[abbie's mom]

Abbie's Mom and Lara know far more than I do,

Thanks Tara, for your vote of confidence ; but, you're doing great!

Speaking of Lara...where is that girl?

As Abbie's Mom has said, she feeds to condition (I think that's the term) which just basically means they eat until their full after a while and self regulate.

Yes, that is correct; however, I must revise my theory just a tad. LOL I still believe in feeding growing puppies to fill. They are growing and need all the nutrients a prey model diet supplies. I am (after five years) still learning, too, and Abigail has taught me that once adult size has been reached, it IS possible for them to put on added weight. Others on the RAWfeeding egroup have made this observation, too. I just had to see it for myself. So, I just watch her skin/fat intake, and add more exercise - no biggie. I'm still not convinced she's overweight as much as the vet is. She looks good for her frame, just getting a tad paunchy in her waistline. I can still feel her ribs.

And as for Tootsy sleeping, I've read that can be quite normal when switching to raw. They kind of go through detox, getting all the kibble junk out of their system. Some have extra energy, it all depends on the dog.

..........Right .

Hi Franceen

Originally Posted by Franceen

Gee, I didn't realise that I had to have a balance or muscle and organ meat. Yet another concern.

As Tara already said, organs are a small part of prey model, as is bone. This really isn't as hard as we make it at first. The basic ingredient for prey model is MEAT, with some organs and bone. It does not have to be a measured, worried-over formula.

I am so nervous already about feeding raw but want to do the best for my dog

.We know, and fully understand how scary this is. I was terrified when I first started; but switching to prey model saved my Mozart's life. This, I know.

I had a friend around yesterday and was just about to give Tootsy a raw piece of chicken and my friend nearly freaked out! She felt I was risking Tootsy's health unnecessarily. In the end I cooked the chicken!

Yep....and, we've all been there, with well-meaning friends/family. If you're going to succeed in this, you do need to make a decision to stick to it, regardless of outside opinions. As you're already seeing, there are too many opportunities to blame every little thing on the diet, without outside influence: Sleeping too much - "that diet". Cannonbutt: "that darned diet!" Sneezing: "yep...that diet!"[quote] Many people on YT feed a home-cooked diet, and seem pleased with it. I fed Mozart home-cooked, too, for awhile. But, it did not fix his digestive problem, that I'd so desperately hoped it would. Also, cooking kills all nutrients for your pet. Your dog's system is designed to extract nutrients from RAW MEAT, and cooking it just makes it work harder.

Today Tootsy is not feeling well. Her tummy is fine - no 'cannon butt'! - but she is just wanting to sleep. She didn't want to go for her walk today which is very unusual. Of course, I am now blaming myself for giving her the raw beef!

How much fat was in the ground beef? Best to give solid meats (exercise); but, if feeding ground, it should be LEAN, so as to avoid cannon butt. I do feed lean ground round, but only to mix with green tripe. That's what Abigail is getting this morning, and is now bugging me to get off the computer and get it to her. She smelled it!

She has been extremely hungry and I have been told that this may be the result of worm infestation.

Sure...worms are possible. Some folks (myself, included) avoid further damage to their pets by avoiding chemicals. FOOD grade DE is used by many to keep pets pest-free. That's a whole 'nuther conversation, we can pursue if you'd like. Anyway, if she appears "extremely hungry", this may not be the result of worms; but, just her natural reaction to actually getting real food. This is a very common reaction for the first few weeks. Once she realizes this is not a dream, and will continue to get real food...she will slow down, and self-regulate.

I have to admit that I am feeling put off the raw diet at the moment.

Quite understandable. But, I do hope you give this a fair trail before giving up, entirely. It's difficult to go against the popular concensus on something that we've been told by the 'experts' (vets, commercial food industry) is right. It may help to remember that kibble has only been around for the past 50 years or so.

I hope this all makes sense, and no errors - I don't have time to review, as Abigail is getting very adamant about her tripe!