Hi,
I am looking for advise on how to introduce my puppy onto raw food. The breeder currently feeds Bakers but I would like to change to raw once puppy has settled into our family.
I understand you can not mix dry and raw so how will I make the transition and how soon?
Many Thanks
Hello and welcome to the forum. As you say, give puppy time to settle in before changing food. The easiest way to feed raw is to use one of the commercial complete meals such as Nutriment, Natures Menu etc. There is quite a lot of choice in this category so have a look in the Dog Food Directory using the raw complete filter which is under ‘Type of food’. This returns three pages so there is plenty of choice. Please ask if you need help with this.
Regarding transitioning, some people advise to just stop the kibble one day and the next day start to feed raw. Others feel that a gradual transition may be best. You can feed kibble and raw while transitioning but I think it is best not to mix them in one serving i.e. give them at separate servings.
Your pup might enjoy raw from the beginning but some are a bit picky, particularly after having something like Bakers dog food. If pup is a bit unsure, just be patient and eventually you should be able to wean him off kibble.
Before you start to feed raw meat, read up about storage and sensible hygiene precautions. Once you have chosen a product that is suitable you could contact the company’s customer service department for further advice. They are usually very helpful.
I am just about to start my dog onto raw, and I have placed an order with Luna and me,
I have had lots of questions for the company as I was unsure of lots of things and they have come back with answers and have put my mind at rest.
The reason I have gone with luna and me is because they have raw patties that are easy to deal with eg you just get out of the freezer how many you need for the day the night before and place in the fridge.
I will let you know how I get on. But they might be a good start. They do puppy power patties .I hope that your puppy gets on well with raw.
Thank you for you responses.
Rebecca, I have emailed Luna and Me after searching raw food on the directory here and emailed them a few questions regarding the transition. I love that they do patties, makes it much easier to prepares as I have young children. This is the brand I am favouring at the moment so would be really interested to hear how you get on, thank you.
I just started feeding nutriment without transition and didn’t have any problems. That said, my dog seems to have a strong stomach. She stole a fair bit of white chocolate that a family member had irresponsibly left lying around two days ago. No ill effects at all.
Hi, welcome to the forum!
Lots of great recommendations already, I agree that probably you want to give the puppy a few days to settle in before stressing him with a change of diet.
From my experience, a sudden switch is better when moving from kibble to raw and vice-versa… but all dogs are different, so all you can do is an educated guess based on how strong your puppy’s tummy seem to be in the first few days you have him.
One word of warning: don’t be alarmed by weird looking stools once you switch: it’s absolutely normal as his body will need some time to learn how to digest the food. At the beginning it’s typical to see white pieces of undigested bone, for example. Please let us know how you get on!
Betsy14 - you don’t say how young your children are but it might be prudent to do as much research as you can regarding transmission of zoonotic infections associated with raw feeding. These include campylobacter, e.coli, listeria, salmonella among others. Teach your children good hygiene, particularly washing of hands after handling the dog and before eating/drinking. Seaweed has just posted a thread here which might be useful as a start. The links within that article are scientific and the authors recommend caution in feeding raw meat in situations where the animal is in close proximity to vulnerable people e.g. young children, elderly, immuno-compromised individuals.