Hank will not eat liver, kidney or heart

[dogs4life]

Ok, I'm onto my next challenge with Hank's diet. Do I tempt him to eat raw liver & kidney organs and heart muscle or do I just feed regular raw meats? I like to trust him and take cues about foods he will eat without forcing them except I'm concerned about balancing his diet.

I'm beginning to think he has expensive taste, he goes crazy for goat cheese and raw steak

He will eat raw:
-All beef muscles, ground and whole, except heart muscle
-Chicken meats, ground
-Turkey meats, ground
-Egg but not shell

He refuses in any form or preparation raw:
-Bone-in Chicken, Cornish Hen & Turkey
-Beef Heart, Liver, Kidney
-Chicken Gizzard, liver, heart, kidney
-Egg shell

Anyways, would you mask the organs, bone, shell and other meats with the items your dogs will eat OR would you trust them and look for another item to fit the nutritional need? I'm seriously considering a grinder to puree the meats, organs and bones.

[GSD]

I would grind and mix myself

[D.Schäferhund]

I would grind and mix, too.

Well but the only thing i can't feed is chickenliver, to Bris, she pukes it out after she ate it even if i grind it up.

I think since you are able to get tripe cheap that you can mix it in with that. it masks pretty good.
they sometimes take a while to take to all the different things they should eat.
But once they got the taste they go nuts for it, I had that with the liver, too.

the ggshells i throuw it whole in the blender and they eat it, at the beginning they ate it whole but got smart then and opened the egg and left the shells for me to pick up...

one thing you might ry is, lightly fry or bake it just the outsides, some dogs prefere it that way and it might be good for transistion.

[Rivsky]

Yep I'd grind it up and make raw patties using some other ground up meat. This is the only way I can get River to eat liver too.

[calgal]

Mine LOVE liver, but can only have just a tiny bit once in awhile or they get diarrhea.
Maybe you can just grind it up with some other kind of meat and add some grated cheese to the mix.

[dogs4life]

D.Schäferhund - you're right I should look at tripe too. I just haven't fed it before so I'm hesitant of the smell factor It's been a few years since I lived on a ranch and I've lost my ranch nose What organ meats to you feed Bris? Is it just chicken liver that makes her barf, will she eat beef liver OK? Maybe I need to test each organ to see if he barfs before I make mixes or buy mixes.

Calgal - I was on another list and they suggested the same thing, cheese A little cheese makes anything go down according to them. What do you do for cartilage, calcium and potassium in your dog's diet? I'm also concerned with his bone and cartilage intake.

Maybe I can try the green tripe with the organ meat and cartilage mix before I leap into a Grinder purchase.

Which one would you try or would you try them all? I'm leaning toward the XKALIBER mix..... Or would you mix your own? They also have fresh green tripe, but it kinda grosses me out a bit...

Green Tripe with Trachea & Gullet (ground)
Bovine trachea and gullet are the natural source for chondroitin sulfate. Bovine tracheal cartilage has also shown success in helping to isolate cancers, tumors and other diseases by preventing thier growth and spread. The fresh raw trachea and gullet are ground in with the tripe. This is an excellent product for all dogs, especially breeds known for hip/joint problems.
1lb. rolls are $1.80/lb. ($1.80 per roll)

XKALIBER: Green Tripe, Muscle Meat, Heart, Tongue, Trachea/Gullet and Ground Bone
This product is best for younger dogs and serious working dogs. It helps build muscle and stamina.
1lb. rolls are $1.90/lb. ($1.90 per roll)

Tripe/Organ Meat Blend
Freshly frozen blend of green tripe, beef heart, lungs, liver, spleen and pancreas. This product is only available in 2lb. rolls.
2lb. rolls are $1.20/lb. ($2.40 per roll)

Thanks!

[D.Schäferhund]

yah well the smell isn't that nice but it is ok... ground up , like i have in the puppymeat mixed with liver it is not too bad and the canned stuff i have is ok, too.

Brisa just barfs when she eats chicken liver... it is a chore for her to eat it, but she tries because she is hungry, and then she barfs it right out again, so I don't make her eat it again... she eats other liver though and i think gizzards are simmilar but she eats them ok... but is not her favorite..

To be honest I would stash all of them and mix up the diet with it. First i would get a bag of each and see how the dog takes to it, if there is a bag he don't like you don't have to order it again..
If i had the choice i would really mix them all up, one carton of that than one of that... and so on... your dog will probably thank you for it!
doesn't matter for what ech mix is intedet for... give it all, it will be healthy, and the higher energy ones, just give in between or reduce the portion a little, but usually it is not a problem... barf is not about exact messures...

btw: which cheese do you use and where do you get it, I usually resort to cottage cheese...but gets a little boring at times....

[dogs4life]

I'll call Green Tripe tomorrow, since they are here in town, it would not hurt to try.

Originally Posted by D.Schäferhund

btw: which cheese do you use and where do you get it, I usually resort to cottage cheese...but gets a little boring at times....

I love raw goat cheddar and so does Hank, that's one of his training treats now. Since he is so tiny, treats are like a meal

I'm allergic to cow dairy so I only buy goat and sheep dairy products whenever I can find them, no particular brand though. It's difficult because they are so darn expensive and hard to find. Sometimes I find some nice hard cheeses at Trader Joes but most times I have to go to specialty shops and health food stores. I love the Redwood Hill Farm cheeses and Raw cheese from Green Bank Farms, but those are for special occassions.

[dogs4life]

Okay, so I tried the green tripe to mask the beef heart meats, he loved it. Went down nicely. 5 minutes later, he vomited the whole meal

So we tried again...same result. I've never heard of a dog barfing heart before. Next!

[Rivsky]

Did you try griding up?

If you don't want to do that yet try dicing the organs up into tiny little pieces. River will so far eat little pieces of kidney and liver this way but refuses to eat them whole for the moment - I think he doesn't like the texture but is quite happy to eat them this way.

[dogs4life]

Originally Posted by Rivsky

Did you try griding up?

If you don't want to do that yet try dicing the organs up into tiny little pieces. River will so far eat little pieces of kidney and liver this way but refuses to eat them whole for the moment - I think he doesn't like the texture but is quite happy to eat them this way.

I've tried beef heart minced, ground and chunks. I've also tried ground heart with green tripe..... Hank will not even look at whole heart chunks, just like River.

I'm thinking he has a strong aversion to heart muscles but I'm going to try some more.

I'm also going to look for more species of offal, maybe I can find some more variety. Maybe I'll try fish kidney, liver and heart.

Anymore ideas? I'm beating my head against the wall trying to balance his diet.

[Rivsky]

Have you tried chicken organs?

Riv will actually eat chicken hearts as they come (so I don't need to bother cutting them up) and I've heard chicken organs generally aren't as rich as beef, lamb etc.

[dogs4life]

He actually will not eat chicken organs I'll try grinding them and see if the barfs like he did with the beef heart.

Thanks!

[dogs4life]

He just ate heart and kept it down...OMG!

On a whim ,as I was feeding my cat her portion of heart I fed Hank a teaspoon of minced, previously frozen beef heart...it's actually the same heart he threw up weeks ago. The only difference is that the recent sample was frozen then thawed and the other sample was fresh from the store, yup same package, same slice....I don't get it!

Will try again next week to make sure it's for real or just a fluke.

I'm so happy he didn't BARF,