# Eating Raw question



## FrancoD13 (Aug 9, 2012)

I know there a ton of raw feeding posts here, but I have a question that I haven't seen come up. Well two questions actually. We just started our 19 month old male on raw. This morning was his first Chicken Back. Honestly, I don't think he knew what to do with it. started licking it, poking at it, moving it around, took him about 25mins to put down a small chix back. But here are my questions:
1) Will he eventually learn how to eat this food? start chomping on it, and taking bites? anything I can do to help him? he did seem to start getting it towards the end
2) My wife is pregnant, so soon we will have a little baby crawling around and we are very cautious about the bacteria and contamination. We fed Bryce in his crate (took out all his blankets and pillows) with just his food bowl. He made a mess of it though, dragged it around, stepped all over it. Had to give both him and the crate a good washing right after. How do you guys feed your dogs on raw to make it easy? Where do you feed him? 

thanks


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

The younger they are the easier they take to it, but he'll figure it out. Scout has gotten much more efficient at eating. Used to take her upwards of 30 minutes for chicken parts, now maybe 8. Was today his first raw meal or just his first chicken back? 

When the weather is nice, I feed outside, otherwise in the crate. I'll wash it out afterwards with a vinegar/water solution and also give her face a good scrubbing. Her beard is a magnet for juices. I've also seen people feed on a dedicated blanket or towel. Just remove the food when he tries to take it somewhere else and eventually he'll stay there to keep his food. Then throw the blanket in the wash. 

As he figures it out he'll probably also be tidier. I've noticed Scout doesn't touch the food with her paws unless she absolutely has to, much preferring to brace it against the floor. Still with the baby it's a good idea to clean his paws and face after. Vinegar and water should work well for that, too.

Hope this helps!
To make it easy I prep everything ahead of time. I buy meat in bulk whenever possible and freeze it in a single layer on parchment paper on a cookie sheet before moving to zip top bag or container. If it's ground meat, I freeze in muffin tins for easy individual servings. I also feed veggies/fruits and will blend those all up (easier for the dog to digest) and freeze in individual servings. When meal time comes around I can grab what I want from the freezer, weigh it all and feed. I record the meal in a spreadsheet so I can keep track of proportions and balance her diet.


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## hotmischief (Mar 11, 2012)

There are any different ways of feeding a raw diet and whatever you choose has to fit your pocket and your life style.

I feed a prepared raw diet that come frozen in 500gm containers. the carcass is ground up and vegetables are added to give a balanced diet. There is no mess as I defrost 2 containers every night and empty them straight into the dogs bowl - no mess. You could buy your own meat and cut it up and grind up some vegetables if you have the time - it might be cheaper that way. I also give my dogs frozen duck necks to crunch up - only takes them a few minutes. 

I used to feed a who turkey back and he loved it, but sometimes he would throw up later in the day and I would find bits of bone in the sick. Same thing when he chews sticks. I think that unless the bone is ground up into small bits, they irrate my dogs stomach. Every dog is different and yours might be fine with large pieces of bone. Trial and error I am afraid.


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## FrancoD13 (Aug 9, 2012)

thank you. This was his 1st raw meal ever. We purchased some chicken backs/leg quarters in bulk from a distributor near us. We pre-packaged them in zip-lock bags as well. Starting slowly, so this morning was his first meal. Will eventually make some vegetable patties, etc. 

it is comforting to hear it took others that long to get there. I'll have to figure out a system to keep him and his crate clean.


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

I'm sure you've done your research, but I also wanted to mention that chicken backs are quite bony, so make sure to feed some kind of boneless meat with or at the next meal. 

I've posted it before, but I use this list of cuts of meat with bone percentages all the time. http://www.dogster.com/forums/Raw_Food_Diet/thread/737490/1


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## FrancoD13 (Aug 9, 2012)

we liked the fact that they are boney because he has had digestive problems (generally p00ps 6x a day on various kibble) and every time we transitioned his food it was a big ordeal, so we wanted something higher in bone content to help him. After today we will be alternating backs and leg quarters (giving him more meat content). 

thank you for the list, I found a similar one on Prey Model Raw that I was using. And of course, many of the posts on this forum.


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

Makes sense.  You'll definitely want the chicken backs when you start adding in organs!


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