Ditto for us with raw food and perfect blood work and metabolic panels.

Link has eaten only raw food with minimal supplementary components since 3 months old.

Just for more testimony I'm particularly curious about his blood work and metabolic panels because I have to get the done regularly for myself.

Jeff, I know that you and Megan, and some others have been feeding raw for a long time. Thank you for helping me with the idea that raw doesn't have to include supplements and special items.

Megan left, so I will ask you....Does Link have a preference over temps of his raw? Do you feed frozen, frdige temps or room temps, or a little of all 3? I have observed Miya with raw, and she will lick frozen, but doesn't eat it until its unthawed. Also, do you feed human grade meats, that you would buy for yourself?

I will have to get the hubs on board with this, he is totally out of the loop, in fact just a couple of months ago he asked if I was feeding grain free, said he heard this was better than grain dog foods. LOL, I was like um, hun, been feeding her grain free since she was 6-8 months old.

Renee - Megan is right with regards to the salmonella thing. But, for reference, while I'm careful in the kitchen with raw meat (separate cutting boards, wash hands and the knives between tasks) I am certainly not compulive, actually more casual, and knock on wood, we've never had a foodborne outbreak.

The eat the whole animal thing? Not suggesting eating fur, really to illustrate need to ingest brain, organs, bones as well as muscle meat. Especially, the brains - all the animals I've observed seem to preferentially eat the head first or only.

Amy, I do my foods in a similar fashion, also knock on wood. I like that the vet was on board with feeding raw, however, I feel he tried to discourage by using salmonella. Miya has ate a few things, and she did the same thing, head first. I just can't get on board with that type of raw feeding. haha. I just want to do best for her, and keep an appetite. I started partial raw, before feeding grain free, so perhaps her body really adapted to the raw vs kibble.

I may start to ask friends and neighbors for any type of left overs from their hunting. This is a huge hunting area, so I may get lucky, most hunters use minimally the deer parts(I don't know why, but back straps and venison burger is all they do and keep), so I may be able to introduce and rotate other proteins besides chicken and beef, and occasional turkey.

MiyasMomma wrote:

Oh, I do indeed trust you Megan, I would not have asked if I didn't.

You mentioned that your girl is particular on temps of her foods, can you explain more?

Sorry I diasappeared. I'm a teacher and had students come in!

Delilahs is just a picky brat. She will eat things warm or really cold. She does not like room temperature at all. Most of what she eats is frozen because she likes it that way. Lol

I didn't want you to think I took offense. I dint mean it that way I just wanted you to know that you are safe feeding raw.

I don't feed brains...sorry guys, but brain can carry really bad diseases. If I feeed brain it's only because it's a rabbit head or something. I feed liver, heart, kidney, lung and the occasional weird organ.

Definitely get left overs. Feed all of it.

If your girl won't eat frozen meat, feed it thawed. You can even wear it on either side for 2 seconds (do not cook the bone, but searing is fine) if she's being s little picky.

No raw feeder I knoe uses pre packaged meat regularly unless they have an endless supply of money. If you want to do pre packaged, go with blue ridge beef.

MiyasMomma wrote:

Jeff, I know that you and Megan, and some others have been feeding raw for a long time. Thank you for helping me with the idea that raw doesn't have to include supplements and special items.

Megan left, so I will ask you....Does Link have a preference over temps of his raw? Do you feed frozen, frdige temps or room temps, or a little of all 3? I have observed Miya with raw, and she will lick frozen, but doesn't eat it until its unthawed. Also, do you feed human grade meats, that you would buy for yourself?

I will have to get the hubs on board with this, he is totally out of the loop, in fact just a couple of months ago he asked if I was feeding grain free, said he heard this was better than grain dog foods. LOL, I was like um, hun, been feeding her grain free since she was 6-8 months old.

Renee, just to answer your questions even though it isn't much help, we always feed Link fridge temperature food after thawing about 24 hours.

His base food is a Northwest commercial raw food and we rotate chicken and turkey monthly with the occasional  bison and lamb.  This costs about $90 for a month's supply, but it lasts longer than a month because he eats other whole raw foods.

we live very close to a wonderful quality butcher who sells scraps or whole parts to people for dog or cat food. So Link gets that a few times throughout the month.  It is very rare that we have gotten food for him at a grocery store, maybe only once or twice when we slipped on ordering his normal foods.

Compared to what I've seen in two years on here and what I generally hear about the breed,  Link is a hardy dog with a stomach of stainless steel and he has never skipped or failed to finish a meal ever in his life. I've fasted him when needed, but he has a solidly reliable appetite and stomach.  

We've never fed him nor has he ever caught and eaten a whole animal.

This is interesting, so what I'm reading, Jeff you do not feed grocery store meat, and Megan you do. There are more deer processing places than there are vets and grocery stores around here. I will pay a visit to them, as well as asking my neighbors, since I believe this would be ok to fed. Since i am tracking down more info on raw feed, probably more precise questions that are not found in the current threads, I will post a new thread in the raw feed section to ask my questions.....Thank you everyone. I do love this community and the support everyone gives.

I don't but for no substantial reason or anything against it.  I just happen to live in a city full of raw food for dogs at pet stores and quality butchers.  So it is really just a convenience issue for us

In the Pacific Northwest, the culture is a gigantic celebration of quality driven, niche oriented food and beverages and this most certainly pertains to pets.  

There are more dogs than children in Seattle and more money is spent on those dogs than on those children

I don't feed it unless I have to, but that's becasue I have a lot of resources by me. I just do not feed pre packaged. I buy 30-40lb cases from meeting packing plants, co ops, farmers, etc. we have a ton of resources for cheap raw and I am able to get a lot of variety.

MiyasMomma wrote:

With your compost, try building something with a lid on it, my dad had too so nothing would steal it as well. Silly dogs,

That's me first task once the snow melts. My composter is currently a 3 bay made from wood pallets with the fronts acting as "gates" to allow turning. Presently it is frozen solid and the pallets need straightening. Ami climbs up onto a bale of peat moss to the garbage cans to the top of the end bay - king of the mountain. I'll be adding a top of a hinged 1 x 3 frame covered with hardware cloth. Thanks to my rambunctious scavengers - I don't know which they like more - digging for snacks or getting the paper or cardboard and dragging, shaking and tugging on it Whatever, it is a bit of a mess out there at the moment and I am not a happy camper. At least it's not the dead fox I found 3 years ago - had to abandon a whole season's cured compost for fear of disease