Poppy & Bunks Raw Diet Journal

Poppy

New member
Dec 15, 2011
246
23
Bulldog(s) Names
Poppy, Bunk
Hi everyone,

I just wanted to share my experiences so far with RAW, we are on our 4th month and thriving. I know there are a lot of people who are on the fence or don't know where to start. By no means is this a strict how-to, but maybe if I document my progress, successes, and mishaps it may help someone out there!

First things first I'll tell you a bit about our dogs, and how we wound up feeding RAW..

Poppy is a 2 year old EB with a wonderful temperament. She is an "athlete" as far as bullies go, she has few wrinkles and folds, and is very lean and quick. From puppyhood she's had various health issues, from constant diarrhea to being diagnosed with growing pains due to crazy growth spurts. It has been said in raw fed communities that puppies on kibble have crazy growth spurts, whereas pups on raw grow at a more appropriate rate and are leaner. While I don't want to theorize this, I do sometimes wonder if I could have spared my girl the pain of limping around for those weeks. She is otherwise very will kept, although while on kibble we had to clean her ears every day (more on this later).
Poppy 1.JPGPoppy 2.JPG


Bunk is an 18 m.o. EB bruiser. He has classic bulldog folds, a cuddly disposition (to people!) and is currently reactive to nervous energy dogs (and sometimes bulldogs!). He's a work in progress and we think it's all down to confidence building. He used to chew his paws raw, scratch himself constantly, and just like Poppy, his ears had to be cleaned daily.
Bunk Mirror.JPGBunk Desk.JPG

Fast forward and my fiance and I are at the end of our 10 week obedience course for the pups. We attend a nutrition seminar and are astounded by the size of the raw feeding community in our city, not to mention all the resources and people willing to assist us.

We began with pre-packaged raw, i.e. frozen ground patties, and supplemented with chicken necks and turkey necks for bone. To teach the dogs to chew I held the end of the chicken neck for the first week and helped them out. Some recommend smashing the bones if you are feeding chicken quarters. They eat all their meals on a towel and know they have to stay on it or the food will be taken away. Their meals roughly follow the 80-10-10 ratio although it depends week to week what is available, and as long as their poops are healthy I don't worry about it.

Their poops instantly halved in size, and the gas decreased by 80%. I couldn't believe it. A bulldog that DIDN'T clear the room?!?! In addition to this, about 2 weeks into their diet, Bunks breath went from "I just ate crap" to "stale". Their coats became shiny, and incredibly soft. I check their ears everyday, but now they only need to be cleaned once every 2 weeks.

I continued with the chicken for about a month, and slowly began introducing new proteins. First it was beef, then elk, and even rabbit (this I did by accidentally buying the wrong patties!). After 10 weeks I began adding TINY pieces of liver and kidney to their meals. They also started getting sardines canned in spring water once a week.

At some point during this transition I started to source my own meat and cut out the patties altogether, making $1/lb my goal. Meat is very expensive in Canada, and at first it wasn't easy. Eventually I found a butcher that sells me grain-fed cow hearts for 99 cents/lb, and a pet boutique that sells chicken backs for $1/lb as long as I buy it in 15lb boxes (I also purchased a craigslist deep freezer). I'm still trying to source game meat, but recently came across pork ribs for $1.09/lb. I know it sounds like a lot of work, and honestly, at the beginning - it was! But now that I know what I'm looking for, it became a part of my grocery shopping habits. I spend 2 evenings a month cutting, portioning and freezing the food. I can also finally say we are spending less on Raw then on Orijen.

I should mention about 2-3% of their diet is veggies and yoghurt, so I'm not strictly feeding prey-model. While they don't "need it" so to speak, it does provide good fiber and the yoghurts provide probiotics. I grind spinach, applies, squash, and sometimes blueberries and keep it in a ziploc bag. 3-4x a week they'll get a spoonful of this on top of the hearts, organs etc. I also put a spoonful of plain probiotic yoghurt on some of their meals, and crack an egg in their bowls once a week (shells and all).

Gosh I just realized how much rambling I've done! Anyhow I'll post updates on here every once in awhile, hopefully this encourages some of you that have pups with allergies and whatnot, to just give it a crack :)
 

Hidapriscila

New member
Feb 15, 2011
33
3
Bulldog(s) Names
Lily & Humphrey
Thanks for the info. We've been investigating raw a little this week after both our bullies seem to start having trouble with their kibble at the same time.

Priscilla
 

Fontanafox

New member
Jan 25, 2011
3,649
315
Fontana, CA
Bulldog(s) Names
Wilson & BabyGirl
Thanks for the info. You are so very thorough and detailed. I'm sure many will appreciate your input. Glad you are here.
 

izstigspunks

Moderator
Sep 16, 2010
5,939
336
Toronto, Ontario
Country
Canada
Bulldog(s) Names
The Stig Racecar Driver and (Sweet Angel) Punkin Brutus
Great journal, very thorough!

I feed my boys raw too, following the whole-prey model. Although I do tend to give veggies and fruits here and there. For probiotics, we feed ground green beef tripe. We buy them from local rawfeeder shops for about $1.25/lb. We source our rabbits from a farm in another city, where we also get our goat. Venison we get from a good friend of ours who knows hunters. Everything else we get from the grocery stores. I, too, try to reach the $1/lb average, so I scour flyers every week.
 

RescueMe

New member
Community Veteran
Mar 2, 2011
1,387
56
Chaffee, MO
Bulldog(s) Names
Lola Blue, Mojo Titus and Gracie,Caleb, Bogart and Ziggy forever in my heart Roxy and Rollo
Great info. Ive been kicking around about starting raw.
 

Mack-N-MatildasMommy

Bulldog Spoiler
Community Veteran
Apr 3, 2011
1,750
128
Moore, OK
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Matilda A.K.A Sassy Pants & Mighty Mack A.K.A. Fat Peanut
OMG!!! Poppy and Bunks are beautiful!!! I also raw feed. I am not doing the whole prey. I couldn't see not giving Matilda her fruits and veggies. She was pretty when she was on kibble but I think her coat and all over sassiness has gotten better since introducing her to raw. I love shopping at my local grocery store for the organs and chicken back and necks. I can get the majority of that stuff for $0.50 a pound. The only thing I have not been able to locate is green tripe. I am looking forward to hearing more about you babies. :heart: :luv:
 

Dante

New member
Jul 20, 2011
16
0
In Puerto Rico were i live, meat is very expensive too. I usualy buy whole chickens for $0.69/lb then cut them up in big pieces. I supplement with pigs liver which i get for about $0.90/lb and chicken tripes and heart for about $ 1.00 /lb. For probiotics i supplement with greek yogurt. Also 3 times week i throw in a whole egg with shell. He loves cracking it open and licking all the good stuff, later he eats the shell witch i good for calcium. Once a week i feed him sardines.Go raw, its exelent!

IMG_0689.jpg
 

cowsmom

..........
Apr 27, 2011
6,996
384
Virginia
Country
usa
Bulldog(s) Names
Sarah aka cow
oh wow thanks so much for this input. i would love to do raw but i go between two houses and i just dont think i could cut it. i wonder if it would be ok to get the raw patties and feed them that for one meal like in the am and then kibble in the pm. i have heard to not do this but it seems to be split. kudos to you for doing this and giving us a detailed account. thank you.
 
OP
Poppy

Poppy

New member
Dec 15, 2011
246
23
Bulldog(s) Names
Poppy, Bunk
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #10
oh wow thanks so much for this input. i would love to do raw but i go between two houses and i just dont think i could cut it. i wonder if it would be ok to get the raw patties and feed them that for one meal like in the am and then kibble in the pm. i have heard to not do this but it seems to be split. kudos to you for doing this and giving us a detailed account. thank you.

Hi there, personally the first few days I did raw for breakfast and kibble for dinner, without digestive problems. I did not have any reason for this besides not having enough raw at the beginning..

However I see how people warn against it because if you DO get cannon butt due to the different rates of digestion, it really would put you off raw. And that would be a shame!
 
OP
Poppy

Poppy

New member
Dec 15, 2011
246
23
Bulldog(s) Names
Poppy, Bunk
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #11
OMG!!! Poppy and Bunks are beautiful!!! I also raw feed. I am not doing the whole prey. I couldn't see not giving Matilda her fruits and veggies. She was pretty when she was on kibble but I think her coat and all over sassiness has gotten better since introducing her to raw. I love shopping at my local grocery store for the organs and chicken back and necks. I can get the majority of that stuff for $0.50 a pound. The only thing I have not been able to locate is green tripe. I am looking forward to hearing more about you babies. :heart: :luv:

Wow $0.50 a pound!! I am so jealous! Where do you live?

You can usually find canned tripe in boutique pet supply stores, and maybe some bigger stores. The brand I get is called Trippett. I've had a lot of trouble finding the fresh stuff, all the butchers tell me that because of the mad cow outbreak years ago they don't sell it. Of course the canned stuff isn't as good as fresh but hey, I'll take what I can get and it doesn't stink as much!
 
OP
Poppy

Poppy

New member
Dec 15, 2011
246
23
Bulldog(s) Names
Poppy, Bunk
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #12
So, here is a question for you guys.. Where did this myth come from that dogs that are raw fed will become bloodthirsty..?! There is no logic in this whatsoever and I can't imagine where this came from. Opponents of raw diets always claim there is not substantial research to back the claims of positive results from raw fed dogs, and yet these illogical myths are flying around without basis and some (a lot) folks I've met actually believe this!

Personally I believe what I see, and I've seen glossier coats, whiter teeth, more energy, and my poor boy isn't whimpering from scratching himself silly. No meds, no creams, no special shampoos.
 
OP
Poppy

Poppy

New member
Dec 15, 2011
246
23
Bulldog(s) Names
Poppy, Bunk
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #13
Hello guys, here is a shot of Poppys teeth, as you can see they are whiter than most peoples teeth :tongue: just kidding!

Resized.JPG

Their dinner yesterday was beef heart and chicken backs. They were at a doggy hotel this week (they feed ground raw), and poos were a bit runny for a day or so for whatever reason, so I've cut out fat and organs and this morning they are solid again. They haven't quite caught onto using their hands to eat, the chicken backs just gets thrown side to side until it's all crunched up.

DSC_0119.JPGDSC_0120.JPGDSC_0129.JPG
 

Mack-N-MatildasMommy

Bulldog Spoiler
Community Veteran
Apr 3, 2011
1,750
128
Moore, OK
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Matilda A.K.A Sassy Pants & Mighty Mack A.K.A. Fat Peanut
Wow $0.50 a pound!! I am so jealous! Where do you live?

You can usually find canned tripe in boutique pet supply stores, and maybe some bigger stores. The brand I get is called Trippett. I've had a lot of trouble finding the fresh stuff, all the butchers tell me that because of the mad cow outbreak years ago they don't sell it. Of course the canned stuff isn't as good as fresh but hey, I'll take what I can get and it doesn't stink as much!

I live in Oklahoma. I haven't checked out and supply stores. I might have to start looking.
 

Mack-N-MatildasMommy

Bulldog Spoiler
Community Veteran
Apr 3, 2011
1,750
128
Moore, OK
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Matilda A.K.A Sassy Pants & Mighty Mack A.K.A. Fat Peanut
So, here is a question for you guys.. Where did this myth come from that dogs that are raw fed will become bloodthirsty..?! There is no logic in this whatsoever and I can't imagine where this came from. Opponents of raw diets always claim there is not substantial research to back the claims of positive results from raw fed dogs, and yet these illogical myths are flying around without basis and some (a lot) folks I've met actually believe this!

Personally I believe what I see, and I've seen glossier coats, whiter teeth, more energy, and my poor boy isn't whimpering from scratching himself silly. No meds, no creams, no special shampoos.


I have no clue where the myth came from. That reminds me of a conversation I had with a cashier the other day. I was buying Matildas chicken backs and what not and when she found out what I was using it for she said I must not live out in the country. I asked her why and she said that dog that eat raw chicken will chase after a live chicken and kill it. That was the funniest thing I have ever heard!! :lol: I agree with you. It is the best thing I have ever done. Matilda has pearly whites, beautiful coat and no itchies!! :heart:
 

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