Raw Diet help
Is anyone using this kind of diet for their sheepie? Or know of a good web site or book? We are still having an awful time with Mojo's skin. He has been on various allergy formulas with no success. My sister had to take one of her dogs to their vet today and talked to her a little about Mojo. She said the first thing she would try is the raw diet and I could find info on line. Well I have found lots of products but not good guidelines for do it yourself. Also I am looking for a list of thing they should absolutely NOT eat. |
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| I am thinking about switching Izzie over too. Right now I am reading a great book about pet care in general, but he also talks about feeding raw and gives recipes. He does not advocate raw meaty bones as part of the daily diet, though many do.
Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats. Richard H. Pitcairn, DVM, PhD and Susan Hubble Pitcairn I know Bingley's mom feeds raw...so she might have more suggestions. |
| I think that Emily (Moplover) has Bingley on a raw diet, so you might want to pm her.
Laurie and Oscar |
| Not to take away from this excellent forum, but there's a site on Yahoo Groups just about raw feed and OES.
You'll have to register with Yahoo! Groups, then search up Natural OES and join. http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalOES/ |
| GRRRRRR
Why can't they migrate that to here so it is out in the open and everyone can participate?!? I could arrange for the owner over there to be the moderator of a new section on OES and raw feeding.  |
| If you google "BARF DIET" it will bring up a ton of web sites for the raw diet and lots of information for books etc. Receipes and information to make sure you are balancing their meals out with everything they need in a diet.
I fed mostly raw for 7 years on my previous sheepie after cancer but there is still a few things that I personally would still cook. Chicken raw I felt dicey, listeria, salmonella etc could lurk so no chances with a sheepie girl then with raw chicken. A few a other things I cooked too. Also I consulted a holisitc vet to guide me through the nutritional requirements she needed at that time. It made a huge difference to her and kept her healthy for 7 years, but it is time consuming and expensive as supplements have to be added like enzymes etc to help. Plus always very fresh organic and free range products too so no chance of hormones or chemicals in their diets makes it expensive. Barf feeding is highly recommended by lots for their animals and a lot have noticed huge changes in the well being of their pets on the Barf diet. |
| Wendy Volhard has an excellant book about natural diet and raw feeding. It is called "The Holistic Guide For the Healthy Dog".
Wendy Volhard has been feeding her dogs a natural diet and researching dog nutrition for over 30 years. I happen to know her back then and we all thought she was a bit nutty with all the natural dog stuff  Well, here we all are now...commecial foods being recalled left and right and all of us now running to these "nuts" who feed their dog a natural/raw diet.
Another author is Monica Segal. her books are a bit more difficult to find since she is in canada. Just be sure to read and follow some expert on feeding raw and/or homecooking for your dog. There is alot of info on the internet - but not always from reliable sources. Before going raw or homecooking, you really should do some research, have some blood work done on your dogs,be sure you are feeding the proper protein levels and vitamins, etc and make the switch slowly and intellegently...There's alittle more to it than just simply throwing a raw bone or two for dinner... |
| You're right - I do feed Bingley on a raw diet, as do a couple other forum members. He has done excellent on this diet. There are a ton of books out there about a raw diet and how to feed. I've read several of them and I actually found a website that kind of boiled it down into an understandable format: http://www.rawdogranch.com/rawdiet.htm This website was a GREAT help to me when I started. It shows food ratios and helps explain exactly how to calculate food totals, etc. Another excellent resource just for Old English Sheepdogs and a raw food diet is this yahoo group: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalOES/ Don't worry Ron, Judy is a member here, too!!
There is a lot of information out there. You really need to take most of it with a grain of salt and add it to your own research as well! Here is a site for a book: http://www.rawmeatybones.com/ When I first began Bingley on the diet I decided to switch cold turkey. Some people gradually mix it in to the food and eliminate the old food over a course of time. Bingley was having diarrhea so I figured it could only help! We gave him digestive enzymes for quite a while with his transition (ordered from http://b-naturals.com/natural.php) and I think they were really helpful. We started him off on just chicken quarters, then when he was accustomed to those we began to add beef, and as soon as he was good with that we added another meat variety to his diet. Now he has chicken as a base (it is usually the cheapest meat to buy), beef, tripe, all kinds of offal (organs), turkey, lamb, fish, small cornish game hens, etc. We also do a tablespoon of ground vegetables every day and fish oil, vitamin E, and a supplement called Nupro. It sounds complicated but it is amazingly simple. Good luck with your research and if there is anything I can help you with please ask! Don't forget to look for raw food groups in your area - combining bulk orders greatly reduces price! |
| Whole Dog Journal has been featuring a lot of different variations of raw and natural diets in the last few issues as well. They've had a lot of contributors sharing what they feed. My guys do fine on their food but I've found it all very interesting. You can order back issues or if you subscribe, you can look at them online. I love the magazine and think it's well worth the money. I learn a lot from it. |
| Emily,
Do you feed organic meats? |
| Thanks for all of the input.
The web sites have been very helpful. I went today and bought Natures Variety Raw organic chicken. I know it may take longer to show results but I bought enough for three weeks. I hope Ronnie doesn't ask how much it was!! It will run almost $200 for a months worth!!!!! Oh well, it buys me some time to research the diet some more and find some local sources for buying bulk, organic meats. |
I don't feed organic meats. I probably would if I could afford it.  I would also like to encourage any who is interested in feeding a raw diet to consider "doing it" yourself if you're worried about the cost. Make sure you do your research and look for a professional to help, but it is MUCH cheaper to buy the food yourself and figure out the ratios than to buy the pre-made mixes. We don't spend any extra on Bingley's diet than we would if he were on his previous dry food. We just watch the sales and (of course) once in a while we splurge on a fun treat for him, too!!!!
Oh - and although I don't prescribe to the Whole Dog Journal - I fully recommend it as a good resource  |
| My (new) vet has been encouraging me to consider feeding raw and got me to subscribe to the Whole Dog Journal. The only problem with that is that to order back articles regarding the raw diet costs $10.00 per article, but they do list their resources. I recently found this web site, doggonegoodonline.com, that offers raw diets already premade. I found a market here in Mesa that sells this product. It does seem kind of expensive, but I am so confused about the variety to feed, the supplements required, that this seems like a viable alternative. Have still not made a decision, but am looking for resources and anyone who has experience with a raw diet and how they manage it. Ron, this seems like a great new topic for a new thread!
Sorry, I forgot to login before posting..... 
Bellalover aka mom of Bella and JoJo |
| Update
Mojo has been on the raw diet for a week now and I am seeing improvements already!!!!!!!! So far, no new outbreaks and his scratching is down to a minimum. I am still feeding him the Natures Variety brand for now. Working on finding a good supplier for whole chickens. I want to start making up his food myself so I will probably have more questions later. |
| Great! Glad you're already seeing improvement. |
| I hope he continues to improve!! |
 Wonderful for Mojo |
That is great news.  I hope the food keeps agreeing with him. |
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