Quote: Nora Ferrell

... I have a mental picture of one of those ipod dogs or whatever they are called shaking all over.

Hahahahahaha!

That would be accurate.

Thank you for the welcome, Nora!
The log is a great idea! I've read about it here before, but with all the other excitement forgot about it. Will do.
We already have a kitchen scale, so that's taken care of.

Rich,
I guess if our future puppy starts throwing up, going gradually is something I can keep in mind. Thank you for the suggestion.


Another question (I hope it's not an off-topic in this thread):
I've been researching this on the net, and obviously, there are a lot of people on the other side of feeding raw, referencing O'Heare's book among others. Some of those arguments don't really make sense to me ("humans eat cooked meat, so it's all right for dogs" -- well, our stomachs are different!). I also get why a dog's stomach is more likely to kill bacteria than ours. What about bones puncturing throats, stomachs, etc, though? The anti-raw people claim that thousands of dogs are being killed by splinters of RAW bones, that chicken and turkey bones are the leading culprit, and that the incidents of this are on the rise (they correlate it with the rise of popularity of raw diets). Is that correlation true? How much of a threat is this?

Thank you,
Sam.

Yes, it actually IS off-topic for this thread, even though it's your own thread. (It makes it hard for folks to find the right threads using "search" or the forum lists of topics.) However, feel absolutely free to start a new thread about anti-raw folks, including O'Heare. You might want to include a link to the book(s).


P.S. You might also want to take a look at prior threads about dangers inherent in raw, etc. (no discouragement at all about a new thread -- just not to limit yourself to one thread when there are dozens or hundreds already written).

OK, thank you, Connie, will do.

I just received a working line GSD from Germany four weeks ago. He was 8 weeks when I received him and we switched to raw 'cold turkey' with no problems. We use Urban Carnivore which is whole ground animal formed into 8oz patties: Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Bison, Organ Meat, tripe and fruit and vegetables. I mix up the food to keep it balanced and interesting. They are Canadian but have a good website.

I add the Vit. C and supplements as per the Leerburg recommendations and the Vet said today he was the perfect weight.

Duncan (Canada)

 Quote: Duncan Young

I just received a working line GSD from Germany four weeks ago. He was 8 weeks when I received him and we switched to raw 'cold turkey' with no problems. We use Urban Carnivore which is whole ground animal formed into 8oz patties: Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Bison, Organ Meat, tripe and fruit and vegetables. I mix up the food to keep it balanced and interesting. They are Canadian but have a good website.

I add the Vit. C and supplements as per the Leerburg recommendations and the Vet said today he was the perfect weight.

Duncan (Canada)

Don't forget fish oil (and the E that you give along with it).

Is that a frozen patty? I have heard of it but not yet run into anyone using it. Do you get it shipped, or do you buy it at retail outlets?

An update:

We got our puppy last Saturday, and if I ever get enough sleep again, I'll open a separate thread on how great she is.

She's been with us for a week, and took to us immediately, is wonderful, and on the topic of food, she had nothing but nicely shaped stools, right from the beginning.
So, it looks like the re-homing stress has not triggered any stomach problems.

I got a freezer delivered yesterday, and my cases of 1 each backs and necks have arrived today, so I picked them up.

We decided to start her on raw at lunch today (we feed her 3 times a day). She was 15 pounds yesterday, so her normal intake should be 5% of that = 12oz, or 4oz each meal.
I gave her 2.5oz of chicken backs for lunch and dinner, skin and fat trimmed off. She went to the bathroom after dinner, and had nice logs, but that was probably still the morning's kibble. She hasn't pooped since, but I'll see what happens at 2am, when she's sure to wake me up for bathroom time.

Wish us luck!

Congrats on all fronts (or backs as the case may be)!!!

Perfect, Sam!

Let us know how everything comes out.

Sleep will come.....eventually.:laugh: Have fun! The midnight bathroom breaks will be over soon enough.:smile: