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It can be a daunting thought to change your new puppy over to a raw diet if they have come to you with a bag of dried food. Some are very lucky to find breeders who have weaned their pups straight onto raw and give lots of good advice, but many pups are on dried food when bought from breeders who know very little or nothing of raw.
Puppies have the gift of youth on their side, with their body operating at optimum levels, which makes it very easy for most to move onto a raw diet.
We suggest a method which works with your puppy’s body, utilising the natural way the body works, to optimise chances for an easy, smooth transition, with minimised risk. To do this we recommend the following:
Day 1: Take away 1/4 of your puppy’s daily amount of dried food and replace with 1/4 daily amount of raw food allowance of a boneless bland mince like chicken or tripe.
Day 2: Take away 1/2 of your puppy’s daily amount of dried food and replace with 1/2 daily amount of raw food allowance of a boneless bland mince like chicken or tripe.
Day 3: Take away 1/2 of your puppy’s daily amount of dried food and replace with 1/2 daily amount of raw food allowance of a boneless bland mince or chunk of meat like chicken or tripe (more protein in the diet triggers the natural changing of the strength of stomach acid to become stronger, which makes it much easier for the digestive system once bone is introduced).
Day 4: From now onwards we suggest no more dried food be given anymore, and puppy be fully on a raw meat/bone/offal mix with tripe, usually chicken & tripe is used, with a couple of new proteins added each week, leaving rich/high fat choices until last.
Many will start with minces only, but this does not have to be the case, and with our own puppies, they are on some mince, some chunks and some meaty bones from day 4, i.e. some balanced mince for meal 1, chunks of meat and offal for meal 2, a chicken carcass or some chicken wings for meal 3 and balanced mince for meal 4, and we add any supplements and veg to the last mince meal.
Of course Balanced (meat/bone/offal) minces give what is generally considered to be the absolute minimum nutrition needed for life, but to improve and give a diet for your dog to truly thrive, we suggest the addition of meaty bones, suitable fruit/veg, daily omega 3 oils unless they will eat whole oily fish like sprats, and, once you are comfortable to, giving them some whole prey is also very beneficial.
Two other supplemental foods we highly recommend for all dogs that support in all life stages are Kefir, and Bone Broth.
We can provide suitable recommended foods and supplements.
The breed and size of the puppy will dictate what size mince we would recommend, and what size meaty bones can be given, but the sooner meaty bones are given, the better, being careful to ensure not too much bone is given.
Stools need to be watched very closely when changing puppies over to raw, as these are your window into how your puppy is managing his/her bone content. Bone is very beneficial and necessary for many crucial minerals, but too much will lead to constipation, so the stool should be firm and formed, and barely leave a trace once picked up, but puppy should not struggle to ‘go’.
White/crumbly/like a small hard stone = too much bone in diet
Sloppy/no shape = too much offal or too little bone
It is very easy to remedy stool consistency, but it needs to be acted on straight-away to prevent discomfort and upset for your dog.
This all may sound quite complicated but really is not, and customers are very welcome to
contact us for support.
