Switching to raw - Then trying other raw meats

[RaceRngr]

I've switched my Mastiff to raw Leg Quarters about 1 1/2 weeks ago and he's doing great on it. I want to start giving him other raw meats but don't want to do too much too fast. I'm thinking I would l like to try him on beef next. What's the easiest beef to feed my dog?

[bendyfoot]

Have you introduced organ meat yet? If not I'd try that first, you want to make sure he's getting the organ component of the raw diet. Hearts, gizzards, liver (mostly liver) if you want to stick with chicken.

Beef or pork would be fine for a new "taste". We like big pork shoulders or loins when we can get them on sale. As for beef, it's pricey, but we use tongue and heart mostly, which we can get very cheap and it's perfectly good muscle meat.

[Macomom]

Additionally, I will use ground beef occasionally- I get a good price at Walmart. The ground beef is my convenience food, since it is so easy to serve. The dogs also see it as some kind of "fast food" treat.

[bendyfoot]

Us too. It's like "oh goody, hamburgers!!!" nomnomnom LOL

[Phoebespeople]

Beef heart is the cheapest beef muscle meat I've found. If you keep feeding mostly chicken, I would suggest buying whole stewing chickens, they are usually the cheapest, and the variety of white/dark meat and ratio of meat to bone is good. Add chicken liver and the other organs every other day as well. After a week or two, start substituting a beef meal every couple of days, and then move on to pork shoulder, turkey necks, duck, lamb... Don't forget to include an egg once in a while, sardines or mackerel, green tripe, and if you want, kelp/alfalfa powder, wild salmon oil, veggie puree, and/or digestive enzymes.
I usually go to the grocery store early on Saturday/Sunday morning when the butcher is putting the $#.00 Off stickers on the things that are getting old, I usually get some pretty good deals. I should brobably ask him if I can have bags of random meat trimmings for cheap or free, but I don't think he speaks english.

[RaceRngr]

What about Salmon filets for the coat and what not? Those would be easy for me to buy. I haven't started him on the gizards and stuff like that yet for the chicken, but will start that tonight. My dog just has a really sensetive stomach.

[Macomom]

What kind of sensitivities does he have? Do you have any diagnosed protein allergies?

[RaceRngr]

Originally Posted by Macomom

What kind of sensitivities does he have? Do you have any diagnosed protein allergies?

Nothing concrete. When he was on kibble, we used to feed him Eagle Pack then switched to Evo by Innova (sp?). When he was on Eagle Pack we tried him on the lamb variety his chin started breaking out really bad in these bad red bumps. We stopped and it went away, so he's basically been on a white meat diet for ever, the last he was on was the Chicken and Turkey Evo which he did well on.

In regards to having a sensetive stomach, if he eats anybody else's food (kibble even a little), or treats or anything like that, diareah. So we just keep him very monitored on what he eats, only his kibble (or now raw) and only certain treats that we know he does well on.

[bendyfoot]

Originally Posted by RaceRngr

What about Salmon filets for the coat and what not? Those would be easy for me to buy. I haven't started him on the gizards and stuff like that yet for the chicken, but will start that tonight. My dog just has a really sensetive stomach.

Start off easy on the liver then. Ultimately, though, you want to have about 10-15% of his diet organ meat. Salmon's a good meat, but it is rich. You could give salmon oil as a supplement if you wanted. Just add new foods in small amounts to as to minimize the stomach upset.

[RaceRngr]

So far he's done pretty good on the organ mean (in regards to bowel movements) when he does eat it. He hates the hearts but seems to be ok with the others. I think were going to try beef tonight.