How long do you keep the pooch on an enzyme supplement when first starting a raw diet?

Enzyme supplements? I'm not exactly sure what you have in mind, but I guess I never used them. I'm no authority on this, but have had 2 GSDs on raw diets. I've read the books by Lonsdale, Pitcairn, Schultze and MacDonald over the years and adopted my own flexible approach. "Moderation in all things" like Dad used to say!

I started the first one on the diet about age 4 after I first learned about it. He was on it till he died recently at age 9 - not related to feeding/nutrition issues. There was no transition period at all, he starting scarfing up chicken backs from day one. I weaned him off kibble in about a week. I tried to add some veggie glop and eggs on a regular basis (not every day) and would usually mix in some kelp, glucosamine/chondroitin powder and fish oil. I really don't know how much difference any supplements made, kinda like me and all the vitamins I used to take. My vet was always impressed with the dog's health even though he didn't approve of or recommend raw diets. Any blood tests he ever had were always fine. All I know is that he was always trimmer, more energetic and had almost no skin problems on this diet after eliminating the daily doses of prednisone and antihistamines he used to take.

Got an 18-mo-old female from rescue a couple months ago and started her on raw food a couple weeks after the "shock" of relocation. She took to it the same way and I stopped kibble after a few days. Again, add some veggie glop and eggs regularly. I didn't add any supplements at all at first, but she continued with occasional scratching, so give her a fish oil cap every other day and have noticed an improvement. Since I've only had her a couple months, don't think the full effect of the diet shows yet. I pretty much have stuck with chicken backs/necks (good organ meat), occasionally thighs, wings, turkey necks (around the holiday) 'cuz it's fairly easy and inexpensive to get in my area without getting into the hassle of other exotic, weird meats or having to deal with 40# blocks of frozen meat. Seems to work for me and her, and it's a hell of an improvement over kibble.

My suggestion is to read what you can, wing it from there, see how your pup reacts to his diet and make adjustments when it seems prudent. From everthing I've read, once you start down the supplement road, you need to be very concerned about maintaining the right balance and dosage amounts. I've yet to find any convincing concensus in that area, so I keep their use to a minimum.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it! Others here may have different opinions based on their experience with and use of supplements.

What enzymes are they? The raw food contains enzymes that are lacking in commercial food. Plus, if the dog has a healthy pancreas, it makes the essential enzymes. I don't see the point in additional enzymes.

Kurt, have you switched your dog from kibble to raw? If this is the case, then two weeks should be long enough. If you got a pup and started it out on raw, then you shouldn't have any problems.

Digestive enzymes are used to assist the dog's digestive system to produce the enzymes necessary to digest the raw food. A different enzyme is used for digesting kibble/cooked food. Just helps the dog avoid discomfort (ie: the runs) during the transition.

Doesn’t a dog produce all its digestive enzymes during meal time?

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Doesn’t a dog produce all its digestive enzymes during meal time?

Yes! But if a dog is fed a processed food / grain based diet (kibble) then the enzymes needed for digesting raw meat need a kick start. (Different types of food use different enzymes for digestion.) The supplements are not meant to be long term, just for the transition.

It is not absolutely neccessary, some dogs adapt more easily than others. Some dogs will get diarrhea w/o supplemental enzymes during transition and this can worry people when making the change.

Whatever you eat its just carbohydrates, protein and fat, isn‘t it? Sorry to be such a pain… but do you know where I can find any additional information about the need to give supplementary enzymes?

For what it's worth, a tablespoon of whole milk plain yogurt (not low-fat or non-fat because they do neet the fat) with each meal works wonders as a dietary aid. I still give my pups yogurt once a day and they have been eating raw for 5 months.

I'm sure whoever produces, distributes or sells that stuff should be able to give you or point you toward lots of information on why they're necessary, if you want to rely on that.

OTOH, barring any indication from either end that the raw diet was distressing the dog - in my case, there was none - I didn't feel the need to try to mess with the process. Before we were "smart" enough to invent kibble, dogs apparently got along fine with whatever they ate without the benefit of any supplements. And the fact that on the raw diet, poop is reduced by 60-70% must mean something's working pretty well.

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....... do you know where I can find any additional information about the need to give supplementary enzymes?

This quote from Dr. Larry Siegler is representative of many sites that address the transition from kibble to raw: "We recommend supplementing with digestive enzymes (see dogs and cats) and probiotics (see dogs and cats) for at least the first two weeks to help your companion’s natural digestive processes kick back in after eating cooked foods for so long."

From Healthy-Paws.ca: "We recommend adding back digestive enzymes for a couple of days each time you introduce a new protein source."

From http://www.volhard.com/holistic/vteam/supkib.htm
"....Digestive enzymes for 3 weeks (Digestive enzymes help with the transition to raw meat). After that it can be decreased and stopped. If dogs has problems, you can start adding it again. A loose stool is often a sign of too much enzyme supplementation."

From http://www.pets4life.com/index.php?p=research/articles/11
"During the transition phase of her diet probiotics and digestive enzymes were necessary to help her digest the new foods in her body. The body is faced with new food items that it has never seen before and therefore it needs help to digest the food until it can manufacture the digestive enzymes itself."

I've never used them myself, so I can't give you personal suggestions, but there's some reference material. I'd lean away from getting all my info from the sites selling the product, myself.

My favorite raw site, http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm#enzymes, is pretty enthusiastic about them.

If I had read their opinion when I was switching to modified-BARF, I probably would've used them for a while during the transition.

BTW, their FAQs answer every conceivable BARF question, I think:
http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm