thoughts on this as a starting point (raw related)

[FoxyWench]

once we move into the new house ill be phasing out the kibble (essentially using what weve got left which is about a months worht of food) and moving to a raw diet.

ive tried to go raw in the past but it just didnt work when living at my paretns.
cresties are of course prone to some nasty skin issues...

ruby has been pretty simple, shes got a nice shiney soft coat and good energy, but shes got some tear staining which id rather get rid of completly if possible and she poops more than i think a dog of her size should...

Jasper is now hitting maturity (he turns 6 months on the 7th), and while up till now his skin has been nice and clar this past week or so ive noticed hes started getting the occasional pimple...
bathing and skin care and all that fun stuff is done regularly and im not too too worried, but ive read raw to be great for the coat/skin and hey, every little helps...
he also poops more than he should...

so ive gotten back into my reaserch...
and once again, finding all a little overwhelming...im the kind of girl who needs to see a menue lol, one of those people who needs to have someone go "heres what you should do, feed this this this and that and divide is between the week however you want"

so ive been doing some searching...
i THINKING i want to avoid the fruits and veggies for anything more than the occasional apple peice or carrot as a treat...i dont feel dogs would eat these normally (except in an already partially digested form as part of the animals stomach)
however im still not sure on this...
if i were to do veggies id probably give them a little steaming and make a mush out of them (helping break down the fibers without killing the nutrients) ive heard of green tripe but i have a VERY strong sense of smell and am worried, (im also not sure where i could get it as theres only one raw feeding co-op and they dont seem to carry it often...)

and then i came across this
its someones average "meal plan" for their 8lb chi.

Chihuahua 8# - very active little guy - 1 1/2 chicken wings, or 4 chicken necks or about 2/3 of 1/2 a chicken back (I break it in half and then take a piece off). For the veggie meal, which is 1 out of 2 meals a day, he gets about 1/4 cup of veggie mix with a little liver (about a square inch) or some egg or a tablespoon plain yogurt. "Meat" - for 1 meal a week - a little less than 1/4 cup of beef heart or gizzards.

of course id hold off the organs untill things are settled down stomach wise (i knwo the switch can cause tummy upset and organs are too rich at first...)

also keep in mind my guys are
9lbs and aproximatly 5lbs (i will get a better weight on jasper before moving on with this) so of course ruby would get a little more and jasper a little less...
both are chewers (even with high value neither realy gulp/gobble, and they Would be crated during feeding times to avoid any stress/rush/guarding ect
but im still worried by 1: how small wings are, and 2 how much skin can be on chicken necks...

im also worried about the bone to meat ration, not much meat on a chicken wing...

one of the questions i had was...
if i were to pick chicken as the main protein source (to start of course) which part of the chicken has the best bone to flesh ratio for the balance needed?

would it be best to feed wings one day then some breast the other, how about a thigh, or are chicken backs or necks well balanced.

i was planning on skinning the chicken at first as ive also read chicken skin can be too rich...

what about adding fish?

again while i know it translates from big dog to small dog with some figuring, im actually quite dumb when it comes to all this, so any "you should feed chicken backs most days, then heart one day a week and 1 fish meal or sardines once a week" would be absolutly wonderfull...
heck, if someone could come up with an actual meal plan that i could follow, even better!

theres realy not much info out there for raw feeding SMALL dogs lol.

[MericoX]

I would like to someday go back to feeding raw... but I too need like a menu or guideline to go by. Hell I'd pay for one *hint hint*.

Good luck!

[list]

Hi,

Congrats on starting raw! Its awesome.
Although I'm new to the board I'm not new to raw feeding. Currently I'm feeding 2 dogs (80lbs and 60lbs) and 3 cats home prepared raw.

I totally understand what you mean by wanting a menu to start. Its hard when your first starting out.

For the first few weeks, I'd stick with just plain chicken for your little guys. Chicken breast (bone in) are a good place to start for the little guys and that has a pretty good bone to meat ratio for starting pups. Necks, back and wings are all pretty boney on their own. So if you choose to feed them, follow them up with a boneless meal.

I'll give you an idea what I feed my crew over a week.
Day 1: Dogs - am beef heart, pm chicken quarters egg
Cats - am chicken giblets, pm chicken quarter

Day 2: Dogs - am boneless pork, pm sardines & eggs
Cats - am boneless turkey, pm quail, organ and egg

Day 3: Dogs - am boneless beef, pm chicken backs, organ
Cats - am pork, pm Pork and organ

Day 4: Dogs - am boneless lamb, pm pork breast bones, eggs
Cats - am beef heart, pm chicken quarter

Day 5: Dogs - am beef heart, pm chicken quarters and turkey
Cats - am boneless turkey, pm boneless pork

Etc, etc...

When I can get more exotic meats (venison, goat, ostrich, etc). Once you get the hang of things, rawfeeding becomes super easy