Hi, after much reading I have switched cold turkey from kibble to raw.
I started today with feeding 13 ounces of chicken backs (I will feed twice a day to eqal 1.5 - 2 pounds} to my 2 year old gsd and the same for my 5 year old gsd. They both ate em with no problems, although it seemed they chewed them for about 2 minutes or so and pretty much swallowed the rest.

I have some questions as to do I continue with just chicken backs for the first week?
Do I need or should I have used probiotics?
What should I expect on day 1?
I am worried they will have stomach problems at first.

Of course I am sure that I will have many more questions!
Thanks
Mike

Hi Mike.

I would not continue with only chicken backs. The point of feeding chicken backs (and necks) is that those bones are soft and dogs handle them better than other bones. Feeding only chicken backs to your dogs would mean feeding them too much bone and not enough meat.

If you can't get cheap whole chickens, keep feeding backs as RMB's, but add some meat like breast or ground meat. If your dog has to eat 2 lbs of food per day, then I would say that is pretty much what half a chicken weights. Your dogs stools will tell you if you are feeding too much bone or too much meat (search for Yuko Blum's post on this).

What to expect on day 1? Well my 7 week old threw up his first meal, then handled the rest much better. He had loose stools for about a week and a half, until I added variety.

Probiotics? I didn't use them, nor am I using them now. I do give a teaspoon of plain yogurt after almost every meal.

Good luck!

I use plain unsweetened live-culture yogurt as a probiotic, too.

Here's a good plan for using backs and adding other meats (muscle meat, etc.).

http://www.leerburg.com/diet2.htm

Scroll down and see both the 90-pound dog menu and the 65-pound dog menu for a couple of overviews.

Starting with backs is (IMO) a great way to do it, and, in fact, I would stock up whenever you see them on sale. I start new adopted guys on backs, no skin, with a little ground meat, and nothing else but salmon oil for days. This has worked very well for me and for the owners I help in making the switch. Backs and necks (no skin) seem to be an easy starter choice for the dog.

Thanks Richard!
I plan to feed less rmb but my understanding of the books I read was to keep the first week the same...does that mean just chicken backs or any chicken other than weight bearing?
Thanks again
Mike

Connie knows more than me about this

but I think that by "same" they mean same animal. In any case, and FWIW, I fed my pup Cornish Game Hens for the first week. If I had to do it all over again, I would still have fed him hens, with the exception that I would've witheld the wings. I had an incident with a wing starting out, but I don't want to scare you. Your dog is 2 years old and will handle this much better than a 8 pound puppy.

Ditto Connie's post and the Leerburg reference. My advice is make it easy on yourself at the start, keep it simple, and you can add all that extra stuff after the dogs gets used to the new diet. I started with chicken backs and they have been the mainstay of a raw diet for over 7 yrs for 2 GSDs. I was real nervous about getting started, but both dogs made an easy transition in just a few days, with no problems.

As for chicken backs being too much bone, I don't remember the bone/meat ratio but the bones are soft and - depending on how they're cut up - there's a little organ meat on the backs. I prefer them over weight-bearing leg quarters. I later added a little variety of other meats and fish, some veggie glop, yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, supplements (fish oil, E, etc.), but your dogs will be fine for a while without you having to worry about balancing things right away.

Don't know what you'll see on "Day 1" but within a few weeks, you'll see increased energy, better breath, a nicer coat, less poop.

Just come back when you have more questions.

Mike