Raw Diet from a Butchers - Advice Please

GSD-Jay · #1 11-10-10, 08:24 AM

So Jenson's been on raw food for a long time now. We started on a duck excellent complete mix and a chicken carcass a day and then moved on to minces, bones and offal etc.

Well all was going well and he was loving it, especially all of the tripe he used to get. I hated the tripe, when I got it from Landywoods it came half defrosted and had a really bad smell to it, worse than tripe usually does. So last time I ordered different minces from DAF Petfoods but for some reason he doesn't seem very interested in any of it. There are two of the minces (Lamb and another one) that he won't touch at all and to be honest, I don't like how sloppy they become once they are defrosted.

In fact, he seems to be alot more fussy about what he eats these days. Up until a couple of months ago he would eat anything, even if he didn't like it but now he picks and chooses what he likes, although he does like most things. He is 20 months today so I'm guessing this is just part of growing up?

Anyway, I've had enough of it. It seems alot of hassle to go to for him to not be loving his food so I have found a local butcher who butchers everything himself and he was very helpful. He told me to make a list of all the things I wanted and he would make me a box full on a weekly or fortnightly basis. Storage isn't a problem as I have a huge shop chest freezer just for his food.

The problem is coming up with a good menu and I'd like your help please.

I know all the basics of what I need but I want him to be eating chunky meat, something he can get his teeth into and enjoy. I don't want all the meats being stuck to bones for him to pull off but I want something better than minced slop he is having now. Do any of you know of the cheaper cuts of meat I could get for him? Offal is easy to get and I still have a few bags of chunked liver, heart and kidney.

Any help compiling a weekly menu would be appreciated. He's already been eating rabbit carcass', duck and turkey necks and those things and he loves chicken.

If I can't come up with a good diet that he likes, I'm going back to dried food. Thanks.

Caryll · #2 11-10-10, 09:33 AM

It's difficult sometimes to get cheap meat that is still good. I give mine raw meatly lamb ribs & necks cause Dempsey's chicken intolerant. As far as tripe goes, the best I can find is still minced, but isn't sloppy. I get it from naturalinstinct.com. and it comes packed tightly in polystyrene so it stays totally frozen. Give them a ring, they're really helpful. They do loads of different foods, plus bones & treats.

If your dog has got to like raw, it'll be difficult to get him back on to complete, so try to persevere if you can.

#3 11-10-10, 12:09 PM

I don't see what the problem is if you've found a good butcher now stick with what he can supply?

Sounds like you've given him such a choice of different raw stuff that he's got fussy. Still keep it raw but feed less variety, then let him have a different cut or some fish etc once a week?

I don't do a menu - I just feed what I know they'll eat with a mix of meaty bones, offal and treats.

Mine have mainly chicken (wing tips, carcasses), a raw butchers mix of heart liver lung tongue (basically 'lights' with extra off-cuts from what they're preparing on a weekly basis) plus lamb necks, lamb rib bones, fish as treats.

I'm getting some beef tripe this week for them to try. Not a whole one

GSD-Jay · #4 11-10-10, 12:24 PM

There isn't a problem now I have a good butcher. I'm just trying to get away from these horrible minces and since I need to pick this up once a week I need to know what to ask him for. I guess I'm asking for things to ask a butcher for that I can give him on a daily basis.

So Chicken Carcass, Lamb Necks, Lamb Ribs, Chicken Necks etc.

I'm also looking for things with alot of meat on them, rather than just meaty bones. Do lamb necks have alot of meat? Thighs perhaps? what other cheaper cuts of meat?

Thanks for the replies.

#5 11-10-10, 12:35 PM

I see... I've never had the prepared minces you mention. The raw dog mix I get is quite bloody but they love it - they eat that first in fact.

Yes lamb necks are meaty. My butcher cuts one off the lamb then halves it down the middle for my two dogs. One neck is about 2lb in weight and costs £2.

Sometimes i get lamb breast bone cuts - its a mix of breast meat and cartilage so not as boney.

How about chicken wing tips - can your butcher get those? 10-12 tips with some offal would be an ideal meal.

GSD-Jay · #6 11-10-10, 12:43 PM

Yeah I'm sure he can get those. He said 'If it is something you can get somewhere, it's something you can get here'. So I presume he can get anything I ask him for. I'll make a little list of things and give him a call.

Cheers.

Caryll · #7 11-10-10, 01:51 PM

Lamb necks & ribs can have a fair bit of meat, depends on how the butcher prepares it, really. If he's cutting a neck just for you, it'll have a good amount on it. If he's giving you what's left of the neck after he's taken cuts off it, then not so much. Same with ribs.

GSD-Jay · #8 11-10-10, 01:57 PM

Well I gave him a ring and he's doing me a selection box for Wednesday.

2 full lamb necks (halved)
Chicken Wings cut into sections
Lamb ribs cut into sections
5 Chicken Legs cut into thighs and drumsticks
Ox Heart Diced
Minced Beef
and chinks of Liver and Kidney

I'll see how he gets on with those and then adjust to suit. Seems like a good source.

Caryll · #9 11-10-10, 02:21 PM

Sounds a decent butcher! There aren't any round here, I have a deal with the local Morrisson's butcher!

lauraburns · #10 11-10-10, 03:47 PM

You are very lucky to have a local butcher like that! I have to rely on the minces a lot as ALL the local butcher get there meat in ready prepared, same at the supermarkets. They have very little waste that way. I am going to get my OH to go to the abattoir and see if we can get stuff direct off them.