I recently switched my pup to a full raw diet, prepackaged 95% meat bone and organs, 5% fruits and veggies. His poop is very firm, moist, and much much much less than when he was on kibble. I'm assuming this is normal, and I'm just not used to it? Thoughts? He went from popping minimum of 3x/day with looseish stools on kibble to 1-1.5x/day with small firm stools on raw, quite the difference!

Completely normal. I also did this a couple of weeks ago, and even though I knew what to expect, it still kind of takes you by surprise by how small they become. But don't worry, he is fine.

May I ask what kind of pre-packaged raw you are using? I'm only curious, because I have been looking for some cheaper ways for mine to be on raw, and didn't know if yours could be a better option!

One of the *best* things about a raw diet. They do this because they end up absorbing so much more of it than they do with kibble, so the more absorbed = the less to come out.

This gives you a great idea about the efficiency and usefulness of dog food if you look at it from a absorbed vs. wasted perspective.

Unfortunately the way I do it is the most expensive. Buying from the butcher is the cheapest or Costco, but my luck/anxiety prohibits me from doing it that way, as I am paranoid my dog will choke on bone or shards get stuck in via GI tract. I buy natures variety raw instinct bites. 4lb bag is 34.99... but its very worth it for me so far. There are cheaper ones like primal or k9 (something) that have 7lb bags for 24.99. I may switch to the other brands.

And he went from eating barely 1.5 cups / day to over 3 cups / day and scratches his food bowl for more.

How long does the 4lb bag last you?!

The Instinct bites have to be the most expensive way to do a pagaged raw diet. You could always feed the medallions or patties if you want to stay with Instinct. K9 Natural is a higher quality product though, you can tell just by looking at it It's much bloodier looking (rather than that weird HPP grey) And cheaper! And their meat is sourced in Middle Earth. Always a benefit. Especially if you're buying the raw bites for the convenience (scoopable and defrost super fast) the K9 (which are shaped like goose poop) is similar in scoopability. Takes a bit longer to defrost is all.

Henry,
Dot gave solid advice. Have you thought of going partial raw? I know that you wanted to go all kibble with TOTW, many of use. Perhaps a cost effective way would be kibble in the morning, and raw at night, you don't want to do at the same time because they do digest at a different rate. I do find it to be more cost effective, less work involved and I know my girl is getting all her nutrients as well as different textures, since they are picky eaters and get bored easily with food.

Renee

Renee, the more I talk to different owners I think that might be the best option for us! I don't mind the RAW but I just don't want to do it all the time. SO I will possibly transition to that... The only thing I worry about is making sure he gets all the nutrients that he needs.

The breeder would use NuVet  tablets? She gave me a few but he is running out of them and I need to figure out something else to ensure he is getting everything. I will continue to read and search for what will be best but not sure if anyone else had some advice (perhaps I should look in a different thread)

Not to hijack the thread, my pup also has smaller poops and less often than I was expecting on a RAW diet, but after someone explained it to me, it does make sense why.

Henry,

This is an older thread so starting a new one specific to your needs would probably work better for you, for more ideas. My feel for the forum is that a lot of us do half/half for reasons I mentioned above. Smaller and less poos will occur with raw, and tummies are unpredictable when feeding kibble only. I've heard of the NuVet, however, I'm pretty ok with doing half/half and knowing she's getting the right nutrients. Let's see how your post goes.
Renee

In other word, how much filter has been use in these dry foods.

Agree Grizzly, I failed to mention we feed Taste of the wild, No grains therefore no filler, hence why I feel she gets enough nutrients doing half and half.