Anyone have a puppy eating raw?

[ninemaplefarm]

Can an 8 week old puppy eat a complete prepared (pre-packaged) raw diet?

When I called a raw diet place they said do not give it to my GSD puppy as the calcium/phosphorous ratio is way to high.

If anyone does feed it, do you add anything else? Do you feed dry at one meal?

Thanks!

[lhczth]

It would depend on what is in the "complete prepared" stuff. Friend fed packaged/ground raw to her puppy, but it was just whole chickens, turkeys, beef with offal, etc. Nothing else added. My puppies are weaned right onto raw and they eat the same things the adults eat except in a bit smaller sizes.

[ninemaplefarm]

Oh, ok! Thanks for sharing that information!

[Lauri & The Gang]

Originally Posted by lhczth

My puppies are weaned right onto raw and they eat the same things the adults eat except in a bit smaller sizes.

Ditto.

My Chinese Cresteds NEVER taste dog kibble. They go from Mom to Raw.

Mauser, my GSD, was switched to raw the moment he stepped foot in our house.

I don't use the prepackaged mixes because I don't KNOW what the mix is. I prefer to do it myself so I know exactly what and how much of it the dogs are getting.

[pwillow]

Yes this is the same question I wanted to ask.

What is a good way to start a puppy eating raw. Is it okay to start with ground beef and yogurt.

Also I know a lot of people switch to raw because of allergies. My puppy has itchy puppy syndrome haha and we are trying to solve this. So should I start with just the beef and then incorporate other foods after she stays on beef for 2 weeks.

She seems to be getting bored with the ground beef and yogurt but I don't want to give her something wrong so if anyone can suggest other options that would be great. Also I would rather not continue the limited ingredient diet with the kibble I think I just want to feed her raw

[Wild Wolf]

Originally Posted by pwillow

Yes this is the same question I wanted to ask.

What is a good way to start a puppy eating raw. Is it okay to start with ground beef and yogurt.

Also I know a lot of people switch to raw because of allergies. My puppy has itchy puppy syndrome haha and we are trying to solve this. So should I start with just the beef and then incorporate other foods after she stays on beef for 2 weeks.

She seems to be getting bored with the ground beef and yogurt but I don't want to give her something wrong so if anyone can suggest other options that would be great. Also I would rather not continue the limited ingredient diet with the kibble I think I just want to feed her raw

Your pup will need more than just the ground beef (muscle meat). Raw is about balance. You need raw meaty bones (RMB), muscle meat (MM) and organ meat (OM) to create a healthy, balance diet for your puppy. If the puppy is new to raw, you should wait to introduce the organ meat. Start with something like chicken, feed that for a week or two then slowly start introducing new meat sources. You can get a huge amount of great information on Lauri's site: Welcome to the Raw Dog Ranch

[pwillow]

After feeding her the ground beef for a day and a half, I introduced chicken feet to her diet along with chicken without bone (would this be considered MM?) I also introduced her to turkey necks yesterday...she seems to eat those fine.

Do you have any advice for when the pup losses interest? She seems to be less excited over the food..Like she's bored or something. I would welcome any advice on how to keep things exciting.

I want to wait to give her the organ meat but I am wondering if there is any other advice you have for her stool being runny or should I just wait a few days to see if she adjusts better?

Thanks

[Gilly1331]

Find a good probiotic to add to the food each meal. I use Animal Essentials Plant Enzymes & Probiotics Dog & Cat Supplement I have 3 dogs on this and I feed raw. I just recently got a 5 month old puppy that we immediatly swithed to raw (premixed tubes 4 days a week and actual meats/bones 3 days a week). I sprinkle on this probiotic each meal for the baby while the others I only do every other day. Since switching all 3 dogs to raw we have NOT had anything but healthy solid poops. I'll give the probiotic to the puppy every meal until 6 months old and then I'll switch it to one out of the 3 meals a day. Eventually I'll drop down to every other. I'll also add the probiotic to all dogs meals if I am introducing a new meat to their diet.

Also add in more edible bones to the mix of food to help harden up the poop. How much are you feeding her at each meal? Feed according to her weight/activity level as a puppy. Our 5 month old gets 2% of her body weight. I split that into 3 meals a day. Plus she gets natural/raw treats during training times.

Stick to one type of protein for a week or two before changing or adding in something new. Start out with 1-2 weeks of just chicken, then add in turkey or other poultry, then move to pork or beef then think about adding in some fish. I generally add in sardines in oil two times a week and also add in eggs w/ shells 3 days a week.

There are tons of help out there, tons of readins to research on the board. I can even see if I have some old PM's when I was just starting out raw (approx 6 months ago). If I have them I'll forward them on for help. Good luck!

[yuricamp]

Originally Posted by pwillow

After feeding her the ground beef for a day and a half, I introduced chicken feet to her diet along with chicken without bone (would this be considered MM?) I also introduced her to turkey necks yesterday...she seems to eat those fine.

Do you have any advice for when the pup losses interest? She seems to be less excited over the food..Like she's bored or something. I would welcome any advice on how to keep things exciting.

I want to wait to give her the organ meat but I am wondering if there is any other advice you have for her stool being runny or should I just wait a few days to see if she adjusts better?

Thanks

I started my pup on raw shortly after I got him home at around eight weeks. He is now 18 weeks and continues to thrive. I noticed what may I initially be misconceived as a losing of interest in my dog as well, but I chalk it up to not having to muscle his way between six other litter mates to ensure he gets his fair share. He is still eager for his food, but now knows that no one will take his chow away if he doesn't immediately wolf it down. He can take his time to pick out some "choice pieces".
The advice you've gotten from the other members is great concerning the balance and variety, however, I also noticed that whenever I feed my pup turkey, he would always have very loose stools. I haven't tried turkey for a few months because of it. I could narrow it down to the turkey because I would have him eat something for a few days to observe the effects before I started other protein sources. Pork, beef, eggs, beef hearts, duck, yogurt, fish, fresh green tripe, baby carrots, apples, even mango are all some of the things I have given him.

Good luck!

[carmspack]

I have had generations of pups going from weaning to raw and the results are rewarding to say the least .

You cannot just feed hamburg meat with yogurt . You have NO minerals, no calcium .

Turkey necks for an 8 week old are a little on the large side.

Feed a chicken neck -- you can strike the bone with a hammer if you want make the bone shattered and easy to eat. Actually at the hardware stores there is a hammer designed for the growing numbers of "ladies" doing repairs . This hammer is a "never-miss" with a larger flattened out head and the handle is easy to grip for a smaller hand. I have one. In fact I was just out in the garage using it to smash an ice build up in one of the freezers. It does come in handy but I wouldn't use it for nails -- the larger surface area diffuses the impact of the strike, but for the same reason I am less likely to damage the wall of the freezer.

Chicken drum sticks are good.

Chicken frames are good .

Yesterday a litter of 7 week old pups got a mixture of ground chicken frames, bone , flesh , skin and some organ meat - plus just over a pound of chicken hearts, my oil , my greens supplement .
Today I went to the butchers and bought beef shank and had him cut them into halves. Each pup got on half . Lots of chewing . Lots of scraping the marrow . Great for the connective tissue . This meal has little bone . Tomorrow's meal of chicken frames will compensate .

The heavy duty beef shank really gets their teeth and jaws working building up muscle in the neck and fore quarters. It is very satisfying for them.

My adults would get an entire beef shank . This would be a treat . Maybe once a month.

I visit the butcher just before close up time , when they are washing the trays and cleaning the saws. I ask them to save me the butchers' bone dust , the little bits and pieces of bone and marrow created when meat is passed through the saw blade.
The place I go to cuts a lot of ox tail , and lamb and goat pieces.

The pups got a handfull of the bone dust tonight - so yes they did get some bone after all.

This weekend after my market schedule I will go to an ethnic butcher shop where I order boxes of sheep heads. The pups who will be with me till they are 9 weeks of age will get a sheep head each . They will be allowed to work away all day, then the rest will be picked up bagged and frozen , given frozen later in the week.

I have access to raw , unpasteurized goat milk and am on a waiting list to get raw cow's milk. The dogs get raw goat milk and raw goat kefir.

You really get to understand food sources , health and farming issues when you do these things from scratch.

I would not buy a prepacked raw food . Too expensive. And when reading ingedients there are vegetable fillers which have no to little benefit and some don't even belong there .

Carmen
Carmspack Working German Shepherd Dogs