So I've just read through 13 pages of this thread...and I'm dizzy! I'll have to read the remaining FOURTEEN later! :rolleyes:

I think I'm read to make the switch. When we got our little Oliver, he was on Purina Puppy Crap...er Chow. The vet gave us a free bag of Hill's, which after researched, also was crappy food. Now...after researching, I've decided that kibble is not food! It's just like all of the processed foods in the typical American diet...it fills you up, but NOT with nutrients! :thumbdown

I guess I'm confused on where to start. I have no idea of how many times to feed him a day, or how to balance his feedings. I read the 80/10/10 percentage, but I'm still kind of lost.

And on the kibble, he is ALWAYS hungry. I swear, he's my little porker. He's 15 weeks and weighs 3.5 pounds.

My hubby and I eat all organic...should I purchase organic meat for Oliver too? I feel like that could get realllllly expensive.

Help me get my boy healthy. :)

I would feed him 3 times a day if he's still a puppy and then 2 times per day. I recommend starting with bone in chicken breast and stay with that for a few weeks. You should aim for 80% meat, 10% bone and 10% organ meat with 5% of the organ meat being liver. At first with the chicken breast, you will be feeding a little more than 10%bone but most people start with a little higher percentage and you should be fine. You will know if he is getting too much bone - stools will be white. You will be amazed within about a day, stools will be 1/2 size as kibble maybe less. He may also go poo a little less frequently too. You do not have to feed organic, that's a personal choice but obviously it would be better just as it is better for you. Also, it's not a perfect science. I typically feed a meal that is higher in bone then follow with a couple days of boneless meals. It doesn't have to be 80/10/10 each meal but try to strive for that over the long haul. Hope that makes sense and please feel free to pm me if I can help at all!

Wow
 

I didn't read this while thread, but I read the beginning, as I am thinking of starting a raw diet with my crew. ANyway, my first thought regarding the chicken was that I have always been told that chicken bones are bad for dogs - can choke them, kill them, etc. After doing just a few minutes of reading, I found this:

"Cooked bones are quite dangerous. Cooking changes the structure of the bone, making it indigestible and easily splinterable. Raw bones rarely splinter and are fully digestible, even the collagen proteins that some people claim are 'indigestible.' I...Let me repeat this for good measure: raw bones are completely digestible and are not dangerous for your animal." from Myths About Raw: Are bones safe?

Thank you so much for this thread! I think I am going to switch! :) I haven't found a kibble that all of the dogs like, and I am so sick of buying different kinds for everyone. But, my hubby is an AVID hunter, and we always have deer and turkey (that we never seem to eat) and the furbutts are going to LOVE it! :)

You are so lucky to have access to fresh, raw meat! I would kill (haha) for that!

The one thing I would suggest to you about using fresh game is to make sure you freeze it for at least 48 hours just incase there are any parasites present although I don't think that is typically a problem with deer or turkey.

You are so lucky to have access to fresh, raw meat! I would kill (haha) for that!

The one thing I would suggest to you about using fresh game is to make sure you freeze it for at least 48 hours just incase there are any parasites present although I don't think that is typically a problem with deer or turkey.

Wow, this thread is OLD! I did read all 28 pages :eek: I have a couple questions that I hope someone can help me with.

I'm picking up my puppy on Monday. He will be 12 weeks old. How old should he be before I would switch to a prey model diet? I don't know if I should start right away, or if that would be too much for him... OR, if I DON'T start right away, would that make detox too hard? I'm a little confused.

Also, on the 80/10/10 ratio... everyone says to base that ratio on a whole week. So... since I'll be starting with chicken, is it boneless chicken for breakfast and a drumstick for dinner? But a drumstick everynight would surely be more than 10% bone... so maybe just two drumsticks a week, and the rest boneless breasts? Or maybe just ground chicken, because he'll be little?

Please help. So confused!

There are a lot of breeders who wean their puppies on to PMR so you should be fine! We typically feed raw meaty bones that are more than 10% bone so we give a bone meal 2-4 (depends on the bone/week/etc.) nights out of the week. The rest are boneless meals. I wouldn't start with a drumstick... a 12 week old puppy wouldn't be able to chew that. You could start with some chicken wings or even better, bone in chicken thighs. He should be able to handle the breast okay and I would feed that over ground meat. Ground meat has a larger chance of bacterial contamination although we frequently feed our dogs ground meat, they are older and have a well developed immune system. A small puppy would be more susceptible to infection if there were bacteria present.

Thanks for the quick response! He was weaned onto Royal Canin, he's probably only been eating it for a month at most. Is there anything special that I should do to make the switch? I don't know if a kibble/prey model combo would be a good idea while I get him used to raw? I feel like it wouldn't.

It's typically not advised because kibble and raw digests at different rates. Sometimes it can cause an upset stomach so those who feed raw and kibble feed it 6 hours apart. There are some who feed it together with no problems though so it just depends on your dog and what you're comfortable with doing/trying. I switched cold turkey with no problems!

I don't think I feed Jemma a lot of bone. She gets one maybe two chicken legs a week. Sometimes that is too much because her stool gets too white and hard. She doesn't get beef because it simply doesn't agree with her stool. She does get chicken and turkey more than anything. She also gets pork, some lamb. Once in awhile she gets a raw egg, cottage cheese, cheese some yogurt and she loves raw green beans. Fruit is apple. She always has fresh water but since being on raw diet she doesn't drink as much. And Jemma does not get a lot of organs like liver. She does get it but probably not as often as most give their dogs. Jemma seems quite healthy to me so I don't really want to change anything. I do Jemma's meat shopping, come home, get the scissors out and cut up all the meat into pieces. A knife takes way to long. The right size scissors and it's done pretty quick. At times I will mix her meats all together. So in one freezer bag she might get some chicken and turkey and pork and lamb. I take the freezer bags, small ones, and put the meat into individual bags. One bag = one serving. Put them all in the freezer. Take one out, put it in micro 45 seconds. It just thaws the meat some but does NOT cook it. I usually have enough bags in the freezer to last me 3-4 weeks. It's great. Jemma is now 19 months old and has been eating this way since she was about 7 months. She loves it!! I hope this thread never ends lol

I just read through this entire thread and think it deserves a bump for new people! :-)

Thanks for bumping this, isn't it a *great* thread!!? So much info.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

I didn't even know we had this! :)

I am sorry this is a stupid question. I am getting my first yorkie puppy ( her name is Lola) in the end of July, she'll be eight weeks old. I would like to get her on pmr but I feel that she will be too young for it ( or I am not comfortable doing it so young), so I am going to switch her over to RAW food ( slowly of course). My question should I still add nurical in her meals?

I apologize again if this is stupid question but I just want what's best for my baby!

Hi and welcome!

I would use the Nutrical between meals, not with the meals.

If you're nervous about PMR right now, why not just feed frozen raw....like by Primal or NV..? That's what I feed, and I love it!