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okay, I am bringing home my new pup next Saturday. She is a pointer (English) will be nine weeks when I get her, and I want to keep her on the same food the breeder has her on till she gets settled. She eats Purina Pro Plan (yuck) mixed with yogurt, cottage cheese and raw ground steak. Can I just slowly take out the kibble and keep her to raw? What are the benefits of the cottage cheese? How much does a raw diet cost? I'm a single mom and planned on using Wellness or Origen, but read some of the raw food posts on here and am intrigued. How expensive is it? Why raw? She's already eating raw steak and hamburger, so do I have to go cold turkey and put her on chicken? My breeder recommends the diet till she's 6 months old, and then I can switch to just kibble she says.
I plan on taking the first full week off work with her (Charlotte), just to work things out between us, and would appreciate any input from you raw feeding fanatics out there. Oh yeah... what's the deal with the miracle poo?

Look back at older pages on here because there are some in-depth posts regarding switching over and pups. I wasn't paying attention to the puppy thing, but I don't remember it being an issue.

It's good the pup is already getting some RAW. I know some have talked about carb hunger as they go from kibble to raw but I didn't see that in my own dog. Those other posts will talk about how much a puppy needs because they are growing. It will be worth the research!

I have not found a good butcher yet so am buying discount meat cuts and from the freezer burned meat section at Extra Foods. I figure I am paying about $1-$1.50/day. My dog had allergies so I was already paying $45/month so I figure its about the same. I spend more time looking for cheap cuts but its worth it. She is happy and healthy and no longer itchy and at my new place I can feed her outside so that's awesome!

I just got some beef stewing chunks from the freezer burn section and I have to watch because it has no bone. Without bone she gets the runs. Too much organ meat at once and same thing. Too much bone and she gets kind of constipated. So tomorrow she'll get something with bone...

Congrats on your new pup! The older pages will help a lot.

yes, there was a lot of great info on the older pages, but nothing about a pup that\'s already eating raw, nothing that I could see about price compared to premium dog food and nothing about cottage cheese. I find that cottage cheese has a lot of sodium, so don\'t eat it myself, and wasn\'t sure why my breeder was feeding it with the raw.
Everyone says to start with chicken. My dog is already eating beef, if I go the raw route cold turkey, do I go to chicken first, or can I just keep her on beef? As to bones, I was always told that chicken bones can choke a dog, never to give them, but you guys give it all to the dogs? Any problems? What about baby teeth, are they strong enough for bones? Sorry the puppy/raw pages didn\'t answer a lot of these questions.
And please answer this one: WHY RAW?
the old posts seem to answer to people who already want to go raw, but really, what are the benefits? There are a lot of questions in here, I know, but I couldn\'t find any really good answers in the old threads. If there\'s a particularly good one you remember that I might have missed, please let me know.
Thanks everyone who\'s willing to answer these questions.

Quote from Nathalie Poulin...

"I posted this a while ago in a separate post, but I'll post it again for those of you who haven't seen it.

These are all the links that helped to get me started!

The most amazing FAQ page I have seen on raw. It give supporting evidence and pretty much helps to dispel raw feeding fears (choking on bones, salmonella poisoning etc) not to mention the amount of information you will get. www.rawfed.com/myths

This is the Yahoo group rawfeeding. They are strict that you only talk about raw feeding in this group, they don't support commercial raw in any way (yay!) and they are so helpful. Most of the questions that you guys ask me are questions I had myself and I have gotten my answers from this group. There are over 9000 people who feed raw and are willing to help other people make the switch too! http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/

A man from the above feeding group compiled a FAQ and has called it Raw Feeding 101. This guy let's his dogs eat their raw meat on his carpet and doesn't clean it up after because he says they do a fine job cleaning it up themselves. He's awesome and extremely informative. http://www.skylarzack.com/rawfeeding.htm

This lady is named Jane Anderson and I'm pretty sure (but not totally positive) that she started the raw feeding group on Yahoo. I don't find the site very user friendly, but the information she gives is indispensable. http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html


This one is the raw calculator, it gives you a basic guideline of how much to feed your dog to start with. For the record, I have NEVER weighed my dog's food. I feed her and if I notice she's looking too thin, then I give her more meat. If she's starting to look a little chubby, then I reduce her portions. It's important to know your dog's body so you can decide how much is too much etc. But for the beginners, I thought this was fun: http://www.raw4dogs.com/calculate.htm

This is for all you cat lovers out there! It's the best way to switch your cat to raw. Some cats (I have one that won't even TOUCH raw meat) won't even try raw and this site gives you answers to basic questions about how to switch your cat over. http://www.rawfedcats.org/

Anyways, there they are, I hope you guys get a lot from them. Like I said, don't be afraid to ask me any questions, I'm here to help!

Good luck to everyone in making the switch!"

Nathalie

Timothea,

Join the RAW feeding Group on Yahoo! They're great at anwering all questions! They can answer your puppy question. But, you can start now.
Did you read the whole thread on RAW Diet? Lots more info there!!! Including the benefits....
Just to be on the safe side, you can start with chicken for about a week or so...like quarters or half a chicken...the Raw bones are softer so they can chew and digest.
Just stop feeding what he's been eating and switch. I don't think it's cold turkey cuz your dog has already been eating meat. You may notice a slight detox affect the first few days( diarrhea) Although, my dog has never had diarrhea. Cooked bones changes in texture, can splinter and cause obstruction.
The bones are awesome for many reasons they give the dogs jaw a good workout and the calcium from bones...
Lost of reading but you'll get your answers!!

Good Luck!
Michelle

Good for you on wanting to make the switch to raw for your pup. I think it likely works out to be cheaper in the long run for the dog...no need for teeth cleaning, alot less poop to clean up. My dog is on raw and she's 60+ pounds and she poops less than the kibble fed smaller dogs!! We won't discuss the mountains left by the bigger dogs!!

Chicken quarters work great for most dogs. I buy the cheapest cuts for Bayley and always check the 'dead' meat bins, you know 1.50 off or more, the stuff that's starting to change colour a bit. I think she likes that stuff the best...more flavour maybe They can eat pretty much anything. Bayley likes lamb about the best so I get her lamb neck bones and the stew meat once in awhile. Pork is ok too, just make sure you don't get the 'seasoned' stuff. I buy pork riblets and neck bones.

Raw is pricey I spend $10 a day for my two aussies. You need to feed muscle ,organ juiced veggies and bone during most meals. I would recommend seeing a holistic vet who will help you along the way.

Wow Britlion that's alot!! I spend a bit too cause I feed mostly a premade raw supplemented with just meat. Bayley's last box of food 28 lbs worth plus a bunch of tripe cost 97.00 I'm trying a different beef mix, the chicken is half the price. That lasts a month. I could probably get away with just 50.00 a month by feeding chicken quarters and bits and pieces alone, but miss Bayley is a major fusspot and since alot of the time my Mom feeds her, the premade is easier all around. Check your butchers, alot will have scraps that you can buy cheap. I was getting chicken carcasses for a 1.00/lb with still lots of meat on them after boning.

Britlion
I don't know what you feed your dogs but I find RAW no more expensive than kibble. I very seldom spend more than a dollar a pound for meat.
And what is organ juiced veggies?
Dogs don't need ANY veggies.

My dog only eats for about 50 to 75 cents a day!!! No more than 1$... Was resourceful and got great savings...
No veggies. Organs are cheap and I don't feed it every day...

Thanks for quoting me Michelle, that was great!

Raw is amazing because it's biologically appropriate for your dog and by eating optimally they will be healthier, pooh less, use more of what they are eating instead of poohing out all the excess junk, drink less water and overall look healthier.
Also, if your dog is already on beef, I would stick with beef, but cut out the hamburger and stick to big chunks.
Cut out all dairy, especially since the dog is weaned, give up kibble because if you're going to give it up anyways, it might as well be sooner rather than later.
Give your dog big chunks of beef, with some rib bones, I don't imagine that the dog will be able to chew through beef bones at 9 weeks, but it'll be great for their little teeth.
Also, look at the myths page that Michelle quoted, you'll get a really good idea as to why raw is best. Definitely join the yahoo rawfeeding group and you''ll get lots of great advice on how to feed puppies!

The reason why everyone opts for chicken at first is because it's easy to digest and bland enough that it usually won't cause tummy troubles. But like I said, if your dog is already on beef, stick to beef for a week, then throw some chicken in.

Those previous links will really help you out, so let us know what you think and choose to do!

Good Luck with your little pup!

Nathalie