# New to Raw Food



## Ben Colbert (Mar 9, 2010)

I'm going to give raw food a shot and start feeding it primarily to my young pup. He's been eating kibble in the morning and chicken at night if I have it. I just went out and bought some things so I can do Raw for both meals. Here's what I have planned, please tell me what you guys think:

AM - Green bean, lettuce, sweet potato mix with 1 chicken heart, 1 liver, occasional egg, and yogurt and fish oil with Vitamin E

PM - Random Chicken pieces. I bought 4 9lb chickens and divided them into 4 meals each.

When I can get it for cheap I will be varying the PM protein.

Thoughts?


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## Carol Boche (May 13, 2007)

Ben Colbert said:


> I'm going to give raw food a shot and start feeding it primarily to my young pup. He's been eating kibble in the morning and chicken at night if I have it. I just went out and bought some things so I can do Raw for both meals. Here's what I have planned, please tell me what you guys think:
> 
> AM - Green bean, lettuce, sweet potato mix with 1 chicken heart, 1 liver, occasional egg, and yogurt and fish oil with Vitamin E
> 
> ...


Sweet potatoes should not be given regularly due to the sugars and starch....they do make a great treat though. 

Have you read the Leerburg site on raw? They give samples of a week diet, which is the best I have seen and what I generally try to follow. 

If you would like the links, let me know. 

If I calculated correctly, the chicken meals are like 2.25lbs???? What do you want your dogs ideal weight as an adult to be? 
I can email you the raw calculator I use which you enter the ideal weight and it calculates the meat, organ meat and "veggies" for lack of a better term. 

You also want to add salmon oil and vitamin E one time daily....

Ben, there is just so much....I would research it and make sure you understand it and have everything you need before starting raw completely.


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## Maureen A Osborn (Feb 12, 2010)

I also wouldn't be giving liver every day....here is a link on facebook that you can ask questions on
http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=261761471359&ref=ts

and one of the many groups on Yahoo of raw feeders
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/


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## Doug Zaga (Mar 28, 2010)

Thanks for the links Maureen.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Ben Colbert said:


> I'm going to give raw food a shot and start feeding it primarily to my young pup. He's been eating kibble in the morning and chicken at night if I have it. I just went out and bought some things so I can do Raw for both meals. Here's what I have planned, please tell me what you guys think:
> 
> AM - Green bean, lettuce, sweet potato mix with 1 chicken heart, 1 liver, occasional egg, and yogurt and fish oil with Vitamin E
> 
> ...


I'm going to paste here a post I made on Leerburg (and I second the recommendation to read the "All Natural Diet" part of the board there, as well as the "Feed a Dog" part of the site; I think it's one of the best raw-feeding boards and sites on the 'net; you do not have to join to read it; it's all public). It was addressed to someone else, so it's not perfect, but there are some important points, I think. 

All the diarrhea threads? You won't have your dog starring in one if you start slow.  
_
What triggers raw-switch diarrhea it is too much too soon, particularly organ meats, very fatty meats, or just too much food per meal.

Every new ingredient is added one at a time. See the poop from the first ingredient before adding the next. Start with poultry RMBs (and I skin them so I can add that fat back in after I see the first poop).

This is way overkill, I'm totally aware, and many dogs are fine with the whole variety all at once, first meal.

But switch-diarrhea is very unpleasant, much harder to fix than avoid, and completely avoidable if the diet is gradually built up.

So don't forget that the first meal is not only one ingredient, but also small in size. _


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## Ben Colbert (Mar 9, 2010)

Its confusing.

Some places say no dairy, other suggest yogurt or cottage cheese.

Some suggest veggies, other say its not necessary

I want to make sure I'm doing this right.

My pup is 20ish pounds and 4 months old.

The dog will be 70lbs or so. I guess I'm feeding him too much.


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## Tammy St. Louis (Feb 17, 2010)

this is another link that has a full diet plan , 
http://www.esmondrott.com/BARF_diet.htm


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