Ideas for raw feeders who train with foods, low to no mess....

[dogs4life]

I know there's some raw feeders who train and thought I'd share an idea I just saw and am going to try since I already have 'em. We use them for honey & p. butter for backcountry camping.

Just stuff ground meats or meat mixes into plastic food tubes and squeeze out as needed...genius. I'm sure you can use a good quality pastry bag or old wide mouthed squeezable ketchup or mayo containers too.

Here's some to look at:

From REI



From PetExpertise


Anyone have more ideas for RAW feeding training tools, like throw-able jackpot bags, bait bags or training treat bags that don't leak.

Happy training!

[GSD]

i'm old school I guess, my hands get all grimy and greasy from giving the homemade liver treats I make, or heart. Which is basically browning it in a pan and cutting it up into small pieces with a scissors. I'm too lazy to even dry it out in the oven to cut down on the messiness.

These things you posted are way to "clean" for me, but my wife would probably really appreciate them. So, I guess I don't have anything constructive to add, but thanks for the tips.

[dogs4life]

GSD - I'm not to fussy either but thought it'd be fun to try. Plus I can have my daughter and other germ-phobes help with training without touching raw meats and I don't have to cook anything...lazy me!
Love to hear what your wife thinks, my SO will not touch raw meat so this might work for him too



Just thought of another idea, a disposable syringe from farm supply.....hm have to test that one.

[dogs4life]

These tubes are kinda too big for my little boy, we tend to waste a lot since his whole day's diet fits in 1/2 a tube. I'm sure it would work better for a larger dog. I'm back to using raw tidbits with my hands for now.

I bought a syringe (20cc) for yogurt, it works great and it's safe for my daughter to handle. Only catch is that she loves yogurt too and wants to squirt the yogurt in her mouth after giving Hank some. Ewwww.

[Rivsky]

I just cut up the meat into whatever sizes I want, throw them into one of those ziplock bags and then freeze them for a bit. By the time they've been sitting in my pocket on the way to training and we get started they've only just started to thaw out and I find I've usually used them all up by the time they start getting really messy. I've just resigned myself to the fact that I'm probably going to ruin some of the pockets in my track pants but find I only wear the ones with pockets in them for training anyway.

I also keep some of that hand sanitiser gel or wipes in my training bag so if they do get a bit gross I can easily wipe my hands off afterwards and don't have to wait to get home to at least clean up a bit.

I also have a jackpot container which I can put messier things in as I just put them on the ground and let River clean them up for me so don't have to handle anything I put in there at all.

[dogs4life]

What would you suggest for Samantha to use? My intention is to allow Sam give a good portion of raw treats too without getting yucky.

[Rivsky]

Would you be comfortale letting her use cheese or something like that? I know it's not ideal raw food but most dogs seem to love it (I've gotten River some goat cheese and he goes nuts for it), also depends on how well Hank tolerates cheese too.

Other than that I'd probably just lightly cook some meat for her to use, I would imagine Hank's training treats wouldn't be a huge amount given how small he is so wouldn't matter too much that it's not 100% raw.

[dogs4life]

OMG, Hank will do anything for goat cheese, almost to the point of a nervous breakdown....great stuff, huh? Problem with goat cheese is that Sam loves it too so she eats it all and doesn't want to share Same with the goat yogurt, she's getting stingy and won't give the little guy some, can't wait for this stage of development to pass

We switched Hank's feeding regime, so lately he gets 100% of his daily calories from training rewards. Defeats the purpose of getting him to chew his foods, but it's working wonders for his behavioral issues and yeah he doesn't eat much, he's only 4.5 - 5lbs (~2.2 kg)...just a tiny thing.

I was trying to get away from cooked items...he's been getting gas and I suspect it's from the cooked meats he's been getting lately. Right now he's getting 1/2 raw from me and 1/2 cooked from Sam. I was hoping that the tube would allow Sam to feed raw without getting messy and Hank will stop farting....maybe I'm asking for too much right now...I dunno.

[D.Schäferhund]

hmmm.. well I guess i don't mind mess.. sometimes i dry liver or something and cut it very small....
My dogs do not need large bits they really are happy with tiny little inforcers...

And ziplock baggies with all kinds of different stuff i prefer, and I prefre dry stuff, too. so my liver is just before dry but still kinda soft, for storage it goes in the freezer, or i use hotdogs... but in the summer not so good...

Lately i got pretty lazy and got them dogfood rolls from natures balance??? gosh have to look it up...
They cut good, and are easy to store, can be sliced or cubed... best is the lamb doesn't crumble as much. when you dry stripes of it, they make good nibble treats, like what you need on the happy legs....
some dogs go crazy for banana chips or dried fruit... mine don't fall for it... but a dog of a friend was juts crazy about it....

[Rivsky]

How about you preparing the raw stuff into whatever portions you want and putting them into some sort of small tupperware dish? That way Sam can still train Hank and can produce the container when he's earnt his reward, take the lid off and leave him to it?

ETA: Obviously she'd use a clicker or bridge word so that Hank understands what he's getting the reward for so it doesn't matter that it's not coming to him instantly.

[dogs4life]

Katja - Maybe I'll dry some liver in the oven and see if that will help alleviate the gas issue. He's been getting super stinky lately and wanna get him back to less processed food items. Maybe I'll try frozen pineapple after each training session to see if that helps too,

Tash - You might be onto something with your jackpots...I'll give that a try today, we've got some great pork bits I can try. Since we are not quite at variable reward intervals, we might just offer a bite out of the cup for rewards.

Yeah, I have her using verbal markers. No clicker for the Sammy girl, she just loves the sound too much and clicks like a maniac. I'm sure she will be able to use it when she gets older.

Thanks for all your ideas, if you think of more, I'm always up for a new way I'm in uncharted territory with tiny dog, active little girl and raw food....