Switching over to raw food?

[Bhikku]

I'm thinking of switching my 8 week old pup from Science Diet (the dog food the breeder had him on) to a raw food diet, which I have never given a dog before. I don't think he likes Science Diet very much.

I had a couple of questions to anyone who is feeding their babies a raw diet...Call it a survey, if you will.

- What cuts/types of meat would you buy for an 8 week old (four pound) puppy? How much is enough for a meal? One chicken wing or drumstick? A few pieces of stew meat?

- What is the typical diet that you feed your dog?

- How long have you been feeding raw?

- Will raw diet cause loose stools initially? (I don't want switching diet to affect housebreaking efforts.)

- Do you give any kind of supplement?

- How do you leave your dog to be boarded with vets? Do you switch them back over to kibble?? Or do you leave them meat to give the dog?

- Do you feed fruits/veggies too, and eggs?

- Have you ever had any problem giving raw bones? What kind of problems?

Thanks in advance to any who chime in. I'm in the process of researching the BARF diet, I just want to hear from some who have personal experience.

[marcerella02]

well just a few things. 8 weeks is VERY very young to have a puppy- especially yorkie and you are right- science diet is NOT good- but he needs to be on a HIGH QUALITY PUPPY food right now. When you decide to switch to raw (i know very little about it but woudln't be feeding it to a puppy if i were you) you need to do A LOT of research if you are going to do your own- there has to be a certain percentage of organ meat/bone/meat. You might want to go with pre-made.

[TLC]

I am not sure I would just yet with an 8 week old...

I feed TJ a premade raw. I alternate between Stella and Chewy's and Organic Bravo *chix blend*

If anything, I'd wait until at least 14-16 weeks old, and I would start with premade until you can research and learn about going true BARF or PREY.

Best of luck...

P.S. There are a lot of Yahoo Groups for Raw feeders, maybe you can get better advice there

[Bhikku]

Thanks for the input. I don't think I'm going to put him on raw diet just yet (especially since I still have a big bag of puppy kibble I would hate to waste, and money is a little tight right now) but I will be doing further research into it.

He's brand spankin' new (been with me less than a week), so I will probably transition him into a different diet after he's at least half a year old, so he isn't put under added stress...

I am still interested to hear from other raw feeders on this forum though.

[TLC]

IMO I do believe Raw is Best

I wish I were able to have Roxy on raw too, but she came from a breeder that was a BYB maybe even a small scale puppymill, so as a result of the lack of screening and just breeding to breed, my poor Roxy girl has MVD and she can't eat raw....she will remain on a special diet for the rest of her life.

Please have a Bile Acid Test done on your pup after he is 6 months old. BAT will show his liver function. If the results are high, he will not be able to eat raw. Just an FYI

[Bhikku]

Thanks, will do!

I got my pup from a BYB as well, so I will be sure to have him screened.

[TLC]

Originally Posted by Bhikku

Thanks, will do!

I got my pup from a BYB as well, so I will be sure to have him screened.

Oh most definitely then....Testing the Bile Acid of Yorkies are very, very important as it show liver function.

I am so sadden by all the sick Yorkies. Everyday (no joke) there is a new member with a Yorkie that has a Liver Shunt, MVD or liver disease, everyday, I read the same story, the same high BAT results, it's horrible

I try my best to inform and guide and help but the true victims are the pups...

[tjdmom]

- What cuts/types of meat would you buy for an 8 week old (four pound) puppy? How much is enough for a meal? One chicken wing or drumstick? A few pieces of stew meat?
I would probably take things a little slow with a little one. I would suggest starting with chicken and I would probably start with a breast. It's too big for him to do anything but tear off pieces so you wouldn't have to worry about choking. You can smash up the bone a little bit to make things easier for him. Then I would progress from there based on how he does. I suggest starting first with chicken and feed that for a couple of weeks and then try another meat source.
- What is the typical diet that you feed your dog? My dogs eat a lot of chicken. A typical week would probably go like this, 2 days of chicken (I usually feed the chicken quarters - my collie eats a whole one and my yorkie just eats about a quarter of one) Then a day of pork, then 2 days of chicken, then a day of beef. You get the idea. Mostly chicken with other meats added in. But I recently had some venison donated to me so they've been enjoying that!

- How long have you been feeding raw? Since April

- Will raw diet cause loose stools initially? (I don't want switching diet to affect housebreaking efforts.) It did not with my two but sometimes it can, it really just depends on the pup. My collie has a sensitive tummy and she had no problems at all. Zoe either but she's got a steel tummy and nothing bothers her.

- Do you give any kind of supplement? Sometimes fish oil and I just use the same caplets I use and just break them open and put on their food.

- How do you leave your dog to be boarded with vets? Do you switch them back over to kibble?? Or do you leave them meat to give the dog? No, I haven't. If I had to, I suppose I would feed kibble as a couple days really can't hurt but I know a lot of rawfeeders would disagree with me. I would try to get them to feed something like NV but if not then kibble would be a last resort....

- Do you feed fruits/veggies too, and eggs? No fruits and veggies. Dogs can't properly process that and it's of no value. Eggs are fine although my two do not like them.

- Have you ever had any problem giving raw bones? What kind of problems? Absolutely no problems whatsoever. It's actually kind of amazing how well they do with the bones. Very gratifying too to watch them eat and see how much they enjoy it!

[Bhikku]

Thanks for your detailed response, tdjmom!

[tjdmom]

Your welcome!