[MyFairLacy]

Originally Posted by ILuvYorkieToes

So the raw food...exactly how does that work? Is it frozen? I'm getting a new puppy next weekend and I have been seriously considering a raw diet, especially because I read that the enzymes are good for dental health. Can someone suggest how I could transition from a dry kibble diet to raw without causing an upset tummy? How long should I wait, she will be around 14 weeks when she comes home.

I feed Nature's Variety Raw Medallions. The diet is pre-mixed and frozen into 1oz medallions. I just thaw two days worth out in the refrigerator and feed them to her. You can go to www.naturesvariety.com to read more about their products. There is also an estimated feeding chart on there. From all the research I have read, it says to just switch from kibble to raw cold turkey. I did this with Lacy with no digestive upsets at all. You never want to feed kibble and raw meat at the same time because they move throught the digestive tract at different speeds. The raw moves through a lot quicker than kibble which is why bacteria doesn't have time to multiply and cause upset tummies (like in people - our digestive system works slower so we get sick from bacteria in raw meat). If you feed kibble and raw at the same time, the kibble slows down the movement through the digestive tract, giving bacteria time to multiply, and your puppy can get an upset tummy. I do know some people that feed raw in the morning and kibble in the evening (and this works because the raw has digested before the kibble is eaten) but I don't see the point in keeping kibble in the diet if you're doing raw. I suggest researching raw on the internet too. Most of the info you'll find is for mixing the diet yourself, but you'll still read a lot of useful information about raw diets, the advantages of feeding raw, and get a lot of questions answered. I feed the prepackaged raw because it's more convienient for me.