Puppies and RAW

[sammgirl]

Hi everybody!

Hope you are all well.

I'm sorry if this has been posted before- I did three searches, my last search I typed in "Raw puppies" and laughed at myself when I caught what I did.

Anyway, I guess risking being redundant, I'm going to get a samoyed puppy at some point in the next year.

Before you ask any of the normal "did you go to a good breeder" questions, the answer is yes, and you can check out my previous post here: http://www.chazhound.com/forums/t101448/

Anyway, is it better to feed a growing puppy raw or kibble? The kibble would be a really good type, like Fromm's and maybe supplemented with cow tripe, RMBs, and fish oil.

OR should I start out with mostly RAW?

Male samoyeds can be anywhere from 50 to 70 lbs- mostly they weigh in at about 60 lbs full grown, and the puppy will be male.

Not that they're a giant dog, but I'm concerned about kibble regarding the calcium/phosphate ratios and the puppy's bones growing too quickly. Even and slow growth while maintaining the proper nutritional balance is difficult. I just don't know which way to go.

If I do go RAW, how would I calculate how much of what to feed the pup?

[Fran101]

here is a great site with lots of info! Raw Diet For Dogs: The Basics

I adopted my dog as an adult, so shes quite bigger lol but how i started is with one simple food source, chicken is great (and cheap) I kept that going for a week and a half before I went on to add anything. just to give her tummy time to adjust

Its a certain percentage of your dogs body weight, im pretty sure its 2-4%

congrats on choosing raw for your puppy! you wont regret it

[sammgirl]

Thanks for your advice!

Every time I'm in the grocery store, I always make sure to get the BFs dog a meaty soup bone or pigs feet or something.

I do see lots of cheap stuff in there, and I think it's just as easy to feed RAW as long as you have a big freezer.

[ihartgonzo]

Does the breeder feed raw? Could you ask her for guidance? If not, I would invest in some good books as guidelines (anything by Tom Lonsdale) and maybe even consult a nutritionist like or own Mordy (@ dogfoodproject.com) to get a good feeding plan set up.

I fed Fozzie all raw from 9 weeks - adulthood, and he grew up nice and slow and lean. Being predominantly a breed that is prone to joint issues with their little stubby legs, I had the help of a Cardigan breeder and I did tons of research before hand. With a Samoyed, I obviously wouldn't worry. They are a medium sized, well-structured nordic breed. The puppies of wolves and wild dogs are brought up on exactly what the adults eat; prey model raw. If you can, I would feed all raw. Personally, I gave supplements when I fed all raw, but that is up to you and it is a hotly debated issue. A lot of nutritionists I've talked to also believe in supplementing raw that is not wild caught, but then again some don't.

It's recommended to feed puppies 2-3% of their estimated adult weight, or up to 10% of their current weight.

[sammgirl]

Thanks for the information and not making me feel silly for asking newbie questions.

I don't think I'm going to have a huge problem with bone growth, but I really want this little guy to have every chance that I can give him. I just wasn't sure if it would be any different for a puppy.

I think a good point was mentioned regarding wolf puppies eating what the adults do.

Are their foods that are better for specific breeds? That probably doesn't make sense, because dogs are all descended from wolves and have mostly the same digestive tracks no matter what kind of dogs they are.

[MafiaPrincess]

Some dogs can tolerate pork less well, I haven't had one of those though.

[sammgirl]

Are there any problems with feeding RAW? It almost sounds too good to be true, as long as you have the freezer space.

Say there is bacteria on something, can a puppy's system digest the bacteria as easily as an adult dog?

Is there something you can do to prevent the puppy from getting potentially sick from the bacteria?

I know you said pork was harsh, MafiaPrincess, would it be better to stick to a diet of chicken/beef/Turkey for a pup, or do you just experiment and find out what is best?

[SisMorphine]

Sammgirl, I am currently raising a litter on raw. I weaned them onto chicken and now they rotate between chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, and pork with no problems.

The only tricky thing about feeding raw to puppies is getting the calcium/phosphorus ratio correct. In older dogs you can balance diet over time, but in puppies you don't have as much play. Due to that, and the fact that I don't have a million hours in a day to do food mathematics, I skipped making my own and am using pre-made.

[MafiaPrincess]

My bitch prefers pork over all other meat.. Some dogs don't tolerate it well, but you won't know till you try it and have tried it more than once.

No harm in experimenting some. Dog's guts are meant to handle bacteria that we can't. Their digestive tracts are also shorter to help with that.

[sammgirl]

Originally Posted by SisMorphine

The only tricky thing about feeding raw to puppies is getting the calcium/phosphorus ratio correct.

One of the breeders which I chose not to go through for my puppy said that she did not have to worry about the calcium phosphate ratio because she fed RAW.

I understood only the basics of RAW feeding, so I thought that what she said made sense.

Due to that, I have another question now- with RAW, how do you balance those two? AND what ratio would you use for puppies?