Hello Ioanna,
I first started out on raw with feeding my dogs. The idea I had behind it was to recreate the structure of a prey that they may eat in the wild. I tried to feed whole prey as well (whole rabbits, whole mice, whole chickens... although I did prefer to take the feathers off the chickens... and so on). I do not have my two dogs anymore as my parents house is a no pet house javascript:void(0) one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life was to give them up, saw that they went to good homes though. My brother took my cats so I still will be able to see them over the next year. I am leaving to africa though in a year and once there will be able to have as many dogs and cats as I please!
When I butchered goats I tried to keep as much as possible. Heads, stomach wall etc. As far as overeating on the fat that is something that happens a lot at the beginning. It just tastes so good to a lot of dogs (why can't it be like that for me?). After a few gorge feeds most dogs catch on and eat only what they need. If its only a treat then they will always want it but when its available every day and as much of it as they want they will look at it more as food rather than a treat. Gorge feeding is basically putting down a large chunk of something. This will depend on the dogs size. For a 5 pound dog a quarter of a chicken will seem like a huge chunk but for a great dane a quarter of a lamb will be a better size. If you are worried about your dog eating it too fast or swallowing it a good basic rule is to make sure the chunk is larger than their heads. I like using a chicken at the beginning as the added bone will help keep the stools from getting runny. If your dog has no problem handling other meats and fats however go for anything thats available. Allow your know dog to eat as much as possible. Most dogs will eventually eat until they are full and then try and burry any leftovers. My dog Zaida would try and burry it in the blanket that was in her kennel. Funny to watch but be careful because if you don't catch it it may start to smell after a couple days
. Now I do want to note here that there can be an exception. Some dogs simply do not when to stop eating. I was feeding my friends four dogs before along with mine. She had a golden retriever that had a endless stomach. Even when I once tied up a half of a goat for her she barely stopped eating and after was very full and lazy for a few days.
How much to feed? General maintenance is around 2.5 to 3 % of the dogs body weight a day. Now different things affect this amount. Age, activity, energy level and health conditions. Start at 3 % if you have a adult healthy dog. If your dog gets a bit too plump cut down a bit, and if the dog gets a bit too skinny up the amounts a bit. Puppies should be fed around 10% of their body weight. I never measured my dogs food. I let them eat until they were full or just eyeballed it for most days. I measured my friends dogs food though and found a good amount that worked for each dog and repeated it every two weeks. I never had the meals perfect each day but spread it out over two weeks. For example one day would be a extra large meal and then the next meal may be very small. Once a month or so the dogs would skip a meal too and go a day without food.
What too feed? I liked feeding a variety of anything I could gets my hands on. Some dogs can be picky eaters although most will eat just about anything. Throughout the feeding though I try and balance it out to try and recreate what their prey would be like (deer etc). I think the rough calculations are 80% meat 10%organ and 10%bone. I can't remember reading amounts on fat. I just fed whatever fat came off the animals along as a part of the meat. These are all guidelines to try and help wrap your head around feeding a dog a raw prey modeled diet. But a dog is great for experimenting with. We can control their food and choose for them not too cheat or eat the wrong amounts. Try different things and as with people every dog is different.
As for not getting nautious, not too sure their. I have read before that a dog had much stronger acids in their stomaches for digesting bone and such. However I am uncertain on the truth to that or any solid facts. Something to look into though.
I loved feeding my dogs and cats raw and enjoyed all the benefits. Nicer coat, better health, less and better stools, cleaner teeth......I think my favorite benefit would have been how their moods changed. They seemed happier, more alive than when they were on cooked kibble and canned food. I never thought of it before but I guess the same changes would happen in people as well.
If you have any other questions I would be glad to help in any way possible. Also the yahoo groups raw feeding and raw chat really helped me out when I was starting out.
Best of luck!
Leah
