Okay, I've been scouring the internet, and have had some great advice from forum members, here. So, I think the problem is me being stupid, to be honest!

I know that there needs to be some variety in the raw diet. And I understand why.

My confusion lies in how to reach this variety without causing GI upset every time a new source of food is introduced.

For instance, the weekly example menu of Ed's. Obviously, there are several types of meat, from several different animal sources.

How does one "get to" the stage where your dog's GI is comfortable with more than just one type of meat?

I understand that new items in a diet need to be introduced gradually. I guess I'm just having trouble figuring out how to do that, but maintain a variety in the diet.

I hope this question makes sense. I feel really dumb!

 Quote: erica dalton

.... My confusion lies in how to reach this variety without causing GI upset every time a new source of food is introduced.

For instance, the weekly example menu of Ed's. Obviously, there are several types of meat, from several different animal sources.

How does one "get to" the stage where your dog's GI is comfortable with more than just one type of meat?

I understand that new items in a diet need to be introduced gradually. I guess I'm just having trouble figuring out how to do that, but maintain a variety in the diet.

I hope this question makes sense. I feel really dumb!

Very small amounts for dogs who don't have cast-iron stomachs (and many DO, BTW!).

For example: I have a small senior whose sardine portion is one sardine perched like a cherry on his bowl of food. This same dog had liver introduced in one-teaspoon increments. He also throws up if he has a whole meal of fish (even white fillets from Trader Joe's freezer), so his fish variety is a little bit added pretty often to his chicken RMBs instead of a whole meal of fish every now and then.

I can tell you from long and varied experience, lots of personal but also lots of info from online comments, that dogs whose guts rebel when a new food is introduced are often dogs who rarely get new foods introduced. That is, a dog fed the same kibble every day for five years is far more likely to have a GI rebellion if the kibble is changed one day.

(Of course, there are more compelling reasons to vary and/or mix kibbles, which I always recommend to folks who do feed kibble.)

Anyway, in practical terms, once your dog is doing great on raw, then variety (and particularly variety in the form of rich red meat, canned fish, egg yolks, and organ meats) will be very unlikely to trigger diarrhea if it's added in very small amounts at first and increased gradually.

Remember that even canned items like sardines and mackerel can be frozen in blobs on a plate or on foil and then baggied up in those blobs for easy thawing of meal-size amounts.

My freezer almost always has stuff like leftover orange squash, salmon skin, and on and on, to be added to meals or used as marker rewards.

Connie,

I think I owe you a huge thank-you gift, or something! You've been so patient and helpful with me, I can't thank you enough.

So, basically, once the dog is on one source of meat (say, chicken for instance) and doing well, then in order to add new things, I should add it gradually, like I did at the start (when I added the chicken to the rice, and phased out the rice)?

So, how does one get from the gradual addition to the pre-existing meal, to feeding the "new" meat as a standalone meal? I think that's the part I'm getting stuck on.

What I found with mine Erica, is that if they tolerate it when its added in small quantity, they handle it fine with one exception. That was beef heart. Tripe always seems to be handled well by all my dogs, even the ones on kibble so I wouldnt hesitate to add that.

 Quote: steve strom

What I found with mine Erica, is that if they tolerate it when its added in small quantity, they handle it fine with one exception. That was beef heart. Tripe always seems to be handled well by all my dogs, even the ones on kibble so I wouldnt hesitate to add that.

Yup, ditto all the way (my exception being liver, which two of mine have to have in small portions rather than a big portion every now and then).

But one of mine (that same senior who vibrates when the dishes are being prepared) really never gets his variety in the form of a standalone meal. He just does way better if the core of each meal is his usual chicken RMBs.

No problem to me .... instead of, say, chicken in the morning and lamb flaps in the evening, he would just have half of each at each meal (simplified for explaining).

I know that this wasn't really the question, but I love this stuff for variety:

http://leerburg.com/honestkitchen.htm

I've mentioned before that I will sometimes mix it up like a thinner "gravy" more than like the thick stewy consistency the instructions yield, and pour some over the RMBs every now and then. In fact, now I keep two different ones on hand, and I am going to order that new fish one (in the small size) because I think the ingredients are unique and awesome.

(I don't buy the Preference, which is really meant to be a base for a dog with a food allergy so the owner can use the novel/exotic protein his individual dog needs.)

I sometimes think that Maggie is on the chicken and hamburger diet! But I keep trying new foods in small amounts at first. Sometimes, we get a bit of pudding poop, but I keep trying and she gradually tolerates more meats...I think it is the fatty stuff she has a hard time with.

She will eat most veggies. Does well with liver, eggs and sardines. She basically devours anything I give her. But it doesn't always agree with her. We keep trying (in small amounts) - new things. I make sure that I have chicken backs on hand for after the lamb necks which are rich. Yogurt and pumpkin, too.

I guess some dogs eat the same kibble for their whole lives, so Maggie should be so lucky that she gets chicken and beef and thrives...

Thanks for all the comments, guys. It makes more sense, now. Slowly add in the 'new' stuff and watch for tolerance. Once we have tolerance, then it can be 'added' to the rotating menu...so long as I keep rotating, otherwise then I have a dog who is "stuck" on a certain diet and I'm back to square one.

Whew. I just tend to overthink EVERYTHING, and am a bit obsessive about my dogs. Plus, every single site online, regarding raw diets, has a different opinion and differing ideas on what to and what not to feed. That gets kind of overwhelming.

Even a very small amount of a different protein is valuable.

Just a small amount of a source with a different amino acid profile can remedy a potential problem from another protein that may have one of the essential amino acids in very short supply. The quality of the synthesized protein is restricted if even one of the essential amino acids happens to be supplied in a very small amount. This limiting amino acid cannot be made up for by any amount of the other essential (must be ingested) amino acids, or by any amount of the amino acids that the dog synthesizes himself, either.

Even a simple error in devising the feed rations for the slaughter animal can adversely affect the protein quality of the meat.

When less reliance is placed on a single protein source, the possibility of adverse effects from a limiting amino acid is minimized. Providing several protein profiles, as you are doing with chicken, beef, liver, eggs, sardines, yogurt, lamb .... imagine how slim the chance is of deleterious effects from a limiting amino acid! I would guess that the possibility is zero.

That makes a LOT of sense, Connie! Thanks for that post - very informative.

Well, things are still going okay, over here. Picked up some hamburger and some beef liver last night (for down the road), along with my RMB chicken staples. I've added a tiny bit of hamburger along with the chicken, right now. Pup had a bit of soft poo last night, so I added a tablespoon of squash with her meal this morning.

Overall, though, I am so happy I finally made the switch. I know I'm still in the "learning" phase, but I feel so much better about feeding raw than I ever did on kibble, even the expensive stuff.