Raw Feeding CAN Be Easy

As I was fixing breakfast for the dogs this morning, it occurred to me why I didn't start raw feeding sooner.  I "dabbled" in it long before I actually switched all the dogs.  It was because the only list that I could find (was it called Wellpet?) was so militant about what should and should not be fed to dogs. As I started reading and researching, and after I finally got through Billinghurst's "Give Your Dog A Bone" - good information, but oh so badly edited and poorly organized - I got brave enough to try it.  I was fortunate to also find several good mentors - it really helps to have a mentor when you switch to raw.   Hard to believe it was so long ago!

My personal feeling is that dogs were not really carnivores, but are actually opportunist scavengers - they ate what was available at the time. They could catch and kill small animals, and perhaps bring down larger ones if they ran in a pack, but they also ate what they could find.   Dead things most likely, the leftovers from someone elses kills, eggs if they happened upon them, over-ripe seasonal fruits perhaps, and maybe even succulent greens. Living in the wild was tough, and fresh meat was not always available, even to the largest & strongest & fastest predators.

I've always tried to remember Billinghurst's advice - to feed a variety of fresh healthy foods, and balance over time. Feeding dogs is not rocket science any more than feeding children is. Let's observe our dogs carefully, see what works best for each of them, and be relaxed about this.

The breakfast shown above is ground turkey, cooked vegetables, some canned green tripe and a raw egg.  The salmon oil doesn't show.  The veggies change from day to day, tripe is fed only occasionally but the meal might include a big spoonful of canned duck or mackerel  instead.  Eggs are fed most morning.  The evening meal with be chicken necks or back, turkey necks, occasionally some other bony meaty piece.