Hello all!

I would really appreciate some help in constructing my dog's menu. She is a yellow lab, 9 weeks old, approx 18 lbs.

I've been feeding raw for about 5 days now. I typically give her chicken thighs, chicken backs, ground beef (only twice so far), chicken livers, and salmon. I bought some plain (Brown Cow) yogurt today.

I feed her 3 times per day. Around 6am, noon & 6 pm. I am not quite sure HOW MUCH to feed her. Each meal has consisted of one of the above. So one thigh or one patty or one chicken back. I just bought the livers today so I'll be tossing those in too. With the salmon, I puree up some vegetables (greens or carrots). I plan on supplementing with salmon oil if this is necessary. So based on the above, can you help me put together a menu?

I gave her kibble in the morning, but just read that some do not advise this because of transit times through the gi tract.

Additionally she is reovering from being unnecessarily vaxed at 4 weeks in combination with a Puppy Chow diet from the breeder. She has some skin irritations and is being given thuja per the vet.

Thanks for any help!

Edited by Emily Szijarto (08/13/2009 10:58 AM)
Edit reason: add more informaion

I am no expert by any meens but here is my comment. When my puppy was young I fed game hens. I know they are more exspensive but this way we got the whole prey model. Easy with the liver it will probably loosen the stool.I still over do it sometimes but I don't worry any more just get them out enough.Salmon oil is good but add an E vitamin as well. My opinion is people make it to hard. I have been getting lazy because of several personel issues where sometimes I just chop a chunk off a whole chicken and toss to the dogs. You are on the right track keep it up and you will see the benifits of your choise and your puppy will love it. Some of the more expeienced feeders can give better advice.

Thank you so much. Do you give a puppy a whole hen or a 1/2 hen?

Hey Emily.:smile: Welcome to the forum.

How is the dog's poo with that much variety?

Just to be on the safe side, it would probably be good to back up to just chicken RMB's right now.

Once you are sure that her stomach is good with one ingredient, then you can slowly, in small amounts add new ingredients.

You want to feed a puppy about 5-10% of its body weight. You'll also want to feed that amount in 3-4 small meals throughout the day.

Let me know how she is tolerating the diet so far and then we can get a little more specific.:smile:

I did read that salmon can carry a bacteria that can be fatal to dogs, so I would take another look at that and check some sites and books to see what it says.

 Quote: Niomi Smith

I did read that salmon can carry a bacteria that can be fatal to dogs, so I would take another look at that and check some sites and books to see what it says.

Raw Pacific Northwest salmonids... west of the Cascades.

But nothing to do with salmon oil, of course.

Just want to reiterate something we say here often: There is virtually no modern dog diet, fresh (raw), canned, dehydrated, or kibble, that provides a suitable amount of long-chain Omega 3s. Grain-fed slaughter animals fed to dogs (in whatever form) are not the grass- and range-fed animals (wild and farm) of the wolf's history (right up to 100 years ago or so). We don't need the whole rundown again, I guess, because a search here will pull up dozens of threads explaining both long-chain 3s in marine products and the E needed to protect the PUFAs as they are processed by the dog.

But it's the supplement (IMHO) that we should not leave out. I prefer giving most micronutrients in the actual food itself if possible. DHA and EPA, however, are just no longer available in the diet, with very very few exceptions, such as a dog who gets daily fish or who regularly eats his own fresh-caught game.

Hi Connie
Sorry about the confusion. In the OP she said that she does feed her dog raw salmon, so that was what my post was regarding.

I do agree with adding salmon oil, it is great!

 Quote: Niomi Smith

Hi Connie
Sorry about the confusion. In the OP she said that she does feed her dog raw salmon, so that was what my post was regarding.

I do agree with adding salmon oil, it is great!

Oh. I missed that.

Yes, raw salmon (or any salmonid) is scary, unless you know exactly where it came from.

 Quote: Michael_Wise

Let me know how she is tolerating the diet so far and then we can get a little more specific.:smile:

Just to clarify, what I really want to know is how much have you been feeding?

Are you leaving all the fat and skin on?

Solid log poops?

All this will help us let you know how to proceed.:smile: