What about my new puppy? He was fed kibble at the breeder’s place. How do I switch him to raw food? I don’t want him to get sick.

There are 2 schools of thought on this and I have done it both ways.

There is the gradual switch method, which changes the pup’s diet a little bit each day until he is eating 100% raw. There is the cold turkey switch, which changes the pup all at once from the familiar diet, to the new food.

I feel that many times puppies do a bit better with a gradual switch, due to the stress involved with leaving the litter, travel and new environment. Keeping the diet familiar until the pup is settled in can make the transition easier for the puppy’s immature digestive system. When the pup is eating, drinking and having normal bowel movements, then I suggest to start by adding a small amount of ground meat (without bones) to his regular food at each meal.

Don’t overwhelm his system by trying too many different things at once, and I never add supplements to a pup’s diet until the switch is complete and he is eating a variety of raw ingredients without digestive upsets of any kind. For more detailed information about ingredients for your pup’s diet please check out the Leerburg bookstore. We carry many good books on raw feeding.

Our Leerburg and Kaiserhaus puppy customers receive educational materials and a transition diet print out to use when bringing their new pup home. We wean all our puppies from mom onto a raw diet, and strongly encourage our puppy customers to continue with a raw diet for the life of their dog.