 What is working for us
We have a 13 week Yorkie-poo puppy who we started on the RAW diet about 3 weeks ago. Many from this board were so helpful in steering us in the right direction.
I'll share what I did to convert to RAW in case you are wondering "how" to start like I did!
We got our puppy at 7 weeks and fed high quality kibble. She ate the food, but didn't seem too impressed. I kept reading about the RAW diet and decided to go to the grocery store and buy a few items:
I bought: bone in chicken breast, chicken legs, and chicken thighs (all organic and not enhanced).
Came home- pulled the skin off of the chicken (I heard it could lead to runs), smashed the breast a bit with a hammer, threw it in a frying pan for about 10 seconds to give it a "smell", cut a few strips in it so the dog would have something to grab on to, and put her and the breast in her crate (removed the towel first).
As she sat there she began licking the chicken breast, but didn't do much else, so I picked off a piece of the raw chicken and put it on my finger and she ate it. She then began to eat the chicken- it really was that easy to convert!
The idea of eating RAW is difficult to get past for many people, but when I read about the benefits to the teeth and skin I figured I'd give it a try. I also was concerned about developing "corn" allergies to Kibble so that was another reason I went with it.
My puppy weighed under 2 pounds when I started, but is now at 3 pounds and looking super. She has gotten the hang of eating chicken well. I have added a dime size piece of beef liver that I give each day (or so). The only other meat I have added is beef roast (that's boneless) which I cut into hunks and froze.
You feed based on adult projected weight so my puppy should eat about 4 oz each day. I feed three times a day. I've read that a 3 oz serving is equal to a deck of cards so I just visualize that with another ounce on and eyeball to see if she's eating o.k.
For clean up I use hot water on the crate floor or a shot of hydrogen peroxide. I do wipe the dog's paws and chin with a warm cloth as that's my personal preference.
PrincessDiana posted a sample menu (on another thread) that I began to pattern after (I'm not up to pork yet, but plan to add that next week) so if you do a search under RAW you will probably find it. Her posts were a huge help to me.
Since I'm not much of a meat eater, I did have to ask a few questions at the meat counter and they were so helpful, they even cut the whole chicken up for me and repackaged it!!!
Hope this helps,
Rhonda Kester |