Prey Model Raw

We scored a whole hog for free this week. Decided to feed it all in one sitting as a gorge meal. The dogs are all fat, happy and passed out.

Why feed a whole hog at once? Gorge meals are a normal thing for wolves, dogs. Their lives revolve around finding food. Either they find a carcass or they make a fresh meal but either way they eat as much as they can in one sitting because they have no idea when their next meal will come. Obviously our dogs at home know when their next meal is coming, and so do we. So, why do a gorge meals? For several reasons.

First, feeding a meal like this gives our dogs the opportunity to really get a mentally stimulating experience. It takes a lot more mental work for a dog to rip and tear meat off, crunch through bones of this kind of source. The enjoyment alone we watch from our dogs eating is reinforcing enough to do it again.

Second, it allows us to feed large meals to our big dogs. It saves us a lot of work with breaking down a whole hog, just let the dogs do the work!

Third, it may or may not provide any health benefits. There is no research, anecdotal or scientific, stating one way or the other. Many raw feeders do this and it works well for their dogs.

Gorging and fasting should not be attempted by the novice raw feeder. I highly suggest that only dogs who have been raw feeding for a few years do this. It takes some time and conditioning to get a dog’s system capable of handling such a large meal. This can be achieved by gradually increasing the size of a meal once every 2 weeks, and then increasing the space between the larger meal and their next meal. Puppies weaned to or switched to raw feeding early are better equipped to handle gorging and fasting sooner, but I don’t suggest doing it until the puppy is at least 6 months old, unless its a toy/small breed who may never be able to handle a true gorge/fast meal even as an adult. Toy or small breeds who are prone to hypoglycemia should never be fasted for long periods of time, so true gorge/fast meals may never be done with these dogs. Just proceed with caution and always supervise any feeding of any kind with a scrupulous eye!

Our dogs pictured below have been raw feeding for at least 2 years, the exceptions being two Great Dane puppies, 8 and 10 months old. All of them have been conditioned to gorge meals and handle them well!

Picture time….enjoy!

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Canine Hyperuricosuria and The Black Russian Terrier

Knowing that Duncan has this I am now in “must learn as much about this as possible” mode. I have been researching quite a bit the last few days. As sad as I am about his condition, I think that things happen for a reason. He was meant to be with me and I am going to do everything in my power to help him in any way I can.

I would love to share with you all what I have found. I apologize if this is something that some of you already know, but I thought I would share it for any new people to the breed or any new people who don’t know much about Canine Hyperuricosuria (like me).

This is what I have learned so far:

The formation of urate stones occurs because affected dogs excrete uric acid in their urine rather than allantoin. Uric acid and allantoin are waste products from a chemical called purine, thus uric acid is formed from purines. The presence of uric acid (rather than allantoin) is what causes these dogs to produce and form urate crystals or stones. These crystals and stones can become lodged in the bladder or urethra causing a blockage.

Dogs have the ability to produce any purines that they need from other things in their diet. So, for dogs that are affected with Canine Hyperuricosuria you want to limit the purines in their diet significantly. A big key thing to understand is that you don’t want to limit the amount of protein in the dogs diet, but what you DO want to limit is the TYPE of proteins you feed the dog.

I have been in contact with some Dalmatian people since Canine Hyperuricosuria is a prevalent problem in the Dalmatian breed. Every single dog is affected and runs the chance of developing these urate stones. Female dogs are usually less likely to have a problem due to the fact that their urinary tract anatomy is a straight shot from the bladder to the outside. Males are the ones that have a bigger chance of having problems due to the shape of their os penis. There is a bend in their penis where stones have a greater chance of getting stuck, thus causing a blockage.

So moving back to purines, protein and diet. It is very important for dogs that are stone formers to be fed a diet low in purines. Purines are highest in organ meat, red meats, game meats and sardines.

There are a variety of diets you can put your dog on:
-Science Diet UD
-Royal Canin Urinary UC
-Flint River Ranch has several kibbles suited for this condition

-There are a variety of Limited Ingredient Kibbles that would work as well.
-A BARF (raw) diet geared towards dogs with this condition
I feed my dogs a raw diet. However, finding out about Duncan’s condition had led me to decision that I am needing to modify his diet.

I have researched the “Dalmatian Raw Diet” thanks to the advice from some Dalmatian breeders who feed the same and have had for years with great success. The diet mainly consists of chicken and turkey (since white meats are the lowest in purines), a veggie/fruit puree (to replace the nutrients lost from the organ meat and red meat), eggs, and some added supplements that are to be given a few times a week. Some add in dairy products (cottage cheese, yogurt, etc).  A word of caution, some dogs will tolerate dairy while others won’t.  It will depend on your individual dog as to whether you will want to feed any dairy or not.

Along with a low purine diet, WATER is the next most important thing to add to the diet. Stones are less likely to form in dilute urine. Also, emptying the bladder often is another important thing.  Raw diets are high in moisture content (around 80%), however, I still recommend to add warm water to your dogs meals.  If feeding a kibble, float your dogs meals in warm water. Keep the urine dilute and the bladder flushed!

I think it is very important to add that the diet for an HU affected dog must be tailored to that individual dog.  What one dog may be able to tolerate in its diet another may not.  Each dog is going to have a tolerance level to purine content.  If you go over that limit your dog will end up with urate crystals present in the urine, which have the potential to turn into stones.  It is the owners job to carefully adjust the diet to meet the needs of their individual dog.

It is a good idea for dogs who are stone formers to have a routine urinalysis done by your vet as well as testing the urine from time to time with pH test strips. You are wanting to keep the urine alkaline, as apposed to acidic.

There is also a medication called “Allopurinol”. I don’t know much about it, but what I have learned so far is that is it given twice a day at the proper dosage for dissolving urate stones. This is used as a prevention once the dog has undergone a surgery to have stones removed.  It is very important to note that if you are giving your dog Allopurinol you MUST feed a low purine diet or else the dog runs the risk of developing xanthine stones.

So here is the short version:
Purines -> Hypoxanthine -> Xanthine -> Uric Acid -> Allantoin

Dogs with Canine Hyperuricosuria stop at uric acid. The medication Allopurinol shuts down “xanthine oxidase” which is responsible for converting Hypoxanthine to Xanthine and ultimately to uric acid. With out this conversion purines are stuck in Hypoxantine and never make it to uric acid.

So…that’s it! I am continuing my research and will share any more that I learn. I know that I feel much better about Duncan after learning more….and I hope this information can help someone in some way. :0) Knowledge is power!

Resources:

This website had great information and is where I ordered my DNA test for Duncan:

http://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/Hyperuricosuria.php

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/uric_acid_stones_in_dalmatians.html

http://www.thedca.org/purines.html

http://www.acumedico.com/purine.htm

http://hattrickdalmatians.com/PreventingUrateStoneFormation.html

http://www.britishdalmatianclub.org.uk/health/index.php?action=urinary_stones_detailed

I also got information from a great article in The Whole Dog Journal titled “Cast in Stone” June 2010 issue.

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-228995247.html

Raw & Natural Nutrition for Dogs, The Definitive Guide to Homemade Meals written by Lew Olson, PhD has some great information on nutrition as a whole, as well as a chapter on bladder stones.

http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781583942949&view=quotes

I also had several exchanged emails with Dr. Tom Lonsdale on the topic of urate stones.

http://www.rawmeatybones.com/

Duncan is a happy, handsome boy and is lucky to have such a caring and devoted dog-mom!

We apologize for the problem with the pictures in this post. The owner of the pics has removed them. We will try to get the pics back up shortly.

Here’s a small “study” done by one of the resident raw feeders on the DogFoodChat forum, Autumn Morandin, her dog Lincoln and a friends dog Atlas. I thought it was worthy of a blog post here because it really shows that the proof that raw really is what a dog should be eating just because the sheer decrease in the amount of waste produced. I know that a lot of dog owners really don’t enjoy cleaning up after their dogs, so this benefit is maybe not just for the dogs but a blessing for us people too! If this isn’t enough reason to switch I don’t know what is!

Enjoy  NOTE: this shows how the poop degrades over the course of a week.  Notice how the raw poop dries up and easily crumbles.  This would easily disintegrate into the yard…

Okay I decided to try another round of this. I used two dogs of the same weight

The poop on the left is Lincolns poop (65lb Belgian Malinois)

The poop on the right is Atlas’ poop (60lb Dalmatian)

This is a full days worth of poop. Lincoln only pooped once that day but sometimes he will poop out another piece half the size of the one in the cup.

Day two:

Day three:

Here is Day Four, to show how it crumbles I just squished it with my fingers (with a glove on of course). I could of done this day one but I wanted to leave it to allow people to compare with other poop. I was thinking about doing this to the other poop to show its still wet and gross etc..but I thought I better not LOL

Day five:

Day six:

Day seven:

There you have it! I don’t think I need anymore proof than that. I do not miss picking up sloppy, stinky, disgusting “kibble poo” at all….

Pork liver and scrap meat

Turkey necks (an all time favorite at our house)

Beef hearts

Beef ribs; our recreation chew bone of choice, the girls love em!

We check back about once a day and package up any meat that’s already thawed and can be separated from the meat blocks. This can take up to 3 days for everything to completely thaw.

After everything has been thawed we’ll usually have a lot of “blood” left in the containers (mostly water). We will usually let the girls drink as much of it as they’d like. Good for the kidneys and liver. Get as much moisture in their diet as possible!

The meat ends up in 12 quart Sterlite containers we buy from WalMart, which hold 10-15 pounds of meat which lasts about 1-2 days at our house!

Lots of people switching their dogs to a prey model raw diet are faced with the battle of picky eaters. Their dogs show pretty much no interest in the food that is put in front of them. This can be for many reasons from just not knowing what to do with it to being just plain picky. The best way to combat this is to follow the steps I have written out. Once you have overcome this small hurdle (trust me, its hard…I’ve personally had to do it with switching my own over) you wont regret it one second. Just keep telling yourself that

1) YOU are in charge of what your dog eats, when it eats and how much it eats

2) YOU are NOT starving your dog, your dog is choosing not to eat

3) Applying “tough love” is the way to go with stubborn dogs!

Good luck!

Picky eaters 101:

Picky eaters are created. If you allow your dog to pick and choose what to eat, they win and you lose. You must choose a good food that works well for your dog (health wise) and stick to it (in this case raw meaty bones). You are the parent and the one in control of your dog’s health, not your dog because they do not know what is best. You must regain pack leadership and respect from your dog by being in control.

1. Pick a good, healthy food (in this case raw meaty bones).

2. Stick to it no matter how “picky” your dog seems. Only change foods if you notice a health issue.

3. Get on scheduled feeding times.

4. Don’t at any time coax your dog to eat the food, whether that be vocal reinforcement or adding anything to it to make it more inticing to eat. Just simply set the food down and go about your business.

5. Offer a meal of the food you choose and give your dog no more than 15 minutes to eat it. If they doesn’t touch it, pick it up to
feed at the next feeding time.

6. Offer the food again at the next scheduled feeding. Same as before give no more than 15 minutes. If not touched, pick it up and save for the next feeding time.

7. Give NO snacks or treats between feeding times (until you succeed at this picky eater issue).

8. Keep offering the same food each meal time until it is eaten. Keep up this until it’s not an issue and your dog will eat what you choose. This may take days, it took my girls 5 WHOLE days of not eating anything to get the hint. I am so proud of myself for doing it!

Things to remember:

1. No healthy dog will intentionally starve itself. Each time your doesn’t eat what you put down, they are choosing not to eat…you are not starving your dog. You are providing them what you think is the best nutrition there is and that is what you have to keep in mind.

2. Picky eaters are manipulative. Every time you cater to their wants, they win and are in control. Whether you give them added attention or additions, they are getting what they want. Nothing in life for them should be free and that definitely applies to your respect.

3. Patience is key in this situation. Some dogs are so set in their ways that it will take days for them to cave in and just eat. I have known some dogs (ahem) that will go five days until this happens…but it is worth the wait. If you get your dog to respect you in this situation it will respect you in more ways than you can imagine. Keep the “tough love” approach and you will be rewarded!

Turkey is an easy way to add a cheap alternative protein source to your feeding schedule. Hit up the after Thanksgiving sales and stock up! We’ve seen them as cheap at $0.25/lb after Thanksgiving.

The biggest problem is breaking down that whole turkey into smaller meals. We’ve put together a simple video demonstrating an easy method for breaking down a turkey in under 10 minutes.

We recommend having at least 1 VERY sharp knife to use for this. We prefer Shun knives. They ARE expensive but you’ll only need to sharpen them about once a year due to their high quality construction.
http://www.5vido.com/ShunKnives

….awesome racks of elk ribs for the girls! I was rudely awakened early this morning by 7 crazy, bouncy dogs. So the good girlfriend that I am, went out into the living room to give Jon his beauty sleep. Received an email from one of the local raw feeding groups about two whole racks and the neck of an elk available from a local game processor. I jumped on it like an early bird on a worm! And we got em! WOOHOO! Over 100 pounds of all natural goodness, best part was it was ALL FREE!!! We also went and picked up 5 large turkeys from another lady for free too, so not to bad of a score today. If we factor in the cost of gas we only spent about $20 on it all!

We decided to let all the girls eat from it together like a wild pack of dogs and it went great! A few growls here and there, but they handled it like a real pack. It was one of the greatest things to watch…I LOVE feeding raw to my girls.

The looks we got from people driving by were priceless! Even one of the local dogs (a lot of stray dogs in our neighborhood…) came up to the fence looking for some meat, so I cut some off and tossed it out, probably one of the best meals of that dogs life!

Comparison shot of Bailey next to the ribs. She probably weighs only 10 pounds more than both chunks put together:

The left overs…we decided to take them off of it and save it for another day. They were all “puffy” anyways:

And here’s some video footage we took…sorry for the lame commentary!

Elk Rib Dinner from YouTube

Now they are all passed out in a food coma. Life is good!

We are getting more and more people that have had wonderful success with switching their dogs (and cats) to Prey Model Raw feeding! We’ve updated our Success Stories page with more wonderful first hand accounts. They keep on coming in which is fabulous! Keep up the good work and spread the word.

If you haven’t yet made the commitment to change, please read through them to help inspire you to make it ASAP!

Here’s one of my favorites:

Our Success Story starts with my girl Casey. Casey is the main reason why I decided to take the time and read up on RAW feeding. I knew she had to have an allergy to kibble. The vet was always saying, FLEA ALLERGY! I didn’t buy it, not when she didn’t have a flea on her.

This is my girl Casey before reaping the benefits of RAW.

As you can see, she is an absolute mess. The poor girl dug herself raw every day, all day. It was horrible to watch her suffer as I continually fed her kibble.

Then one day, I got sick of it and thought, there has to be a better way to feed this dog. I found this place and broke google trying to read everything I could. About 3 weeks later, I decided that I would go for it and feed Casey and her sis Ava a whole chicken fryer cut in two. Poor DH was devistated thinking he was going to get a stuffed chicken for dinner and here I am, feeding it to the dogs! lol

I waited, and waited and waited for her skin to heal. It was a long, slow recovery but well worth it! In the last few months, she has finally healed and now she looks healthy. She doesn’t stink and her hair is so soft! I love touching her butt now and her energy level is through the roof! I love telling her what a pretty girl she is!

She loves RAW and is patiently waiting for me to open her swimming pool so she can go swimming!

-BGBY

A year ago we had to have one of Shiloh’s main chewing teeth removed. Natalie noticed that Shiloh was getting tartar built up on the left side and upon further investigation we found her upper carnasial tooth was horizontally fractured. We had to have the entire tooth removed.

I think seeing it makes it a little more realistic

Fortunately Natalie works as a vet tech and we get our services at a discount. I would have hated to have had to pay full price to have this tooth extracted. Marrow bones are NOT worth the risk to me, EVER. Without even taking the cost into account, Shiloh now has to suffer the rest of her life not being able to chew as well on one side of her mouth.

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