So I got my pup rockie 10 days ago.. He was on purina puppy chow when I got him.
Immediately I put him on Orijen and then switched to Nautral balance LID lamb.. He liked both but the vet said he may be allergic to Orijen as he isn't absorbing the protein from it (blood sample said)..
I got him Stella and chewy goose frozen patties..
Last night mixed it with the kibble natural balance.. He ate all of it
Today he didn't want it and then I bought the lamb Stella and chewy frozen patty to see if maybe he doesn't like goose. Didn't really want to eat it either. Ate around .3 of the patty for dinner.
The guy at the pet store who owns a husky said they don't eat much when it's hot out which it was today, about 95 degrees. He was outside basically all day but is in an air conditioned room and has been for hours
How can I get my pup on the raw diet, do I just feed him that and wait until he is hungry enough to start eating it?
Any tricks?
Thanks

With any food switch it takes time to get them over to it and cold turkey switching, even to raw, is hard on them and can upset their stomachs and bowel movements. Did he show any other signs of being allergic to Orijen other than just some blood tests? Itching, pudding poop (though this could be caused by switching too fast and not necessarily allergic)? Seems strange that he would be allergic to one of the best brands of kibble you can buy. Heat can definitely be a factor but I would be more apt to lean toward him never having anything like raw prior and taking it alone is just a new sensation that will take time. If he will eat it mixed with the kibble then I would continue to mix it with the kibble until he gets the hang and the like for it.

TwisterII wrote:

With any food switch it takes time to get them over to it and cold turkey switching, even to raw, is hard on them and can upset their stomachs and bowel movements. Did he show any other signs of being allergic to Orijen other than just some blood tests? Itching, pudding poop (though this could be caused by switching too fast and not necessarily allergic)? Seems strange that he would be allergic to one of the best brands of kibble you can buy. Heat can definitely be a factor but I would be more apt to lean toward him never having anything like raw prior and taking it alone is just a new sensation that will take time. If he will eat it mixed with the kibble then I would continue to mix it with the kibble until he gets the hang and the like for it.

He ate it when mixed the first night and than just started picking at the kibble and leaving the raw

With age and time he will get used to it. It could also be he just doesn't like the taste of this particular brand. I would just start small with a little bit of the raw mixed with the kibble and mix it really well to make it hard for him to pick it out, then start weening back on the amount of kibble that is mixed with the raw. It's new flavors and new textures for him and he will get used to it. Heck, my cat had to learn how to even eat can cat food when I first got her. She had never had it and it took her about a week to figure out what the best way to eat it was since it didn't respond the same to chewing as her kibble did. Hand feeding him the raw can also help build his interest in it. Make him think that it is a treat.

TwisterII wrote:

With age and time he will get used to it. It could also be he just doesn't like the taste of this particular brand. I would just start small with a little bit of the raw mixed with the kibble and mix it really well to make it hard for him to pick it out, then start weening back on the amount of kibble that is mixed with the raw. It's new flavors and new textures for him and he will get used to it. Heck, my cat had to learn how to even eat can cat food when I first got her. She had never had it and it took her about a week to figure out what the best way to eat it was since it didn't respond the same to chewing as her kibble did. Hand feeding him the raw can also help build his interest in it. Make him think that it is a treat.

I'm gonna attempt to feed him tonight just raw as he ate maybe 2 bites this morning... If he doesn't dig in at 7pm I'll try again at 10pm and if not, I'll do the mixing but that's my last resort. I want him to adapt to raw food because I choose what he eats. He's getting his way if I mix it

Ok, i do not want to sound rude here, but you do have a puppy and you have had him for 10 days and he has been fed 3 different kibbles, this is not a good way to have him have good eating habits. I totally agree taking him off of what the breeder fed. Huskies are better at eating grain free foods. By not slowly switching him over from one brand to the next is not good on tummies. Orijen is one of the absolute very best brands of kibble out there. I agree that raw is the best way to go, but, as a puppy, you must transition slowly, and not lose your patience. If you are loosing your patience at a young puppy and what he wants to eat, you are going to have a very difficult time training a husky puppy, since they are fond at being independent and stubborn. I would do what Jenn suggested, make the transition slow, hand feed, and stop switching brands so much. Even with raw, switching brands will cause belly upset, you may end up with pudding poop or worse. Relax and enjoy your puppy, take things slowly, and stick to one brand of kibble and one brand of raw. Also, many dogs love the feel of kibble, especially a dog who may be teething, since prepackage raw has crushed bone, and is soft, he may require a bone or the kibble to make his teeth and gums feel better. It could be he needs the crunching factor that the prepackage raw does not provide.

MiyasMomma wrote:

Ok, i do not want to sound rude here, but you do have a puppy and you have had him for 10 days and he has been fed 3 different kibbles, this is not a good way to have him have good eating habits. I totally agree taking him off of what the breeder fed. Huskies are better at eating grain free foods. By not slowly switching him over from one brand to the next is not good on tummies. Orijen is one of the absolute very best brands of kibble out there. I agree that raw is the best way to go, but, as a puppy, you must transition slowly, and not lose your patience. If you are loosing your patience at a young puppy and what he wants to eat, you are going to have a very difficult time training a husky puppy, since they are fond at being independent and stubborn. I would do what Jenn suggested, make the transition slow, hand feed, and stop switching brands so much. Even with raw, switching brands will cause belly upset, you may end up with pudding poop or worse. Relax and enjoy your puppy, take things slowly, and stick to one brand of kibble and one brand of raw. Also, many dogs love the feel of kibble, especially a dog who may be teething, since prepackage raw has crushed bone, and is soft, he may require a bone or the kibble to make his teeth and gums feel better. It could be he needs the crunching factor that the prepackage raw does not provide.

Well the vet told me to take him off Orijen as he wasn't absorbing it well. So the switch from Nautral balance kibble to raw has been to only one that wasn't "necessary".
I'm patient; no problem waiting but not sure how to adjust him to raw that's all. He is 22lbs at 17 weeks, he's small and too skinny so i want him to eat the most he can to gain some weight and apparently Raw is the best for that.

If the pic you had up is recent he looks fine and is not too skinny. Hand feeding is a great way to build trust and a great way to form a bond. To be honest, I have never heard of a vet ever saying a dog is not absorbing his food, unless they are trying to get you to buy their food. So if you don't mind sharing with the rest of the forum, and telling us how the vet determined this, as in what kind of tests, why does the vet believe this? Most vets are not schooled well in the nutritional aspect of dogs, and many are not accustomed to huskies and their little nuances. With that said, most people transition well by feeding separate, so feed kibble once a day and raw once a day. Hand feed the raw, and since he may very well be teething, giving a raw bone in your presence may help with the raw feeding. I feed a partial raw diet, in that she eats kibble, and raw, but not 100% all raw. When she was under 6 months the only raw she had was a raw meaty bone, this helped with her teething, and also got her more accustomed to raw in general. I feed home made raw vs prepackage, because I know my girl loves the benefit from raw bones, plus it keeps her teeth cleaned and her breath is actually lovely to smell, lol. So, with that said, I would stick to a small portion of kibble daily, hand feed raw, until he is accustomed to it, and invest in raw meaty bones to give a few times a week, until at least he is done with teething. I totally agree feeding raw, in a perfect world, is the absolute best form of feeding, but at the puppy age it may be more difficult. Hand feed.

The vet did a blood test. Protein and red blood cell count Low
He said it's either the food or parasites.
Just got a call 5 min ago.
Puppy tested positive in giardia and round worms, going to vet later.
That explains his protein defiencey..

Indeed, most puppies will have other issues, namely parasites, and vets should not worry their patients like this, treat the more common problem first, if not correcting the problem, then move on to something else. I stick by what I said, the kibble that you are currently feeding is ok, Orijen is better, and slowly work on the raw. For a puppy, 2 cups of kibble plus the raw should be fine, and will get him to gain weight. I also will encourage you to do the hand feeding with the raw, he will think it is more special than his kibble, since you are making a fuss over hand feeding it. Good luck. Worms and general belly issues will cause a dog to not want to eat, and because he may be eliminating several times a day, it would cause protein levels to be low. In essence, your puppy is sharing his food with the other "things" in his tummy, poor baby.