Hi everyone! Intro and Raw diet discussion

[yana]

Hello i am new to the board, have a 6 yr old female, named Lada and a brand new male, just took him home yesterday, which we haven't named yet. To be honest, Lada never received all those "recommended" additional shots other than those received before we purchased her, and she is in remarkably perfect health, which i attribute to diet. I am a raw vegan and feel doctors and vets are great for broken bones, and sometimes for medical conditions, which proper nutrition usually prevents and/or treats. The new pup was born 12/30/08. They sent us home with a holistic syrup/vitamin mixture, cesar and purina mighty dog food, some dry kibble (blech, x 3), some antibiotics, and some hypoglycemic shock elixir just in case. Please no one yell at me for the vet/immunization issue, if something were wrong that we could not take care of and it required medical assistance, i wouldn't hesitate to contact a vet, i'd fly over!!! She had a pup of her own about 2.5 years ago and we handled the birth and the pup when she refused to nurse him. My mom, through the night, when i was 10, 22 now, nursed a kitten back from the brink by spoon feeding her, while she was wrapped in a towel, dying, a small amount of crushed human antibiotics in water (!!!)

What are everyones opinions on the antibiotics? Lada never was given anything of the sort, but this locations provides and stresses the importance. I do understand that many people do come in and handle the pups, so today we decided to give him less than .2ml (the dose they suggest is .3). I don't take any medication, antibiotics, flu shots, etc., yet, i am confident in my immune system, his not so much, especially with the diet they have had him on.

I am thinking a fully raw diet, starting tomorrow (rather, later this morning, lol) for both. Since Lada gets fruits, vegetables, raw meat less often than i would like, she loves greens and celery! , vegetables get pureed to allow for proper digestion and nutrient absorption, and i will be sharing my green smoothies with both. I was hoping for a bit of advice on the best way to start the pup. Chicken, first, perhaps?

I was appalled flipping through the booklet they provided, FROSTED FLAKES (among other similarly non-food items) they recommend!! goodness!!

I would greatly appreciate any opinions/advice that you brilliant people (i had been reading the board for hours before i registered) are willing to offer.

Thank you!

Sincerely,
Yana

The photo is Lada , curious to know if the photo happens to remind anyone of a famous artist's aesthetic?

[yana]

just wanted to clarify, mostly greens get pureed, i do make dehydrated kale and collard chips which she loves to crunch, sometimes fruits, depending, especially things like organic apples to help brake down the rind, but i like to do both, since chewing is fun and important for human, dogs, all mammals, as digestion starts in the mouth, of course. Celery she loves to munch but cellulose must be broken down as we cant do it efficiently so it's blended as well.

In addition, i will start with whatever is recommend by the majority, how long before i rotate to a different meat, and which kind? Especially when dealing with the baby (i will also be performing searches within the forum while i await responses (with baited breath!! hehe) and then make a final decision. Is there a preferred cycle? I see most feed twice daily, pup 3 times?

We are also still having introduction issues, she is terrified of him!! lol but we are taking it slowly, he's in his crate and she is in my mom's bed ( to show her she's still tremendously loved, and not cast aside for the shiny new one lol), i believe, or she may have jumped into her own bed on the floor.

Also, she was never crated, was adjusted to pads with a box lined with them, but with a male we are a little concerned and to assist with the introduction, even though i wish we didn't have to, we are.

Quite funny, actually, (if anyone has gotten this far, thank you (!!), i apologize that this has turned from an essay into a novel!!) she regards myself as the alpha, my mother as the beta to her alpha (haha), i am allowed to do what i please, trim her coat, clean her eyes, bathe her at will, but my mother, under no circumstances can she bring scissors near her, not as easy to bathe, and she humps her, never dared to hump me. And sometimes she will growl at my mom for moving the cover or anything she may be laying on, especially if she tried to remove her from my bed. But all of the jealously anger is taken out upon my mother, which is great for me, lol. It is incredibly interesting to observe and live with a being, with which we are one, like all other beings, all completely connected, in such close proximity- a reason i think having a dog member of the family (not a "pet") is incredibly important and beneficial. Yet another tangent- thinking of naming him Watts, after a favorite author of mine, Alan Watts.

I think that about does it!

[lemonlauren]

Hahaha... It's great to read about people putting as much time and obsession into caring for their furbabies as I have - and YT is filled with us.

I have been looking into feeding my 6mo old puppy a raw diet for awhile now, and as simple as it ends up being according to most folks, you do need to do a good bit of research on it first.

From what I understand, there are two basic schools of thought on feeding a dog raw food, like they would get in nature. First is the Prey Model Raw diet, and second is the BARF diet. Prey Model Raw is supposed to as closely as possible emulate how a dog would eat in nature - you basically feed ONLY raw meat, you leave it on the bone and let them rip it up on their own, and even chew up the bone and eat it too. And you also make sure they get a small percentage of innards, like raw liver. The BARF diet, from what I understand, still relies on feeding raw meat as the protein source, but also believes dogs need other stuff, like pureed fruit and veggies. BARF folks, it seems to me, tend to make patties for their dog to eat, a blend of the meat and bones and other stuff all smooshed together in what looks like a tiny raw hamburger patty. Ah yes, and you can also now buy these raw patties from companies, pre-made and frozen for your convenience. :-) Like I said, there's a good bit of research you'll want to do before feeding exclusively or even mostly raw - especially for a growing puppy who needs super good nutrition to grow up big and strong and healthy! :-)

Also from my research, it seems most people agree on starting with a raw meat that isn't too rich - like chicken, as you mentioned. I have about twelve chicken legs in my freezer right now, waiting until I get the nerve to start my puppy on a prey model raw style diet. :-) Here's a link to one thread here on YT with a TON of great info and several great links about feeding prey model raw: http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...odel-diet.html It took me a long time to read all the way through it, but it was worth it!

Hopefully some more people who actually have experience with feeding raw will reply to your thread, help you out some more, and correct anything I may have screwed up in my interpretation.

Best of luck to you, whatever you decide. And congratulations on your new little boy! I'm looking forward to maybe seeing some pictures of him??? Now that he's been neutered, Nikko tells me that boys are the best and girls have cooties

Lauren & Nikko

[yana]

Originally Posted by lemonlauren

Now that he's been neutered, Nikko tells me that boys are the best and girls have cooties
Lauren & Nikko

hahahahah! That was brilliant!!! I love it!

Thank you so much for your response!! It was incredibly warm, informative, humorous and welcoming, the perfect first response to my first post! I was slightly anxious, to be honest, haha, thinking these people will think i am nuts!!

Thank you! I am excited to start them! As with many things, i guess i will build up my own school, lol. No patties, and grinding, i doubt they would have found a raw burger stand in the wild, could you image the lines!! lol! But i will continue to include the fruits and veggies, grains i will skip, raw grains are inedible and i also doubt they developed systems for sprouting, haha, but if they like the sprouts i eat, i'll gladly share . it will be an intermediary (intermediate? ) school .

I'm thinking since i have a decedent supermarket nearby i'll try to do fresh meats/organs when possible, but cost of bulk sales and freezing maybe more realistic.

Thank you so much!

Come on, bite the bullet, join me! haha, it will be a lot less scary with a friend

[yana]

Hi, again . Just wanted to add that i'm thinking my school (hehe) is taking it from when wild dogs/wolves would have grown more accustomed to the concept of people and began foraging on their land, i am thinking they certainly would have eaten greens, fruits and wild vegetables along with those they scavenged from small developing farms, can't always catch live prey! Sure they ate the herbivores but that's second hand vegetation, definitely not as nourishing and lacks essential carbohydrates and various nutrients and minerals. Maybe one day i'll publish my own doggie diet

[yana]

that's strange! my reply prior to the one above said it needed to be approved by a moderator but that one^^ posted immediately (??)

eta: i absolutely adore your avatar!!

[ParrotLady]

We just brought our puppy home a week ago and are doing the BARF diet. I read somewhere on these forums about different prepared BARF diet foods that took some of the thinking and finding the right foods out of the equation.

There is a place in CA that sells great products, but you have to be in local delivering distance to purchase. I found http://www.k9cuisine.com to have a great selection of both organic meats and complete diets.

I ordered the Freeze Dried Chicken Complete and the Beef Complete by Healthy Pet Products for Penny. She loves the Beef Complete and won't have a thing to do with the Chicken. (If you want to purchase the Chicken Complete off of me at a great discount I will send it to you.)

The funny thing is, she doesn't like either of them with water added to them. She prefers them crunchy. I think that is why she doesn't like the Chicken Complete sticks, they are soft.

I just ordered the Wellness Core - Ocean Dog Food Formula-4 lbs Bag along with the Beef Complete last night.Since she won't eat the Chicken Complete, I don't have enough Beef Complete to last much longer. (She actually took a piece of the Chicken Complete out of the bowl and carried it to the edge of the room and left it there! LOL)

Anyway, you might find some helpful products at K9Cuisine and other places to help you along. My sister feeds BARF to her dogs and they are very healthy dogs.

Tracie and Penny

[journey826]

I don't know a thing about raw feeding,sound interesting but I am just too chicken ha!ha!.

I just wanted to extend a big welcome to you Yana(love your name)and Lada(cute name) and your newest addition.can't wait to see pics