I am no RAW expert... but there will be experts reading this post to correct me if I am wrong (thanks!)...

We all know not to feed raw along with kibble becuase it takes different digestive enzymes to digest the two, making food hard on the dog's tummy and poorly digested. Dogs who have never been fed raw may not have the right or enough digestive enzymes/bacteria to handle raw food, so they may get diarrhea. You can feed a probiotic (like probios-ed sells it) for a little while until the bacteria cultures in their gut build up and can handle digestion correctly. It will help with the diarrhea and digestion so the dog can get thte maximum nutrition out of the food.
here's the link to the probiotic ed sells- http://www.leerburg.com/50.htm
I had a GSD who had diarrhea everyday for 6-8 months even after treatment for coccidiosis. He had a horribly senstitive stomach. I wish I knew about raw then, if he had been switched, I'm sure he would have been fine after the adjustment. It can take up to 2 weeks for a dog to adjust to a new diet. As long as his activity and personality has not changed, he should get over it if it's not worms. (dont let a vet tell you he got worms from raw feeding...)

Alison Voore

okay, well I did it! I found a vet that is pretty neutral to raw feeding. He definitely said that I need a supplement for the dogs. He was so funny cuz he had to give me the "doctor" speech first, then he gave me the "off the record" speech. Lol. Says that all the dogs he sees that are raw fed have wonderful teeth and coats. Go figure. I will be making him my vet for our next visit. He's closer anyhow. I went through lots of docs though before I found him. He is also on the fence about immunizations, said we would talk about it when I came in to meet him. I felt like, hey, here is a guy that I can at least have a discussion with without him freaking out and screaming ecoli!!!!

Congrats!!! I wish I could find a decent vet within an hour of me.

How much does he weigh now (the dog, not the vet)? I think 12 wings a day sounds like quite a bit for a little guy...unless I misread your post.

Hi Robbin,
Aside from the other good advice you received in this thread, also consider he may have allergies. My dog is allergic to chicken, and if I accidentally give him a treat or he gets the cat's food or anything with chicken in it, his first symptom is diarrhea. (After that he loses his fur, but only 4 days in you probably wouldn't notice it.)

Just another possibility.

That's too many wings! 12 a day is a little much.

How much do I feed my puppy?

BARF World recommends feeding puppies up to 10 % of their body weight. Therefore, if your pup weighs 10 lbs you should feed 1 lb of food divided between 3 or 4 feedings per day. Growing puppies, especially the large breeds, should be kept lean so adjustments to feeding amounts will have to be monitored closely.

I followed this advice with no problems. You will find that the chicken skin on the wings is a little rich, so you have to use backs and necks as well. If I give any of my dogs wings ONLY they get the runs.

Good Luck!

 Quote: robbinmann

okay, well I did it! I found a vet that is pretty neutral to raw feeding. He definitely said that I need a supplement for the dogs. He was so funny cuz he had to give me the "doctor" speech first, then he gave me the "off the record" speech. Lol. Says that all the dogs he sees that are raw fed have wonderful teeth and coats. Go figure. I will be making him my vet for our next visit. He's closer anyhow. I went through lots of docs though before I found him. He is also on the fence about immunizations, said we would talk about it when I came in to meet him. I felt like, hey, here is a guy that I can at least have a discussion with without him freaking out and screaming ecoli!!!!

Robbin, can I get his name, address and phone #. I'm still looking for a vet like that. Can't believe you found one!

The vets are out there. You just have to look. Before switching to the one that I have now....I spent 45 min on the tel with her discussing all the issues that I felt were important to me. She approves raw if she feels after speaking with a client that they are doing it correctly & have done their research before doing so. She feels that too many people jump onto the 'flavor of the month banwagon' much to the demise of their pets. Can't say that I blame her, when I have people question me all the time about raw feeding. Many are trying it without a clue...poor dogs. SO do your research & you will find one...even if you might have to travel to the next town.

Hey Robbin. Just to address a couple of your questions, IMO.

1) 4 days of the runs in a pup is something (IMO) worth checking out beyond his food. Dehydration is too big of a risk )(IMO) at his age.

2) Over feeding raw can definitely cause problems - up one way, or out the other. We measured the weight of our food judiciously when we first started, and still weigh food at least a few times a week (and also weigh the dogs) to make sure we are on track. We use the Leerburg guidelines for ranges of food weight by dog. It's pretty easy to put a spreadsheet on the fridge, and get a postage scale - our favorite for weighing out meals.

3) 4 days of the runs in a pup may or may not be diet related. Please check it out before dehydration becomes a problem. I agree with others who say that a strong, active attitude in the dog is a good sign. However, dogs don't react equally to infections / illnesses. This isn't "scientific" by any means, but my two GSD's seem to have very strong constitutions. They have both had very dangerous problems, while displaying their normal attitudes and drives. (not acting sick at all) The open pyo for my female is the best example of this. Had we waited through the other symptoms until she *acted* sick with that infection, we might have been waiting for her to die.

Don't let your young pup get too dehydrated. And please don't assume food is the problem - it probably isn't at this stage (IMO).

Beth

My dogs have always been on a mostly kibble with raw treats combination as pups because of this very reason. I used Innova. Later I started to get a feel on how they can handle things and switched them to mostly raw with kibble on the side.

Here's the LINK...

http://www.leerburg.com/diarrhea.htm