Big Paws Only Dog Forums

OMG he is SOOOOOOO cute!   Congratulation s, and I love the name you have chosen. My only piece of advice is to take LOTS of pictures, if you are thinking "oh wow, we've taken a lot of pictures, maybe thats enough for today."  DON'T!  They grow SO FAST, you can not have too many puppy/fluffy/cuddly pictures.  With Tucker, it seemed he grew overnight, one night we put him to bed, a cuddly 10 lb puppy, barely a foot tall sitting, and then next morning we woke up to a 70lb (and growing!) 4 foot tall dog!  And he's only 7 months old!
Have fun, forget about sleep for a while (but its so worth it!) and enjoy him.

And take lots of pictures!!

We gave Tucker his first taste of raw last night for dinner- kept it pretty bland, just whole chicken patties from Urban Carnivore.  We expected Tucker to look in his dish and be "OMG!  CHICKEN!! "  and just devour it right up, but he didn't.  He sniffed, looked at us like we were crazy, and walked away.

He went back a few minutes to sniff again, then sniff again, then he took a lick, and another lick, and another lick, then a small bite, then another bite, then he started eating.  He ate the whole thing, from the first sniff to the last bite being eaten it was probably about two hours in time, maybe two and a half.

Which leads me to my next question:  how long can the thawed food, sitting in the dish, stay out and still be ok for him to eat?

My hubby said as long as the food was COLD in the dish, it was ok.  If it had started to go to room temperature/feel warmish then he would've chucked it, but of course- what does he know?  So I'm asking you guys!

Thanks in advance, and have a good day everyone!

I live in Calgary too    I get my raw from tailblaizers I just buy it by the case load as it is chaper. I go with Mountain Dog food (as that is what my holistic vet in Edmonton recommended) and Urban Carnivore as well when I can't get the type of meat I am looking form from Mountain Dog Food. I prefer that the Mountain Dog food is not in the patty form and the varity they have, organ meats chicken backs etc.

When I switched Harley to raw I just made the switch; no weaning from they Evo she was eating and she was fine, no soft stool, upset stomach etc.

May I ask what the average price per case is of the Urban Carnivore and MDF?  We have been impressed by Tail Blazers, we bought a box of pure whole chicken patties from Urban Carnivore, and also bought Top Hand turkey patties.  Tucker will be having his first taste of raw tonight!

Mountain Dog Food is another brand we were interested in, but we liked the wide variety of different types of meat that Urban Carnivore offered...so we decided to try them first.

I don't know how many of you all on here are Canadian, or are living in/around Calgary such as myself, but...if you are...where do you get your raw food from? 

I've been doing lots of research on the subject, and want to know which raw food suppliers are considered to be at the top of the list of the best, which would be mediocre and which should be best left alone.  I am surprised at the number of raw food producers I've come across:

-Amore
-Arusha
-Mountain Dog Food
-Nature's Premium
-Red Dog/Blue Cat
-Urban Carnivore
-Pets Go Raw
-Farm Fresh
-Glengary Bison
-Fresh Start
-Nature's Variety
-Pleased Pets
-Top Hand

to name a few that are supplied in my local Tail Blazers pet store.  How do you choose which one is right?  And then, how do you choose which varieties to go with, or is it best to still keep it different and sometimes feed raw beef/veggie/fruit or chicken/veggie or bison/veggie/fruit or simply whole turkey etc....the possibilities are mindboggling.

The more research I do, the more I learn and am thinking that the visible results from dogs on raw diets speaks for itself- especially where BMDs are concerned. 

Also was wondering if anyone out there is feeding a combo of kibble (high quality, like Orijens) and raw food, meaning kibble being fed 4 times a week, but raw being fed 3 times a week, or something like that?

And one last question:  should we decide to take the leap and make the switch to raw food for Tucker, what is the best way to wean him from his Orijens to the raw?

Thanks in advance for all the info- I always know I will get great advice and feedback from any posts! Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.

Just one of MANY horrible ideas I see on that show.  Sad, since I understand that our human preferences are different and we dont want to be out in bitter weather, but Tucker is sitting there patiently waiting for that winter to come, and you want to keep him in?  Don't tell Tucker!

Going out every day for a BMD is more about mental and emotional stimulation - smelling things, finding other dogs or critters to engage, playing in snow etc.  Nothing on a treadmill will replace what your BMD needs.  Even Cesar is using it for solely those high energy dogs or overweight who need to burn calories.  That kind of repetitive motion without any stimulation or enjoyment is not beneficial or a sound replacement for getting outdoors.

I did not say we would replace Tucker's daily walks with the treadmill. Obviously the outdoor walking/stimulation/sniffing/meeting new people/dogs, experiencing everything- including the weather- is more beneficial for Tucker; I was curious about the treadmill thing for those few nights that will come up when its -40 or -50 with the windchill, when its physically unsafe to be outdoors for more than a few minutes due to threat of frostbite, when your front steps/sidewalk and the streets are all slick with ice AND buried in two to four feet of snow making it physically dangerous to both Tucker and ourselves to be outside- would a few minutes on a treadmill here and there throughout the day (along with the normal playing/tug/puzzle/cat chasing/hide and seek games we play with Tucker) be ok?

Assuming of course we could get him to walk on it in the first place.

LOL, good thread to read!

Tucker has not (knock on wood) pooped at the vets office, but he did poop on the last day of Puppy school, in the middle of the "graduation" class, after attending all 8 weeks of classes, 1 hour per week completely poop-free!  He was the ONLY puppy who didn't have an indoor accident, we were so proud, and then in the middle of our graduation "lap" around the obstacle course (proving just how well trained and focus our puppies had become) he squatted right in the middle of a hoola hoop he was walking over and pooped!

I have never heard so many people gasp at one time.  Poor Tucker, he was really embarassed.  Luckily we got our diploma anyway. 

Your puppy is adorable, and I love the name!

LOL, thanks for the tip!  My local Petsmart doesn't carry them, I was there yesterday (actually to three different Petsmarts, and also 2 Petlands, 1 Picese Pet Emporium) and no one knew what I was talking about.

I did find the ebay seller another poster mentioned, but in the meantime, I soaked our Kong Wubba, and froze it for a couple hours, and it was a hit.  So perhaps the Chilly Bone is not necessary anyway.