For all the RAW feeders out there?

I have been doing great amounts of research to start my Border Collie mix Chaos on an all Raw diet. I think with a couple more months of research I will be ready to start. I just had some more questions, so I can get some personal experiences.What was it like the first day you fed raw? Did your dog get sick (vomiting, diarrhea, ect)?My dog has a tendency to eat to fast, I know he will try to scarf down the meat, how do I keep him from eating to fast? In which way is your dog healthier from eating raw?When can I expect to see changes in my dog ie. cleaner teeth, more active, ect.?

Ok, hopefully I can help, as I've been feeding raw to my shepherds for a while now. What was it like the first day you fed raw? I was amazed. My older boy (a little under a year old at the time) had NEVER liked dog food. I tried all the premium brands: Blue Buffalo, Nutro, Wellness, Diamond, etc... I was lucky if I could get 3 cups into him a day. He was underweight, even for a shepherd puppy. The first night on Raw, I gave them both 2lbs (2% of his body weight, and 2% of my younger puppie's estimated adult body weight). My older boy scarfed it down. I had NEVER seen him eat with such enthusiasm. He had never eaten like that before. They spent the next 20 minutes looking for more, lol. That sold me on it.Did your dog get sick (vomiting, diarrhea, ect)? A little diarrhea, but that was it. Honestly, after a while, the stool becomes a lot harder then the stools of dog's on dog food, because it is much more thoroughly digested and compact. Some RAW feeders originally freak out and think the dog is constipated simply because of the lack of poo (to put it in perspective, the size of my 95lb shepherd's stools are usually the size of a 20lb dog's stool that is fed dog food. Very small, very hard and compact, and RAW fed dogs have stools that powderize in a few days. No scooping, EVER)My dog has a tendency to eat to fast, I know he will try to scarf down the meat, how do I keep him from eating to fast? Keep the meat whole. Plain and simple. For one, you want to feed whole meat and bones because the ripping and knawing really help oral health. The ripping and knawing also force the dog to slow down. If the food isn't in bite size pieces, the dog can't eat super fast. It is forced to take the time and rip the meat apart. It's amazing how raw food makes such a difference when it comes to dogs eating too fast.In which way is your dog healthier from eating raw? He actually eats now, lol. His coat is EXTREMELY soft. If you know anything about shepherds, you know they naturally have a very coarse, hard outer coat. Not my boy. I have never met a shepherd with a softer coat (of course it's still a coarse rough coat, just not like most GSDs). His teeth are extremely white and healthy. No plaque, and at 2 years old now, he has never had his teeth cleaned (even though the vet does not believe me and thinks he has). When he was a puppy, he was very lazy and lethargic. Constantly. Now, he is way more energetic. Of course, it could just be from him growing up. But I noticed the biggest change right after switching to RAW. Even his expression just seems more puppy like. He has also stopped having eye goobers. He use to have extremely bad eye goobers that I had to wipe away constantly.When can I expect to see changes in my dog ie. cleaner teeth, more active, ect.? Everything I mentioned above. Cleaner Teeth. Increased Energy. Smaller poop. Poop that you will never have to scoop because the calcium in the bones literally makes the poop turn into powder in just a few days. A softer coat. Brighter eyes. A healthier weight.I also started a website called Diary of a Raw Feeder. My hardest problem when I started was finding information on how to start feeding. So I thought maybe this website could help people. But, with school, I never really finished the website, lol. I'm hoping to have it completely done and updated by this weekend. But It gives a little insight into what I noticed in my boys, and what I feed now.http://diaryofarawfeeder.angelfire.com