I did the conversion with my familys old wonder spaniel a year or so ago. My first question for you are how are her teeth? Has she had them checked recently? If the answer is no I would look them over and make sure they are in a state where she can chew and pull without pain.

I started our own spaniel with a high calcium source chewy like chicken wings along with ground chicken breast and watched to see how willing she was to take on the challenge. In her case it took several months before she was willing to take on much bigger than a chicken wing or thigh and she was never willing to chew a back to this day when we give her an opportunity. Most people don't consider this but an elderly dog in the early stages of dementia may not have the concentration to eat for long periods if they're struggling ripping apart their food. So play it a little by ear and see where she's at in her abilities.

I also suggest THK as a good in between. Personally I'd go cold turkey away from that pedigree garbage and do several little meals over a weekend to start with. I would hate to do a larger meal then not be home to let her out if she needs out.

Thanks! I know it's hard to make judgements over the Internet. Your input really helps. I think the switch will be easy and I can't wait to start seeing the results. I will eventually switch to actual homemade raw, probably when the 4lb box of THK is running out. Should I switch gradually then too? Or is it really the same food in a different package?

Besides all the GREAT guidance you have received, just a reminder that if you aren't doing many teeny meals to start, you DO want to do small meals for the first few. A dog who has been on one food forever is going to do way better if the new meals are small. "Different" is easier when it's small.

THK has a "different" texture, BTW, so just for her own acceptance/comfort, I agree with Michael about mixing the canned, as bad as it is, with the THK at first.

You want a happy dog.

You want what we all get when we switch a senior:

"We switched our late senior, Domino, when she was about 13. .... I feel great that she got to spend the last part of her life in love with meal time. She anticipated every morning and night. She loved her raw food."

Even aside from the health benefits, there's nothing like a senior who already lives for her dinner discovering real food in her bowl.

"THK and canned can be mixed together with no problems and THK and raw can for sure be mixed together with no problems. THK is nice to have around for extra variety and an easy way to add some produce to the diet."

Ditto!

I love Force and Embark and have helped many folks to make the scary switch using them as a bridge to raw. And in fact, they can easily stay in the diet, even as the main part. Or you can make a thinner "gravy" from it just to give variety to RMBs.

This switch will give you an idea probably.

THK to homemade raw will be near seamless if this goes good, which by the way you describe I know it will.

In fact, THK is designed to be used with raw meat or RMB's. Once she has gotten all the way on it you can start adding raw if you like.*

*=Per the directions on the box, of course.

 Quote: Katie Finlay

Thanks! I know it's hard to make judgements over the Internet. Your input really helps. I think the switch will be easy and I can't wait to start seeing the results. I will eventually switch to actual homemade raw, probably when the 4lb box of THK is running out. Should I switch gradually then too? Or is it really the same food in a different package?

You can increase the ratio of RMBs gradually. We can walk you through that when you're ready. As the proportion of actual raw is increased, the necessity for the raw being balanced happens. (Easy, but just something to be aware of.)

When the food has gone from canned/THK to THK to THK with the package directions for add-ins, there's no balance issue for you at all. That doesn't come into play until the diet starts to become more raw than THK.

"THK is nice to have around for extra variety and an easy way to add some produce to the diet." (Michael)

I am never without it these days.

I have also added Ice Pups to that category, which is a THK-made dry mix to rehydrate and make frozen summer treats.

It makes the best warm gravy or broth ever! It's made from meat and herbs, it smells good rehydrating, it even tastes good to me (I tried a taste), and it's my new emergency fluid for a diarrhea-dog.

https://www.leerburg.com/icepup.htm

Thanks everyone!

I was going to get Embark but she isn't very active so I wasn't sure if it would be a bit much for her. She likes to go on walks, but they're very short and lemme tell you, when we turn the corner to come home she hauls butt! It's actually pretty funny, but it does remind me that she's a lot older now than she used to be. Though I think the raw diet will give her at least a little bit of a boost.

Good point about the teeth Melissa. They haven't been checked since her last vet visit, and he didn't say anything. But I've since realized that he NEVER really says anything and decided to go to a new vet. She hasn't needed to go so I haven't been anywhere else with her yet. I was feeding her a bit of Orijen in the morning (I thought I could at least give her some sort of nutrients) and she had no problem chewing that, but I don't know how she would do with bones. I'd assume they're harder, but I do know that chicken bones are pretty soft, from what I've read.

I will definitely keep her meals small, but I do want to mix it with the canned food just in case she doesn't like it at first. I'll have to read this whole forum a few times over to get it right I think, but I can do it! Thanks to everyone here

Those Ice Pups sounds good too! You know you're feeding your dog a great meal when you can eat it too! That's what got my mom to agree to it. That and she trusts me to be the knowledgeable animal person in the family.

Once I'm ready to either add RMBs or switch to full homemade raw, I'll be back for more input! I'm not sure I replied to everything posted but I'll definitely keep reading and learning. Thanks so much again everyone!

Yes ma'am! I was wondering... What could I give her to see if she can eat the bones?

 Quote: Katie Finlay

Yes ma'am! I was wondering... What could I give her to see if she can eat the bones?

If she cannot, then she needs dental help anyway, and you will want to know that.

For right now, there are no bones involved, and with the THK, the meat can be raw or cooked, RMBs or boneless. That would be when you start with very soft bones (like the back of chicken) and find out, after she has the great new taste in her experience.

But even if she was missing all her teeth and couldn't handle any bones, there's ground raw (with bone), and there's even boneless raw with calcium supplementation. (These are things you don't even have to worry about now, and chances are excellent that you never will. )