bradpattison.com

Hi All-

GREAT site you have here! I was referred to this site by someone on a german pinscher group, and have already downloaded the E-Book and am waiting for my martingale collar to arrive...I sure hope it fits!

Anyway, I have been doing a lot of reading and research on feeding raw to my german pinscher puppy who is 19 weeks old. I have visited most of the recommended sites and asked for advice, but I am very overwhelmed with it all to be honest. There is almost too much information, LOL! If anyone can "handhold" me and really lay out the specific way for me to get started, I would really appreciate it.

My german pinscher is about 22-24lbs currently, and his ideal adult weight should be 40-45lbs. He is 19weeks old. He tends to scarf down the innova puppy food I feed him...he eats fast but he seems to chew. He always still seems hungry when finished. Also, I have struggled with soft stools since he was younger. He did pick up coccidia from eating rabbit poop and just finished meds and his stools have gotten better (the morning is totally fine but for some reason his stools are soft afternoon and night). I also make sure to not overfeed him. I am hoping RAW will help with this. Also he has started shedding alot more, too.

I am a bit nervous about the whole choking thing since he eats fast, even though I know this is rare.

Anyway, any help would be appreciated and specific guidelines to help me start! I also give my german pinscher A NuVet plus vitamin.

THANKS!!!
Shauna

You are very lucky. Our resident RAW expert is Nathalie Poulin. She has made many posts in regards to this particular subject and if you search RAW in the subjects you will find tons of information. I have been feeding raw now for about 6 months and it is wonderful! My oldest dog always had runny stools..no more of that and my backyard is no longer filled with "doggie mines" . There is a Yahoo group for Raw but I was overwhelmed with it so I haven't gone back on. And if you search the subject you will find links to other Raw sites.

Good luck!

Wen in Ottawa

Yah for thinking of going Raw !

Check out my old post "What was your first week of Raw like"
Yes, it's really long, but I found it to be SO helpfull to all my "silly and nrevous" questions. I've heard the same thing from others too.

Relax ! It's really not that hard. I stresseda little at the start and now it's as easy as can be. The only thing I find stressfull now is HOW to POSSIBLY pass up all the deals on meat I fins at times.
I mean - gosh - I even bought a small chest freezer for all of Keymo's food!

I would just get some chicken quarters and give him one.
What he doesn't eat you can put in the fridge for later.
If you think your dog might be a gulper, big food is better.

Abby's been on raw almost all her life, and she's almost 4. Like Dukesdad said ... the bigger the "piece" the better, it will force him to chew it ... slow him down ... don't worry about choking, dog's mouths are designed to eat bone and meat and tendons and all that gross stuff (I'm vegetarian, and I find it absolutely disgusting to cut all this up for Abby, but hey! You do what you gotta do!)

Find a butcher that will help you. I go to a lebanese butcher and he's awesome. I do know he thinks I'm a bit nuts b/c I don't eat meat and what I do buy is for the dog, but hey, he's always got a big smile on his face when I come in to his store!

I was there on Saturday and I got 10 pounds of meat / trimmings for $20, a huge bag of bones for FREE and 5 pounds of organs for $10 ... got home, portioned it all out and I have enough food for 12 days ... pretty cheap if you ask me!!!

Best advice - keep it simple ... don't worry about making "recipes" to keep your dog happy ... if I put food down and Abby doesn't eat it ... it's off the floor in 20 minutes and she gets NOTHING for supper that night. And she's only fed once a day ... so she's going to be really hungry the next night! (The ONLY concession I make is if she's chewing on a bone, then I'll wait longer.)

I will confess that I am in the room to watch Abby eat to make sure that all is well. But, I don't hover over her ... I have parrots too, so I bring Abby's food into the birds room and put in on the floor (It's linoleum so easy to clean!), and I'm on the computer ... she eats while I'm playing ... I can hear her eating and if anything was to happen, I'm right there ... I'm NOT watching her like a hawk!

Dogs are more likely to choke on kibble b/c they inhale it ... they HAVE to chew the bigger pieces of meat, especially those with bone in it, so it foces them to slow down ...

STAY AWAY from dense bones (like thigh bones from cows) ... they are ok to let them get the marrow out, but don't let your dog chew on it for hours, it will dull their teeth (I didn't know about this when I first started and Abby's canines are not "sharp"

Have fun with it! Once you get the hang of it you'll be like Keymo's mom ... checking out all the sales and having a field day seeing what your dog will eat! If he's anything like mine ... he'll eat anything!!!

Abby's favourites - cow's tongue and brains (it was REALLY funny watching her chase these two around the floor trying to figure out how to "chew" it!)

Marion

Like Marion said, keep it simple!

I was worried about feeding my large Dalmatian smaller things like chicken wings but she has been eating them for months and im glad to say she has yet to choke on one
She was a gobbler but now she is very gentle with her food. Its great to see your dog chowing on a fresh piece of meat rather than gulping down that awful dry kibble!

Just pick up what you can and give it a go. Pretty much any meat is fine so you cant really go wrong.
The only problem i have is remembering to defrost her food in time!

Thank you all so much! So at first it sounds like it is better to give him a bigger piece so he learns to slow down and chew. Are chicken quarters too small to begin with? He is only about 24lbs and 19 wks old. I am not too familiar with what it too big, too small, and just right! So begin with chicken and as time goes on introduce him to other types of meat.

So being a puppy whose ideal adult weight will be 40-45lbs, that would mean I start with about 0.9lbs (I think that is 2%!)?! THen I would divide that over 3 meals. But, is that 2% then split amongst raw meaty bones, and organs? I guess that is where I really get confused. I see raw meaty bones, organs, fruits, eggs, etc, and get very confused!

Thanks everyone!!

Only a little bit of liver as this will give the runs..perhaps less than 5% of his total. Check out his poops if they are too white and chalky too much bone..you will soon learn how to tell what his diet needs. I feed more in winter to give them extra fat to protect from the cold. Keep an eye on their weight. Fruit can mess up their diet and they dont really need it. Same with veggies..that's not everyone's opinion on here but most RAW feeders believe that. Mine like meat that's a little bit off or freezer burned so my butcher saves those for me and I get it real cheap or free. Chicken thighs or legs are a great start. my big guy can eat a whole chicken easily and my smaller dog gets half. It actually works out that the Raw diet when I shop carefully is cheaper than the high grade kibble. Oh and dont forget fish. Some dogs love it.

Good luck
Wen in Ottawa

Chicken quarters are a great size, at least the ones that I tend to buy are (they are pretty substantial in size). My pup's been on raw for 2 months now and she is just over 30 pounds now at 6 months old. Her adult weight will be between 45 and 60 pounds, so we give her 2 chicken quarters (or equivalent of another meat) a day and some odd tidbits for sort of a snack between her bigger meals. It's enough to keep her growing but not make her fat, so it's working well. The chicken quarters I find are too big to swallow, but small enough for her to handle and keep her mouth busy for a good 10 or 15 minutes. I've tried chicken thighs when quarters were not readily available, but those were too small and she pretty much bit down on them 3 times to break the bones a bit and then swallowed them! One of the great things about raw is that their teeth naturally get cleaned through chewing on bones, and they work out all their face and neck muscles. So ground meat or small pieces really don't give you full benefit from the diet. Start your pooch on mild, easily digestible meats like chicken and turkey and gradually work in other meats, fish, eggs, etc. Organs and eggs tend to give my dog the poops, so I only give her these every so often as a treat. Pork also does weird things to them sometimes, so I don't feed a lot of pork, but it will all depend on your dog. It's a bit of trial and error with raw on portions as a lot will depend not only on your dog's weight, but also their activity level, etc. My dog has a very high energy level, and so eats quite a bit. If your dog is putting on too much weight, cut back a bit. If they are on the skinny side, increase the portions a bit. Any way you slice it, you are making a great decision and your dog will love you for it!
b]ShaunaK wrote:[/b]

QUOTE:
Thank you all so much! So at first it sounds like it is better to give him a bigger piece so he learns to slow down and chew. Are chicken quarters too small to begin with? He is only about 24lbs and 19 wks old. I am not too familiar with what it too big, too small, and just right! So begin with chicken and as time goes on introduce him to other types of meat.

So being a puppy whose ideal adult weight will be 40-45lbs, that would mean I start with about 0.9lbs (I think that is 2%!)?! THen I would divide that over 3 meals. But, is that 2% then split amongst raw meaty bones, and organs? I guess that is where I really get confused. I see raw meaty bones, organs, fruits, eggs, etc, and get very confused!

Thanks everyone!!

Thanks for the replies everyone! So it sounds like I would be fine giving my puppy just chicken quarters and nothing else (no fruits, veggies, or carbs?) So just meat and those bones?! I wonder then why do all the commercial foods add turnips and cottage cheese etc etc?

Now I just need to figure out how much of the quarters to give him and over 3 meals I assume...I am *almost* there!