Raw Salmon/ Trout?

[Rik 183]

I don't have my puppy yet but I have just read about the BARF diet. it says that you can feed raw fish does this include raw salmoniods? Has anyone from California fed thier dog this way? When i was a teenager one of my cousins "bear dogs" (small terriers)stole a trout from me and ate it he died 2 weeks later. there are signs that say "Don't feed your dogs raw salmon/trout" around the Bay Area fishing lakes. I think that it would be great if i could feed salmon and trout as I like to catch them but have eaten too mamy in my life and now I'll only eat ocean salmon and steelhead that Ii catch in the river. I want to teach the dog to spot/smell fish for me if possible.

[Sherab 2,337]

I don't feed fish because I don't have a ready source but I expect it's just as good as chicken, beef, deer, etc. Raw diet has been good for my dogs. You can also cook the meat. Having said that I wouldn't risk the heartbreak of running the experiment of feeding from a source I didn't know and trust. A quick google brings up Mercury and PCBs in San Fransisco fish - you can't cook that out. First people all along the Pacific fished. I can't imagine the dogs not getting fed fish parts. Also there are some fish and potato diet foods sold commercially.

 

Are you sure your cousin's little dog died of the fish head? Was it due to an obstruction? Perforation? If so grind the fish up.

[Chinatola 927]

I haven't heard of any problems with fish but then I'm no expert. I side with Sherab on this one...

[Allison 2,369]

One of the major problems, that Kim warns us about each year, is something called Salmon Fever.

 

Please do make sure the fish you serve your dog is fresh. The dead fish on the river banks, and the fish that have finished spawning, and are in the process of dying, may be infected with this disease. We recommend you do not allow your dogs to eat this type of fish. The link above will elaborate, and it sounds plausible, by the timing, that this is what happened to the poor fellow.

[Bodhisattva 44]

I would love to do the raw diet. What worries me is the salmonila risk in the house especially with young kids. It gets so cold here in the winter, feeding them outside is not an option.

[Chinatola 927]

Bodhi, check out Orijen's line of freeze dried foods. Very cool stuff and meets the raw need too. We use Orijen kibble and spice it up with chicken jerky or even a raw chicken leg or thigh from time to time and are planning on trying the 'Tundra' version of the freeze dried tonight actually. The Chicken parts work like a charm so I'm expecting the rehydrated patties to work well too. Lili is a little indifferent about food on occasion but as long as we supplement with a little bit of jerky or a raw leg or something there's nothing left so I expect this to work wonders.

 

It is pricey but used as a topper I'm guessing that it will keep the interest up pretty well and is more economical that way.

[Allison 2,369]

Rik, Hope you saw my last post, two up, about Salmon Fever. I think that will help to answer your questions.

 

The rest of you goofballs (takes one to know one), here is a recent dinner for my two boys; leftovers and extras this time. (Don't forget the gravy!):

 

 

You can circumvent the problem of salmonella buy cutting up just before you serve. Bacteria grows on the surface. The more surface area, the more bacteria. That is why hamburger has more bacteria than steak--the grinding creates surface area.

 

I feel the "Raw Diet" prepackaged goods, are too expensive. We simply make our own, from what is available. They love it, and the vet says she cannot believe how healthy my 15 year old dog's blood work shows him to be.

 

Course, I am not making dinner for a large family.

[Rik 183]

thanks everyone. I guess that I'll feed cooked trout/salmon if i have extras after fishing.

[Karen 41]

I won't even let the dogs go into the woods during spawning season (we live on a salmon supporting creek). It was interesting reading about it, though, I didn't know what carried it or that it was fatal to dogs but not other animals.

[miz molly 1,800]

I keep a soup pot going for the dogs....Some would call it a "hot pot." I deglaze pans, throw in left over meat, veggies, last nights dinner that I didn't finish, etc., add water, sometimes I blend, and then add a couple of ladles full to their food which consists of raw and a bit of dry food for the crunch. The flavors in the "hot pot" are always changing. When they see me working in the kitchen at dinner time, they take their positions, and wait with great anticipation for a tasty treat that is not the same old thing every night. That being said, I want to go to Allison's for dinner....that "dog stew" looks REALLY good.

[Sherab 2,337]

http://blog.petflow.com/i-cant-believe-what-this-dog-did-while-her-human-was-away-it-will-blow-your-mind/

[judyk 43]

Our first AID, Willie, had salmon fever and was very sick. Don't let your dogs eat other than FRESH fish. The salmon fever is deadly if not caught and treated.