I talked to the wife and she has given in to my desire to give the raw food diet a try. She says if it doesn't work we'll be putting him on Beneful! eeeek! Not gonna happen.
Nothing good about Beneful. One of the worst ingredient list out of the household name foods, IMO.
Sorry, I'll dismount my high horse now.
So, I need some help getting started.
I read as much as I could on this site and I have come up with the following as an action plan. Please make corrections as needed.
Tonight begin the diet with either chicken backs or turkey necks (which should it be to get him acquainted with this regimen). He had 2 cups of Blue Buffalo for breakfast.
Yes, on the chicken backs. Turkey is probably fine, too, but chicken backs are a little easier on a new raw feeder.
Remove all the extra skin and big globs of fat. If you get backs or whole chickens, there will probably be a little organ meat still attached. Scrape this out for the initial switch.
Later on this can all be left on, but until this dog is comfortably on raw remove it for now.
Save turkey for next.
(Another thought I had was to have our butcher just grind up an entire chicken and start with that to get him used to the raw diet before introducing the non-ground bones. What do you think?
Not unless the pup is initially suspicious of the new food. Even then, I'd hold out for a little bit before resorting to grinding.
Whole foods are an important part of this diet.
Without medical reason, or a
truly stubborn switch, leave the grinding to the dogs.
What could I give him that would do the job until I get what I need from the butcher for tomorrow night's meal?)
If you can't find backs, buying a whole chicken and cutting it into meal sized pieces would be a good 2nd option.
Doing this, feed the upper portions of the bird first. Save the dark meat, denser boned leg 1/4er's for after you see that no digestive upset is occuring.
This will continue for about 4 days or until the weekend where I will begin introducing Vit E and Salmon Oil.
At that time I may introduce some sweet potato or ground turkey or chicken. Once adjusted. I will begin to introduce other types of muscle meat, organ meet, veggies as his system develops.
4 or 5 days of good poop sounds like a good time to me, too. Only add ONE thing at a time, in very small amounts.
Out of that list, I'd probably add organs first. Remember, above all else, to do this slowly. Start with a tiny amount, and only raise that amount if no digestive upset occurs.
What about adding yogurt to his first meal to help with the digestive enzymes or probiotics?
When I feed the chicken backs or turkey necks do I hack them into a couple smaller pieces or just leave them as they are and let Kaiser have at it ?
I don't know about probio's or enzymes. Someone else will, though.
No reason to hack food into smaller pieces. Let 'em have it whole.:smile:
How long before I should see his poop normalize?
If you start with the way you stated, it should be normal from the onset of the diet change.
Ready to start Raw...couple questions
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