hey folks,
its been a brave while since i posted on here. I feed my akita a raw diet she has chicken legs, turkey legs, lamb ribs, lamb necks, lamb shanks, oxtail, pigs trotters, sardines, whole eggs. However no matter how hard i try she simply wont eat offal, i get all my meat from the butchers as the dog food raw companies charge an extortionate delivery charge to northern ireland. She simply refuses to eat lamb and calf liver, she also turns her nose up at kidneys. This is the only offal i can get my hands on, and im at my wits end now. Ive tried giving her the offal semi frozen but nothing seems to work she just simply refuses to eat it. I got my butcher to put kidney and liver through the mincer and added some minced beef to stop it going gloopy, gave it to her, she took one whiff and walked away. Has anyone similer experiances or any advice to help me as im desperate now.

Pearse

I blitz liver in the food processor, and sometimes add garlic and veg (also because it helps to help clean the FP afterward!) and freeze it in silicone muffin trays.

This amount works for mine as I divide it between three dogs and only feed it a couple of times a week.  However, blitzing in the food processor really reduces the liver to concentrated amounts so, if you are doing it for one dog, you could freeze it in ice cube trays and feed one small cube a day....   hidden in the rest of her food! 

It might also be worth looking for chicken livers in the supermarket - they aren't as strong as some of the other livers.  You could also flash fry the liver.  The inside is still raw so they aren't losing all the benefits but some dogs simply prefer it this way :)

Oh and mine hate kidney too...

she eats it if its flash fried but because im feeding a raw diet i thought was was against the rules so to speak. Im gonna try the ice cube tray method as well, thanx for the advice.
what offal do you feed dogs a babe?

> what offal do you feed dogs a babe?

I get some miscellaneous bits, inc lung/lights, in the economy pet mince I buy but generally I feed liver.  Chicken livers are often on special offer in my local Tesco, but I also feed ox, lamb or pig liver - and always blitzed in the food processor.  They also get heart which is counted as muscle meat for dogs, although it's usually described as offal in a human diet.  Tripe is another that's classed as offal for people too... I do feed kidney but in the tiniest amounts or one of my dogs will find it and leave slippery blobs of it on the floor for someone else to clear up!

Don't worry too much about flash frying the liver though if it's what she prefers.  My understanding is that it's so rich in vitamins, iron and zinc, that a small amount of cooking isn't really detrimental.  Even fully cooked liver is better than none at all

> Even fully cooked liver is better than none at all

most of mine get theirs fully cooked as only 2 will eat it raw. I have been doing this for years and my dogs are still fit and healthy.

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">she eats it if its flash fried but because im feeding a raw diet i thought was was against the rules so to speak

No such thing as against the rules :-) As long as the diet is varied - and yours definitely seems to be - flash frying offal is fine if that is how your dog likes it. I had the same problem with one of my dogs and I too flash fried liver to start with. I gradually reduced the length of time it was cooked for and he is now fine with eating it raw. I also used to mince the liver up and mix it in with his dinner but now no longer have to.

I also feed kibble for the odd meal too for those times when I am away camping and can't take enough raw food with me - using it now and again I know it won't have an adverse reaction on his stomach.

Never could get mien to eat kidnys when I fed raw, btu liver I blitzed with veg adn tehy ate that fine, btu I only gave about 4oz a week to a 20kg dog.  No problem feeding heart as that's muscle.

thanks for all the replies folks, its put my mind at rest, now ill not mind frying the liver a little and i wont have to try for hours to coax her to eat something she obviously doesnt enjoy.
Just whilst im on the subject what food item does your dogs prefer? my bitch madison would gladly live on chicken legs if i let her lol sometimes i have a little trouble coaxing her to eat ox tail or lamb ribs, but she eats it when she realises chicken isnt on the menu that day. Sardines in tomato sauce is her other favourite.

My lot adore ox heart, especially roasted in strips as a treat, but the everyday winner has to be chicken wings.

Incidentally, mine get a mix of raw and cooked food--I poach their fish, mainly to extract any hidden bones, and as am occasional weekend treat they get scrambled egg with something (cheese, salmon).

chicken carcusses and chunks of ox heart I think are probably the favs although pigs trotters seem to go down rather well.