Hi, and thanks again for your help on previous question. A couple more. I am feeding innova puppy now, can I do a chicken quarter now and then to supplement, if so, is there a waiting period after the kibble before feeding? Also my puppy is very mouthy and loves to bite, I redirect to toy and this usually works, I was wondering is it ok to wrestle and fight with him or am I going to cause problems later? I have ordered the pack structure dvd and will watch as soom as I can. Thanks Ron

I alternate my dog w/ kibble and raw, and have had good success doing so.

When she was little, I would feed her raw 'snacks', like small chicken portions w/some bone. You do want to separate the raw from the kibble, since they digest at different rates. Raw goes through the system much faster, and if you feed together it's more likely that your pup may experience some gas or stomach upset.

Make sure to pull off all the excess fat (skin) before you feed.

How old is your puppy, and what breed?

I have heard it is best to feed kibble and raw at separate meals, due to different digestion rates.

I don't know how old your pup is or how many meals he gets per day.

As for the wrestling, again I don't know what breed or size the dog is, but if you wrestle with him the dog will think this is how people play. He will do this to everyone who tries to play with him (including children). If this is OK with you then go ahead. Also dogs wrestle/play with their mouths. A dog that learns to wrestle with its owner will be mouthy as an adult. (not necessarily nippy, but mouthy).

I have large dogs so I have taught them that the way to play with humans is to use a toy. Either tug games or toss games.

If you really want a dog you can wrestle and playfight with, my suggestion is to raise him to play politely with toys and teach him how to be gentle while he is a pup. When he is grown up (18 months to 2 years) then, you can teach him how to wrestle with you. Start off slowly and gently. I believe then, he will know that he can play that way with you, but he will also have the skills to play gently with anyone else.

I hope that makes sense.

I had horrible problems when I tried to feed my dog kibble and raw.

I was feeding kibble in the morning and raw in the evening, and it caused her to develop a bad case of colitis. $420 at the vets office later (not to mention, a ruined throw rug and probably $20 worth of cleaning chemicals to clean up all of the projectile vomiting), I gave the bag of kibble to a friend, and went totally raw.

Haven't had a problem since.
My personal advice would be to feed exclusively raw, or at a minimum to skip a kibble feeding on the day of the raw feeding.

Wrestling is fine, IMO, with certain caveats. First, the dog must have some obedience. There has to be a way to stop the game completely when it gets out of hand (which it usually will), or when you are tired of it.

If the dog has a reliable place or crate command, that works perfectly. When you've had enough, you can just stand up and send the dog to it's place to end the game.

However, if puppy mouthing and biting is bothersome for you, I would avoid wrestling with the pup, and opt more for tugging games. Wrestling just encourages the mouthiness, and will make the pup confused by the "double standard".

Personally, I don't mind mouthy pups, and even encourage it to a certain age. I am blessed with a GSD that will decimate a tug or ball, but has never left a mark during a wrestling session. Of course, knowing when to end and how far to take it, are a huge part of that. Even the best dog can get worked up enough to forget their manners.

We fed RMB with kibble for a couple of months without problems (kibble in the morning, RMB in the evening) but switched to 100% raw to see if it would finally sort out Shabba's soft stools, which it did. More than a couple of ounces of organ meat still bothers her from time to time though.

I fed kibble in the morning and raw in the evening, but then just switched to 100% raw. It was cheaper that way, and it eliminated any loose stool problems.

Hi, and thanks forr your answer. My puppy is a male Boerboel which is a type of mastiff so he will be a large dog. He will be 11 weeks. I feed at 5:30 am when I get up and the wife leaves the kibble in his bowl until empty. Sometimes he does not eat all. We feed him the recommended amount on the bag for his weight and age. He does get some treats during the day and when I get home from work around 6:00.

What kind of kibble are you feeding?

Only you know your dog. Some pups will be frustrated if you wrestle with them but don't allow them to mouth back. For others this is a great way to teach soft mouth to a dog that will be birding or playing with children. I would not wrestle with a dog that I wanted to teach a firm bite to.

I wrestled with my childhood dog, and got a very soft mouth out of her. My current puppy is a big girl who has a fairly soft mouth, but can still chomp hard when she gets excited, so we play mostly with toys.

It sounds as though you are free feeding, which is probably causing the dog to be picky and not eat well.

Try breaking the food into 2-3 meals, and feeding them at specific times. If the dog doesn't eat the food withint 15-20 minutes, pick it up and offer it again at the next meal.

You have come to the right place. Start devouring the Leerburg articles, they'll help you get off to the right foot with your pup.