I spoke to the Bravo rep at the seminar, and I'm interested in finding out more
about it (a raw food diet). Anybody familiar with this who can give me some
personal input?

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"Leah" wrote in message
...
I spoke to the Bravo rep at the seminar, and I'm interested in finding out
more
about it (a raw food diet). Anybody familiar with this who can give me
some
personal input?


www.rawdogranch.com is an excellent starting place.

Ive been feeding raw for almost 4 months now, but nothing premade - way too
expensive for me.
right now, Ive got almost 25 lbs of deer, 20 of elk, 30 buffalo, as well as
assorted chicken bones in my fridge. All the meat was free.

dainerra

forgot to add that there are about a thousand yahoo groups about raw
feeding. I believe that there is one specific to the FL area.

Leah asks:

I spoke to the Bravo rep at the seminar, and I'm interested in finding out
more
about it (a raw food diet). Anybody familiar with this who can give me some
personal input?

I feed Bravo. I've been very happy with it (been feeding almost 2 years now).


I like feeding raw, but Lucy is a gulper, so I don't really feel comfortable
with chicken pieces with bones and such. In other words, I'm a BARF wimp. I
have ground my own chicken sometmes, but it's a pain and the bones can get
jammed at times. The Bravo patties are simple - I take a stack out to defrost
at dinner time each evening, for the next day.

Lucy has really done exceptionally well on them - she looks better than ever
and she's almost 8. Franklin gets some extra stuff, because I can't keep
weight ON him. Mr activity.

Janet Boss
http://bestfriendsdogobedience.com/
http://photos.yahoo.com/bestfriendsobedience

"Kepytan" wrote:
Ive been feeding raw for almost 4 months now, but nothing premade - way too
expensive for me.

I hardly cook for myself. Unless it's premade, I'm not interested at this
point. :}

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"Leah" wrote in message
...
"Kepytan" wrote:
Ive been feeding raw for almost 4 months now, but nothing premade - way
too
expensive for me.

I hardly cook for myself. Unless it's premade, I'm not interested at this
point. :}

I draw the line at cooking for the dogs. you quickly gain an 'eye' for how
much food is in the bowl. I chop the meat in chunks, about 1 - 2 inches
and put 2 days worth in a gallon freezer bag. Last time, it took me about
45 minutes to do 30 lbs of buffalo meat. I have enough meat to last about
2 months right now. But Im stocking up while it's free!!
After the chopping, it doesnt take any longer to do than kibble. Of
course, Im horrible about remembering to get it out of the freezer in time
to thaw.

dainerra

(J1Boss) wrote:
I feed Bravo. I've been very happy with it (been feeding almost 2 years
now).


I like feeding raw, but Lucy is a gulper, so I don't really feel comfortable
with chicken pieces with bones and such.

I'm concerned about feeding solely soft food, for the teeth. Do you ever
supplement with raw bones of any kind? Like large beef bones? All my girls
chew rawhides and sterilized bones, but not enough to keep their teeth clean.
I would imagine if it's a bone fresh from the butcher with meat still clinging
to it, they'd chew more.

Even with hard kibble, chewing toys and OxyFresh added to their water, Madigan
tends to collect tartar on her teeth much more than the other two - to the
point where I'm thinking she needs them scraped.

I do try to brush, but it's one of those things I only remember to do when I'm
not able - i.e., falling asleep at 4:00 a.m., out somewhere without the girls,
that's when I think of it. I even put the tooth brush on my kitchen counter
where I have to look at it several times a day, hoping it would remind me. It
didn't help. For some reason, I have a mental block about this.

Canine Action Dog Trainer
http://www.canineaction.com
My Kids, My Students, My Life:
http://hometown.aol.com/dfrntdrums/m...age/index.html
Build Your Immune System, Lose Weight
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Do you ever
supplement with raw bones of any kind? Like large beef bones?

only in summer when they can eat them outside!


Janet Boss
http://bestfriendsdogobedience.com/
http://photos.yahoo.com/bestfriendsobedience

"Kepytan" wrote:
I draw the line at cooking for the dogs. you quickly gain an 'eye' for how
much food is in the bowl. I chop the meat in chunks, about 1 - 2 inches
and put 2 days worth in a gallon freezer bag. Last time, it took me about
45 minutes to do 30 lbs of buffalo meat. I have enough meat to last about
2 months right now. But Im stocking up while it's free!!
After the chopping, it doesnt take any longer to do than kibble. Of
course, Im horrible about remembering to get it out of the freezer in time
to thaw.

Well, this would be cool, but...

I know, for example, that becoming a vegetarian is far more complex than just
removing meat from the diet - you have to know how to make up for the vitamins,
minerals, enzymes, etc., that were in the meat that the body needs.

So going from a prepared food that does take into account all that the dog's
body requires to just meat... I dunno about that. :}

Canine Action Dog Trainer
http://www.canineaction.com
My Kids, My Students, My Life:
http://hometown.aol.com/dfrntdrums/m...age/index.html
Build Your Immune System, Lose Weight
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(J1Boss) wrote:

Do you ever
supplement with raw bones of any kind? Like large beef bones?

only in summer when they can eat them outside!

I live in Florida - I wouldn't have to worry about that. :}

What kind of bones do you get? Can you trust stuff from grocery stores? I
always see ox tails for sale - is that good?

And what about switching from kibble to raw meat - isn't there a danger of
pancreatitis if the dog's system isn't used to it?

Canine Action Dog Trainer
http://www.canineaction.com
My Kids, My Students, My Life:
http://hometown.aol.com/dfrntdrums/m...age/index.html
Build Your Immune System, Lose Weight
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