After reading all the forums we finally decided we had to switch our pup to raw! (4 month dachshund, 6lbs) Till now he was on nasty Iams kibble from the breeder and has had bad allergies, including dandruff.

Yesterday was day1 ! Hoping I am doing this right!
I am trying to feed him around 6% of his weight.
He had a chicken back for each meal -skinned and most of the fat removed. The crunching sound was so satisfying! The entire thing was gone in 10 minutes. No loose poops or anything so far.

I am supplementing with DermaPet Eicosaderm (fish oil and vitamin E) He has been on this for months, not sure if this is enough? Should I be adding Vitamin C during this transitional stage? Anything similar to the Super C 2000 powder I may be able to find locally?

Chicken necks/backs are very hard for me to find right now, so for the next few meals I had to buy bone-in breasts. As long as I cut off the extra meat and feed him the bone that ought to be alright? While I search for a better butcher are there any other common cuts I could get from the grocery store that would be good? Bone in Thighs or anything?

Thanks everyone!!

Can you get the tiny birds they call "Rock Cornish Game Hens"?

Great for this size dog ....

Breasts modified the way you said are fine, but are very low in fat. You might want to begin leaving some skin on soon after seeing a couple of good poops.


About the DermaPet Eicosaderm ... do you mean plus Vitamin E? What size?

I have a 10lb ankle biter and I use the Cornish Game Hens a lot. They are about perfect for a small dog. Price is not a big factor since I am feeding a small dog and I get them here for about $3 each. They are about a pound each, so it's pretty easy to just whack off what you need daily without having to measure a lot.

Make sure you measure since you have such a small dog. My dog got a little hefty at one time and with feeding raw, it looks like such a small amount that you can become easily led thinking you aren't feeding enough.

Rock Cornish Game Hen, got it! I just need to get used to handling raw chicken so much, I avoided cooking chicken for a long time just to not touch it (beef doesn't bug me)


This is what the DermaPet bottle says: "a concentrated source of Omega-3 fatty acids EPA/DHA and Vitamin E" per pump: 2000mg fish oil, 360mg EPA, 240mg DHA, 10 IU vit E.

Sounds like he needs another vitamin E supplement right?

That is one cute puppy.

Perhaps you'll appreciate these ridiculously funny shots of my 4-pound Corgi pup eating her first raw chicken wing.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y18/luca-stl/IMG_1217.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y18/luca-stl/IMG_1201.jpg

Good luck with the raw feeding. He (and you) will love it.

those photos are too cute! I love Corgis (so funny how they have no tails!)

Poor Rambo had some bad poop today, first he was constipated and his poo was super dry, teeny tiny and crumbly. Then after dinner he had a normal looking log but then suddenly very watery pudding (just a little). Weird since breakfast and dinner were identical combos with the same bone/muscle meat ratio.
Hoping smaller meals tomorrow will be the answer??

Absolutely no luck finding canned pumpkin at the stores.

 Quote: tamara mey

those photos are too cute! I love Corgis (so funny how they have no tails!)

Poor Rambo had some bad poop today, first he was constipated and his poo was super dry, teeny tiny and crumbly. Then after dinner he had a normal looking log but then suddenly very watery pudding (just a little). Weird since breakfast and dinner were identical combos with the same bone/muscle meat ratio.
Hoping smaller meals tomorrow will be the answer??

Absolutely no luck finding canned pumpkin at the stores.

This was on bone-in breasts with some meat cut off, right?

PS There is a Libby's pumpkin shortage. There is no shortage of organic smaller brands in natural foods stores. It's not expensive, either: it ranges from about a dollar for "Natural Value" to about $2.25 for brands like "Farmers Market." Totally worth it; you can freeze the remainder in serving sizes.

I would give very small meals tomorrow, three rather than two, including a little pumpkin and plenty of water (for example, most dogs love pumpkin; you could stir a scant tablespoon of it into 1/2 cup or so of water and increase water intake like that) and watching the result.

Thanks for your help!

Todays 2 meals were: good chunk of a chicken back and a bit of added breast meat. No fat, organs or skin.

I couldn't get any more backs so tomorrow I have to feed him the bone in breast. I skinned them, took a lot of the meat off and removed fat.

Will try 3 small meals tomorrow, and check out the Natural food store for the pumpkin. Our Publix is proving useless for this Raw feeding thing.

I've found you have better luck in smaller non-chain grocery stores. If you live in an area that has any kind of ethnic neighborhood--African-American, Latino, Asian--grocery stores that cater to them will have more of the kinds of "parts" that are useful for raw feeding. Smaller stores with a real butcher or meat department manager will be more likely to work with you on special ordering things or placing bulk orders (a freezer is handy for raw feeding to stock up when you do strike a good find.)