Switched dogs to raw diet...WOW

[roosterdown]

Another "raw diet" question for those more knowledgeable: How about fish & fish bones?

I do lengthy remote wilderness canoe trips and Walleye, Pike, Lake Trout and Smallmouth are on the menu regularly. I've fed her cooked fish, but am curious about raw fish and about the bones - both cooked and raw.

 

[MDR]

Not sure if I am more knowledgeable, but our dogs get fish spines, and tails. Haven't had an issue yet.

Typically pike, char, trout and whitefish.

Another "raw diet" question for those more knowledgeable: How about fish & fish bones?

I do lengthy remote wilderness canoe trips and Walleye, Pike, Lake Trout and Smallmouth are on the menu regularly. I've fed her cooked fish, but am curious about raw fish and about the bones - both cooked and raw.

 

[ianpadron]

Another "raw diet" question for those more knowledgeable: How about fish & fish bones?

I do lengthy remote wilderness canoe trips and Walleye, Pike, Lake Trout and Smallmouth are on the menu regularly. I've fed her cooked fish, but am curious about raw fish and about the bones - both cooked and raw.

I wouldn't worry about uncooked fish bones personally. Pretty soft and pliable. I would avoid cooking them unless you were boiling (further softening them)

Fish do tend to carry a shitload of parasites so a quick freeze-thaw cycle isn't a terrible idea when you're not on a wilderness trip.

Pacific salmon in particular carry a nasty little fluke that can cause "salmon poisoning", only effects canines.

You'll see a lot of sled dogs in AK that live exclusively on boiled, smoked, freeze dried salmon...bones and all

 

[welkin]

Has anyone had any issues with raw food for their dogs and parasites? I've been feeding mine venison scraps (Oregon blacktail) and he's come down with a case of hook worms. This could be total coincidence of course. The meats been kept in the freezer for a couple months (roadkill deer). I've eaten some pretty rare steak from the same animal and I don't have worms.

 

[manitou1]

I didn't read all the posts, but be sure to supplement with avgoid source of calcium such as ground egg shells. Can be bought on Amazon.
Too much orotein with little calcium is deteimental and causes kidney disease/failure in dogs.

It has to be a balance and you can go online to see the formulation.

Too much protei, not enough calcium: Bad.

Too much calcium, not enough orotein: Bad

 

[North Idaho Stickbow]

Has anyone had any issues with raw food for their dogs and parasites? I've been feeding mine venison scraps (Oregon blacktail) and he's come down with a case of hook worms. This could be total coincidence of course. The meats been kept in the freezer for a couple months (roadkill deer). I've eaten some pretty rare steak from the same animal and I don't have worms.

Yes. Keep dewormer on hand. It doesn’t happen very often, but it does happen. I give mine a dewormer every 3 months regardless. It’s super easy and cheap. Just feed him one big ol’ chewy pill and he eats it no questions asked.

 

[welkin]

Good to know. It looks like hookworms do not survive freezing temperatures, and after a couple months in my freezer, I doubt he picked them up from the meat he's been eating.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

Has anyone had any issues with raw food for their dogs and parasites? I've been feeding mine venison scraps (Oregon blacktail) and he's come down with a case of hook worms. This could be total coincidence of course. The meats been kept in the freezer for a couple months (roadkill deer). I've eaten some pretty rare steak from the same animal and I don't have worms.

We use Nexgard Spectra for flea/tick/heartworm and it knocks out all those intestinal worms also, so we don't worry about that. One of my dogs eats a ton of trim and scrap and such because she's diabetic so no kibble. Her staples are chicken, with bones and all with beef kidney but she has elk and venison that would otherwise be trashed... the more bloodshot the better she loves it lol.

 

[ianpadron]

Has anyone had any issues with raw food for their dogs and parasites? I've been feeding mine venison scraps (Oregon blacktail) and he's come down with a case of hook worms. This could be total coincidence of course. The meats been kept in the freezer for a couple months (roadkill deer). I've eaten some pretty rare steak from the same animal and I don't have worms.

Any dog that spends time outside will eventually get worms if they're not regularly de-wormed. At least that's been our experience.

Our golden had some sort of worm this past summer and we thought maybe it was the raw food, but our other dog tested negative, meaning he likely picked them up outside the house.

Now we just zap 'em with some de-wormer every few months since they're constantly in nasty water, hunting in pastures, dead animals in their mouths etc. Apparently one of the most common places for worms to be picked up is from game birds, so hunting dogs like ours are particularly at risk.

 

[outlawstryker]

What is a good book for switching to a raw diet for dogs?

 

[ianpadron]

What is a good book for switching to a raw diet for dogs?

 

[rclouse79]

I used to give my dogs raw scraps when I was processing wild game. Once we noticed worms in their poop. When we took them to the vet I was asked if I had fed them and raw venison. When I said I had given them raw antelope scrape they said that was probably it. Now I put all scraps on baking sheets and cook them in the oven and then freeze them.

 

[Sanchez]

I feed my Brittney about 50/50 mix of Purina and meat, mostly raw deer and elk scraps along with chicken and fish. It seems to usually work well.

I get a lot of albacore tuna, herring and other ocean fish. Excess fish particularly tuna seems like it sometimes does not sit well although I am not sure the fish is the cause.

Anybody have thoughts or experience on feeding tuna and herring.

Thanks

 

[ScreamingPotato]

I feed my Brittney about 50/50 mix of Purina and meat, mostly raw deer and elk scraps along with chicken and fish. It seems to usually work well.

I get a lot of albacore tuna, herring and other ocean fish. Excess fish particularly tuna seems like it sometimes does not sit well although I am not sure the fish is the cause.

Anybody have thoughts or experience on feeding tuna and herring.

Thanks

Not specifically, but at our camp on the coast the dogs will catch their own fish, mainly mullet and skipjack although one of the dogs actually got a flying fish once. My old girl will limit herself and won't eat too much, stopping after a fish and a half or so, the other one will end up with the runs if I don't stop him. If he gets more than a fish it definitely buggars him up. They eat them scales guts head and all though so I always figured all the skin and scales probably don't sit well.

 

[Public Land Drew]

Changed my 33-pound female GSP to a raw diet after kibble her whole life, it has been about a month now. She is an active dog averaging past month 12 miles a day, meal prepping for 3-4 weeks takes me about an hour. It costs me about $3.40-3.90 per meal after supplements are purchased. I feed her once a day the following:

Diet:
-1.2-1.4 pounds skinless chicken thigh/deer scrapes
-Chicken liver .1-.2oz
-Gizzards & Heart .1-.2oz
-1 Chicken foot
-1-2 eggs or 1/2 tin of sardines
- rotating between, bananas, vegetables, and berries each meal varied from .4-.6oz
- Bone meal
- Joint supplement

Pro's:
- Softer coat.... I'm talking like 5x times softer
- No more dandruff
- Smaller/Firmer Poop
- No smell in poop
- Higher energy
- Recovery time: Seems to be less "sore" after big runs
- Less Water Intake
- Endless training opportunities before dinner, she is ridiculously excited

Cons:
- Higher Energy (Yes listed again)
- The transition period can be.... well nasty
- Cost: About 20-25% more expensive than Purina Pro Plan

 

[Mosby]

I live in an area with a high rate of CWD and it seems to be spreading so I don't eat or feed my dogs local game anymore. Also be careful feeding things like Sardines on a daily basis. I listened to a Joe Rogan podcast yesterday and he got arsenic poisoning from eating sardines daily. They are bottom feeders and that isn't a good thing in today's ocean evidently. I like sardines but won't be buying them going forward for me or my dogs.

Personally, I feed my dogs a quality dry kibble combined with a food topper that I make myself with beef, chicken, liver, gizzards and wild game when I have it but I cook it all, so I don't have to deal with parasites, bacteria etc., I also filter all my dogs water to remove some of the chemicals, fluoride etc., that's in most water supplies these days. Filtering doesn't take it all out but it helps. YMMV.

 

[MarkOrtiz]

Rabbit might be a possibility for some too. My daughter raises rabbits for a local dog breeder. He wants them skinned and gutted. He freeze dries the hearts and livers for training snacks and feeds raw rabbit. He also buys raw milk from her dairy goats for the dogs. We don't have a dog yet, but just finished our first season of duck hunting and tried upland hunting too, so I think one is in our future. We will probably feed raw.
Each breeding doe can produce about 200 lbs of rabbits once raised for 12 weeks. 4 does and a buck could produce about 800 lbs of meat per year. Cost for her is under $2 per lb of processed meat. Just an idea for those trying to find a source of meat.

 

[Curtdog]

After some thoughtful conversations, lots of reading, and too many anecdotes to ignore we switched our bird dogs over to a full raw diet 3 months ago, and after a full hunting season under our belts, won't be going back to kibble...ever.

Couple things first, there are plenty of vets who support feeding raw, including some who have published excellent books on the topic.

Next, it works out to roughly the same cost as feeding Purina Pro Plan Sport (~$90 a month)

Last, aside from the first few days when their guts are adjusting, there is no gas and no diarrhea. Quite the opposite in fact. Dogs poop maybe once a day, and it has almost zero odor. They used to drop 4 or 5 doogies every walk on kibble and it smelled like death

Haven't noticed any changes in our 2 year old Brittany who is as high energy as bird dogs get, aside from he no longer has any dandruff and doesn't chew at his wrists. Energy still high octane, jet fuel, crackhead level. Weight remaining steady around 40 pounds.

Our 6 year old golden however is basically a new dog. Confirmed multiple times this past season by buddies who hadn't hunted over him in a couple years. Seemingly endless energy during the hunt, where he'd normally drag ass after a full 2 day stint in the field and be on my heels, even when he was younger and at the same weight. He'd always hobble around after a big hunt for a few days, that's now a thing of the past. He'll br tired, but not sore. Coat is Fabio level luxurious. He gets the zoomies on every walk and seems noticeably happier, cool to see!

They get a mix of deer, antelope, elk scraps etc, lots of organ meat, chicken, necks and backs, etc. sardines, salmon, etc. with the occasional whole egg. We add bone meal and a few supplements just to make sure they're balanced. They get a tiny amount of frozen veggies and pumpkin to account for any micronutrients.

Anyway, I figured I'd share since I know there are a lot of guys on this forum who love their bird dogs and likely want the best for them, including a longer useful life in the field. It was a convo with a fellow hunter who had a 15 yo golden still going strong that really pushed me over the edge, and now we're all in.

Worthy of consideration

That is amazing to hear we have been on the fence of starting this with our 2 year old vizsla. He has great health and is currently eating one of what I would consider the most holistic kibbles. Nulo kibble has a super clean ingredient list but we also supplement him all the time with raw scraps from what we hunt. He also gets beaver scraps fairly frequently as well and we notice how much he loves it! I need to dive into more of the micronutrient research to figure out what would be the best recipe for our extreme energy dog breed as well. I’m assuming it would be pretty close to the needs of a Brittany