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Originally Posted by andreag08  Thank you very much for your quick reply. Could you please suggest how to start. Bear is currently on Royal Canine. He is getting cooked chicken, yogurt and green been occasionally.
Thank you |
I would start with chicken. Chicken is the most palatable for dogs and the easiest/cheapest to find for humans. You can do a gradual switch but most raw feeders just switch cold turkey. Your dog should do fine with this but if you want you could add some canned pumpkin to help with any stomach upset. If you are still planning on feeding kibble half of the time or whatever, do keep in mind that kibble and raw digest at different rates so they need to be fed a couple of hours apart. Some people disagree with this but it's just easier to be safe.
Dogs generally need 2-4% of their body weight. More active dogs require more and less active dogs require less. I find that Franklin and Maggie do better closer to 4-4.5%. You can weigh everything at first but once you get the hang of it, you can judge by how they look/feel. For example, Franklin is 11lbs and need around 4oz. of food a day. I think for puppies you use their expected adult weight -- I'm not sure, but I'll check on it later tonight.
For the diet to be balanced you'll need to give 80% meat, 10% bone, 10% secreting organ, and 5% liver. However, I would hold off on the organ for a couple of weeks. Feed one protein (chicken) and let your dog get used to the raw. After the initial adjustment period you can introduce new proteins and organs. Raw feeders aim for 50% of the diet to be red meat. This is important for the dogs as white meat such as chicken or turkey is very lean.
When giving bone, ALWAYS give large pieces. This way the dog learns to tear and rip at the meat and there is no risk of them gulping and choking. Start off with something like a chicken wing or drumstick. Then you can add in thighs or backs or breast or whatever you want. The bone content will also help with any stomach upset there might be.
Sorry this is so long... I tried to briefly introduce you to raw. Let me know if you have any specific questions. I know it can be overwhelming at first!