Try phycox tabs. They are all natural and work wonders for hip & joint stuff.

Sadie is in that boat too... we considered prescription drugs. But, didn't want her to be reliant on us in order to walk. It's about quality of life - I wanted to try other things first before going to something she required every day.

She has literally turned into a puppy again. Heather can attest to the change in her attitude - she stayed at my house the last week Sadie ate kibble. And, was at my house on Saturday. Same dog, TOTALLY different attitude. She is really now acting like a puppy, all excited and giddy :lol:

No seriously....she's like retarded goofy happy playful. It's hilarious and awesome. :lol:

So, where are you guys getting the info to get started on a raw diet? How do you introduce it, what kinds of foods do my dogs need, etc?

Wanted to post an update real quick for cat owners.

I broke down and let my wife get a kitty. In an effort to make her part of the pack from our dog's POV we feed her in the same room and same time as the dogs. I quickly learned that she much prefers raw meat over kitty kibble....because she kept getting in their food bowl. So from then on we just feed her raw like the doggies.

I slice some meat off the dogs chicken or whatever and she eats it down. No bone though. Anyway, seems to be working well so far.

I can understand raw red meat, but I would be concerned about the dog getting sick eating raw fish that was not prepared correctly and raw chicken. Why not just feed them raw red meats? And is alot of fat a problem?

How does cooked meats compare to raw?

They have the digestive system to take care of the things in raw chicken that would make you or me sick. You can't feed them chicken alone and I do feed raw red meats as well, depending on what is on sale that week. They also get eggs, cottage cheese, leftovers, pork and so on.

Red meat is $2+ lb vs. chicken at $.59 a lb. so chicken is the obvious choice to make up the bulk of their protein.

As the bones are part of their diet and cooked bones are dangerous to dogs feeding cooked is not an option. I do buy a big bag of quarters every week, boil that and strip the meat for a quick meal that isn't messy when I'm in a rush. Its more of a back up meal. A lot of fat is not a problem because they are not eating carbs, only fat and protein. Whole chickens have a good fat/protein ration.

In the time that I've been doing this I've seen my dogs digestive problems (throwing up, diarrhea, farts) virtually disappear. They have not been sick at all in the last 6 months.

Sadie's medical issues are completely gone. We no longer give her supplements - her annual vet appointment is next week. A year ago she had problems walking, had seizures and would throw up on occasion. She is a retriever, that couldn't PLAY fetch... it's part of her soul to do it - so we had to hide tennis balls from her or she would hurt herself going into the back yard to throw the ball for herself if we didn't do it. She is now back to retrieving like she did a year ago like a puppy - she now jumps, runs and will dive into the air to catch balls.

I completely attribute a raw food diet to this.

She gets yogurt, liver, eggs and banana/celery/peppers in the morning - chicken in the evening.

Thanks Josh. Really. TRULY. Sadie thanks you.... I'd take a picture, but she's afraid of cameras [they steal your soul...] :lol:

These meals sound like mine. LOL...minus the raw meat part, though I eat 12 raw eggs a day.

How do you give the dog raw eggs? Mix is up with other stuff?

It's an involved process... crack egg in bowl - give bowl to dog. :) She LOVES eggs. No, LOVE love LOVE LoVEs eggs.