I just switch my dog to raw!

Today is poop was a mix of pebbles and juice. Later he was straining to poop but only produce a bit of liquid.

He get a chicken leg quarter (3/4) and some added meat (1/4). Just under 2lb per day he weight 87lbs and pretty active.

Should I remove some bone or is he just adjusting?

 Quote: Ariane Gauthier

I just switch my dog to raw!

Today is poop was a mix of pebbles and juice. Later he was straining to poop but only produce a bit of liquid.

He get a chicken leg quarter (3/4) and some added meat (1/4). Just under 2lb per day he weight 87lbs and pretty active.

Should I remove some bone or is he just adjusting?

I have several questions about the diet, but first, to address the proportion of bone and the dog's constipation:

Are you saying that 3/4 of the meal, or 75%, is chicken leg quarters, and 1/4 (or 25%) is boneless meat?

How did you arrive at this ratio?



Here is a good thread that is all about exactly this question:
http://leerburg.com/webboard/thread.php?topic_id=32656&page=1#366439


To be sure we are all on the same page, a chicken leg quarter includes a thigh, a drumstick, and part of the back.

(There are several standard ways to butcher a chicken, such as the very common eight pieces plus the back. For quarters, which is what we're talking about here, the whole chicken is cut in half lengthwise to get two halves, and then each half yields a leg quarter and a breast quarter. So a chicken cut this way yields two leg quarters and two breast quarters. Leg quarters are common raw diet RMBs. Backs, which are a result of the eight-pieces-plus-back method, are another common raw diet RMB.)

You'll see from the first couple of posts in that thread that if you were basing the RMB part of a raw diet mainly on chicken leg quarters, the leg quarters would be about 1/2 of the meal (50%) and the boneless muscle meat would be the other 1/2 (50%).

Note that like Tracy Collins, whose post is the fifth one down on that thread, I'm not including in the percentage the diet's organ meat, produce, and other items that are minor in size compared to the two biggies -- the RMBs and boneless muscle meat.




Other questions:


Did you make this switch recently? Days ago, weeks ago?

This is just the beginning-switch diet? (This is not what you plan for the complete diet, right?) I ask because there's no organ meat (a small but important component), no variety, no fish oil, etc.

Of course, many people, myself included, begin the new raw diet with just the RMBs and boneless muscle meat, which is why I asked if this was a recent switch.

When did he last have a normal log poop?

Is this an adult dog?


What's the poop status now? His last poops were the pebbles-and-liquid and then the liquid-only? It's nighttime there, right? So he has eaten all his Tuesday meals? If that is the status, then I would make sure he is well hydrated now, and in the morning I would give a small breakfast of just the boneless muscle meat. I'd be sure he drinks his water. If he's not a great water drinker, I'd probably pour a little tepid water over his breakfast meat (dogs will generally eat up that meaty water).

Do please post back ... particularly concerning when his last normal poop was.

I'm glad you posted and asked. You will be able to remediate the imbalance readily because you're addressing it right away.



I'm not a health professional. This is all JMHO.

just switch 24 hours ago.
Yes leg quarter with part of back.
He is 18 months old.
Yes I plan to include organ later on.
He is poop is always a bit soft when on kibbles and he is hyper too, this is why we are trying the raw.

I will feed him tomorrow in the morning just meat no bone, he drink well.
I will try to keep him on a leash too, we are on farm so I check his poop spot.

 Quote: Ariane Gauthier

just switch 24 hours ago.
Yes leg quarter with part of back.
He is 18 months old.
Yes I plan to include organ later on.
He is poop is always a bit soft when on kibbles and he is hyper too, this is why we are trying the raw.

I will feed him tomorrow in the morning just meat no bone, he drink well.
I will try to keep him on a leash too, we are on farm so I check his poop spot.

Did he have a normal poop Monday? I'm asking this to keep track of how long he has had pebbles-with-a-bit-of-juice. So it has been just the one day of this? Just Tuesday? Monday he pooped?

Sounds good, Ariane. That's good that he drinks well. Small boneless meat breakfast tomorrow, then watch poops and post back.

Good plan to have him on leash tomorrow so you can see any poop (and see any straining). And that was also good that you observed today's (Tuesday's) poop and knew right away what was going on. Always a good thing to be observant like that with a new diet.

I betcha you will have this straightened out tomorrow. Then we can help you reintroduce the RMBs. You might want to read through that thread I linked above.

(Of course, you would call the vet if he became lethargic or had a distended abdomen or had a loss of appetite or discomfort ... or any other worrying symptom(s). Nothing you have said would make me think these things would happen, but it's always better to talk to the vet than to worry but not call.)

Hi, Ariane,

Any poop results?

We a soft ish poop but no pebble or liquid.
Tonight I will give him 1 drum stick and the rest meat (total 400g)
He is full of energy! it is tough to have him leash and working at the same time

Oh good! Softish is better than pebbles and liquid!

Tomorrow I will try what would be normal 1/2 chicken quarter leg and 1/2 muscle.
He seem to like it. It must be the fact that it is much easier to catch then the wild rabbits

That sounds good. And watch the poop, of course. I know what a PITA it is to be a poop-looker for a while, but it sure eases the transition!

The goal in these early days is to get the meat-and-bone ratio of the basic diet right for him before adding anything else (and definitely before adding any organ meat, which is best as a slow and gradual addition, starting tiny: diarrhea is SO much easier to avoid than fix!).

IOW, you started off doing the right thing (meat and bone only).

These early days will seem funny before you know it!

Let us know about the next poop. It may be that this guy needs the skin and fat peeled off for a little while to get the poops into good logs, but that too would likely be only a short phase.

Crap day a normal poop and later thick diarrhea. I think he got some horse feed (by the look of it) life at the barn = lot of stolen apple, carrots, horse poop and some horse feed (left over or spilled)