new baby...new diet!

[missmeliss]

Hi!

We just brought our new little girl, Zoe, home Friday evening. We were feeding her kibble (some puppy formula created by a local vet?) our breeder had given us, but she started to have very loose stools. I had planned on switching to BARF after a week, but I was not excited about feeding Zoe a puppy kibble, so by Saturday night she was BARFing!

She is starting out on smashed chicken wings until we can find a supplier for backs and necks near by (we're in a small town so we have limited options.) Our breeder also gave us a capped syringe of medicine (don't know what it was called) to prevent upset stomach, but it went in the garbage. I'm not a fan of unnecessary medicine anyway, and instead I opted for canned pumpkin which has worked wonders!

Zoe, of course, loves the switch, and she really hasn't shown any detox symptoms. Was it crazy of me to switch so quickly? I used my best judgment in the fact that she seemed to be adjusting to life with us so well, that stress didn't seem to be much of a factor. She just fits in to our family like she's been here all along!

One more question, how long should I wait until I add in things like cottage cheese, eggs, yogurt, veggies, etc. I am ordering a book online, but I thought I'd ask until it gets here!

Thanks so much!
Melissa

 

[Checkers]

Thats great you have her BARFing already :D I waited about 2 weeks with just chicken (becuase i had a dog roll incident) but 1-1 1/2 weeks is the usual before adding in other things i think. Lily loves her diet and gobbles up anything and everything!
About the switching, i did it cold turkey too. Shes a rescue and every place she had been to had different food so i wasn't too concerned about doing a straight switch. Plus Zoe probably wont want to eat kibble anymore

 

[boxer]

I don't think it was at all crazy to switch so quickly. Quite the reverse, I think it's a great decision Not all dogs go through detox anyway, and the less time they've spent eating kibble the less likely that is to happen - so no surprises really that she had no problems.

As for when to add vegetables etc into the diet, I'd give it just a week or two. Do remember just to add one new thing at a time though, so if she has any particular likes or dislikes or if any food doesn't agree with her, you'll know quickly which one it is. Nothing more frustrating than a dog that won't eat veggie mush, then after a long process of elimination you find it was one particular vegetable causing the problem

 

[missmeliss]

Oh thank goodness, I was a little concerned that I would really be screwing up her system! Honestly though, I have taken some weird sort of pride watching her gnaw on her new found heaven! It's funny actually, I am a little squirmish, and perhaps a bit of a germ-a-phobe, but I don't think twice about preparing her raw meals. Go figure...Thak you both for your insights and reassurance!

Melissa

 

[Jan]

You are certainly doing the right thing. I think puppies are much more tolerant of you quickly adding lots of variety. Just make sure that you add only one new things at a time.

 

[jambc]

(becuase i had a dog roll incident) /QUOTE]
Forgive me as I am new to all of this, and I'm doing my research right now before starting Carli on BARF. What is a "dog roll incident". I've ordered the book and I haven't received it yet, so maybe this is something I'll find out later?

 

[Checkers]

Oh haha seeing as Lily loves food and loves to stare at anyone with it, my mum thought she was hungry and gave her quite a bit of dog roll. It screwed with her system because i had done a week of BARF already and she had runny poop for a while. Had to start over again :rolleyes:
She gets more in her meals than she should atm because she is too skinny, but my family still insist she eats kibble because they reckon she's hungry. Drives me nuts!
My advice, as soon as you start BARF and you find she has no allergies to it etc, throw out allll your old dog food so no one gets confused :D