I am getting a new puppy and want to switch her to raw. I am confused about the percentages and supplements though. Do you have any suggestions?

Question

I've been doing some research on raw and all-natural diets in anticipation of the arrival of a new puppy (8-wk-old Cane Corso), and had a couple questions for you if you don?t mind?

She is currently on an all-natural (ie: human grade) kibble at the breeders, and I will continue her on this diet (Flint River Ranch) after she comes home. The reason for this is to allow her time to settle in to all the changes in her life, and because I'm not yet familiar enough with the raw diet to start right away. To go raw, I'd rather go all raw rather than the pre-made raw you can get at some pet stores. I also plan to give her Vitamin E, C, and fish oil supplements.

My question are:

While she's on the kibble, is ok to give her some raw ingredients also? More as an occasional supplement to her daily meals ~ such as cottage cheese, egg, veggies, raw chicken or beef trimmings, etc. If this is ok, how much/how often should I feed it? Should I mix it in with her kibble, or give it as a separate meal?

What are good veggies/fruits and other extras to feed her? Is there anything I should be careful of other than grapes, raisins, tomatoes, and chocolate?

Also could you give me a sample menu for the raw diet? I get confused with all the 20% organ meat, 40% raw bone meat, veggies, no veggies, etc. I'm also assuming this is ok to start on such a little puppy?

I'm somewhat hesitant to take her totally off kibble because a lot of kennels won't accept raw food. I don't anticipate kenneling her unless I absolutely have to, and I know the dehydrated food is an option but it is really expensive especially for something I don't plan to use much.

All thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!

Accepted Answer

Read the article on feeding a raw diet. It’s a work in progress but there is a lot of good information there.

I would also recommend these books, Natural Nutrition for Dogs & Cats and Raw Dog Food.

You can also go to our Feeding Dogs Page for a list of articles and books that will be helpful to you.

There are sample menus on the feeding dogs page also. I would get your puppy off of kibble asap, not only will it be healthier for your puppy, it will make housetraining easier because of all the fillers in Flint River Ranch. My parents fed it to their dogs before they switched to Honest Kitchen and the volume of stools was unbelievable. There are 3 types of grain in this food and dogs have NO nutritional need for grains, they are nothing but a cheap filler and they can be allergens as well. I wouldn’t add fruits or veggies, the meat scraps are good as well as eggs, cottage cheese and yogurt.

As far as boarding, I would bet that since all these pet food recalls have come on the scene that kennels will be more accepting of alternative diets. Quite frankly, if a kennel won't feed my dog according to my directions then I don’t want my dog to be there in the first place. Dog sitters are an option that work really well for a lot of people also.

Please visit our Discussion Forum. There are thousands of members and many posts on every dog related topic imaginable. You don’t have to register to read the material, but if you wish to post a question or reply you must go through the registration process.

There are lots of threads on raw feeding, many of the members have been feeding this way for years. Good luck with your new puppy!!