Good for you switching to raw!
It's not recommended to feed both kibble and raw in the one meal together because of the different digestion rates. Most do recommend a straight change. (Though my two got kibble morning and raw in the evening till I finally made the leap and changed!)

Here's some websites I'd recommend to you:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/ This group is huge with a wealth of info. Even if you never post there the archives alone will answer any questions you have.
http://www.geocities.com/havens_home/feedraw.htm
http://www.rawfeddogs.net/FAQlist
http://www.rawfed.com/myths/
http://www.ukrmb.co.uk/showcontent.toy?contentnid=7379

Tom Londsdale books are very good also.

You will find there are several ways to feed raw. I like to give mine big pieces to work at; stimulation for the dogs and a great way to keep their teeth clean. Dogs don't need mince (unless dental problems!) they have their own set of tools to deal with meat and bones in their mouths!

Some dogs take awhile to get the idea of what to do with this new food. If they don't eat it first time take it up and wrap it in the fridge till next meal time, they soon get the idea.

Rice is just a filler used to bulk up the foods sold by pet food companies; it has no benifit to the dog; personally, I'd ditch it.

EDIT: The link not allowed above is a Yahoo group called rawfeeding.

i wanted to pud Jack on raw diet, but the reaction was the same as with your Jed. "what on earth is that?! i dont do raw "
but he is the kind of dog who gulps down everything edible and non edible. raw meat i obviousli extra non edible for him.

Can I just ask a quick question please? Say you've got a lump of beef like a piece of steak. Do you just give that to the dog whole, or should you cut it up? I only ask coz I bought a lovely bit of steak on special offer this morning and I'd really like to give Georgie a big chunk of it and I don't know whether I should cut it up into small chunks first! Sorry!

It's entirely up to you. If it's just meat with no bone, you could freeze it, which will also give his teeth a work out (scrape off the plaque) and will entertain him a while, whilst working up his appetite, but dont refreeze.

It depends on if he's a hoover or if he takes his time eating. If you are giving it fresh, and he's likely to inhale it pretty quickly, I would shop up into smaller pieces, but if he's a slow eater and you know he's gonna take time chewing it, give it to him whole or maybe quartered

Wait til you get onto pigs heads and ox hearts

The trouble i'm having with this raw diet is the fact that i'm a vegetarian and have been for half my life now. I have no problem with meat generally and i'm quite happy handling the various bits that i've bought the dogs. However, I dont think I could cope giving them whole rabbits or anything thats identifiable!

Yes, it was the different rates of digestion that was the reason I read for just changing them over, couldnt remember that yesterday so thanks for the reminder.

I've had another go feeding them some raw today, they had a pork loin steak (or something, being a veggie i'm not very good with my cuts of meat!) and Flynn snaffled it straight down again. He was very eager to get his jaws on it. Jed took much more persuading and kept picking it up and dropping it hoping that bits would fall out like they do with his Kong!

The only way I got him to eat it was to do that old trick of "i'm gonna get it" whilst creeping up on him. He was having a good old chew and ended up half enjoying it I think.

I'm still having problems convincing myself to get them some poultry containing any bones. I've always been brought up thinking the likes of chicken bones were very dangerous due to their small, sharp, splinter like form. I was looking at chicken thighs but I think i'm gonna have to do some more reading before i'm ready to cast off my preconceptions!

Their bottoms dont seem to have suffered majorly, there was certainly no diarrhoea but there was a difference. I'm going to put a couple of those loin steaks in the freezer now which is sure to confuse Jed even more!

Bones only splinter when cooked, hence feeding them raw, they are more rubbery like, when raw

The only ones which I wouldnt give are large beef bones, Venison and Larger turkey bones, but everything else should be ground down by the dogs teeth just fine and help to loosen up any plaque also

I know a few vegetarians that feed their dogs raw too

I agree, if you're not quite sure about it, do some more reading, have a look on the Barf forms and ask a few questions.

My lot loved whole rabbits, although Mr Woo wouldnt eat the heads, although Seku happily obliged You just have to make sure they are safe and have no Myxi.

Thanks for answering my questions, and I think I'll stick it in the freezer so he can work on it from frozen, that's a brill idea, keep him occupied too.

Now I'm really confused when you've just said that about large beef bones, coz I thought these were the only "safe" bones to give, i.e. the marrow bones, which I always get for George? He's got one at the moment, which is half a leg! I do remember they had some "flank" bones once and they were gone in half an hour and I just couldn't believe it! I always thought these large marrow bones were always beef, so what do we ask for then please if they can't have beef bones, and if not, why not then???!!

Personally I feel the larger beef bones are harder than the others and so could potentially break into larger splinters, so I personally wouldnt give them, but some do.

The large marrowbones shoud be given as recreational, not as meals, as they are too much bone and very little anything else, but again, you should be wary of them. I once atteneded a lady whos dog had got his jaw trapped in one and needed bolt cutters to free him after hours of agony, panic and struggling to get free from it.

The other bones are smaller, and so easily chewed and broken down. Also all bones have different nutritional values (Beef isn't any good for most northern breeds as it contains the wrong protein and little else) so we dont feed it anyway, but they are all different, and the most easily chewed and most palatable are poultry, lamb, pork etc, although the 2 latter can be more fatty than poultry.

If you go to your butcher, ask for the leftovers they have. Ask for anything, as it's doubtful they would give you large beef legs anyway, but you have to feed the right ratio of RMB to offal etc, so not bones all the time. Chicken carcasses usually make up the majority of feeding, which can also be great fun for them, if you shove carrots, or veg etc inside for them.

HTH

The reason I give these large beef bones (recreational though!) are because I find they never splinter and nothing breaks off, they always just scrape away at them and it's all sort of bits that come off. Anyway, I like the thought of the lamb shanks, coz he had one for Christmas lunch with all the meat on it, but we both got scared when he got down to the actual bone, ate the knuckle part, and then great big splinters were coming off, so I took it away and binned it! Are these shanks safe then to give him as a meal, bone and all then?? I'd really like to do that every now and then, even every other day or something? Thanks for this help, and sorry if I'm a pain, but I don't know much about this raw feeding or bones come to that!

Was the lamb shank cooked or raw ?

The larger the bones, the more damage they are likely to cause if they splinter. Smaller bones can be ground down and broken up by the dogs' internal digestive juices also. This is why I prefer to give smaller bones, just in case, unless it's a pigs head, then they get about a quarter of it.