This will be an easy day to start Luk Luk on his raw diet, as it's an anniversary date of two occasions in my life.
He had a raw egg(including shell) and cheese this morning for a snack.
I was going to start him out on raw fish, which I KNOW he loves, but after reading other posts and taking good advice from Val, I'm going to start him on chicken and then add in the fish and organs later.
Thanks to everyone for all your knowledge and info on the healthier way for our "babies" to eat.....this one of mine will eat just about anything that's put in front of him, which isn't always a good thing!
Any suggestions or ideas y'all have are greatly appreciated!

Sounds like you've got a good start up plan! You're lucky to have a dog that isn't picky, but I agree eating everything isn't necessarily good...believe me, my sibe is very similar!

I think chicken is a good place to start, it won't be long before you can incorporate other meats and fish. Chicken breast and quarters are good places to start, both are favorites of mine and regular staples in our house. And in case you have a gulper on your hands, be sure to supervise when feeding raw to ensure he chews up the bone and doesn't just swallow it creating a possible choking hazard. That's one of the reasons I like bigger bones like chicken quarters or breast over wings is they are kind of forced to chew them up more which is a good thing...plus it slows them down and makes the meal last longer.

Can't wait to hear how Luk Luk does on his first raw meal!

Oh he's definitely a gulper! I'll supervise him to make sure he's learning how to better CHEW his food.
He's a master at playing "Pitiful". He'll do that Husky thing of laying his chin down on his daddy and making a crying sound, to get what he wants. I know there's going to have to be some tough love here!

If he's not food aggressive then some people start out by holding the chicken so that they can't swallow large chunks. You'll have to monitor him and do what you feel is necessary if the situation calls for intervention. My sibe is very good and chews his raw bones up nicely, takes his time and all. I think I am very lucky, oh and he does the chin on your leg + pity cry thing too! Unfortunately for him I'm not a sucker.

Awe, I'm so jealous that Luk Luk sounds like he will have no problems starting off.
I'll be following Luk Luk's progress!

Ginger will take a while...she barely finishes her wing and she'll lay down and put her head on her paws and give me a 'look' as if she's saying, 'it's too much work but i ate most of it so can I have my other food now?'

They are so good at giving us 'looks'!

Day 1 of trying Luk on raw chicken breasts....he LOVED it, and I had to hold it as he ate, as he's a gulper. I sprinkled a little garlic on it, because I wasn't sure if he'd want to play with it or eat it and he proved his natural instinct is still VERY strong!

Awe!
That's awesome that he took to raw chicken right away!

He's a natural, look at him go! It's so good to see them eating what they were made for and doing so with gusto. I gotta tell you, it's like our sibe goes completely primal when the raw meat comes out, it's a thing of beauty!

I was so happy to see that he wasn't going to be hard to switch over to a totally raw diet.
Once I get him switched over completely.....it's once a day that they get fed, right?
His most favorite treat is peanut butter - which I can't ever see taking away from him.

I think most raw feeders do once daily main feedings. But I do one main feeding per day but I do give treats throughout the day like dog biscuits, dehydrated or freeze dried meat, soft meaty/jerky treats, etc. Some people do a binge feeding every so often and then skip a meal the next day which is fine too. I prefer daily meals and don't do binge feeding with my lot, just a personal decision though.

Luk had another chicken breast today, and he is horrible at gulping his food, but before I could get hold of it, he had it almost fully in his mouth. As he was chewing it, he realized he couldn't swallow it whole and I heard him crunching bones.
Next thing I heard was the licking of his chops and he was looking for more.
We will be moving soon, as we've been staying with one of our kids, and as soon as we get settled into our new place, I plan on having him switched over completely.
Suggestions for treats?

I use regular treats like I would for a dog on kibble. I prefer dehydrated single ingredient treats like chicken, duck, or sweet potato. I also like freeze dried treats like beef liver and lamb lung. Ziwipeak makes some awesome dehydrated raw treats that have more than one ingredient and it's very close to a raw diet so it would make a nice addition to raw feeding. Stella & Chewy's freeze dried raw patties make a really good treat too, although they are a complete food so just be sure not to feed too much and you can break the patties into smaller treat size pieces.

where do you find those treats? What stores or online site carry them?

You can find most of them at a local specialty premium pet food stores or online at a lot of different places like Amazon, DoggieFood.com, PetFoodDirect, EntirelyPets, PetEdge, and so on. I buy my dehydrated chicken, duck, and lamb lung at a local specialty store. Others I order online from Amazon.com where I get my Ziwipeak and Stella & Chewy's, DoggieFood.com where I get my Honest Kitchen, or EntirelyPets.com where I get my Zukes.

Another tid bit I'll throw out there, bully sticks and deer antler make wonderful chews. Also, since you're getting into raw feeding hare-today.com is a nice place to keep in mind if you are looking for extra whole prey variety that you might not be able to find easily at local places.

Edited to add: BestBullySticks.com carries a good selection of treats and chews.

thanks again Val! I'm looking at the Best Bully website and Facebook page right now.
I'll have to see if any of the local pet stores here carry anything like what I'm seeing online.

Hey Val....since Luk has been doing so well with his raw chicken, I added into his diet, one raw egg a week. He will eat anything I put in front of him, and his BMs look almost like a kitty cat - small and firm, and he's not straining when he goes.
This morning for his breakfast, he got ground turkey with egg and cheese. "Wolfed" it down and was licking his lips and looking at me like, "is there more?"...lol
Do you think it would be ok to start him on organ meat now, since he's been eating the chicken for a couple of weeks?

Yay, Luk!


Do you find it cheaper to feed raw?

I'm going to start looking into some of the distributors for raw food for pets in my area. I've been going to Whole Foods (yes! I know expensive) because it's the one place I know they don't add water or anything to their poultry and meats, but I'm only getting wings and necks at the moment. The wings I catch on sale and the necks are $.99/lb so it's not bad for the moment. When I move up to leg quarters and breasts, I'll look into the pet raw food distributors.

I wish Ginger wasn't picky. But I have to say, we're making progress, so that's good!

Honestly I would wait a full month before introducing organ meats and when you do start going organ meats I'd ease into it and give smaller portions than normal since they are notorious for causing diarrhea in dogs that are not used to them. Ultimately it is up to you and when you feel comfortable, but most people wait a full month, as would I. Once he gets used to organs and is handling them well you can do the normal 10% organ meat in the diet. Stuff like gizzards and heart are rich muscle meat and lung is technically organ but a lot of people feed it as a very rich muscle meat, use it in moderation as it is rich and can kinda be used both ways. Organs will include your liver, kindey, and pancreas...some will use lung in this category as well. Liver and kidney will make up the majority of your organ meat but variety is important so do include lung, pancreas, and tripe.

And don't get hung up on a certain percent every week, the key to a PMR diet is balance over time. So it's fine if Luk Luk only gets 5% organ one week and gets 15% the following week. Organ meat once a week works out well for many raw feeders.

You can certainly introduce other proteins as it sounds like you have already. Just don't overload his system in the beginning, give him adequate time to adjust. Sounds like things are going great for Luk Luk so far, keep up the great work!

Yesterday at Kroger, a 10 lb bag of quarters was on sale for $5...which I thought was a pretty good deal!
Val....thanks again for the advice - will wait a few more weeks to introduce organs, and sparingly to start. Both Bill and I work all day, so I would hate for my boy to get a base case of diarrhea while we're gone. He doesn't stay in a crate - hasn't done that since he was a baby. He has full run of the house, and the one time he did get diarrhea a couple of years ago, he got as close to the back door as he could, bless his heart! He looked so embarrassed when we got home.
Thanks for all the encouragement girls!