I have been researching a natural diet for my 3 yr old GSD & 8 yr old Cairn Terrier. I have read numerous books, joined a couple of weblists, etc. But, of course I have a few concerns!!

The first is my GSD's super sensitive digestive system...she has had problems in the past, nothing overly serious, but still it makes any changes in food very difficult. I know that the switch will take a very, very long time to complete so that I don't put her through any discomfort...heck, it took almost 2 months to switch kibbles and she honestly went through a detox similar to those mentioned in my Raw feeding books. She is doing well right now and has actually gained weight and filled out a lot, which is one reason while I am going to do jump into raw now.

I am also concerned because I currently live with my parents and essentially my GSD is "shared" between my mother and I, although I do all of the training, etc. My mom has reservations about the natural diet which I am trying to overcome...I'm going to try to encourage her to read a couple of my books and see how it goes. I'm also at odds with her regarding vaccinations. Oh the fun!

Also, my GSD had a follicular cyst removed last summer after it became infected and now has a second one growing on her foreleg. I am VERY concerned about this - another reason for the switch!

So I am thinking of adding a morning meal following this 'recipe' http://b-naturals.com/natural.php Essentially, I want to begin with some ground meats in small quanitities.

So any comments, advice, encouragement? Need lots of the last one lol!

Melissa

Melissa, I respect your concern for your dogs' health and your cautious approach to introducing new food to them. However, I can only pass on to you my own experience in the switch over to a raw diet.

I have a GSD that had recurring bouts of colitis no matter how slowly I tried to introduce kibble to him. He was subsisting on boiled chicken and rice and at 18 months he was not thriving. His health was so poor that I was thinking of putting him down. I changed to a raw diet as a last resort and the product I used was a ground blend of chicken backs and beef heart. I went cold turkey and he did great on this new food. I now give him pork neck bones and vitamin supplements as well and an added bonus to his good health is that his teeth are beautiful and clean. He has never had to have his teeth cleaned and at his check-up last week the vet gave him a clean bill and exclaimed over his excellent general condition.

Again, I cannot advise you to follow my lead as every dog is different. The above, however, was my experience.

Good luck and good health to your dogs.

If the GSD has a very sensitive stomach, combining kibble and raw may cause problems. In my dog's case, he did much better switching cold turkey than when he ate both together. Sometimes, I feed Innova Evo or some Wellness, if I can't feed raw for some reason (like someone else is watching my dogs, and it's more convenient), and I've noticed that he'll have stomach problems if he eats, for example, kibble in the morning and some raw later. However, he never has any problems switching from kibble to raw at all. Just my experience, FWIW.

I was slow to make the change to the RAW diet ( and a sincere "thank you" to Debbie High and Cindy for their guidance and great advice ) and I'm kicking myself in the butt for not having done it years earlier.
Make the jump, both you and your dogs will be glad that you did!

I can only relate my experiences with 2 GSDs I've had on it. Years ago, started the diet with a 3-yr-old male who had a lot of skin allergy problems. I did a lot of reading and fretting before making the switch. Turns out, it couldn't have been easier. I think the shortened the phase out of kibble to just a few days. I never saw that he had any problems or any reluctance to gobble up anything raw. The only difficulty was with me at first, watching and listening to him devour chicken backs. His health, energy, coat, teeth and breath were never better. And my vet, who doesn't recommend the diet, had to agree.

Several months ago. rescued a female who is about 2. After allowing her a couple weeks to adjust to new surroundings, started her on raw and had the same easy transition as before. I feed primarily chicken backs which have a decent %-age of organ meats and the bones are smaller. I also feed veggies, fruit, eggs and yogurt in an unstructured manner and don't sweat a daily "balance."

You can expect a weight loss at start up for a few weeks as they develop a leaner body. My only suggestion would be to cut the kibble as soon as possible. There are plenty of choices of raw foods that you can turn to if they are, for some reason, slow to get with the new diet. I don't think you'll see that, tho. Sounds like you've done all the necessary homework, so now just let your dogs take it from here.

Melissa,Let me share a quick story with you.I too have switched my two dogs over to raw a month ago and so far everything is going great.During the Christmas holiday my in-laws stayed with us and when my mother in-law saw what I was putting in my dogs bowl she could not believe I was feeding them raw chicken and bones. She was insistent that they where going to choke or get sick and die from raw chicken.The comment I liked the most was"we always fed our dogs a can of alpo and they did just fine".I came to the conclusion I was never going to convince her that what I was doing was safe and the best thing for my dogs. Feeding raw is the best way to feed your dogs period,good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

Thanks all for the great confidence boosters! I'm working out a plan and I think I'll begin the transition next weekend...and hope for the best...let's just hope she doesn't get TOO lean as she already is a thin girl lol!
Oh, and this is a good one - fed Grace her kibble tonight and then ran to the petstore (they take all my money! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> )...came back and my mom commented that the dog was having horrible gut noises and then said something about me having fed Grace some raw chicken. Funny thing was...the chicken was still in the fridge and I didn't hear a darn noise out of the dog all night! (In all seriousness though, Mom's not all bad <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />just gotta work on her a bit more...)

-Melissa

Hi again, regarding your fear of your dog losing weight. My boy gained 25 pounds eating a raw diet. He was so terribly underweight to start with that he improved right from the first meal. It was a joy to see him at last eat with enthusiasm and benefit from his food rather than be made ill by it.

Naida

 Quote:

Thanks all for the great confidence boosters!.....

GREAT! I just want to pass this list of raw FAQs along to you, because I think it covers every possible question and fear about raw:
http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm
and more:
http://www.njboxers.com/more.htm

It doesn't matter at all that it's a Boxer site. It's one of my never-fail "go to" sites for raw issues. There are even sample meals to give you an idea of the big picture.

Good to hear that a dog actually gained some weight on the diet...my girl could maybe use a pound or two. I carefully monitor her weight anyways because the petstore I go to has a scale.

Connie - I've been reading that site like a maniac lol! I've also found the books Switching to Raw by Susan Johnson & Natural Nutrition for Dogs & Cats by Kymythy Schultze to be valuable <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Thanks for the reccommendation!

Melissa