Raw feeding and muzzle advice please

[LemonadeWithACherry]

After asking for guidance on here we had a visit from a nice lady (member of pet professional guild and Rcdtcb) who recommended several things to help address ddogg's issues. The main one being to change from tinned food to raw! That did surprise me although I am open to the concept of food having an impact on mood from my own experience.

I want to start raw feeding right away but I am finding the information quite baffling. I had a look at DAF website for instance, and there is a huge amount of choice. I just want someone to say 'get this and this, and ddog will have a healthy balanced diet that costs about the same as before'.

Ddog is about ten stones and eats 3 tins a day with some kibble mixed in. I probably spend £9 a week on food plus treats.

Also she recommended we carry on getting him used to his muzzle, which we are doing slowly. The trouble is I don't know if it fits him properly and I wish I had put it on him to show her. We measured him first- it is the largest size of Baskerville muzzle- but he has very large hanging lips and they become squashed up inside it. Is that right? I can't find any advice online.

I would be relieved if someone can tell me clearly and simply what food is best/cheapest and delivers to the West Midlands! I don't think I want to be working out ratios and making it up myself.

[tabulahrasa]

What sort of dog? For muzzle purposes... I have a Rottie and he's in a 6 Baskerville ultra, I could get away with a 5, but he wears a headcollar as well, so it's on top of that.

Is it an ultra or the brown one? Just wondering as if you've got a broad faced dog, the brown ones I found too narrow.

If I remember right the mince from DAF isn't the right ratio so you'll have to add in bone and organs (I could be wrong it's a while since I raw fed).

You do get complete raw minces...but they'll not be cheap for a dog that size.

[yecartmannew]

mine eat raw. General rule of thumb is to feed 2% - 3% of body weight per day and monitor weight. Adjust as necessary. (my smaller dog eats more than 3% and is skinny, the bigger dog eats 2% or less to maintain his weight otherwise he puts on.

I feed the following:
(from the butcher or supermarket)
Chicken wings (I have very small dogs, you could try legs or quarters)
Chicken necks
Turkey necks
lamb neck
any very meaty bones (except venison because one of mine can't digest the bones) (try a stewpack of lamb for instance that will contain the right ratio of bone to meat)
oxtail
Anything "yellow sticker" or on sale
Whole fish (well, portions of as again, small dogs)

From Pets at Home
Frozen blocks of meat
occasionally the country hunter nuggets (again frozen, contain veg and fruit)

From our local raw food supplier
frozen meat blocks of various types and raw meaty bones

Also occasionally any cooked veg we have leftover and fruit

A spoon a day of natural yoghurt.

[yecartmannew]

But raw feeding and cheap can't co exist I'm afraid!

[CMOTDibbler]

I don't know how good they are, but Albion do weekly deliveries to WM, and do complete raw food

[ButFirstTea]

DAF have complete minces but they are generally more than 10% (at least their chicken and a couple of others). You could get a mixed box from DAF and then some boneless meat too to mix in and water down the bone content.

We ordered from DAF the first time and we've just tried Natural Dogs Direct. We've got a puppy so he's on about 8% of his body weight and it's costing us about £35 a month so far.

[FishChipsAndGravy]

The easiest way to raw feed is to buy ready mixed meals. They come frozen in trays and usually consist of meat, bone, vegetables, salmon oil - all minced up. You just portion it out then to your dog's bowl according to how much they need.

For example, Nutriment have 500g trays costing from about £1.50 (chicken-based meal) to £2.50 (venison-based meal) a tray. They recommend feeding 2-3% of a dog's weight per day split over however many meals they have. So my dog, for example, weighs 10kg and I feed her 250g a day, split over two meals, i.e. one tray lasts her two days/four meals.

Defrost in the fridge the day before needed, and it's good in the fridge for about 3 days. I always rejected raw feeding as I was too worried about feeding the wrong ratios, but this has been extremely simple. She's thriving on it too - she had lots of digestive and allergy problems, and they've all disappeared since I've been raw feeding her.

[ShaneBitchy]

I get my raw food from They Love It and k buy chicken wings, duck necks, spines and stuff from local pet shop or garden centre (Natures Menu or Natural Instinct)

I wouldn't feed chicken leg bones, the bone is too dense. You need to feed non weight bearing bones.

[ShaneBitchy]

I don't defrost anything by the way, just feed straight from the freezer.

[LemonadeWithACherry]

Thanks for the replies!

He is a mastiff. It is a Baskerville Ultra we've got. I just feel bad about squishing his hanging lips, will he be uncomfortable?

I think pre-prepared raw feeding is going to be too expensive. I've done some calculations (hope I've done this right!) - he's 10stone which is 63kilos. So I should feed him between 1.2 and 1.9 kilos of raw?

DS knows someone who works at an abattoir, that might be something for us to look in to.

[Cockerpoodledoo]

For starting out with raw feeding I would recommend joining some of the Facebook groups - 'Rawfeeding Rebels' and 'Raw feeding advice and support' are both excellent. They have some excellent starter guides and really helpful admins to provide advice on anything you don't understand/need help with.

Scruffles stock lots of different manufacturers and can cater for both Completes or DIY raw feeding.

Lots of folks start off with completes and then switch to DIY once they are more confident. Personally I do a bit of both - DIY on days when my girl is having a raw meaty bone (chewing bones is great mental stimulation and good for teeth cleaning) and completes on the days my husband feeds her/for convenience (we're camping this weekend and I can't be doing with little madam running around with a duck neck in her mouth!!).

Best of luck - making the switch to raw was absolutely the best thing we did for our dog.

[Agoddessonamountaintop]

There are several raw feeding groups on fb which seem to be really helpful. I'm in a general one and then one for my specific breed. You can ask anything! A lot of positive tales about dogs' health conditions being improved, and advice on local suppliers etc.

[tabulahrasa]

"He is a mastiff. It is a Baskerville Ultra we've got. I just feel bad about squishing his hanging lips, will he be uncomfortable?"

It may well be too small then...though you could try reshaping it, if you put them in hot water you can squash them down a bit so they're wider.

"I think pre-prepared raw feeding is going to be too expensive"

It is expensive with a large breed dog tbh.

"I wouldn't feed chicken leg bones, the bone is too dense. You need to feed non weight bearing bones."

Yes it should be non weight bearing bones... but as far as I know, that's not an issue with chickens, unless it's a very small dog?... i don't feed chicken legs without the rest of the chicken anyway, they're too small and he doesn't chew them.

[ShaneBitchy]

Oh ok, I didn't know about that chickens and leg bones. I just worry that they'll break their teeth on really hard bones!

[Agoddessonamountaintop]

I have a border terrier who I've seen struggle with chicken leg bones, although she's fine with lamb chps, duck necks and chicken wings. Beef ribs have also been a challenge and have had to be hoiked out from being lodged against the roof of her mouth by her back teeth. I'd have thought a larger breed would be fine with chicken legs, but again, best to ask on a fb group as there'll be a lot of people there with experience of your breed. You always need to be nearby whatever the bone, obvs.

[Agoddessonamountaintop]

Sorry i dodn't mean for that to sound scary - I love seeing my little girl crunching on a bone!

[nellieellie]

To bring price down, it's a good idea to see if you can get cheap deals from local butchers/abattoirs. I use mainly the suppliers Paleo ridge, Scruffles and the Dogs Butcher. You can also mix in stuff like green tripe, beef lips, lungs to bring price down a bit.Have a look at Raw Feeding Advice and Support or Rawsome and Holistic on Facebook. Lots of good advice there. It is important to keep to a rough ratio of 80% meat, 5% liver, 5% other offal and 10-15% bone. It's not as difficult as it sounds because once you ve got a feel for the amounts for your dog, you don't have to calculate each time, I started by using completes - sometimes you can get good offers if you bulk buy.

[Tika77]

You can buy custom made muzzles online. I bought mine (well, dog's) from a company in Israel. They needed all sorts of measurements of his face and the muzzle fits well.