Raw puppy diet

[BoxerIsisDreamComeTrue]

Does anyone have a raw diet that they make for their puppies that is easy to make and not very costly? I am thinking of doing at least a partial raw diet if I can figure out how ot make it work financially.

[BoxerPerson]

1 or 2 chicken necks a meal should be good while little...after a bit you will need to add more.  Remember, if giving raw bones of any kind and kibble you need to space apart by 8 to 12 hours.  At her young age she will be getting 3 meals a day so the spacing of kibble & raw may be difficult to do

[BoxerIsisDreamComeTrue]

Thank you I didnt know that about the spacing. I am totally new to feeding a puppy and just learned about raw feeding a few months back and hadnt looked into it until now. I still have a few weeks left to figure it all out thank goodness.

[BoxerPerson]

There is a bunch of information on the web and this forum about raw feeding and spacing apart the kibble & raw with bone.  If giving ground raw, then you could mix if you like, but it loses the benefit of a raw meal.

There are many on here that will be happy to help you in this choice...

[RocketBoxer]

My advice would be to start of with a really good quality kibble - and add in things like : fish (sardines. makeral), yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, maybe some green tripe etc. Try and give raw meaty bones for the puppy to chew on at least once a week.

That will give you time to further research a raw diet and decide if it is something you want to do, and whether you are able to find cheap sources. I would suggest getting some books on the subject.

You can find out if you have a source for cheap raw chicken (I prefer backs because necks are way too easy to gulp down and swallow whole) - and if so, you could always replace one kibble meal with chicken. Chicken i likely to be the cheapest thing you can buy. However, the whole thing with a raw diet is variety over time - so you need to be able to find sources for other things too which might be more costly.

[BurningRiver]

I'm admittedly chicken about feeding whole bone to puppies. I just tried to do drummies today and one of mine tried to swallow it whole. So, I've been doing NV raw medallions, which is super pricey, but worth the piece of mind that they're not going to choke. I'm going to try them on backs tomorrow.

This said, my guys have been raised on raw, and I agree that you should probably go slow if she's been eating kibble up to this point.

[BoxerIsisDreamComeTrue]

Thank you. For now I will do kibble along with adding stuff like RocketBoxer suggested.

[BoxerPerson]

Just remember...when going to a raw diet, your puppy will go thru a detox stage.  When Phoebe went thru hers, she was about 3 months old, I thought I had killed her.  She had mucusy diarrhea which was tinted pink...I was told to wait it out that she was just detoxing.  She is good to go now

[BoxerIsisDreamComeTrue]

I remember reading about the possible detoxing effects. They sound really scary but knowing what to look for will take some of the worry out.

I have no idea if feeding raw will be something I will get into full time or not at this point but I am going to keep looking into it and see what happens.

[BoxerPerson]

Well I grind mine just because both Willie & Goofy are horrible gulpers (Goofy has slowed down some...but Willie...not even with the bowl that is supposed to make them eat slow works for him!) I enjoy doing it, it takes less space in the freezer and it is easy to travel with.  I also mix the veggies that I grind with the ground meat & bone and make patties (they had venison & veggies tonite) Very easy!

The hardest part of feeding raw or homecooking for that matter is finding a good source for the food.  I have hunters give me some, and a friend that is a butcher...so I do luck out sometimes

[BurningRiver]

FWIW, I've never had a dog (or puppy) go through "detox".

[BoxerPerson]

FWIW, I've never had a dog (or puppy) go through "detox".

Jess would that possibly be because all your pups were raised & started on raw...ones you've bred & one's you acquired?  Phoebe had some pretty crappy background...who knows what she was fed...actually who knows what any of them were fed...but she was just a lil puppy.  I wonder if that is why with her, and never happened with the others.

[Bumpy]

My two never had detox either but perhaps with decent kibble diet that does not happen, not sure.

[BurningRiver]

Nedra was kibble fed until she was 4 or 5. She had other issues though, so she's not a good example (looking back, I believe Coccidia and I know her thyroid was out of whack). When I started her, I used the fast + canned pumpkin + digestive enzyme and probiotic method. Despite her issues with chronic IBD in the past, she did fine.

Pixie was kibble fed at her breeders (Iams, then Wellness with me) and switched at 1 year using the fast + canned pumpkin + digestive enzyme and probiotic method. She did great--no loose stool, no urks, nothing.

Mia was kibble fed at her breeders (Kirkland) and then switched at 4 mos. I did not fast. I used the longest spaced meal--I gave kibble in the evening and then canned pumpkin + digestive enzyme and probiotic + 2tbs raw chicken for breakfast. Repeated for a day, then introduced a chicken back. She did great--no loose stool, no urks, nothing. Fed chicken only for a week, then introduced beef. Waited and introduced one new protein each week and worked up to variety with no issues at all.

With the puppies, I couldn't get them started on kibble. (I had a few concerns with feeding raw to them that young, plus I didn't want them to be on raw because I know I'm probably going to have to switch two of them onto kibble since raw homes are few and far between). I tried to get them eating kibble for a week and a half. They wanted nothing to do with it. They just continued to lose weight until I finally picked up NV raw medallions. They ate them just fine and have been thriving since. I hope to get them going on whole bone soon though because the NV medallions are super pricey.

[BoxerPerson]

maybe the probiotics, pumpkin and other goodies is why.  I just gave her the chicken wings and crossed my fingers...but the person assisting me told me to just "go for it" and I did.  Took a cpl days and she was right as rain again.