Hiya folks,

our puppy is almost home and the issue of diet has just come up with our breeder. Here's the scoop.

We are sold on a raw diet eventually for Link.

We have spoken with several folks we know in good pet stores around town about diet, types of food, and transitions. They recommend waiting until at least 6 months to start a puppy on a raw diet. They provided us with several samples of puppy foods that are hybrid.......dehydrated(?) foods that aren't exactly kibble.

Our breeder has a puppy food...kibble...that she is feeding the litter and she had no objections to a raw diet at all, but did recommend a transition period as well, more from the angle of not overwhelming a puppy with too many changes when we take him home.

A friend who had a very similar situation said she would eventually use the kibble her breeder was using, but she would eventually crack a raw egg on it to make the transition to raw (after knowing that her dog wasn't reacting badly, of course).

Any thoughts or tips on this? What transition issues or tips do you all recommend??

Thanks!

You really don't need to transition slowly, nor do you need to wait until 6 months. Puppies can start on raw as soon as they are weaned.

Many people who feed raw switch their puppies cold turkey the day they bring them home from the breeder. Ultimately that is a personal decision and there is no wrong answer there. I am totally for those that switch cold turkey the day the bring a new pup home. That isn't what I would do, but there's nothing wrong with that method. Personally, I like to keep new dogs on their old diet for 2 weeks before I switch them to whatever I want to feed them. It's a stressful time coming into a new home with strange people and being away from mom/littermates and all that was familiar. That's why I personally choose to wait 2 weeks for the newbie to adjust before making a diet change, but I won't tell anyone to do things one way or another.

Thanks Valerie, that's kinda where I am too along with the breeder's recommendation. Thanks for your input.

Cheers.

Val, as always, offers some great advice. I switched Pippa from one kibble to another the same time I brought her home and I would go back and change that if I could. Made for a very messy week or so.

As in, switched from the breeder's/previous owner's to the one you chose? How did Pippa take the new stuff?

I know dogs that are used to kibble that get switched to raw usually have a "this is boring" phase.....gonna keep that in mind too for our pup.

Yes, I switched her, over the course of about a week, to a grain free formula. To be fair, the shelter had only had her for about 5 days, so she was eating Science Diet for less than a week and I was given a small bag of that that I worked into the kibble I wanted to feed her. Her stomach was a mess for about a week. I assume it was the food switch coupled with the fact that she was in a new place.

I think it's probably easier on them to wait a few weeks before introducing a new food just so they have time to adjust to the new environment. I know a lot of dogs have stomach troubles even if they're kept on the same food while they're moved to a new home. But, like Val said, I don't imagine it really causes any harm, just upsets their stomachs a bit more.

What did you end up doing, and how did it work out? I noticed you said he is 100% raw on another topic. I'm having the same debate about what to do when the new pup comes home.

We did switch him to 100% raw, pretty much cold turkey. I got a recommendation from Valerie to just do it and followed her lead.

He dove right in head first and has had no transition issues. He was in the last day or so of kicking roundworms when we switched and about 2 days into raw he didn't eat for almost an entire day, but we chalked it up to the roundworms.

The normal transition things happened: glossy, slimy poop with the film, smaller sized and better consistency, and bright orange at first. Now it is normal poop color and texture.

We were switching him around with chicken, lamb, and beef but now we buy it in bulk in a month's supply, so we may switch him month to month now.

I've read that some pups who are used to kibble are kinda bored by raw food at first but Link never was.

We use the kibble for treats until it's gone. About a half a bag left and then he'll be off kibble for good. His treats are mostly salmon based, homemade biscuits, and dried sweet potato.

Did you do it right away when you brought him home or wait a couple weeks?

We kept him on the kibble the breeder had him on for oh.....about 10-14 days. There was a strong recommendation to reduce the amount of stress that changing homes and lifestyles brought and that included food.

We bought into that so we waited a bit.

We heard many different opinions and thoughts on the issue ranging from stress, stomach sensitivities, immune system development...etc. But like so many things with dogs and puppies and opinions, the only thing we found two people to agree upon is that the third person is wrong.

I'm certainly not gonna say one way is right or wrong. Just what we did and how it worked as one little bit of evidence.

What's your situation?

Even people at the same pet store we go to disagreed on transition timing. Our vet isn't keen on raw food either. But there's also an anti-raw food poster by Purina in the office, so gotta take everything with a grain of salt.

My pup is coming home in 5 weeks from the breeder. He'll be on a standard high quality large breed puppy food. The breeder uses chicken jerky for treats. I know its stressful for a puppy to leave his momma and litter mates, but i'm not sure if a change in diet would add to that or not. I sort of feel like his whole world will be upside down anyway so does it really matter to wait 2 weeks to change to raw? Since its not that much more expensive and there are so many health benefits, i'm really leaning towards raw.

Sounds pretty reasonable to me. We were still researching ourselves and not firmly committed yet when we got Link. We were still dealing with our own anxiety and not wanting to take on too much ourselves. Kibble is kinda default so we just went with it until we got our bearings.

With puppy #2 down the line we'll probably start right off the bat. Though, #2 probably won't be a Husky

I have never heard of any dog being "bored" with a raw diet!!! They usually gobble it up like it's the most wonderful thing!

Jen, I switched Cato cold turkey - it's honestly not that stressful on them. It very rarely has the digestive upset that switching kibble does. When I switched both of mine, including my super sensitive female, i had firm poops right away - just be sure you give bone. The only time I have had cannon butt is when i give too much organ or tripe, and that has only happened 2x.

With a rescue, I may wait it out. They tend to have much harder lives and life is very stressful when you come from a shelter environment to a new home - but puppies, in my experience and the experience of others around me, are very resilient and tend to respond very well to raw.

FWIW, I know a few breeders who start feeding meat as soon as puppies are weaned. They simply feed ground meats in the beginning.

Thanks a lot Megan. I really appreciate it. I was reading that many start with chicken wings or something similar for puppies. I think I'll go cold turkey and go that route. I even found a butcher close by that's not too pricey thankfully. I have a lot of reading and stocking up to do in the next few weeks, but I'm excited to see how he grows up on it. He'll be coming home at 9 weeks on May 4, so I have some time to prepare.

Edit - Also does it effect their growth? As in, have you noticed since going raw that they develop differently? Its hard to phrase exactly what I mean, its not that i'm asking if they will not grow as much (obviously they grow up to be normal size huskies, depending on their genetics), more like growth rate. Intuitively I imagine they will have a slower more natural growth rate, vs. a carb/grain centered kibble diet.

Megan, what age do you personally find it appropriate to switch to two feedings a day?

As long as I have fed raw, I fed once a day. If I feed 2x a day my female leaves food in her bowl - but I do give bones, treats and duck feet through out the day. Cato has always eaten once a day and any of the experienced raw feeders I know do the same thing.

As long as your Ca:P ratios are correct, growth is fine. I don't see an issue and my male is just as I expected he would be. Until he hit 1, I was giving a calcium supplement in order to be sure that ratios were adequate. I use KAL, inc. Bone meal. I never had an issue with him.

I did notice that when I removed sugary carbohydrates from his diet, he relaxed a lot.