Connie,
eight weeks is not too young for raw feeding, but eight weeks is a little young to be removed from mama.
You can wean a pup directly from nursing to raw, for that matter, Leerburg kennels do that.
What Christine says about toys being finicky eaters is not any more true for toys than for other dogs.
Toys get finicky because they are allowed to, that's all.
That said, it IS VERYimportant that a teeny tiny pup gets fed small amounts and often, and has access to water or other fluids, and also that they are kept warm. They do dehydrate quickly and they also can't keep their bodyheat up when they are very young and very very small.

I think that the dog will let him know and quickly. If he eats the raw food right off the bat then it shouldn't be an issue. If he doesn't, then they need to make some transition changes for the good of the dog. A lot of the toy breeds are VERY finicky. I wouldn't risk having the small pup dehydrate to force it to eat something that it doesn't want.

 Quote: Janice Jarman

Connie,
eight weeks is not too young for raw feeding, but eight weeks is a little young to be removed from mama.
You can wean a pup directly from nursing to raw, for that matter, Leerburg kennels do that.
What Christine says about toys being finicky eaters is not any more true for toys than for other dogs.
Toys get finicky because they are allowed to, that's all.
That said, it IS VERYimportant that a teeny tiny pup gets fed small amounts and often, and has access to water or other fluids, and also that they are kept warm. They do dehydrate quickly and they also can't keep their bodyheat up when they are very young and very very small.

Makes total sense to me.

Hello!

I can't imagine even picking up a Yorkie pup. They are so small even as adults.

My youngster was transitioned and weaned onto raw, and when she came home with me, she was already able to polish off a chicken drumstick @ 8 weeks.

As for the size, perhaps your girlfriend might grind the chicken for him till he is older to handle RMBs?

I have a petite cat. He weighs just under 8 lbs and he can polish off a chicken back or leg. But when he first came home from the shelter, I started out with Nature's Variety. Then I bought a grinder (Tasin) to grind the bones while I chunked the MM for him. Eventually he worked his jaw muscles till he is now able to handle whole RMBs.

Good luck!

~ Rei

ps: Here is where I got my little grinder - http://onestopjerkyshop.com/

Toys and teeny terriers are a little different to intro to Raw at least in my experience. Their stomachs are tiny and they tend to have a rough time with even the smallest chicken bones because looking at the size difference a chicken bone is about the size of a cow femur to a larger dog at this point in their life.

For puppies until they're losing their puppy teeth in my toys I grind for and usually grind twice with the first one to break down the big chunks and the second time to aide in blending because for a tiny pup at 8 weeks a meal may be as little as barely 1/8 cup and I want to make sure everything is consistant. Calories are your friend and I usually watch the little guys like a hawk until about 10 -12 weeks to make sure they are consistantly eating. Don't panic if they don't seem very food driven and feel no fear about leaving the dish for a bit longer than the big dogs. For my little guys food drive usually starts at about 6 months or 3lbs.

Get a scale to know where you're starting at and weigh every other day to make sure the dog is expanding and not shrinking. Depending on weight starting at (my eight week olds are normally 1 lb to 1 lb 8 oz) Usually somewhere between 2-4 oz loss I switch them to Maxcal until they're gaining better. If the loss is beyond that a vet trip is in order.

As far as 8 weeks being too young to pull a toy sized dog. I humbly disagree but that is another topic.

 Quote: Melissa Thom

As far as 8 weeks being too young to pull a toy sized dog. I humbly disagree but that is another topic.

Melissa,
I did not mean that I thought 8 weeks was a little young to take a toy sized dog from it's mama, I meant that I think 8 weeks is a little young to take any dog from it's mama, but that I did not think it was too young to start a pup on raw, toy pup or not.

You are right, frequent small portions, ground very fine are the ticket for the teeny pups.

I forgot to mention read up on hypoglycemia in toy puppies to recognize the symptoms just in case.

Good posts guys! I just bought some raw grind food and he loved it. I don't plan on doing this all the time but for now it works. They are patties with meat, bone, veggies, etc. He ate a whole one, they're not to big but I was impressed. Definetly liked it!

Great! Best of luck with the little guy! They are adorable!

 Quote: Janice Jarman

 Quote: Melissa Thom

As far as 8 weeks being too young to pull a toy sized dog. I humbly disagree but that is another topic.

Melissa,
I did not mean that I thought 8 weeks was a little young to take a toy sized dog from it's mama, I meant that I think 8 weeks is a little young to take any dog from it's mama, but that I did not think it was too young to start a pup on raw, toy pup or not.

You are right, frequent small portions, ground very fine are the ticket for the teeny pups.

Could we start a new thread on this or something? Because I really really disagree but I don't want to go off topic.