I have been doing a lot of reading on raw diets, and I am wondering how many people here feed their bulldogs raw?
I also would LOVE to hear from those that feed un-ground, bone in animal parts?
Does anyone NOT feed any vegetable source whatsoever?
I would really appreciate hearing from raw feeders!
Cathy
when she first came home
I feed one raw
the other kibble because its so expensive. I was making my own, but i dont have the time anymore so I decided only to feed the one that has a problem digesting kibble the raw. When i was feeding them both raw I tried giving my female pieces of chicken, say a thigh, and she looked at me like I was crazy. She did try to chew it but decided it was too much work I guess and so I had to always cut it up in pieces for her or make it ground. My male will chew whole pieces if i cut off the big chunks of meat. Guess my kids are spoiled lazy dogs. LOL Its costing about $130 or so a month to feed premade raw for the male, and the females kibble isnt cheap either.
Audrey is my dog :-)
she is doing awesome, except for the tear stains. I am feeding her Primal. It's very expensive and I have read it so many times I do believe it now that she doesn't need daily vegetables or fruits. I'm sure it's not hurting her but it's less $$ than pure meat so I can see why they put it in there. I want to start making my own food for her.
Thanks so much for your input!
Cathy
when she first came home
yes, it does help!
Thank you very much!
Cathy
when she first came home
That was my fear also
choking. But there are so many people who feed raw chicken bones, the message board has 16 THOUSAND members that do it, and it has been done since dogs have been domesticated, all over the world, it is starting to ease that fear. I don't worry about the salmonella as much, I know animals eat dead and raw nastily decaying animals and I just can't believe God would make them that vulnerable to bacteria. I believe God gave them the bodies they need to handle the food source He intended for them.
I am STILL nervous though about giving her a raw hunk of chicken! I know I contradict myself and I make myself crazy worrying about things.
Cathy
when she first came home
raw
I feed raw to my dogs most of the time. All my girls who become preganat eat nothing but raw. I start my puppies on a raw before I do the kibble. I have had a rescue come to me with spina bifida, very mild case. She could run play jump just like my gang. The people had her on Eukanuba which I think is a good food..anyway I changed her diet from kibble to raw and her poo and pee changed to hardly anything. Gracie never had to wear a diaper on raw she had a more regular bowel. Anyway, she went on to find a forever home and they still continue to use the raw diet with her.. The vet says this is a beatiful bulldog and looked awesome so he recommed they keep her on it. They feed Nature's Varity.
I have 6 1/2 month puppies that have had raw all their life and I do give them some kibble..as of now neither of them have ear problems, nor yeasty nose ropes or tear stains... really wish I could say it was the food because I sure do want to believe it..but only time will tell as when they get older and everything starts to change head, jaw, horomones......all the fun stuff!
I am feedig it right now with some kibble..I am feeding Bravo. the chicken and bone...sometimes I will go to the duck and bone. or I will do the fish with no bone.
How is Cathy doing?
Linda
Re: That was my fear also
I've fed my now 18 month old bully Teela raw since day 1, not pre-packaged, I do my own. We used to own a chocolate lab for 14 years, when he died we wanted to get another dog. I did TONS of research and we decided on the bulldog. I also did tons of research on best feeding etc. and decided to do raw. We buy 20lb boxes of chicken backs from our local butcher for $12, salmon heads ($1), small fish, liver, hearts, pigs feet, rib ends, beef ends, elk, bison, deer, lamb, sardines, she eats it all. On occasion we give her veggies ground up with yogurt and some other natural supplements. I've never given her anything ground up, she manages to chew it all and has never choked. If she tries to swallow a bone that's too big they have great gag reflex, she hacks it back up, chew some more and down it goes I've never had any health issues (allergies, infections, wrinkle issues, hair, tear stains etc.) Her stools are always solid and don't smell. Try the whole chicken back, neck or turkey neck. I can assure you your dog WILL NOT choke!!
Hope that helps! Here is a picture of Teela at around 12 months old I belive...
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Actually, I take that back..
If I only had one dog I would cook for him/her. I tried cooking for three dogs and it was just too time consuming and too much food to store. The dogs loved it and did great on it, but I couldn't keep up with the shopping and cooking. Plus, I don't have a separate freezer. The side by side sub zero isn't big enough to store more than a few days of food for three dogs. I bought the Pitcarn book and followed his recipes.
I wouldn't give my dogs raw chicken. I'd be too freaked out about choking and salmonella.
I don't rescue animals because I want to feel better about myself, or morally superior to anyone. The best part of my life with animals is the humility they teach and the humanity the foster.
Jon Katz "Soul of a Dog"
you'd have to find it wholesale
cause normal retail is $150 for just Audrey, and she is only 43 pounds. That times 5 dogs would be $750 per month. YIKES! I really think I am going to try giving Audrey some chicken quarters, bones and all. I am nervous about it, but it is SO much cheaper! And according to the raw sites, so much better than the ground up frozen.
Cathy
when she first came home
If I had one dog, I'd feed one of the frozen prepared raw foods.
It's just too expensive for 5 dogs. I've thought about putting Belle, my dog with urine crystals and reactive ears on it. We're still working on treating with meds for now.
I don't rescue animals because I want to feel better about myself, or morally superior to anyone. The best part of my life with animals is the humility they teach and the humanity the foster.
Jon Katz "Soul of a Dog"
thank you for responding!
I am just trying to see how common it is with bulldogs.
Cathy
when she first came home
Parttime raw
I feed Zorro raw, frozen meat as an extra to his kibble. He gets vedges aswell. He loves his meat but I do like him to eat kibble too, because I don't want to mess with twawing meat when I travel.
But, Zorro doesn't have problem that could be solved with raw-feeding, so I can keep totally raw feeding as a option.