Anyone fed Raw from puppy hood (first 2-3 months) on? If so can you post a picture of your Bully.
Submitted by BellaStellaBulldog on September 26, 2010 - 3:02pmOkay, I know I ask a lot of questions but I'm a worry-wart so please be patient with me. My mentor told me when I first got my dog that I needed to make sure to limit her protien while she was growing... That feeding her puppy food even as a puppy would be detrimental to her health and I needed to find a food with a protien content as close to 25% as I can get. - That too much protien will cause a Bulldogs bones to grow quicker than their muscles and it will cause their legs to bow and also cause other issues. Now I love the idea of raw and I understand it's importance... It makes sense. I'm not a vet so I have no idea whether or not the bulldogs bones will really grow too much (causing them to have long bowed legs) or not. - But, my mentor has been breeding and showing dogs for somewhere around 20 years and it's just very difficult to forget her words. I mean, she's pretty well known in the Bulldog circle and it's hard to believe that she wouldn't know what's best for a Bulldog....
With that said, I have no problem feeding Stella Raw (or processed raw for now)... but I worry about putting the puppies on raw once they've weaned. I want what's best for them but I certainly don't want to cause their legs to overgrow and possibly cause problems for future owners. Also, I plan to keep a puppy and show it and if it's structure isn't correct it won't do well in shows.... So I'd like to see if anyone on here has fed a raw diet to their dog from the minute they got it, or if you were a breeder, from the weaning on.. I'd really love to speak with a breeder who feeds raw, because that would be the best thing but I know forum rules prevent people from "advertising" breeders, even though that is definitely not what I am looking for, not to buy a puppy at least... just advice on raw and pregnant dams.
ALSO... If anyone does know a breeder (of any dog breed) that has fed raw exclusively to their pregnant dams, I'd really love to speak with them about Calcium. Pregnant dogs are supposed to have limited calcium intake... I guess the amount in kibble is okay but they should not be supplemented because it causes calcium deposits in the pups, skeletal deformations, uterine contractions and can also lead to post pregnancy Eclampsia because the body is so used to being overdosed on Calcium that it basically throws calcium out and then after the pups are born, when more calcium is needed the body no longer knows to use it rather than pass it. (not correct use of terms but you know what I mean, I hope). - So I worry that since there is ground bone in this Natures Variety Instict frozen raw that I am feeding, I wonder if there is possibly too much calcium... I also wanted to give her a RMB every 3 days or so and I wonder if there could be too much Calcium with that too... - Does anyone know anything about this or know anyone I can ask? - I requested the ability to post in the show forum but it was never approved (or denied) so I can't ask if anyone who shows/breeds feeds raw. *sigh* Soooo frustrating. I know I can't ask my vet either. He's been pushing Science Diet on me for months... I hate Science Diet and so do my dogs. We used it for over a year and they had all sorts of issues on it.
You can contact my breeder, MJ from RedBrick
she feeds raw to her kennel. You can find her on facebook or email her at redbrickbulldogs@comcast.net. I raw fed the pup I got from her from the early days up until she passed away at almost 11 this summer. She was not a show quality pup, however. In the beginning I gave her cooked hamburger and rice and then moved on to raw chicken necks, lamb and beef. I never fed kibble. I'm getting a pup myself in a few weeks and plan to transition her from kibble to raw. I hope you can get the info you are seeking.
barbara
Thank you
Thanks Barbara! I will contact her and see if she's still feeding raw. Does she show her bulldogs or just breed pets? I'm mostly interested in talking with a breeder who shows... but it will be beneficial to talk with any breeder who feeds raw at this point, at least to talk about the calcium issue. Thank you!
she does show
and even better, she's a vet tech and dog trainer in the Philly area.
barbara
Good. Good.
Thanks Barbara. I found her profile on Facebook and added her. I noticed her photo was a show photo so that's awesome! It's also great that she's a vet tech! I think she's probably the perfect source for me to gather this sort of information. Thanks!
Have you tried
googling the raw diet and breeders? I remember coming across a list of breeders that only feed their dogs raw when I was in the middle of a good "dig."
Skasqueeeeeeakaaay!!
Katie & Chumlee
Have dug around
I've dug around a little bit. I found on the BARF diet that they have a breeder list but they aren't bulldog specific... Plus, I'm not doing the BARF diet so I am not sure how much of their info would be relevant. I'll keep looking though. That show breeder mentioned above sounds like the perfect person to ask so hopefully she'll accept my facebook add. :)
Had to share this video
Not my dog! Found this on YouTube while researching. I find this making me a little nervous being that it is a chicken leg part. I am still learning so.....
Skasqueeeeeeakaaay!!
Katie & Chumlee
Chicken...
I'm nervous about chicken too but a few posts back when I mentioned buying some liver and beef heart the ladies told me (3 of them I think) to start with chicken because it was boney and easier to digest. In doing research online I've found that most places say to start with chicken and that a dogs gut is better equiped to deal with the types of things that would normally make us sick if we ate raw chicken. - Even the lady in my new favorite pet store said the same thing when I mentioned I was afraid of chicken.
I'll be starting with chicken
as my book suggests. I was nervous about the large bone leg that the baby bully had. I have seen other videos on youtube of much larger bully breeds crunching chicken leg quarters (the parts with the thigh and leg connected). The other dogs eat very fast but you can actually hear them crunching the bones.
Skasqueeeeeeakaaay!!
Katie & Chumlee
bones...
Oh I see. Yes, I heard only the cooked chicken bones were dangerous... but none the less, uncooked aren't exactly soft, so I see your point. The first and only RMB I've given so far was a beef bone specifically cut for dog consumption so I've not yet had to worry. I know she can't get this thing in whole so she'll have to gnaw on it a while before it gives any. Should keep her busy :D lol
Rubber
Where did I read somewhere that the raw chicken bone came out the other end rubbery? The NV bones from the freezer that the pet store are recreational RMBs so they really don't work for a meal like chicken wings and necks and backs. We still have to get the rec RMBs from our butchers and they have banker's hours :( and Chumlee is getting bored with his :( He still prefers his antlers.
Skasqueeeeeeakaaay!!
Katie & Chumlee
Recreational?
What's a recreational bone? I have no idea what mine are. I thought they were regular bones. They are beef something, they have a big round circle which I guess is filled with marrow? They are big enough for the dogs not to swollow them but barely small enough. They each have a small protion of meat on 1 side and the dogs really enjoyed ripping it off. These bones are thick though and Stella's been chomping on it all day long and I don't think she's gotten any of the bone off, She's working on the marrow and the stuff that was around it but the bone is still there. - Maybe that's the difference? Recreational are for chewing and the others are actually for eating?
Yes
RMBs like chicken wings, necks, and backs as example those will be completely devoured in a single meal. Recreational RMBs are the beef knuckle bone, shin bone, elk femurs. Rec. bones are not swallowed but are chewed on for days.
Skasqueeeeeeakaaay!!
Katie & Chumlee
Shin bones get hard and
brittle after a few days, so then I throw them away.
Kofi use to love them, but the silly girl lost interest after awhile. She does love a beef rib bone with meat intact, so I do give them when I can.
Also I read that chicken feet are rich in glocosomine (?) so I've been giving her them for a treat.
Funny how at first it freaked me out, but now I love to see that she's chowing with a claw sticking out of her mouth ; ).
She also chews the bones so much better than she did at first, which makes me relax some.
Love to read you guys!
Hugs!
Laura, I wish you would introduce Stella to the general forum. They would love to meet you and your girl, and gush over how cute she is just like I do.
General Forum
I will introduce her tonight. I've got a meeting to go to and then I'll have to put the kids to bed and after that I'll get on, might be late though.
I haven't fed Kofi chicken legs yet.
I read somewhere (can't remember where) something that made me feel I should wait. Kofi gets whole chicken backs and I buy her miss cut chicken breasts.
She has also had center cut turkey necks, oxtails and pork and beef. She has more chicken than anything. I will be introducing more into her diet next month.
Audrey gets hers chopped
My husband has no problems chopping them with the meat cleaver. I am too uncoordinated and would probably end up feeding Audrey my fingertips if I tried to do it. They aren't super soft, but they aren't all that hard either.
Cathy and Audrey
you can't lump all protein into one category
because it's not so much the precise percentage of protein that's important, it's the SOURCE of the protein that counts. Dogs metabolize and digest sources of proteins differently. Many plant proteins are VERY hard for a dog to digest, and it puts a lot of strain on their kidneys, It's not the amount of protein thats' the problem, its' the source of it.
And raw meat actually has a very high moisture content, (70%) so the protein is not real high.
here is a good explanation:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=protein_myth
Cathy and Audrey