Raw feeding 7 month pup

[Cocobananas]

Sorry to be bringing up what seems to be a contentious subject so early in the new year but I am looking for advice and encouragement. I have kept Coco on the same middle of the road quality kibble that she was weaned on. Initial sloppy poo issues appeared better when given a bully stick or pigs ear to chew on in the evening and I have also tried the odd lambs rib and chicken wing when dropping her to two meals to replace her lunch. The only firm stool she has is first thing in the morning, later ones are prolific and soft. I am wondering about going for raw using natures menu to ease me in and raw bones but pup does go to a dog sitter on average a couple of days a month and kibble is much easier option for that and when we go away with pup. What do others do, any advice welcome

www.wsava.org/sites/default/files/WSAVA%20GNC%20raw%20diet%20statement%2012%203%2014_0_0.pdf

As far as I know you shouldn't mix raw with kibble as the digestive process is quite different. I think it is okay to have a kibble day followed by a raw day just not both on the same day (probably not ideal though).

Thanks for replies. Have been lurking about on here for a while and have read about not mixing raw and kibble in same meal. Alternating days makes sense although have just been to p@h and discovered that natures menu also do complete wet food cans and pouches obviously cooked not raw which might be the answer to convenience when I need it and avoiding kibble altogether?

I am really regretting a couple of my animals recently being fed dry kibble . So would really encourage raw especially so now.

I would rear dpups to eat as vaired a diet as possible but yes mixing kibble with raw can really interfere withtheability to break down the bones ime.

Perfect alternative is to get natures menu raw for convenience. You could apportion each meal into sealed pot for the sitter? Its just as easy to tip out a few raw chicken wings if you provide a wipeable mat top drop them onto and anti-bac wipes?

*....mat 'to' not 'top'

There is a kibble called 'Gentle' which you can feed alongside a raw, our boxer is raw fed but our pug was on the kibble with a bit of raw on top and was fine. It looks just like Goat food but he loved it all the same!

www.gentledogfood.co.uk/

Also, Nutriment do meal portions if you wanted an alternative to NM to check out!

www.nutriment.co/dog-range/

*a raw diet - sorry!

Isthis will have a look at gentle. Am biting the bullet and going for natures menu superfood crunch with raw turkey mince tomorrow morning, more mince with raw egg in Kong for lunch and keeping with kibble for tea. See how we go for replacing kibble in a week or so. Coco has coped well with sardine kongs, lamb ribs and bully sticks mixed with kibble meals so I am hoping we can go raw slowly. An explosive bottom will probably put me off!

It's absolutely fine to switch straight to raw - you don't need to do it gradually. My dog loves her raw food ( Nutriment) and is very fit and healthy on it. Good luck.

DH wants to use up kibble, also not so keen on raw because our last two dogs always had kibble. However I do all feeding...😄. Do you supplement Nutriment with bones or offal or is it all included?

You will lose a lot of benfit of raw if raw is processed and not from good quality fresh raw meaty bones.

I buy the starter packs. You get a variety of different flavours and postage is free. The food is complete so you don't need to add anything. I guess you could give also chicken wings etc if you wanted to though. She does get some healthy treats too. Nutriment sell dried venison which my dog loves. We also give her dried chicken and dried liver as treats and she loves raw carrots and apple. We only moved her over to raw (from kibble) when she was about a year old on the recommendation of our vet.

I get my raw frozen food from landywoods. They also do puppy portions of appropriate raw meat.

I'm a Dogsitter & quite happy to feed raw food, so I wouldn't worry too much about that. We have a local firm that makes Wolf Tucker. Looks yuk, but dogs love it, comes in frozen portions.
Just make sure when you next book your dog in you tell your sitter about the diet as she will need some space in her fridge or freezer.
Raw mince is fine and you can buy chicken carcasses from the butcher.

Experienced raw feeder here. I also use Natures Menu. Two trains of thought re raw feeding - DIY and complete.
I would advise a raw newbie to feed only completes until you have got into it and can then do things a bit more DIY if you wish. While basing your feeding on completes, to add in a few bones a week for teeth cleaning and chew factor is fine.
Raw feeding needs to be balanced and newbies can find this a bit OTT. Your completes will be balanced and you just feed the amount doggie needs. The only thing you need to do is defrost it and it's ready!
Regarding the dog sitter, just measure out what the dog will eat while it stays there and send it along with doggie. It will stay good in the fridge for as long as fresh supermarket meet for us will. So as long as it's kept in fridge it's not like it needs to eaten straightaway once defrosted.

Just to add, best thing you could ever do for your dog and you will be in poop heaven when you find out how much more manageable cleaning it all up is! There is way less and as long as diet is good it's very firm and smells way less than gross kibble poop! I see some dog crap out on dog walks and I kid you not - it looks like a horse turd! I think, god that poor dogs intestines! :(

Thank you Queeny, your advice is reassuring. I am not ready to chuck bones in a dish and let her get on with it so will go with natures menu at the moment. She already has their meat based treats for training. Any advice on alternating raw and kibble meals for first week as n m suggest or just go for it?

This is a very good website if you're starting to raw feed. Also, this on FB. Raw tripe is very healthy for dogs - available in big freezer bags at Pets@Home. Add eggs, sardines, coconut or salmon oil every now and again.
The ready-made packs are easy but, within a short time, I bet you'll be going for the real, raw food you can buy and mix yourself. It's easiest to think of balancing the bones/meat/offal over a week/10 day period, rather than stressing if you've got the mix right every day!

I would go straight for raw feeding, without alternating. You will be amazed at how firm the poo is! Just go for v small quantities of offal in the beginning, too much and you will see the result!

My OH is always posting stuff and asking questions on Rawfeeding Rebels on Facebook, they're a lovely, helpful bunch if you were looking to join a group for long term advice etc

www.facebook.com/RawfeedingRebels/

Hope your pup has been bum explosion free today!

My Advice regarding kibble/raw for the first week is to relegate any leftover kibble to the bin and only put raw in your dogs food bowl from THIS MINUTE
(In all seriousness - ditch the kibble don't long it out. Just stop the kibs and start the raw )

I really want to ditch the kibble BUT am really worried she is going to be hungry overnight with just a protein meal. Need my sleep and pup has been brilliant at night so far...so don't want to go backwards with that. Help!

Why would she be hungry? Give her the recommended amount and start there you can tweak quantities as you go along.

If you are feeding her a complete natures menu food then she won't just be eating protein, it is complete for a reason, it contains all elements of the diet - it's balanced.
You do realise that dogs are evolutionally designed to eat raw meat, bones and plant matter.
Kibble is the work of the devil

You can split the daily allowance into small meals, morning and evening or even three if she's still a puppy - you're doing that will kibble anyway, aren't you?