This is such a great guide and resource written and shared by a dear friend of mine on another forum that I received permission from her to cross post it for the benefit of others considering venturing into raw feeding or for those that are just curious:

If you are considering raw feeding, good for you! It is truly the best thing you can feed your dog. Dogs are carnivores, they thrive on fresh meat, bones, and organs. It is what they are meant to eat. It is species appropriate.

There are a couple trains of thought on raw feeding. Some people feed BARF, which stands for bones and raw foods. It is based on a combination of a slurry of vegetables and supplements, with raw meaty bones added in such as chicken necks, wings, and backs. This method has fallen out of favor as more research is done into species appropriate raw diets. Dogs don’t need or process fruits and vegetables well unless they are broken down into a paste. The veggies just pass on through without digesting, unless you break down the cellulose. So if you choose to do a BARF model, make sure you do lots of reading on what supplements are needed and make sure that the vegetables you use are pulverized.

Prey model diet is a very balanced and, in my opinion, an easier way to do a raw diet than BARF. The veggies aren’t needed at all. The diet consists of 80% meat, 10% bone (always raw, never ever cooked), and 10% organs. Of those organs, 5% must be liver and the other 5% is a secreting organ such as kidney, pancreas, reproductive organs, thymus, etc. Heart and gizzards count as muscle meats. You start off feeding 2-3% of your dogs weight. Here’s a calculator that shows you how much to feed per day…

http://www.raw4dogs.com/calculate.htm

You may be surprised to see that a 50 pound dog only needs approximately 1 lb of food a day. That is because the raw diet is completely bio-available. NO fillers, no dyes, no grains, no extras. Just meat and a little bone and your dog processes it completely. One of the first things you will notice on a raw diet is that your dog drinks less water, (raw meat has a very high water content) and has very small bowel movements. There is a huge difference between the stools of a kibble fed dog and a raw fed one.

It’s very important to start off SLOW when you ease into raw. You must stay with chicken (or another single protein if your dog cannot have chicken) only for the first few weeks. Dump the kibble first. Get it out of the house. Kibble is like doggy drugs… it has a spray coating of flavor/fat and has a lot of odor that entices dogs to eat it. If your dog knows there is kibble in the house, they may not want to transition to raw as readily. Raw has little to no odor, so some dogs don’t recognize it as food until they really taste it and see how good it is.

Chicken is a great place to start. You want to feed mostly meat with a little bone when beginning a dog on raw so start with Cornish hens, chicken quarters, or bone-in chicken breasts. Some people start off with bone-in chicken thighs, especially if you have a dog that tends to have loose stools. The extra bone content in the thigh helps to keep the stools firm during this transition time. Chicken is a protein that is easily digested, readily available, and not expensive. A great starter meat. Be sure and get UNENHANCED chicken. Lots of chicken has "broth" or a salt solution pumped into it to make the chicken more tender. If it says enhanced with a 10% solution, skip it. You want just plain old chicken. Read the label. You want the sodium level to be about 80mg for a 4 ounce portion.

Your dog may experience a “detox” period as they come off of the kibble. You may notice more shedding, loose stools, itching, or even vomiting in rare cases. These issues will pass as the dogs body adjusts to a raw diet. Then you will see the benefits of raw start to show up! Little to no body odor, small compact stools, bright shiny coat that hardly sheds, more muscle tone and increased energy. The benefits of teeth cleaning are widely documented. Most raw dogs never need to have a dental. Immune system health will improve as well and dogs that had allergies or sensitive stomachs will experience huge benefits. There have even been studies that show that raw fed dogs are more resistant to parasites, as well as some cancers.

Once your dog is well established on chicken (usually 1-2 weeks) and you are seeing normal compact stools, you can start adding in other proteins. Your dog can eat beef, pork, chicken, cornish hens, quail, duck, turkey, goat, lamb, sheep, deer, elk, rabbit, eggs, fish, etc. Start slow by adding in a very small amount of the new protein to the chicken until the dog is adjusted. Then you can move on to new proteins. Over several months, your dog should be exposed to as many proteins as you can find. Variety is key and helps to provide all the nutrients your dog needs. Once your raw feeding regimen is established, your dog should be eating at least 50% red meat.

At this point, organs can be added in. You will feed 5% of the diet in liver (chicken, pork, beef, or calf) and 5% other organ. Beef kidney is readily available in most markets. Organs are a very small – but very IMPORTANT – part of the diet. They provide nutrients that aren’t found in muscle meats and must be part of the diet. Not a large part, only 10% overall, but they must be included.

For small dogs, I have found that cornish hens are a great base food. The bones are small and easy to chew, and they are the right size for little mouths. Lamb breast also has good edible bone, as does rabbit, quail, and pork ribs. A whole cornish hen is about 35% bone. So you will want to alternate Cornish hen parts that have bone, with boneless meals in order to keep the total bone at 10% of the diet.

Where does pre-made frozen raw fit in? These are products that are already “balanced” for you with the meat/bones/organs in a ground form. Some popular brands you may run across are Nature’s Variety, Stella and Chewy’s, Bravo, or Primal. These products are very easy to use. Pop out a patty or a medallion from your bag in the freezer, thaw it out and feed it to your dog. Many people like these pre-mades for convenience. However, they don’t give your dog the mental and physical work of whole prey. Your dog NEEDS the stimulation of chewing and crunching up a piece of meat. In my opinion, pre-mades are fine for occasional use or to add variety, but I wouldn’t use them full time. They are convenient to have on hand for emergencies, boarding situation, or pet sitters. They also come in handy for puppies who are having trouble chewing or seniors.

Part of raw feeding is really getting to know your dog. Some dogs do better on a little more than 10% of their diet as bone. Some do fine with less. Try to keep the ratios at 80% meat, 10% bone, and 10% organ with 5% being liver. You can weigh it out at first if you want to, but let the dog’s body condition be your guide. If the dog looks a little ribby and thin, increase the raw from 2% of his body weight to 3% or even 4%, depending on the dogs activity level, age, and metabolism. Puppies should eat up to 10% of their body weight, so adjust accordingly if you are feeding a baby. If your dogs stools get loose, add more bone. If your dog is straining to defecate or his stools are white and crumbly, back off on the bone.

I have found that keeping the mindset of mostly meat, a little bone, and a smidge of organ works well. You don’t have to balance the meals every day. That’s a lot of work! Try to aim for balance over time. Keep a journal of what you are feeding at first so that you can look over the menu and see where you might be lacking. Balance over several weeks is good. I do organs as a single meal on the weekend. It’s easy for me to remember and our dog doesn't have a problem with loose stools. Some people prefer to add a tiny smidge of organs every day or a couple times a week. Be creative and find what works for you.

I will add a caution here to new raw feeders. You MUST feed bones and organs along with the meat in order for this diet to be safe and nutritionally balanced. If you aren’t committed to doing this, then stay with a high quality, grain free canned food and add in some raw meaty bones for dental health. I’ve covered the bases, but there are many good resources to learn more on the raw diet. Here’s a few links to get you started.

This one is a great place to start and you can spend a lot of time going through the many pages here. The "myths of raw feeding" pages are invaluable and answers most, if not all, the questions a newbie to raw will have. Invaluable site!

http://rawfed.com/myths/feedraw.html

http://rawfed.com/myths/

http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html

The raw feeders yahoo group is a great place to learn also. There are over 16,000 raw feeders on the list from all over the world.

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/

Another site I like that has a lot of good history, anatomy of the dog and why it's made to eat raw, and lots of good links on the link page ....

http://rawfeddogs.net/

A raw feeders blog with lots of interesting info …

http://www.krisannriorawfeeding.com/

More info and lots of links!

http://mypetcarnivore.com/rawfeeding_basics.htm

Anatomy and physiology of the dog versus the wolf and the debate on whether dogs are omnivores or carnivores.

http://aspenbloompetcare.com/2009/07/dogs-the-omnivore-carnivore-controversy.htm

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. There are lots of raw feeders here and we are more than willing to help! Do a little research and off you go. You won’t regret it and your dog will thank you! Once you see the difference that a raw diet makes, your only regret will be not doing it sooner.


EDIT: I am editing this to add another really helpful link with a really great starting out guide:
http://preymodelraw.com/how-to-get-started/

thanks for posting this!

No problem! I figured it would be helpful for those venturing into the world of raw feeding or just curious about it. Either way it has a lot of helpful links that even I keep coming back to regularly.

Great post

Thanks for this Val! It's awesome for people to do research on it because it's obviously something you don't jump into without doing so. Once we move I'm going back to purely raw and have been researching it on the daily to make sure I do everything perfect!

Also a great resource for new raw feeders is going on Dogster and looking at their discussions and finding the raw one!

Great info! I will definitely come back here to read up on this topic more by checking out the links provided.

Thanks!!

This was a really awesome read. I have long considered switching to raw especially since my pug's teeth are really icky! I've been brushing them without much luck and giving her dental chews. But her previous owner didn't really give her to much dental attention and she was overweight when we first adopted her!

My biggest concern is definitely the cost. At the moment we feed california natural and we sometimes mix in some other grain free foods for variety. It costs about 36 dollars for a 35 lb. bag which lasts us around 3 weeks.

So how much of a cost difference will it be for 3 dogs? And should I continue to feed loki puppy kibble until he is over a year prior to switching to raw?

Cost is the biggest concern because we are not rich, we live ok but we definitely don't have a lot of money extra to spend. So I am wondering how much more it would be to switch over completely.

I probably will leave the cats on their kibble because they are sooooo picky and most of them wouldn't be to keen on switching off their diet.

Cost is all based on where you are. I can get raw meat pretty much dirt cheap here in FL. We have a huge Hispanic/Jamaican/Haitian population here which makes it easy to find ethnic grocery stores. I would not be able to afford feeding raw if I shopped at our neighborhood Publix (major grocery chain.)

There is also the option of premades, but IMO that's probably the biggest price jack ever. And it's all ground up, what's the point of that?!

That makes sense! I am not really sure of the meat prices in my area. My fiancee is a butcher so he would DEFINITELY be the one to ask hehehe. I will have to ask him. I also don't really like the premades definitely seems like a big ol' waste ^_^

The premades are not worth the money but they are convenient if you are traveling or you have someone pet sitting or something like that.

Like Kristina mentioned, the cost is relative and MOST raw feeders pay less to feed raw than they do to feed kibble. What really helps with cost is buying in bulk and shopping at ethnic food markets. You can always look into bulk meat group buys or a local co-op. Some people get good deals on meat and bones that their local butcher would have otherwise had to pay to have removed.

Definitely scope out your options in advance and price it out. Most Walmart stores even sell chicken quarters at 59 cents a pound which is way less than what you'd pay for kibble. If you shop around you can find good deals even at your local supermarket, if meat is approaching it's "sell by" date for example they will often mark it down considerably to get it sold quickly. You can also post a wanted ad on Craigslist for meat or freezer burnt meat. Hunters and those cleaning out their freezers will sometimes give this stuff away for free. Some stuff you won't see sitting out at your grocer but if you ask the butcher they might have stuff in the back that they will sell for cheap. I don't see much at my local Publix but my local Bi-Lo often has organ meat and other novel meats/parts that are less than a dollar a pound which is still cheaper than most kibbles. The Honest Kitchen dehydrated raw that I feed costs a little over a dollar a lb so if I can pay less than $1/lb then I'm saving money and any raw meat or RMBs that I buy are always less than $1/lb.

Just be sure that if you venture into raw you do plenty of research and do it correctly. PMR diets achieve balance over time so it's extremely important to have a variety of meat sources, bone and organ included in their diet. But to start out you will typically stick to one protein source like chicken for the first month before including organ meat and other meat sources.

Definitely going to start researching!

My dog coal has always had issues with yeasty skin, allergies, all because when he was a puppy he was very very sick and he had demodex for the first 6 months of his life. He hasn't tested positive on his scrapes but he still seems itchy and I have to be very careful with what I feed him hence the california natural. the last food mix seemed to make him itchy so I have to take out that kibble. And wet food gives him the runs he has a really sensitive stomach. A good appetite though and I know for a fact he loves raw meat. My fiancee being a butcher can also hopefully help us out as well. I will talk to him about it tonight after I do some more reading. I guess my second concern would be to make sure I am measuring everything out correctly.

Coal is around 55 - 60 lbs. So 3% of his diet (active dog) would be 1.6 - 2 lbs ish worth of food per day. We typically feed him and our pug once a day otherwise they don't eat as much. Loki gets fed twice a day + treats. Loki also seems to have a pretty sensitive tummy he has gotten diarrhea from eating a breadstick he wasn't supposed to get and a few pieces of cooked steak he snatched from the plate while my mom wasn't looking.

I worry a lot about my animals diets. Mainly because we have had a lot of food related issues with dogs and cats in the past. 3 events which have permanently made me a HUGE worry wort and I mean stressy big time!

We adopted a cat at 10 weeks old, she was a snowshoe siamese. My heart cat. She was always portly and healthy until one month she stopped eating and we had to rush her to the vet. 3 months, $2,000, and tons and tons of vet visits our kitty passed away from Hypatic lipidosis or fatty liver disease. She wouldn't continue eating on her own and her liver poisoned its self. She died at only 3 years old. It crushed me and now I make sure ALL my cats are eating. They are all meal fed and constantly monitored where as I used to free feed my cats.

Another issue came when we rescued/adopted a boston terrier from a family member who was cruelly treating him. She passed away and left him shivering in a dirty back room. He was emaciated, had nasty eyes and almost had to have an eye removed. We had him only a year, constant vet visits but he never gained weight. One morning we found he had passed away and a necropsy revealed he had malabsorbtion issues caused by poor breeding so he wasn't digesting his food completely and his liver and kidneys were very bad. And he was only 4!

And the other issue was a little pug/boston terrier. We got her from a person claiming his female dog was accidently knocked up by a male pug. Whom we later found out he owned. We got this puppy at 8 weeks and we had her for 2 months. She was a hilarious little puppy, very active, always ate like a cow. And one morning I found her dead in her crate. A necropsy revealed she had an underformed lower intestine, blood in her colon, and her body had digested all the fat in her body (even though she never looked thin!) and killed her. It was completely horrible.

So I am extremely vigilant about the dogs getting enough food, making sure all poop and pees are normal, and I tend to freak out if a dog or cat isn't eating for some reason. I've tamed a bit over the years but I still get worried especially with a new thing like Raw feeding!

Sorry if this was a mini- book I just wanted to share my issues in hope that I can better my attitude towards trying new things which I really love trying new things! I just get really concerned that I might screw up and somehow it will hurt my pets! If that makes sense.

Feeding a raw diet is amazing. When I cut a tendon in my finger (and thus couldn't feed raw for about 2 MONTHS) I felt terrible! I mean, it's not like they were eating Pedigree... but I could tell they weren't excited to eat the kibble at all. Their teeth got yellow and Mishka started to chew her belly and private area like mad resulting in temporary staining. They thrive on raw very well and I can truly say it's the BEST out there. Generally I do stick to chicken and pork but i throw in beef, goat, and fish when I can or when it's on sale.

This is truly something you really need to look into before starting. As well as get a feel for your meat prices as well as a price range you want.

Thank you for your advice Kristina your dogs are gorgeous by the way! I am definitely researching a lot of links provided. Are there any books or other suggestions besides reading online? I've also looked into joining the yahoo group about raw feeding as well ^_^ definitely something I want to get as much information on before jumping into it. My fiancee is home at 3 pm (its 2:43pm here) and I am pumped up to see what he thinks! My pugs teeth and my labs skin and coat would definitely benefit from it! And from what I have read so far it looks fairly straight forward and I actually have room in my house to get a big freezer to house food in. It would be awesome for us to use as well! Just gotta price them out but I found a decent one for under 100 dollars. Just gotta figure out what we would be saving/spending vs the dry kibble. That will be the biggest thing besides figuring out the amounts to feed everyone.

There are definitely some great books on raw feeding out there, I can't remember the good titles off the top of my head. I'll see if I can find some for you later.

We definitely understand your concerns and you're very right to have them. Raw feeding not done properly can result in severe malnourishment and even death. I'm not saying this to scare you, I just want to be sure that not just you but anyone thinking about feeding raw doesn't do it halfway. If you cannot do it right then you're better off sticking with a "complete" prepared food. People have lost whole kennels from not feeding a balanced raw diet so it's not something to take lightly and I know you're completely committed to finding out all you know. I just want to prevent a random person reading about raw feeding, not doing the appropriate self education and then ultimately causing their dog undue suffering and possibly leading to its demise from not taking the time to learn how to do it right.

Here's a good starter book:
“Work Wonders: Feed your dog raw meaty bones” by Tom Lonsdale

There are a lot of books out there with more of a focus on BARF but not quite so many focusing on PMR which is more biologically appropriate. Tom Lonsdale advocates feeding whole carcasses which is more in line with PMR.

Thank you so much! I am also heading down to the local library so I will see what they have down there as well! And yes definitely I agree its not something just to do on a whim it definitely takes a ton of education and commitment and research to make sure its done properly! I am a big research guru, I read a ton and try to learn about every possible thing that could go wrong before even fathoming trying something so big. ^_^

I'm wanting to change Luk Luk over to a raw diet. We used to give him what we called "Fishsicles" as a treat when he was a puppy - (frozen salmon pieces) and he LOVED them.
I know there's a lot to read up on and want to make sure I'm going to be doing it the right way.
Thanks for this post!

Who knew that 2.5 months after reading this post I would be starting Ginger on raw chicken!
Val, Thanks for posting this and guiding me through my start on raw with Ginger!

I'm glad I could share it with you folks and help others. It is what got me to finally take the plunge myself and was shared by none other than my own raw feeding mentor who continues to guide me to this day.