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Hello,
I recently got a english bulldog/american bulldog mix puppy- she is 8 weeks old and I just got her a few days ago- I wanted to try a raw food diet, and my buddy said start with using green tripe and raw chicken ground into the food? is there a certain age where these raw foods should be introduced?
the breeder was giving her eukunaba and I switched to nutro max, but so far I havent been having any luck except for constant diareah LOL- which I know is to be expected from the changing foods, so I also don't want to overwhelm her little stomach-
Puppies need special/extra nutrients that adult dogs don't need, I would check with a vet to see what those needs are.
Any change in food should be done gradually to reduce the upset stomach.
I would also be concerned with some raw foods and the pup not having all of it's shots yet. Not sure if that *should* be a concern, but it would be for me.
I didn't switch my pup until he was about 11 months old, but I didn't do it gradually...it was one meal kibble, the next raw, and every meal since has been raw. He did fine with the switch, no problems at all. The younger a pup is, the better they will likely handle switching from kibble to raw.
I have never had to meal plan for a puppy, so I can't offer any helpful suggestions.
You might want to check and see if the dog food you are feeding has soy in it as when my brother got the first of his English bulldogs the breeder told him they tend to not tolerate soy well so to avoid food AND snacks that have soy. and yes so many dog foods and snacks do contain soy.
Do not feed a raw diet to a puppy until you have read all about raw food diets for pups. Ian Billinghurst wrote a whole book "BARF for Puppies". If you have never done it before, don't just jump in until you know what you're doing. My suggestions would be to feed a premium kibble and then transition your pup to raw when he's ready for adult food.
I switched two dogs who were over two years old to the BARF diet. They took to it right away. Cats are the real challenge. They're not likely to eat raw if they don't get it as kittens.
Hello,
I recently got a english bulldog/american bulldog mix puppy- she is 8 weeks old and I just got her a few days ago- I wanted to try a raw food diet, and my buddy said start with using green tripe and raw chicken ground into the food? is there a certain age where these raw foods should be introduced?
the breeder was giving her eukunaba and I switched to nutro max, but so far I havent been having any luck except for constant diareah LOL- which I know is to be expected from the changing foods, so I also don't want to overwhelm her little stomach-
suggestions?
I would not feed raw food to a puppy at all.
When you switched food I hope you did it gradually, mixing the two foods together and then adding less and less of the old food.
I'd watch the pup carefully as they can dehydrate VERY quickly with diarrhea. If that doesn't clear up quickly you need to take it to the vet.
Don't need the green tripe, but it's a GREAT treat for them. Yes, start with chicken, no need to grind. You may want to "ribbon" it to help the puppy get started ripping it apart. But don't do it until you've done the research.
I started by reading the Yahoo group "Raw Feeding". They also have a facebook group. Join the group, read all the files and the conversations. VERY informative.
I feed my adult rescue rat terrier a mix of dry food and cooked meat and veggies. But, I just wanted to let you know that raw beef marrow bones are great for their teeth. Jackie would devour too much bone if the marrow bones are sawed in half. But, if you get the pipe marrow bones (where they are whole with the marrow in the middle), they clean their teeth eating the gristle, etc., off the outside and then just eat the marrow out of the middle, without ingesting much bone. They'll keep your puppy's teeth really clean and give him something to chew on that's good for him.
I thought about feeding raw to Jackie, but I don't have a big freezer and decided I just didn't want to deal with it. I give her a good quality dry dog food for breakfast, and some cooked meat or fish and veggies for dinner, and she gets a raw marrow bone every day, too. I feel like this way, she should be getting every possible vitamin and Omega 3 and whatever else she needs LOL.
Plus, if you know they do well on a particular dry food, you can always go back to that as your baseline if they get sick. You just feed the dry food again until you figure out what's going on.
raw fr pups is FINE...
start with CHICKEN, preferably chicken backs and/or chicken leg quarters...do not grind...you loose the tooth cleaning benefit with ground and it encourages puppies to gulp food rather than chew it...feed BIG pieces to encourage her to take her time and chew.
DO NOT feed green tripe yet...that (and organs) are the LAST things to add, both are very rich and can be too much...
there is TONS of info online for raw feeding...
personally I feed prey model raw, have been for 6 years an have easily switched many a pup...
for the upset tummy, pull food for 12 hours...give her system a rest, then give her some good live plain unswetend yogurt in the morning then start with the diet you plan to keep her on...give her plenty of water and offer chicken broth (low sodium) 4 times during that day. (keeps the blood sugar and electrolyte levels right.)
personally I NEVER slow switch (ive seen way too many ongoing tummy troubles...
I do a 12 hour fast (never longer for a young pup) which gives the system time to flush out the old...then start with the new...add good live yogurt every day for at least 2 weeks.
while her tummy is upset WATER AND ELECTROLYTES are the most important things for her.
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