Switching a puppy from raw to dry food?

[Aleriya]

Hi,

I get to bring my puppy home in a week, and I'm so excited! However, I've never had a dog that is on a raw food diet. The breeders we bought her from mix raw food with a little bit of dry puppy food. We currently feed our dog Burns dry food. Can I switch a puppy from a raw food diet to dry food? I'm not really sure how that works. Any input would be great as I'm clueless in this type of situation.

Thanks!!

 

[sjtorr]

Yes you can. Probably best to fast 24 hours, then go straight to dry food. Have you considered researching and continuing with raw? We switched to raw at 1year and haven't looked back. Our next dog will also be raw fed as soon as we bring him home.

 

[Aleriya]

Thank you for responding! I'm afraid to do raw just because 1 I don't eat meat myself so I wouldn't really know how to go about getting raw meat for her. Plus it took ages to bring my rescue dog to proper health and find a food that agreed with her that didn't come out the second she ate. We have a local butcher shop and I wouldn't mind treating them as I often give Phoebe veg and other fruits like apples and carrots are her favorites. I just wouldn't know where to begin to make sure that the raw meat was healthy and not treated or contaminated. What improvements do you see on your dog that eats a raw diet versus when they were on dry food? Does it make a big difference?

 

[sjtorr]

My dog had a reaction to grains. Her parents are both on raw, and their coats are just gorgeous. I'm noticing the same with my dog. Beautiful coat, she loves her food, and if know there aren't any preservatives or unknowns. It's just meat.
I am vegan so I understand your hesitation. The first time I butchered beef heart took some getting used to, but it's the right thing to feed my dog. She is a carnivore after all.
We found a meat wholesaler, so their meat is people grade, but because they sell in batches no less than 30 kg, and not packaged individually, it is about the same as a high quality kibble. There are other ways to do raw too... You could go with ground patties and they take the guesswork out of it, but be careful on your supplier or you have no idea what you are getting. Once you have a schedule down, it's pretty easy.

 

[Aleriya]

I was afraid to throw the vegan word out there just in case I got some nasty feedback (as I do get so often!). How do you know how much to actually feed them daily? Do you give them veg with the raw meat? Phoebe has a reaction to a lot of things hence why Burns has worked well with her. We think her food allergies are because of how the people we rescued her, fed her. She was skin and bones and on the ride home she was throwing up table scraps like a large crust of bread! I do want what is best for the dogs though, so if they were to eat a raw meat diet my partner would have to serve that up Even before I stopped eating meat I could never touch the raw stuff! I suppose I could talk to the people when I pick up little bit on Sunday and ask them where they would suggest we get something. The only problem is they live about an hour and a half from me so they probably wouldn't know a supplier near. I wonder if the butcher would be of any help? Thanks for getting back to me so quickly!

 

[sjtorr]

Believe it or not the wikihow article on feeding raw to dogs is pretty good. Generally 2-3% of body weight, but usually more for puppies. You'll need to find out from your breeder which proteins your pup has already become accustomed to, and very gradually introduce new ones. Like over a week or so for each new protein, With small amounts at first and increasing until the pup becomes accustomed. You'll find you are watching poops a lot . For example, as a 60 lb dog, mine gets two meals a day of one pound each. Each meal has a quarter chicken, one meal has chicken liver, another has beef heart, and in use pork to round out to the 1 pound. But it took a while to get her used to all that. I invested in Tupperware, and make four days worth at a time. Thaw what I need, parcel it out, keep some thawed, and refreeze the rest.

Some raw feeders are hard core... No grinding, no veg, no supplements. Others advocate veggies and oils to supplement. Others are in between. Personally my dog loves veggies, so she gets them as a treat, sane with fruit. Talk to your breeder for their advice.

If you decide to do this, just do some good research online, and find a good wholesaler. Butchers can be really expensive, so can some pre ground options. Some people go so far as to get friendly with a slaughterhouse. I can't bring myself to that. Personally I think it's great for my dog. A little more work, but just like humans, the more you work to get your food together, the better it is for you.

 

[Aleriya]

WoW! That is a lot to take in! I will definitely read up on it and talk to the breeders on Sunday. Thanks again!