Howdy,

Just a quick question, I did read some other threads but I couldn't find an answer that fits my exact situation. 8 Week old puppy is coming home next week, I am going to be raw feeding him (have a really great hook up for it and it makes it almost more affordable than anything else). Just wondering what I should start him on, how to transistion easily, how much he should be eating, and finally how often?

What should I be using as 'treats'?



You guys are the best,

Ryan

I find rabbit the best to start on but not everyone has access. Deer is my second choice but again most don't have a source. Poultry is often the most suggested but mine did horrible starting on chicken. Definitely wait on richer red meats like beef and for pork (thoroughly freeze pork for several weeks if it has not been due to a parasite). Start with muscle meat and soft bones. Turkey or chicken necks and wings are good. Can be upgraded to quarters when ready. If there is no digestive tract issues you can try adding another muscle meat. If the stool is really soft sometimes added a bit more bone can help and if stool is overly dry, hard, and especially crumbly you might need to back off on bone. I start organs after they are successfully eating 2 meat sources. Some have a different plan to follow and for a puppy you might want to strive for a full balanced diet sooner but carefully.

The definition of organs is a bit different for raw feed than medical. Anything that can move like stomach, intestines, heart is actually muscle meat. Organs that don't contract and generally secrete are considered organ meat. 50% of organ meat should eventually be liver but liver is rich and most likely to cause diarrhea so add slowly. You can dry liver or buy it for treats. Some bake their own cookies which you can find recipes everywhere. It's your choice to use any commercial treats. They are just treats not part of the meals so you have to decide how strict you want to be about the diet.

Kaliska wrote:

I find rabbit the best to start on but not everyone has access.  Deer is my second choice but again most don't have a source.  Poultry is often the most suggested but mine did horrible starting on chicken.  Definitely wait on richer red meats like beef and for pork (thoroughly freeze pork for several weeks if it has not been due to a parasite).  Start with muscle meat and soft bones.  Turkey or chicken necks and wings are good.  Can be upgraded to quarters when ready.  If there is no digestive tract issues you can try adding another muscle meat.  If the stool is really soft sometimes added a bit more bone can help and if stool is overly dry, hard, and especially crumbly you might need to back off on bone.  I start organs after they are successfully eating 2 meat sources.  Some have a different plan to follow and for a puppy you might want to strive for a full balanced diet sooner but carefully.  

The definition of organs is a bit different for raw feed than medical.  Anything that can move like stomach, intestines, heart is actually muscle meat.  Organs that don't contract and generally secrete are considered organ meat.  50% of organ meat should eventually be liver but liver is rich and most likely to cause diarrhea so add slowly.  You can dry liver or buy it for treats.  Some bake their own cookies which you can find recipes everywhere.  It's your choice to use any commercial treats.  They are just treats not part of the meals so you have to decide how strict you want to be about the diet.

I'm apprehensive about the bones! How do they not mangle puppies mouth and stomach! I have access to a fairly expansive menu of raw meats, I'll give rabbit a whirl to start. Do you legit just thaw and slop whatever in the bowl and let puppy goto town? (I promise I realize how ridiculous this question sounds). Do I go for 'whole' rabbit?

I was looking at marrow bones as treats? Is that a thing?

Generally when you're starting raw with a puppy you want to feed 10% of the puppy's current weight or 2-3% of the projected adult weight.

You will also want to feed an 80% meat / 10% bone / 5% liver / 5% other organ balance.

Raw bones are relatively soft and digest easy. You can feed frozen or defrost, just depends on the pup. Sometimes people feed frozen if they have a dog that is a gulper. Frozen makes them have to chew it.

A lot of people don't like marrow bones because they are usually from weight bearing bones and are very hard on teeth and they can also get caught on a dog's jaw and need emergency vet care to remove.

If you're on Facebook, The Raw Feeding Community has a ton of resources on feeding and are incredibly helpful with any questions you may have.

This is the menu I have access to, how do the prices look? Any advice? I will join the raw feeding community right now...




Thank you,

Ryan

Those prices look really good! Actually I'm kind of jealous because we don't get stuff that cheap here. Lol.

Hi Slipfox... raw feeding I think is ok. As long as you know the combination of the raw meat you're feeding. I have tried it to my dogs and plan to give it also to my new puppy which is a husky. I've tried feeding them chicken back (used for the soup). They love it. Im hoping that Hutch can love it also...

wow I wish i could find something like that in ontario.