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Feeding
Your Dog
Our
dogs are fed a raw diet. They
are used to eating fresh meat with pureed veggies (the "meat
mixture") and raw meaty bones ("RMBs") for their meals. What do you plan to
feed your dog?
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If
BARF (Bones And Raw Food), have you planned ahead for his meals and gone shopping yet? Know
that 50% of his diet should be the meat mixture, the other 50% RMBs.
(See Recipes on our website
and in the Adoption Packet for ideas on what to make.)
For a medium-sized dog (i.e., Cocker Spaniel), you should feed
approximately 2% of his ideal body weight per day in meat mixture and RMBs.
For example, for a 25# dog, this would be ½ pound of the meat
mixture and RMBs per day (or ¼ pound per meal if fed twice a day).
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If
a frozen raw food is selected, have you purchased it yet or know
where it can be purchased in your area?
(See Our Philosophy for a partial list of frozen raw
foods and contact information.)
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If
you choose to feed a NATURAL dry dog food (which needs to be
supplemented with fresh raw foods), do you know where you can
purchase it in your area? (See Adoption Packet for a complete list
of human-grade dog foods.
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Do
you have bowls (preferably ceramic or stainless steel – no plastic)
for food and water, a mat upon
which the bowls will sit, and an area selected for the dog to eat
that is out of the way of foot traffic?
Your Dog’s Space
Our
dogs have their own “rooms” and space they can call their own.
They are used to a very rigid schedule and are taken from
their kennels or crates immediately outdoors.
After they have eliminated, they have the opportunity to
wander a sequestered area in the house.
Until you know that your dog is fully housetrained, it would
be best to limit his freedom to wander your house.
Unless you are actively engaged in a “bonding session”
with your dog (i.e., sitting with him, playing with him, walking
him, feeding him, grooming him, teaching him something, or otherwise
interacting with him), keep him in a confined area.
Set aside an area for him (such as the kitchen or laundry
room) that can be baby-gated off from the remainder of the house
where you can keep his bed and/or crate while providing him the
opportunity to walk around.
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Walking Your Dog
The rescued
dogs at Illinois Cocker Rescue are taken outside to eliminate 6-8 times a
day. It generally is about 2
hours between walks. This helps the dogs understand the concept of eliminating
outdoors and prevents accidents from occurring.
To fully
housetrain your dog, feed your dog at the same time daily (do not feed
between meals without expecting to take an additional trip outdoors),
maintain a consistent dog-walking schedule, highly praise the dog at the
time he
eliminates outdoors while concurrently placing a treat such as a TINY
flake of freeze-dried liver directly into his mouth.
If the dog
indicates he needs to go out between scheduled walks, please take him
outside immediately before an accident occurs.
It
is very important that you make certain that your dog eliminates fully when
you take him outside. This will
ensure that the dog can wait until his next walk and will not have any
accidents in your home.
Before
your dog is fully housetrained, please be
prepared to take your dog outside:
Many people who work either come home to walk their dogs at lunchtime
or hire a dog walker to take their dogs out.
See
breakfast.
This
schedule can be cut back gradually as your dog becomes fully housetrained and
learns to hold his urine for longer periods of time.
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