count and they don’t seem to ever have issues.
I’ve not fed it, but it’s meant to work.

I Looked into this possibility myself, worth a read perhaps, has a multitude of uses, I decided not to bother after reading the results. Diatomaceous earth - Wikipedia
Quote; Some believe it may be used as a natural anthelmintic (dewormer), although studies have not shown it to be effective.[14][15] ;Quote

 

[Brittany boy]

Tried the raw rabbit diet a few months ago. The dogs loved it I didn't mince the rabbits I froze them then defrosted a couple of hours before feeding chopped them into chunks with the kindling hatchet and fed once thawed out guts included. One thing I did notice was the dogs did develope a higher worm burden within a short time. I put this down to my own error that not all the rabbits fed had been frozen for the two week period recommended on the forum. Only stopped when the rabbit supply ran out but the dogs looked great had good energy levels and their stools were smaller and firmer.

It's my intention to buy a bigger chest freezer and do the same again only this time freeze the rabbits longer to see if the worm burden rises again. It's also a good excuse to get out shooting

 

[Roestalker39]

If interested I can put you in touch with a guy who does chicken mince £1 for 3lb in weight not all that far from you

 

[hendrix's rifle]

Firstly, happy christmas all. I'm waiting for breakfast to finish so I've got a few minutes without getting mithered here goes, I started my gsd out 5-6 years ago feeding tinned meat and biscuits, I thought he had a nice coat (to be fair he did) and he had pretty high energy levels being a pup and all (maybe a year old) however he started having a couple of issues whilst he was growing so I switched him to raw. After a month or 2 he started progressing and his coat was going really nice along with his skin and his energy levels went through the roof. He had veg in it and worked out roughly how much he should be having along with a rough guide to bone and offal and he was doing really well. He started becoming a lot more muscular as he was growing and filling out and finished up a cracker of a dog with some good size behind him, that was however in his Genes. Then onto the next shepherd, she was raw fed from being a pup off the breeder as he raw fed all his dogs. Again, cracking pup with energy levels through the roof and a lovely coat to go with it, she has always been a lean dog and never put much weight on sitting around the 24-25kilo mark. Unfortunately, she 'self regulates' and if she isn't hungry she wont eat, another reason presumably why she doesnt put weight on. As she is today, shes around 28kg, quite a tall dog and filled out a lot better than she was previously. I put that down to the venison she eats lol, loves the stuff. Never had a problem with worms in any of the dogs, always gets compliments where ever we are about how great they look and what do we do different, I can only put it down to the raw diet and the work they do, there very active dogs. Then comes along my springer, we decided to keep her on day food until she settled in and the breeder gave us a bag of the food she had fed them on. Got her home, went to feed them in the evening and she took a piece of tripe out of the shepherds bowl and refused to eat it again. We tried and tried but nothing, put a piece of beef or tripe down and she would eat it instantly. We kept her on the raw diet, again, with plenty of veg and mixing it up to give them variety and she excelled, only managing to tire her out after about 6 hours. Within 10 minutes she was ready to go again and it was a hard day. I will feed any dog I have raw from now on as I've always seen the benefits and watch it take over when on a proper diet that clearly works for them. I've tried kibble, biscuits and cans but I have found it didnt have a great deal of success. I also know of a dog who had major issues and it was something in the tinned meat or biscuits, long story short raw saw her putting weight on after losing a serious amount of weight and she seems to be right as rain. Again, I'm not saying anyone is right or wrong, I just do what I think is best for my dogs and I try to give them as natural a diet as I can. Have a good Christmas

 

[Brittany boy]

Yeh Roestalker if you want to PM me the details I'd be interested in the minced chicken

Cheers John.

 

[JamieDickinson]

I agree - do you even need a mincer? I think feeding whole is the best option

 

[Whinbush]

Try your local butcher. I get a large carrier bag full with 4 big blocks of dog mince for under £2 and he loves it.

 

[Coddy]

Veg that dogs will eat to supplement a RAW or BARF.
Boil it first then freeze into portion sizes. Buy bags of it from Iceland etc.

Broccoli, Spinach, Cauliflower, Sprouts, Parsnip, Sweet potato, Turnip, Peas, Green Beans, Celery, Carrot, Red Pepper, Apple, Pear, Banana, Tomatoes, Oranges.

Avoid onions and grapes.

Wife also adds a weetabix now and then, or buys a pack of shredded wheat ( the small bite size ones) as a dog treat.

 

[Coddy]

Raw that i feed.
Various minces, from the company Just Natural.

Chunks of all sorts, Beef, Chicken, Salmon, Lamb, Liver, Kidney, Tripe (stinks).
Chicken drummers, chicken / duck / turkey wings, chicken / duck feet. Chicken / duck carcass.
Duck necks, rabbit / chicken / salmon heads.
Sprats, whole mackerel.
lots of venison from what i shoot, whether leg bones with meat, rib cages, chunks of venison. Dehydrated lung / heart. Kidney each as a treat when i take one home.
Ifi could get whole rabbit, then i would use as well, but not much up my way for last few years.

Feed between 2-3% of the dogs body weight per day. Adjust to suit once on the diet.
YES, ITS SAFE TO FEED UNCOOKED CHICKEN BONES. AVOID ALL / ANY COOKED BONES.

If still feeding any kibble, which we dont, do not feed in same meal as raw, as they are digested at a different rate.

If feeding pish tinned food, crack on, but if passing, i will easily give your dog a taste of something decent to get its tastebuds going.

 

[John Wild]

I appreciate the advice so far, however I doubt my wife will get into the whole prey feeding.
I have read that the fur is a natural wormer and that feeding whole is a more natural way to feed, is good for your dogs teeth and such.

I am aware that it is not necessary to process the dogs food, but in my case it will be required.
If anyone does their own raw minces, a suggestion of a decent quality mincer that is up to the job would be appreciated.

Just chopping it up would be better or giving it as a slab of meat. Green tripe is good for this. Mincing it isn’t great and there’s loads of benefits to feeding something a bit more whole. If you don’t want to deal with there are loads of places you can buy it in the freezer. All the best.

 

[John Wild]

Raw that i feed.
Various minces, from the company Just Natural.

Chunks of all sorts, Beef, Chicken, Salmon, Lamb, Liver, Kidney, Tripe (stinks).
Chicken drummers, chicken / duck / turkey wings, chicken / duck feet. Chicken / duck carcass.
Duck necks, rabbit / chicken / salmon heads.
Sprats, whole mackerel.
lots of venison from what i shoot, whether leg bones with meat, rib cages, chunks of venison. Dehydrated lung / heart. Kidney each as a treat when i take one home.
Ifi could get whole rabbit, then i would use as well, but not much up my way for last few years.

Feed between 2-3% of the dogs body weight per day. Adjust to suit once on the diet.
YES, ITS SAFE TO FEED UNCOOKED CHICKEN BONES. AVOID ALL / ANY COOKED BONES.

If still feeding any kibble, which we dont, do not feed in same meal as raw, as they are digested at a different rate.

If feeding pish tinned food, crack on, but if passing, i will easily give your dog a taste of something decent to get its tastebuds going.

On the feeding kibble it’s super important as it’s not just digested at a different rate it’s a different set of bacteria them at break it down, a friend nearly killed his dog mixing it up.