Before You Begin . .

Read, Read, READ!  I can't stress it enough!  Before you make the decision to switch your dog to a home-prepared raw diet, you should read everything you can get your hands on.  There are a number of excellent books on the subject and no two give you exactly the same information.  It's best to read a number of them and take the ideas and information that work for you, always remembering that you are feeding a Dalmatian, not a German Shepherd or a Pekingese.  The book pictured is one of my personal favorites and I consider it to be an excellent "first book" on raw feeding.  You can easily find a variety of books on-line,  I generally order from Dogwise or Amazon. 

While thinking over this posting I checked into Amazon and noticed two books that I had not read, one of which I had been planning to buy and one that I didn't know about.  Rottweiler breeder Lew Olson helped many of us as newbie raw feeders and I ordered her book "Dogs - The Definitive Guide To Homemade Meals".  "Real Dogs Don't Eat Kibble" by Sandra Bailey was just an impulse purchase.  I have a whole shelf full of books on the subject and it's interesting to note the variety of advice - as I will constantly try to remind you, there is no one right way to feed a dog.

I'm currently reading "Unlocking The Canine Ancestral Diet" by Steve Brown (yes, the Steve Brown of Charlee Bear Dog Treats and the frozen dog food "Steve's Real Food For Pets").   I was NOT impressed with his first book "See Spot Live Longer" but decided to give the new one a try  It's tough going as he explains his ideas on which fat supplements should be used with the basic raw diet - different fats for different meat sources.   He hasn't convinced me that I should be using flax seed, chia seed (Chia? I thought that was just for growing green pets for the Holidays!) or sardines, rather than salmon oil, but his theories are interesting.

Remember that if you are not willing to take the time to read about raw diets and understand them, then it's much better that you should stick to a good quality kibble.  Raw feeding is not for everyone.

Dogs had pretty boring fare today.  Ground turkey, canned salmon, and the last of the cabbage/apple mixture for breakfast, and chicken backs for dinner.  The 10# bag of chicken backs generally lasts for 3 days, and the dogs never get bored with them.  Chicken backs are probably the favorite RMB (raw meaty bone). here, and are generally available, affordable & palatable.  They make good "first RMBs" as they are big enough to require chewing, are relatively easy to chew, and are very digestible.  They are often too fatty for all but the most active young dogs, but are easy to trim.