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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

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Original poster

Introducing puppy to raw food

33 replies

mckenzie · 30/12/2014 17:04

Our 13 week old pup is on James Wellbeloved Kibble but I have a puppy starter pack of Nutriment in the freezer that I'm tying to be brave enough to use.
I dont want to completely raw feed; I want to do a mix of raw and kibble.
He's currently on 3 meals a day. Should I start but giving the raw at lunchtime?
And how much? He currently has 180 grams of kibble divided into the three meals.

TIA

OP posts:

LadyTurmoil · 30/12/2014 19:27

Look at this website dogsdinner2.webs.com/ It's the one that's linked to the Raw Feeding UK Facebook group. Loads of info about raw feeding for puppies - how much, how often, what to feed etc. You will see that it is not advised to mix raw food and kibble as digestion rates are different and it will probably upset a young puppy's stomach if you mix. You're aiming for 70-80% meat : 10-20% bone: 10% organ meat - not in one day but rather over a week. You can monitor by poo produced; too white/crumbly = too much bone, too dark/loose = too much organ meat. They will eat fish, eggs, tripe is fantastically healthy for them.

They really love it and it's not difficult. I could put 10 days worth of food in one small freezer drawer for a 15kg dog, so you don't need tons of space. You can order sample packs of raw from Raw2Go for £16 inc postage, or just get friendly with a local butcher. Morrisons is always recommended for good bargains. You can add coconut oil and Apple cider vinegar (with the "mother" if you want to). All info on above-mentioned sites.

It's not complicated and it's fun to source interesting bargains - it definitely does not mean you'll be butchering a cow carcass in your back garden (unless you want to!!). It will mean clean teeth and a gleaming coat. Try it and see

ender · 30/12/2014 19:53

if you want to use nutriment rather than DIY raw food - chicken legs etc - best contact nutriment for advice, have heard they're v helpful.

Original poster

mckenzie · 30/12/2014 21:33

Thank very much indeed. I shall have a good read tomorrow. I just need to take the plunge don't I?

OP posts:

LadyTurmoil · 30/12/2014 23:12

Yup! Start with simple things, chicken mince or a chicken wing - you can hold one end of wing and let him have a chew or cut chicken wing into 2 pieces - what breed/size is your puppy?

Puppies need a higher ratio than adults, as below:

7-10 weeks 8 - 10% of bodyweight
10-16 weeks 7.5 - 8.5% of bodyweight
16-20 weeks 6.5 - 7.5% of bodyweight
20-24 weeks 5.5 - 6.5% of bodyweight
24-36 weeks 4.5 - 5.5% of bodyweight
36-56 weeks 3.5 - 4.5% of bodyweight
56-68 weeks 3.5%
68 weeks plus is adult maintenence at 2-3%

Original poster

mckenzie · 31/12/2014 13:36

Thanks ladyturmoil
We have a tibetan terrier, 14 weeks old. Gorgeous!
I'm going to be a wimp handling raw meat. Yuk!

OP posts:

LadyTurmoil · 31/12/2014 16:20

He's only tiny then! If you're into squeezing your raw meat (!) go for pre-prepared Nature's Menu 400g packs. Frozen, you can defrost so soft enough to cut into chunks. Then just chuck in bowl when needed. They have packs of frozen tripe pellets than can go frozen into a bowl as well (disgusting smell when unfrozen!) So you don't really have to handle much at first.

When you get into it, you won't have a problem, I'm sure

LadyTurmoil · 31/12/2014 16:29

Meant: if you're not into raw meat (of course)

CurlyWurlyCake · 01/01/2015 16:53

I really enjoyed became obsessed with feeding my puppy a raw diet. She showed no interest in dinner time kibble but would literally chase me up the garden for a bowl of chicken mince.

As said before, it's not wise to mix raw and kibble due to the digestion, main bonus for me and raw feeding was the reduction is size and smell of poo, poo is only really the things the dogs body doesn't need being evacuated. Massive sloppy ones on kibble and tiny firm ones once on the raw diet.

You can just jump straight in and swop to mince chicken, stay with the chicken for a week and then move to other minces and start adding liver and heart. Mine loves a war egg, peanut butter and chicken mince kong.

There are some great FB pages with lots of help in getting started.

Original poster

mckenzie · 01/01/2015 19:52

Thanks for the posts. I am going to do it. Just doing some more homework, checking where I will source from, rearranging the freezer etc. Oh, and using up the bags of kibble I have in the garage really. I can't bring myself to just waste them.

OP posts:

CurlyWurlyCake · 01/01/2015 19:55

Good luck. I saw lots if improvements once we changed over in regards to itchy fur, glossy coat and no more smelly trumps

Once you are ready you can give any spare dry food to a local dog rescue.

ggirl · 01/01/2015 20:10

We started our Tibetan terrier on raw food about 3-4 months ago , made a straight switch with no problems .
I use food honeysrealdogfood.com , they're also very helpful.

Tibetans are so gorgeous , ours is 11 months now.

Original poster

mckenzie · 01/01/2015 21:21

Thanks for the extra posts. The Honey's website says it's for working dogs. Our puppy us just a family pet, albeit he will be regularly exercised. Do you adjust the portion sizes for your TT or is he a working dog?

OP posts:

ggirl · 01/01/2015 23:15

I know that's quite confusing, her food says for dogs at rest or something . Its weird the way they name it that . I'm guessing most of their customers are normal pets.
Anyway it comes in handy frozen blocks so not messy. Pippin loves chicken wings as well but still is a bit wary of the bones they sent me for her.

Buttholelane · 02/01/2015 09:57

I don't think its recommended to mix kibble and raw.

You could try frozen raw like nutriment or cooked high quality 'home cooked type' food like naturediet, forthglade, natures menu cans/pouches or Lily's kitchen with some raw bone in meat like some chicken drumsticks or something?

I used to feed my dog 100% raw bone in meat, organs, fruit and veg but she takes supplements (garlic tablets, conditioning tablets, seaweed oral powder and a herbal flea powder) that are difficult to hide in raw pieces of meat so now I feed a mix of high quality wet food like the above for breakfast, then some bone in meat for lunch then she has her teeth brushed in the evening and some bony meat like a chicken wing or something for a treat afterwards.

CurlyWurlyCake · 02/01/2015 12:52

I Used natures menu minces to start and then mixed with the same brand but chunks of tripe, fish etc.

First thing to do is weigh your puppy and work out her daily then weekly allowance.

I went by her poo as an indicator.

Gingerfudge · 02/01/2015 13:47

I thought the whole anti mixing raw and kibble thing had been a load of hog wash....suggestions about food moving through the digestive tract at different speeds causing a problem had no basis in science but the raw feed community tend to get a little bit over passionate about how they feed their dogs.

I feed raw, I buy frozen bags from petathome, natures menu I think, frozen loose mince is easy to handle and the chicken contains bone too.. I pick up bargains at the supermarket, he gets canned cooked fish, raw eggs. I give him dried liver, liver cake, ham, chicken, sausages and fish skins for treats. I find feeding raw to be fairly easy but I do make compromises if needed when we travel. I don't like the idea of processed foods like kibble...he'll get the odd bit of human food too - not from our plates though!

MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig · 03/01/2015 01:26

Very interested in this. Bookmarking for reference!

LadyTurmoil · 03/01/2015 18:16

Have you taken the plunge yet, mckenzie? What did your pup think of it? And a picture of him, please!

Original poster

mckenzie · 03/01/2015 20:58

Not yet but I've put the plans in motion. I've ordered some more food and once the delivery date is confirmed I'll start him in the Nutriment that is in th freezer.
I am looking first to doing it now I've got my head round it.
Mind you, I saw a guy at the park yesterday thrown his dog a chicken leg while he cleaned his boots under the tap. It was gross!

OP posts:

MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig · 03/01/2015 23:39

Is it a load of rubbish about not feeding dry and raw? It's hard to find any concrete evidence either way. Does anyone know of any websites? Can anyone link me to anything?

LadyTurmoil · 04/01/2015 10:24

dogsdinner2.webs.com/ Adora

Also the Raw Feeding UK group on Facebook has loads of info and advice.

Gingerfudge · 04/01/2015 10:28

I think that was the point a previous poster made on here mrsAdorable, the raw food community kept asserting that you shouldn't mix the two, but there was no evidence either way.

MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig · 04/01/2015 11:52

That link was very informative but I really shouldn't have sat down to read it whilst eating lunch.

Good to know that rabbits are good food. We shoot a lot of them round here. Would have to make sure I got all the shot out first.

I'm determined to feed my next dog the best diet possible. My old boy had a mainly biscuit diet with a bit of tinned meat mixed in. He died last month of a liver cancer and now I keep wondering if his diet contributed to it.

Snowfire · 05/01/2015 07:27

I also have a TT puppy He's been raw fed since weaning and is 6 months old now. I feed mostly Nutriment, the puppy starter packs are really good as you can add more and it's included in the postage. I tried using kibble as training treats (canagan so not cheap rubbish!) the following day his poos were awful so obviously upset the balance!!
You could always take your remaining kibble to your local dog rescue centre, I'm sure they would be grateful for it.

ggirl · 05/01/2015 20:12

another TT . do you both belong to the TT Facebook group?

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