Yes, I'm feeding the puppy with the 5 ish percent guideline... she's about half the size of the adult, so ends up getting about the same amount of food.

Mostly I'm going with their body condition. I actually had Josey, the adult up an extra pound or two too heavy, and the pup perhaps a pound heavy, so I have adjusted. The thing is, with setters, just one good day of exercise and they slim right down, so I have to adjust each day with their activity level. I think their weight right now is perfect: nothing extra over the ribs, but not so thin their backbones stick up. Josey always used to run a bit too thin, with backbone and hips too prominent, IMO. I could not get him to gain any weight on even the best kibble or canned.

Yes, good poops for the most part with chicken.

I am giving all parts of the chicken, except for that huge gob of fat that seems to come tucked into the body cavity. Its like 3 ounces of fat, so I usually toss that away, but I am giving them all the skin, backs, organs, necks, wings etc.

I tried about 2 ounces of beef, and I should try again tomorrow.

Today each dog had an entire split breast (quite large) for breakfast, plus some liver. Then for dinner the pup had a wing, 4 necks, and was still "starving" so had a drumstick too. Josey had a leg quarter plus a thigh for dinner.

Both dogs have also had multiple EVO dog biscuits. Its the ritual after going out to potty for the pup, so of course they both get one. I suppose we could stop with that as pup is house trained, but she is so adorable sitting expectantly... well..

Thanks Linda,
for the reminder about the menu. I'm looking forward to being able to give them that much variety. I think tomorrow we'll try some beef again. At least they are handling the liver OK now. At first that really loosened them up!

Also, I'm getting a feel for the bone/meat ratio. More bone firms up poop in a hurry, sometimes too much, poor dogs, so a little extra meat is in order.

Also, Sue, how did you get the amount for the pup? I come up with a little under a pound for the adult (without adding more for the "very active" part). But for the puppy, if I take 26 pounds at 5 to 10% of present weight, I get a pound and a third for the lowest end.

Are we doing the percent the same way?

26 pounds at 5% is 1.3 pounds (or 1 pound 5 ounces or so)
42 pounds at 2% is .84 pounds (or 13.5 ounces or so)

Those are both the low ends of the estimates I used.

Natalya,
Thanks for the advice and reassurance. Its funny you talk about the musher checking each dog, as that is pretty much what I do too! In general, getting too heavy is not a problem for these dogs. What IS a problem, at least from the puppy's perspective, is how STARVING she gets! I think some of it is in her head, as she came from a kennel that fed Purina Corn Chow, and she was quite thin with a dry stubby coat when we got her, and a huge appetite. I'm hoping she will eventually realize that each meal is not her last!

 Quote: Linda Patch

Lauren,
I would have gone down in flames insisting that Cali was chicken challenged--given her worst poop problems were always on high-end kibble with chicken as the first ingredient. I was REALLY worried feeding Cali chicken backs and necks to start. I was going to start her on bison with all kinds of rigmarole. Then I listened to the folks here and decided to take the plunge and try the chicken backs to start--real food, not kibble chicken. She did perfectly. Beautifully, in fact. I just laid out Cali's story here in this thread if you want an overview of the saga that led me to raw. No looking back.

Cool, thanks. I'll read the thread right now!

I still think I will wait to make the switch when I have a long weekend or a vacation week. Just to be safe. There have been a few times my poor girl has had an upset stomach when she started antibiotics. She gets so freaked out when she urgently needs to go! I would feel terrible if it happened when I wasn't home.

A quick funny story. When the snow started this winter my dog was confused about where to go. She quickly figured out that her new favorite thing to do was climb as high up on a snow bank as she could get and crouch. Quite a sight.

Last week all the snow banks melted. She held it ALL day! I gave her plenty of opportunities, she just wouldn't. Finally at 11:00 at night she started pacing around the living room franticly. She stopped, looked at me with a furrowed brow and let out a sound that I have never heard before from any animal!

Thanks again. From everything I have heard about a raw diet it really seems to be the way to go.

If 2 ounces of beef didn't work, try an ounce.

If you have a dog that doesn't do well with digestive surprises, best to start small and gradually work up to the desired amount.

If poop stays good, proceed. If it starts going bad, know that you need to slow down a little.

My questions about food tolerance and stuff kinda derailed your thread.

Did your original questions get answered?

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

Are we doing the percent the same way?

26 pounds at 5% is 1.3 pounds (or 1 pound 5 ounces or so)
42 pounds at 2% is .84 pounds (or 13.5 ounces or so)

Those are both the low ends of the estimates I used.

OK, that is helpful Connie. I was misunderestimating the pup a little bit. I'd come up with .8 for Josey, then said to myself pup is half the size but needs twice the food, so that equals the same-ish. But she is now a bit more than half Josey's size. What's amazing is how much she can fit into that little tummy!

Anyway, Tess is very good at telling me when she is still hungry, so she gets more then! Setters usually are pretty good at eating the right amount, not overeating.

 Quote: Michael_Wise

My questions about food tolerance and stuff kinda derailed your thread.

Did your original questions get answered?

Thanks Michael, my questions are getting answered!

If I had one more question... should I start giving vitamin E soon, (or salmon oil etc) or wait until I can give every kind of meat/organs?

 Quote: sue houston

If I had one more question... should I start giving vitamin E soon, (or salmon oil etc) or wait until I can give every kind of meat/organs?

You won't need to start the vit E until you start the salmon oil (the body uses vit E to process the oil, so it isn't necessary to start until you're already giving the salmon oil). If your dogs have sensitive stomachs, you probably want to start with a small dose of oil, as pure fat has the potential to cause loose stools.

Most dogs have no trouble with salmon oil that has been slowly introduced and is in the correct dosage, but I'd probably treat it like any other new ingredient in your prospective menu and wait until the dogs had good solid poops before beginning to add it in.

There is a lot of good information on salmon oil and vitamin E here if you search on those keywords - "OMEGA" also pulls up good results.

~Natalya