[funshine]

Close to two weeks of raw behind and Wookie (almost 5 months lab girl) is doing great :smile:
We've found out that she likes almost everything we've fed;
- Chicken (leg quarters, breast quarters) -> no problems
- Turkey (so far only necks) -> no problems
- Cornish game hen -> no problems
- Whole sardines (doesn't eat heads though :biggrin: ) -> no problems
- Pork (picnic roast) -> no problems
- Beef ribs (only beef so far, not really meaty) -> no problems
- Lamb breast (horribly fatty) -> no problems
- Venison (slightly freezer burned) -> no problems
- Egg (including the shell) -> no problems, or don't know yet; she just had her first one
- Beef liver (not a big piece, but still) -> no problems
Quite a lot of variety for a beginner, but she doesn't seem to mind and a fairly nice amount of bone from leg quarters have kept stools relatively hard (even after lamb and beef ribs).

But then... pork kidney. Total no go. I admit that it was a whole pork kidney, but she didn't get any further than licking it. After few minutes hungry puppy got chicken.

The question is:
How do you feed kidneys (or other non liver organs), especially to picky eaters?

Should we try tough love (only thing offered that evening), chop it and mix it w/ ground beef or something, blend it (w/?), try beef kidney, or just find other organs to feed?

I love our great start, but don't really know what would be the best way to deal w/ organs...

 

[DaneMama]

Organs are a tough thing to feed if a dog doesn't take right to them...kinda like trying to
get a kid to eat their vegetables.

You can try the tough love approach, but you will have to give up after a while, and try something different.

You can try feeding them frozen.

You can try searing them very lightly with a bit of garlic and spices.

You can try the "shove em" method by shoving them down her throat. This is what we do because none of the above methods work with any consistency.

It's also not the end of the world if you don't feed kidney. While it's an important organ, it's not essential. You just have to make sure that you feed liver. Remember that variety is key so if you shove a kidney or two a month it won't hurt one bit.

Good luck, and it's great to hear that everything is going well this far!!!

 

[RawFedDogs]

Wow, thats quite a variety for 2 weeks. You are lucky you didn't have any digestive issues. I wouldn't feed any organs for a month or more. I usually suggest 2 months from starting feeding raw. I wouldn't ever tough love organs anyway. They will never be a whole meal. Just a part of a larger meal.

The first thing I would suggest is cutting into tiny pieces and hiding it in something else like ground beef or canned fish. Next I would try feeding it partially frozen. Usually its the texture they don't like. Next I would try lightly searing. Either way, don't be in a big hurry to feed organs.

 

[CorgiPaws]

I got mine to eat organs by showing little bits of fresh garlic in them doing less and less garlic each time. worked like a charm.

 

[JayJayisme]

Over time, I tried all of the suggestions RFD listed above and unfortunately none of them worked with my dogs. They simply would not eat organs until I started making jerky out of them, which is a time consuming, smelly, and disgusting process.

What I do is I freeze the organ meat, which usually consists of beef and chicken liver, pork kidney, and pork spleen. When I'm ready to make a batch of jerky I let the meat defrost partially, enough to make it easy to slice it thinly but not so much that it's a mushy mess that is impossible to slice with a knife.

I take the slices of organ meat and lay them on a metal grill set on a cookie sheet (spray the grill with Pam), then I pop it in a slightly warm oven, about 200 degrees F. My oven actually gets a little too hot so I end up cycling it on and off throughout the day and it takes several hours and you will have to flip all the slices at least once, but when it's over I have a nice little pile of organ jerky. Unfortunately, it can really stink the house up and the stench seems to hang there for quite a long time.

They each get a piece or two every couple of days. So far this has been the only way I've been able to get them to eat their RDA of organ meat. :wink:

 

[spookychick13]

Weird.

My spoo is fine with them if they are frozen.
My Cavalier will eat literally ANYTHING.

I also had success with competitive eating (I know that sounds horrible, but..)
By this I mean...I will feed a liver bit to my cavalier in front of my spoo. Then I will put a bit on my spoo's towel, when he sniffs it I let the cavalier go, and he beelines for it, causing the spoo to inhale the liver.

Weird, I know.

 

[CorgiPaws]

Weird.

My spoo is fine with them if they are frozen.
My Cavalier will eat literally ANYTHING.

I also had success with competitive eating (I know that sounds horrible, but..)
By this I mean...I will feed a liver bit to my cavalier in front of my spoo. Then I will put a bit on my spoo's towel, when he sniffs it I let the cavalier go, and he beelines for it, causing the spoo to inhale the liver.

Weird, I know.

The same thing worked for my Boxer. She turned her nose up at it after licking it a couple times, so I released the Corgi, who went straight for it, and she just gulped the liver down. Now she eats it just fine, but it took her thinking it was going to be taken away for her to show any interest in it. :biggrin: Glad i'm not the only one who had to use this method!!! lol

 

[spookychick13]

LOL, we are clever!

 

[funshine]

Thanks for all responses!
We'll take a slight break from organs and will come back later with chopping&hiding and garlic :smile:
RawFedDogs; thanks for the fact that the texture is the mostly disliked part, chopping&freezing should definitely help with some tasty encouragement.

Dehydrating does sound like a lot of work and competition is out due to lack of it. Maybe at some point... :wink:

 

[Jem]

My dog wouldn't eat organs on her own, I had to shove them down her throat, and then she would usually regurgitate them right away. Then I tried giving her a frozen-ish chunk of liver and she chewed and ate all of it! That is what I do now, just get it out of the freezer 30 mins before giving it to her. She seems to like it better that way. Worth a try!