Once or twice a day?

Zoom

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#1
I think I'm going to switch the dogs over to raw pretty soon. Do you raw feeders still feed twice a day or do you just do once?

I know the dogs tolerate both chicken and beef, so they're going to get mostly chicken for the meals and then beef knuckles/RMB's for their rec chews. Tripe as I can find it and organ meat as it goes on sale. Sound ok?
 

vanillasugar

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#2
I feed twice a day.

I have a lot of fun when I'm "meat shopping" finding odds and ends can be quite entertaining ;) Don't have to stick only to beef and chicken, if you can find other meats, use em! Game meats are plentiful during hunting season, and asian markets are a real treat!
 

Zoom

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#3
Oh I know. Virgo especially seems to be partial to rabbit. ;) I know a handful of hunters around the area so I can pick up game birds and venison come fall.

Those are just the easiest to get ahold of...though i am looking forward to finding the random stuff. :)
 

skittledoo

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#4
it seems like anytime I try Bamm on any kind of raw he gets diarrhea... I know chicken is usually pretty good to start off with but what's a good cut to start him off on since he seems to be sensitive to anything new?
 

IcyHound

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#6
I feed once a day except for puppies, pregnant dogs, and sick ones.

As for starting on raw many dogs start out with soft stool and it firms up as their bodies learn to digest properly. Some people remove the skin and fat. I simply let the dogs have soft stools. Soft stool is not nessessarly bad. It is the body working through the situation.

Some add more bone to the starting diet to help firm the stool. As long as the dog is not having liquid high speed squirts I don't worry over it.
 

borzoimom

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#8
I feed twice a day. For my dogs its one perfect body weight twice a day. ( ie 2 percent a day.)
Start with a single meat source, and add things one ingredient at a time. That way it would be easier to rule out any allergies.. I start a new dog on just chicken, then start adding things like one new ingredient every few days. Going with similar ( ie chicken livers with chicken) I have found to use the best when starting a dog on raw.
As far as conversation to raw diet, remember kibble digests slower. So when you do the change, feed half the kibble you would feed pm. The next morning feed half the raw you would feed in that meal. The reasoning is to allow any retained kibble to leave the digestion system. I use the same procedure if I have to switch back to kibble. ( like traveling and can not bring the raw..) Half the raw pm meal I would feed, and half the kibble I would feed am. Then back to normal amounts.
I have some videos I made how I do raw with my dogs. If you want to see it, let me know and I will reload it and post it.. Its a two part video and just a simple way to get started feeding raw diet..
 

borzoimom

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#9
btw- I also remove the chicken skin except on the drumstick. The rest of the chicken is too much grease for my dogs..
 
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#10
I like to mix it up. Sometimes I feed once a day, sometimes twice, sometimes tiny amounts throughout the day and sometimes I just don't feed him and then give him an extra big meal the next day or the day before.

Sporadic feeding like that could possibly cause stomach upset in some dogs though.. Pit has a stomach of steel so it doesn't really matter.
 

Buddy'sParents

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#11
I feed twice a day.

If Bamm gets diarrhea, try giving him some pumpkin... his body has to adjust to anew food, just as if you were feeding a new kibble.
 

Zoom

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#12
Thanks everyone. I've been giving these guys the random raw meal for a while anyway, usually when I can pick up some chicken quarters on sale, so it's nothing completely new. They've both got stomachs of steel for the most part anyway.

Now I just need to get the dogs weighed, because they're both at perfect weights right now. Sawyer was 53lbs in May and Virgo I'm guessing is right around 75lbs.
 

borzoimom

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#14
....
Now I just need to get the dogs weighed, because they're both at perfect weights right now. Sawyer was 53lbs in May and Virgo I'm guessing is right around 75lbs.
At 53 pounds- and normal activity you are looking at a 1/2 pound twice a day. Increase if active. For 75 pounds- you want 3/4 of a pound twice a day..
 
R

RedyreRottweilers

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#15
And then I have 2 active growing boys who are near 100 lbs at 11 mos and are eating 3+ lbs per day between them.

:yikes:

LOL
 
R

RedyreRottweilers

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#17
I feed healthy dogs once a day. Puppies, sick dogs, bitches who are in whelp or lactating, and sometimes old dogs get fed twice or more a day.
 

lizzybeth727

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#18
It sounds like most people feed once a day.... I'm curious - Would you feed once a day if you were feeding regular kibble, rather than raw? What's the difference?
 

Buddy'sParents

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#20
My dogs gets fed too much food, in my opinion, to be fed once a day... that's just asking for bloat or other health problems.
 

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