Wanna feed my dog raw food; where to start?

[casablanca]

I have a 2.5 year old Dobberman/ mixed breed. From the day I got him, under the vet's advice, I've only fed him dry dog food. He is extremely tall and thin(almost looks like a great dane) His stomach is very fragile. Anytime I would give him any kind of bones, he ends up chewing, completely eating it, then throws up a few ours later.

It obviously makes him sick. Once his vet told me that he had cholesterol, which would justify throwing up after eating bones. His vet tells me to keep him strictly on dry dog food. I just can not do that anymore; I feel so bad for the poor thing..

I started cooking pasta, veggies and chicken breast and my doggy is just thrilled everytime he eats now. As he is exteremely thin and tall, I feel he may need to consume some kind of bones for his joints, and to avoid arthiritis as he gets old. Lately, he has been asking a LOT for store bought bones.
I wish I could give real bones, but don't wanna hurt him.

Can I freeze, then thaw a chicken and give it to him? I've always hear that chicken bones can be deadly to animals, especially considering my dog has never really eaten "real" food on a daily basis.

Please help my doggy!
lol

[snoops]

I would be interested to hear what people say as well as I have been considering feeding my Snoops raw. He is a beagle and wolfs food though. I have never been able to give him bones of any kind as I am scared he will inhale one and need surgery. I can't even give him rawhides or anything like that cause he will swallow too big a piece and choke on it. Who da thought I would have a dog with an eating disorder. LOLOLOLOL

[katchmoleen]

I did some searching and found some good articles on the net. If you read my blog and find the post on Dog Gone Raw, I think I might have some references on there, not sure. Anway, at first I had to give her ground up raw meat and bones, because she was picky. But now after a few months, she loves to crunch up her bones. You want to give raw meaty bones, with about an equal amount of meat and bones. Good sources are chicken wings and necks, turkey necks, and beef rib bones. You also want to give some organ meat a few times a week. There is a formula to determine how much they should have. My dog should weigh 60 pounds and that comes to about 1 pound a day of meaty bones. I also give her a little green smoothie and she laps it up. She eats a lot of grass. Chicken bones are only dangerous when cooked. Raw, they crunch right up.

It has done wonders for my dog. She has lost about 20 pounds, has more energy, and seems less gimpy.

[oceanluv]

if you google raw dog food, or BARF diet, you will find more info than you can read in one day. :)

[Bananapie]

I have a great book at home I use it has lots of recipes and it was written by a vet, I use it a lot with my pets at home. it has been out for a while so your library may have it or you will easily be able to find used copies on line.

Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats (Paperback)

The dogs I have had have benefited greatly from raw food homemade diets.

The rest of the world makes their pet food at home.

[crkdjwlr]

We changed our dog over to the raw diet using the barf diet online as a guide and it has changed her for the better. There is a kennel club in our town and they all feed a raw diet with excellent results.

Take care and good luck , Paul LeMay.

[christinajade]

I notice that this post was from a while ago but...I figured I'd give my 2 cents. I have 2 Cane Corsos, both over 100 lbs. Bruno is 110 and Mia is 105. Both of my dogs have been on raw food all their life. I used to buy the frozen stuff that is delivered to your door but it got very expensive for 2 very large breed dogs. I have done a lot of research over the years and I now make my own raw dog food. It varies on what I feed them. It consists of 70% raw meat with bones, 20% raw fruits and veggie mix and 10% organ meat. I also give them fish oil and alfalfa powder as well as raw apple cidar vinegar in their food. When dogs are little, especially for large breed dogs, it is very important to include a vitamin c powder to help with the prevention of hip dysplasia, amoung other joint problems. Mia is almost 4 years old and she has no sign of grey hair at all. Bruno is only 2 but both of them are completely healthy and they have great coats. If anyone needs information, feel free to ask. I also sell my raw food dog mixtures and do deliveries in my area. Shipping is an option too. :)