Favorite Raw Diet Recipes

Heyy, it's Crisp here to bother you guys! I've been doing a lot of research on raw diets and just wanted to see if those forum members who fed raw had any recipes they really liked and wanted to share.

I'm particularly interested to find if anyone has a recipe with a fish base that works for them. I'd like to move Russell to raw (or at least supplemental kibble w/raw) as his kibble just isn't cutting it (I have to feed too much for how expensive it is) and I think raw may actually be more appropriate for him. Russell isn't too much of a concern - he has no allergies, just high fat and protein needs.

London, however, appears allergic or intollerant to beef and chicken based kibbles but does well on salmon. I'm not sure if this is because of the meat ingredient or how they process the meat to bake the kibble. I'm not even sure I want to move London to raw, but I'm still very curious - it looks fish based raw can make a dog sick very easily if it isn't balanced properly.

Comments

  • edited September 2012
    Salmon or trout can be an issue with parasites.. Fish I fed Saya are smelt, mackerel, and pacific saury. The saury has the head and organs and mackerel just the head and bones no organs.

    She had bluegill once after I gutted it and froze it for while before feeding her.

    How is London with pork, lamb, duck, or rabbit?

    Though duck and rabbit and maybe lamb might be bit pricey..

    I'm lucky can get duck free once in a while.

    If you feed a fish based raw diet and add in pork, lamb that could be good.. especially if you can get lamb liver, kidney, or pork liver and kidney.

    When starting out you want to introduce one protein at a time and trim the fat at first then keep it in so the dog can get used to it.

    Saya also has had yellow croaker and white fish bone had its head and bone, but no organs. Saya liked both, but not sure how nutritional they are I got it as a interesting meal the white fish lasted her while.

    I never dealt with food allergies before so dunno.

    Lamb ribs, pork ribs are pretty edible bone for Saya at least.

    I'm no raw expert sorry so can't formulate a recipe..

    Saya's weekly meals change by each week.

    I know Duke on dogster raw forum is allergic to chicken, and maybe beef or maybe just chicken I forgot.

    Here's what Saya got or getting this week..
    She been on raw for three years so she is used to variety. when she was new to it she mainly had chicken for bit then I slowly added pork to it and she had chicken and pork then transitioned to liver and so on.

    Saturday 22
    Pacific Saury

    Sunday 23
    chicken quarter

    Monday 24
    caned mackerel

    Tuesday 25
    egg and rabbit

    Wednesday 26
    bone in goat pieces

    Thursday 27
    Pork shoulder roast

    Friday 28
    chicken liver

    Saturday 29
    lamb testee lamb rib

    Sunday 30
    ground emu
  • I dont really have a recipe either, I just throw stuff together.
  • Here's a thread I made on shiba side with nice links. Sadly can't edit it anymore so I can't add anything to the first page..
    Or remove anything I'd like take the Karen becker book link off the first page.. I didn't find it as useful.

    http://www.shibainuforum.org/forum/discussion/9663/raw-thread/p1

    Have they had raw before or this new?
  • With fish, I usually just feed ones that are small enough to give the whole thing, and add some supplements or a wad of premix on the side to round out the meal. The sardines I get are pretty uniformly 4 oz apiece. Spanish mackerel, pike mackerel are other popular meals here... about 6 oz apiece? Also got some croaker -- remains to be seen if the dogs will like it. Apparently they don't like the little, slippery guys. So with anchovies, I have to chop them up and mix into something like Honest Kitchen, or they won't eat them. And neither like smelt at all, even when I chop them up!

    But we only feed whole fish twice a week at most, usually just once. They're already getting fish-based kibble in the mornings, and I don't want to overdo it. It's one of their favorite meals though. Bowpi always eats the face first. =P
  • Thank you for the links and insight, guys!

    @Saya - this will be their (and my) first time with raw. Russell may have some experience since he DID live, supposedly, "feral" for some time, but he may have just had garbage during his little "I'm a coyote!" stint before I got him.

    It looks like Russell will need 21oz, give or take, and London will need around 30 if they go total raw. I think I may stick to the main ingredients of their kibble as it stands and transition them? IDK, it sounds good in theory. My friend (a vet nurse) really isn't sold on raw diet, but didn't have much else to offer me in way of cost effective ways to continue feeding Russell what he needs (aka, Toothpick!Dog).

    For Russell, I'm thinking: Beef (1st), fish (2nd), sweet potatoes, eggs, and carrots.
    --> If I go with beef, should I go with something with a bone or should ground beef be okay?

    I'll keep London on his kibble (since he's not really having problems with it) until I can say for certain if I like or do not like feeding raw with Russell. Poor Russell gets to be Experiment!Dog for a little while.
  • Russell will need some sort of bone that he can consume. If there is not bone, there's no calcium (amongst other things) which is required in a dog's diet. I use mostly chicken for bone, sometimes turkey, but lamb and pork bones (like ribs) work good too.

    I don't have any set recipe, I just feed whatever I've got on hand and that'll give me a relative balance. Not helpful, I know, but if you've got a specific question I'll answer it.
  • i never feed pork, it can be infected with Aujeszky or Pseudorabiës, which it deadly for dogs.
    freshwater fish like trout can be given after a few weeks in the freezer.
    the advice i got is, fish once a week.
    in the netherlands we have about 30 companies selling raw meat.
    i feed our dogs (shiba and chihuahua) a brand called lotgering.
    they sell raw meat for dogs, cats and ferrets.
    for dogs they have all kind of mixed meat.
    now i feed a mix of deer,pheasant, lama, wild rabbit and hare.
    and our dogs love it :)
    some times i give with the meat, cooked rice, carrots and other vegetables, never give avocado!!!!!!!!! deadly for dogs.
    i also give my shiba yori a raw duckneck, have a nice pic on my yori thread.

    the ricipe of lotgering is 70% meat, 15% organs and 15% bone.
  • @losech, that's always my reply when I have to answer these questions, and I feel bad but really, they eat whatevere is on sale at the meat market/grocery store.
  • I feed whatever is on sale too. Mostly chicken. Used to be chicken backs/necks, but we've switched over to leg quarters. They also get fish sometimes, but except for small fish like sardines (canned or fresh) only one dog likes whole fish (and she, too, was particularly taken with the fish heads). When my fat male Shiba is on a diet, he gets fish and vegetables only. I feed him white fish filets quite often because they are pretty inexpensive and easy to get (usually tilapia filets--I once bought whole tilapia and don't recommend it--the fins are very sharp, and the skin is hard, and all the dogs struggled with it). This is "spa diet" though and is not representative of the dogs' regular diet.

    Pork is ok to feed, actually. Most people freeze it first because it can have some problems. I've never heard of the things renef is talking about, but I've read it is safer to freeze pork first, so I do that. When we feed pork, it's mostly tails or riblets or feet, and they are mostly for a treat rather than anything else. (though of course it counts toward their caloric intake for the day). We don't feed it that often.

    They get lots of table scraps (and yes, they've eaten avocado which seems to have no ill effects, but it was mostly just dabs of leftover guacomole on things. Apparently there are wildly different opinions on the toxicity of avocado on dogs) and they seem to add to their diet by eating things in the yard--my tomatoes, various other plants, birds, mice, rats and bugs. Leo likes to add a good dose of paper to his diet. They also get salmon oil and probiotics, and various other supplements depending on their needs.

  • If you are giving them whole or mostly whole fish, then he should be getting some bone from that. Also, if you use a whole egg with the shell then eating the shell will also give calcium. I say try it with the "recipe" you are planning on giving and use the poop as judgement as to if there is enough bone or not. If you give too much bone, the poop could be very hard and painful to pass. If you have a hard time getting bone items, he refuses to eat them, or is a gulper and may not chew enough before swallowing; then you can see about buying/making bone meal and mixing it in with the sweet potato.





    And as for avocado, since it's been mentioned, there's actually a kibble that uses avocado though it's not that high in the ingredients list. I personally wouldn't feed this kibble to my pups, nor would the get any avocado since Tom and I don't really eat the stuff. On their website, they actually state this:

    "Concern has been expressed by the ASPCA about the consumption of the leaves, fruit, bark, and stems from the avocado tree, with the exception of the avocado fruit which is used for the oil and meal; none of these parts are factors in any of the AvoDerm® pet products formulations and we have no indication that avocado oil and meal as used in AvoDerm® are toxic, poisonous, harmful or bad for your dogs or cats diet.

    Dr. Art Craigmill, UC Davis, Professor and Extension Specialist in Environmental Toxicology has said that his studies and other research in the United States and Australia have shown that the problem of toxicity is in the leaves and the pit of the Guatemalan variety; the avocado meat of the fruit and oils have not been shown to be toxic." ~http://www.avodermnatural.com/About/why_avocados.htm
  • @shibamistress-- "Leo likes to add a good dose of paper to his diet"

    ROFL!!
  • Haha, thank you guys - this has been really helpful! I'm hoping to get some bear meat from a friend who's a hunter. With any luck, we'll get to try Bear for Russell's first instead of beef. (Start him off with exotic tastes and disappoint him from there, right?)
  • My freezer has pork, pacific saury(mackerel pike), mackerel forgot the kind, smelt, ground emu, ground ewe, boneless goose, ground turkey, beef stew meat or roasts if on sale.

    For bone in meals Saya gets bone in dove breast, lamb ribs, beef ox tail(She only gets tiny bit of bone off ox tail it's a choking hazard for bigger dogs though Saya handles it OK.).

    She also gets bone in chicken of all kinds depends on deals I fine I try get the whole roasters as they come with some organs sometimes and it has bit of everything, but if good deal on thighs or breasts I'll get them and during Thanksgiving and Christmas I buy bone in turkey since there is sometimes good deals at the end or during the holiday.

    Butcher had good deal on turkey necks/wings with organs buy one get one free or buy two get one free I pretty much bought it all and filled the freeze Saya and Bella loved it.

    I recently found a place that sells bone in goat chunks so I got it so far Saya loves the bone in goat she had it before, but as a pre mix ground stuff with ground meat, bone, and organs.

    I have chicken, beef, pork, lamb, turkey liver, for other secreting organs she has beef, lamb kidney, beef thymus(sweetbreads), and lamb testee. I rotate between the livers each week and same for other secreting organ.

    She also gets beef, lamb, pork tongue, beef, lamb, pork, chicken, and on thanksgiving and Christmas turkey heart and also chicken gizzards and turkey gizzards on thanksgiving time those organs are counted as muscle not secreting according to people on dogster.

    I agree whole talapia is a hit or miss some dogs love and some hate it.

    I try make sure she gets good variety each week.

    I was hoping to get some chicken heads with the chicken feet from this local free ranged farmer, but due to regulations or whatever she can't give it to me.. :\

    Ah well I'm getting good bit of chicken feet and she will save turkey feet for me too which is nice.

    I also give Saya whole rabbit that she caught from this spring and used give whole quail, but ran out I need order more from hare today..

    Calia advice is pretty good..

    Saya's fish has bone in it and she handles it good..

    One word of advice if you buy something your not sure your dog will like buy a small thing of it not big bulk order till you know your dog will eat it.

    Saya used to hate kidney, tongue, and heart I think it was a texture issue, but eventually she liked it I just kept offering tiny bit with each meal finally she ate it. Was funny though she would pick it up then spit it out like it was yucky, but now those items are one of her favorite. lol

    Took Saya week to fully get used to raw where she ate it without me holding the item.

    Butchers, ethnic markets like Asian or Mexican, and farmer's market can be good places for various things.

    Walmart near me sells smelt they're tiny, but Saya loves them, but some dogs don't.. hehe Walmart also has beef liver and once had beef kidney, but the ones near me don't have it anymore.

    Be careful of enhanced meats as the added sodium can cause loose poop it should say on front or on nutrition box if it's enhanced high sodium is indication to some dogs can handle some, but when new to raw best not to risk it..

    I gotten a big whole turkey for free from someone, but it was enhanced. I just cooked the meat and organs and cut it up for cooked treat or to use to make dog biscuits.

    Giving probiotics when transitioning is good idea to help with it there is various kinds out there. One I know of is ark naturals gentle digest I saw another brand, but forgot it's name. I don't think yogurt has enough to help plus some dogs have issues with dairy.

    Saya was transitioned to raw cold turkey I bought couple packs of bone in chicken and then just gave it to her instead of kibble. Before she did get lamb ribs, raw egg plus caned fish as a meal instead of kibble once a week.

    When she was new to raw first week the first raw poop she had some mucous in it, but after that she was OK and one time she had bone shards in her poop, but then after that it came out as powder so I think it took her few days for her stomach to adjust and get the right acidity or whatever to fully digest the bone..

    She did have some rocket butt it was my mistake I gave her bit too much of new thing because she was doing fine on it thought she could handle it I just went back to normal meals and transitioned to new item slower.

    Starting raw on something other then chicken is fine I know someone who transitioned to raw on deer no issue..

    At first be careful with the fat it's usually recommended to take skin off chicken when starting and keeping it on once dog is used to it helps make the item more bland.

    Saya loves sweet potatoes when ever we make it for dinner I try save bit and give to her and Bella.

    Yeah egg shells Bella eats the egg shells fine, but Saya avoids them if they're mixed in ground meat or something she'll eat it, but not just with the egg.
  • I never eaten bear or feed it, but this thread has some info..
    http://www.dogster.com/forums/Raw_food_diet/thread/413001

    Bear can have trichinosis parasite.. Pig and boars can too.. I'm not sure, but one poster on it says the one in bear can't be killed by freezing? I dunno..

    Could cook or dehydrate and make yummy training treat for the dogs? I dunno.

    Only wild game I've gotten has been dove, pheasant, Canadian goose and freezer burned deer plus the rabbit Saya has caught..

    No bears in my area so I never really looked it up.
  • @Saya - thank you for all the information! I didn't realize Bear carried Trichinosis commonly! Now I feel dumb. Cooking it sounds like a good idea. I could always use it as a mix-in once it's cooked. It looks like freezing it (even for a long period) isn't really recommended since freezing doesn't kill the larvae in wild game. Cooking is the only thing that'll do it. Good to know! I'm sure my friend would have told me if I said I was going to give it raw to the dogs but I hadn't mentioned it.

    I'll probably wait a while, do more research and educate myself a bit more on this stuff before attempting, but I think it'll be better for Russell, in particular, in the end. He's already on probiotics because of some digestion issues he has, so I'm hoping a limited ingredient/slow change over will do him good.
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