[lone Ranger]

Hello fellow GSD Lovers, :wub: from Australia....

I finally get my little female puppy on Friday, CAN'T WAIT... She is pick of the litter, now in this picture seven weeks old "Shaka" (Greatest Zuly Warrior, also the Hang Loose all good" Hawaian thumb and pinky out shake wave) Anyway Shaka is Pick Bitch of the litter from a 48 kg Police Dog mother and a 53 kg PPD award winning dog, and here she is being held by the Breeder's Wife a mid-sized lady... This might be the biggest 7 week old I have ever seen in a WD GSD.. :wild: I am in love :wub: I am going to breed Pick of the litter of the two strongest WD lines I can find in Australia...

Now unfortunately this Breeder cannot be bothered with the RAW diet, and has started them on Advance puppy chow. We disagree, because first of all growth is too fast on high protein puppy chow, for general health of joints and bone.. On the RAW diet, growth is a little slowed down, and they continue to bulk up after 12 months.. My Breeder of Caesar, a RAW purist and I have put our heads together and come up with this transition:

When I get her on Friday, 8 weeks Saturday, I am going to start her on mince. I guess you call your hamburger meat mince too? Anyway, a good grade of medium fat mince, alternating with chicken mince, maybe lamb mince. We will also start here on Lactose free, full cream milk for the two week transition.. I will do this for a week to (as my Breeder says clean her out) of the kibble, probably two meals a day unless She seems agitated and wants more. This is a big breed of strong working dogs, and I want to cross the two lines and breed my own for WD GSDs...

After a week on mince, at 9 weeks I will introduce bits of muscle meat and chicken wings. After that the mince dies away to MM, M on Bone, and Chicken, lamb, eggs, fish, the normal variations of RAW diet, and 10% organ meat like lamb kidney and beef liver and so on...

I hope this is a help. I will be mindful of what comes out the other end and how she handles it. That is the plan, I will post the outcomes and more pictures.

Kind regards, from a very Blessed GSD Lover in Oz... Out with my horses on the "Last Frontier", living "Dances with Wolves" as much as is possible...

 

[lone Ranger]

Very Good !! :hug:

Thanks to both of you....

Geeks: Yes if you have a big one, a larger breed size Working Dog sort, if he is going to be a larger style you can expect to be weeks=kilos... 10 weeks, 10 kilos, up and including to about 25 weeks.. It seems to run that way for the dogs ending up over 100 lbs. Caesar is now about 5 1/2 months, 23 weeks and 28-29 kg (fake weighed on the scale best we can)... He is on the larger size, not huge, but might break the 100 lbs...


GSD Lover 13,
Look, I agree, and am pretty much over the kibble/RAW mix bit... In truth I am adding a bit if I am short on raw, or a munch on the road or something, because I have some good Nutro Puppy Chow left. But I am pretty much now a firm RAW Convert... My larger male will chomp through what is left, and if I am gone for a few days somewhere I cannot take my older GSDs those two will live on a tub of kibble like they used to.. But totally agree, my new girl is going to be on more of a purist RAW diet...

Mog: I am Blessed with the Staff, Time, and Resources to go to the Breeders and see what they are doing and the results... It is not just my experience, when I see the results I am taking on board their experience, and hence my Post on the matter...

Is She HUGE for 7 weeks? Seems to me She is the biggest seven week old I have seen in a GSD, I will have to weigh her.. Now the biggest of the litter, the other Breeder want her, but I agreed to and put a deposit based on "pick bitch" and it looks like I am Blessed ... :hug:

Volhard Puppy Aptitude Test results 3,3,3 for the critical areas... See Post in CHOOSING THE RIGHT PUPPY.... Kind regards from the lone Ranger

 

[lone Ranger]

Picked up my new puppy today.... WOOOO HOOOO !!!

One more important thing, Lactose Free Full Fat Milk... You need this major source of calcium to counteract the all meat diet... On meat alone there is some chemical imbalance of phosphorus, that can cause problems in a puppy, countered by calcium intake. I am starting her on mince, as I said, and that would be meat alone and creat an imbalance in her system. It has to be meat AND bone, like a chicken wing is. So until she can manage to crunch up a chicken wing and bone, I will feed lactose free, full fat milk with every meal, maybe even poured over the minced meat..

Hope this is a help,
Kind regards from Australia.

 

[lone Ranger]

Hello GSD Friends and GSD Lovers :wub:

This is now my second puppy to convert over to the RAW diet, my new Alpha Male and now this very large breed female..

I just spent the weekend, fourth day now, with my new Puppy, largest "Pick Bitch" of the litter of a larger Working Dog line... Mum was a very smart 48 kg Police Dog the Officer Disabled, retired with him..

Now his fault, he believes in the Advance puppy chow, so I spent four days converting her over.. I started her on Lactose Free full fat milk to make up for the loss of calcium intake and will do that for two weeks until she can eat chicken wings.. Day one, she only picked at the food, so I worried... Day two She started to eat, chicken and beef mince seemed too gummy so I microwave half cooked it to give it a little texture... Runny poo...

Third day, now CHOWING DOWN half cooked beef and chicken mince, four poos, small black sausages.. Big on milk drinking...

Day four, this morning, chowed down even bigger, bigger on her Lactose free milk, and ate half a chicken wing. We are ON THE WAY... !!!

Now meat alone is a phosphorus imbalance, you need to have about 10% bone in the meat to get the calcium balance. I do not think the puppy can manage chicken wings or necks well enough to get that calcium intake. That is why the Lactose Free full fat Milk with every meal. For those that would critique this, it is only for the first two weeks transition, once she can manage to crunch up chicken carcase or wings it will end...

Kind regards, lone Ranger in Oz...

 

[lone Ranger]

Now that I have three litres to spare of Lactose free full fat milk....heh he It looks like I may not have to go the two weeks on milk to get the calcium balance. This little girl pup is busy on a chicken wing... She has not got the whole bit, but has gotten through all the skinny parts already.. 8 weeks, one day.. If She can get through even the thicker parts, when she can, then the calcium intake is covered.

There is a problem with too much calcium, in unnatural bone growth and so on.. If She gets the chicken wing thing down, that will do for calcium intake with a chicken wing sort of every other day or two...

Not sure if I can go a chicken wing every day???? Too much??

Kind regards to all you GSD Lovers...:wub:

 

[lone Ranger]

Update:

She cannot manage a chicken wing yet... She chews off the wing niblit and chews on the other end, but leaves the bulk of the fat part..

This is two days in a row, so I don't think it is chance. Mind you, She might just not be hungry enough with a big breakfast and dinner. The chicken wing lunch has not been mastered yet, and I am thinking it is her chewing ability that needs to pick up..

Hope a help,

Kind regards, lone Ranger

 

[lone Ranger]

On going Case Study for a puppy converting to RAW from kibble..

Just over two weeks on RAW, completely converted, and She CHOWS DOWN like a Wolf attacking her food with gusto... :wild: Here She is in my office, ears only back because She is looing up... Standing up on her hind legs, She is about out grown the box... :wub: Walked a few 3-4 times a day, She made it through the night without going out last night... Anyway, firm poops a few times a day, brown with chicken diet, black with beef. She has fully adjusted in only these two weeks to seem normal. Since She can manage chicken on the bone, the Lactose free milk is gone...



I am still going to pulverize the chicken necks with my double aluminum checkerplate crusher, and She still has trouble with the whole chicken wing, and can only knaw off the little end of the drumstick..






On beef, She has just about seen the last of the beef mince, and now almost seems to prefer chopped up MM (Muscle Meat) in to bitw size pieces.... And now I am giving her larger pieces to manage.. Lamb shoulder on the bone, she gets down to knawing on the smaller end of the bone. The mince was only good to mix in vitamins to help here get along better. I have enough mince in 1 lb packs to have another 6-8 meals, and will do that every other day or so for variety. I have to carve the meat off the drumstick, and give the meaty drumstick to the older dogs to crunch up.. She will get to battle a full chicken carcass tonight.. :help:

I would say, the conversion to RAW was a breeze. I hope this exercise has been a help to you... Good Luck with your Pup. They will have a much healthier, happier, longer life, and cheaper on RAW (Especially discounting less VET bills)...

Kind regards from the lone Ranger in Australia

 

[lone Ranger]

10-4

Yea, allow a few days to a week. Then sometimes when you introduce a new protein... Not a drama. Mine are all dumping nice little sausage pellets, about 1/3 of the bulk of a kibble diet...

Clean dog smell, near nil shedding, clear eyes and ears, mellow disposition instead of the kibble hyperactive, there are these other benefits besides a longer life and less Vet Bills ....