I just wanted to know what the forum thought about this...the breeder that we purchased our pup from had switched him over to raw and royal canin when he came from Germany. She used the k9 brand chubs. We have been giving him royal canin, mixed with ground roast and I also added some salmon oil. He has quite the case of diarrhea and I was wondering if I should just keep him on the ground roast or if I can switch, ground elk, and ground turkey too or if he will just get more stomach problems with each variety of food. Also, how old do you think he should be before I start to switch him from the dry/ground to chicken necks/backs which is what we feed our adult dogs with veggies??

Not sure why you're feeding ground at all... Even a 6 week old puppy can handle whole necks/backs and wings. This makes your job easier! By 3 months my pups are working away at eating chicken quarters! This is the BEST chew device ever "invented" so don't deny your baby this satisfaction.

As for the diarrhea, is there a reason you're still feeding any kibble at all? If you must feed it for some psychological reason (we've all been there when switching to raw) then SEPARATE the meals!!! Don't feed kibble and raw together, IMO. Personally, I think you can do away with the kibble altogether.

I'd feed a mix of chicken (whole quarters, including legs, back, breast... A chicken here costs like $6 CDN and should last a pup 2 days), pork (ribs, hocks, tails) and organ meat (heart, liver, kidney, etc...) Also throw in some GREEN TRIPE and you're good to go. No need for adding anything to that, IMO. Schools of thought differ but I've always had the best results feeding according to "prey model".

Mashed pumpkin will help stop the diarrhea and make more solid stools. I'd just supplement some into his food. The pup is probably adjusting to the new food if you just recently got him. Sometimes it can take 2weeks to adjust.

Don't forget salmon/fish oil and Vitamin E.

Robbinn,
Did you say you mix the Royal canin with RAW?
You can't mix the 2 together, feed them seperately, that is most likely your problem, it's very hard on their intestines to have the both eaten together

I would include the salmon oil , only once he has adpated to the new food you are feeding and decide to feed permanently.Additives are great but too many new things for this new puppy to adjust is too much.

 Quote: Jan Williamson

Don't forget salmon/fish oil and Vitamin E.

Yup, thanks for pointing that out Jan! Though as the dog gets older I prefer to just feed whole fish twice a week. Instead of salmon oil I've personally had great results with herring oil, so its another alternative to consider. Just remember fish oil is NOT the same as cod liver oil!

As for the pumpkin, make sure it's canned pumpkin not pumpkin pie filling (you can get this in the baking section of most grocery stores, just check the label) and do NOT overdo it. Canned pumpkin will also have a laxative effect if you overdo it (good to remember for constipation). For a pup, about 1 Tbsp. per day should do it. I wouldn't exceed twice that though.

Seems the pup has been through a few stressful things in the last few days (a couple of moves, a change in diet, a change in people and places), which can attribute to diarrhea. Also Connie Sutherland mentioned that beef can also trigger diarrhea (Connie may want to weigh in on this), as it may have an allergic effect on some dogs and also has a higher content of fat which I've noticed creates loose stools. So chicken is probably your best bet for a while, then introduce other things slowly. Start with chicken wings and chicken backs (if you can get the backs). Also the bones in the chicken wings will solidify the stool.

Connie also said it's important to give vitamin E with salmon oil, a 200 iu capsule a day for a puppy. Vitamin C is important as well, and helps during times of stress. But be careful not to give too much as too much can cause loose stools as well. Ed Frawley talks about the importance of this vitamin and I get the powdered vitamin C he sells on his site. There's also a menu for puppies on this site as well. Ground chicken or turkey is good for adding the vitamin C and E and salmon oil, just mix it in and maybe give one meal of this a day, with 2 meals being the chicken wings/backs.

I'd stop the kibble altogether, no need for it and interferes with the digestive process of the raw food.

So, which pup did you end up getting?

Also, an article Ed wrote re: diarrhea in puppies: http://www.leerburg.com/diarrhea.htm