Feeding 18 week old puppy..RAW?

[Gertie]

Started on Arden Grange and moved onto Burns (early days at the moment), puppy was bottom scooting..glands?? with looser poo on AG, better on Burns but early days.  TBH, I wouldn't eat processed biscuits for my food so looking at raw.  Everyone seems to rave about it and it does seem more natural.  Are there any downside to feeding raw?   At the moment it seems you have to buy in bulk, I have the freezer space but concerned if she doesn't like it (unlikely as seems to be keen on all food!) Are there any ready made raw food manufacturers that are better for cockers than others. I would look at doing raw myself after a while when I have got my head round the idea, but I really need to use the experts to make sure my puppy gets what she needs whilst she is growing.

[its.sme]

Have you looked for suppliers close to you, Natural Instincts have a supplier list
http://www.naturalinstinct.com/find-a-retail-outlet/
That way you can buy just one tub to try it, I find NI easy as it has everything worked out for you, bone, meat and vegetables in the correct amounts.

There are also Facebook pages that can offer more help and advice, but plenty of COL members have far more experience at this than me and Bea.

I changed Bea over at Easter , she eats it partly frozen as she likes to get her teeth involved

Good luck
Sharon.

[ejp]

I used Honeys for mine, they were great for advice too. I found them extremely good to deal with.

[elaine.e]

Pets At Home stock Nature's Menu, which many people start their dogs on, although they mainly seem to change to something cheaper once they're confident with feeding raw. NM do a variety of nuggets, blocks, free flow minces and meaty chunks. Be aware that some of the nuggets contain cooked rice, nothing raw about that!

Before you start, and if you're on Facebook, have a look at some of the raw feeding groups on there. Some are quite extreme and are really for those who feed whole prey, but most are happy to have members who feed the more accessible stuff such as minces. I recommend Raw Feeding UK, which has a start up guide and a chart of how much to feed amongst it's files. It's a good place to start, to do some reading and then ask questions.

Ultimately you want to aim for a varied and balanced diet of around 80% muscle meat, 10% offal and 10% bone. Growing puppies need more food than adult dogs.

[Gertie]

Thank you all for your help.  A very good idea about Natural Instinct, off to buy some today.  What do  you give your dogs as training treats?  I think the processed biscuits she is presently on (Natures menu) and I also give her cheese might not be high enough value in her books, but there again I might be wrong as ALL food seems to be good in her book!

[julie1]

Can I high-jack this thread please,
Where do fish like sardine & sprats come  are they muscle or can they be thought of as muscle & bone.

[elaine.e]

Can I high-jack this thread please,
Where do fish like sardine & sprats come  are they muscle or can they be thought of as muscle & bone.

They don't really count as either. They're just .....fish

Many raw feeders feed them once or twice a week for the omegas in them. Raw are better than tinned, but if sardines and sprats are out of season or too expensive, or sometimes if I've forgotten to get raw food out of the freezer, mine have a large tin of pilchards between them. I just drain off the tomato sauce.

[elaine.e]

Thank you all for your help.  A very good idea about Natural Instinct, off to buy some today.  What do  you give your dogs as training treats?  I think the processed biscuits she is presently on (Natures menu) and I also give her cheese might not be high enough value in her books, but there again I might be wrong as ALL food seems to be good in her book!

Some raw feeders frown on any commercially made treats and make their own liver cake etc. and wouldn't dream of giving cheese or bits of sausage and similar. I'm not that fussy and mine have wheat free treats by Feelwells for training, or tiny bits of cheese or cooked cocktail sausage, and they have a tripe stick or similar most days as an after walk snack, and sometimes a mini markie or gravybone.

[its.sme]

Thank you all for your help.  A very good idea about Natural Instinct, off to buy some today.  What do  you give your dogs as training treats?  I think the processed biscuits she is presently on (Natures menu) and I also give her cheese might not be high enough value in her books, but there again I might be wrong as ALL food seems to be good in her book!

For treats I use Fish4 fish cubes(can't remember there proper name sorry)
I now buy low fat cheese as it's very easy to put weight on otherwise, I also use fish skins as a morning chew, I used to use dentastix but they are not needed with raw feeding and they are not very nutritional,  i still wanted something to help keep her teeth clean.

Worth having a good read of the ingredients on the packet, so many things are full of rubbish.

[Mudmagnets]

Here are a couple of Fish4Dogs treat pages, I use quite a few of them for Minstrel

http://www.fish4dogs.com/Products/sea-jerky-tiddlers.aspx

http://www.fish4dogs.com/Categories/Dog-Shop/treats-biscuits.aspx

[julie1]

Can I high-jack this thread please,
Where do fish like sardine & sprats come  are they muscle or can they be thought of as muscle & bone.

They don't really count as either. They're just .....fish

Many raw feeders feed them once or twice a week for the omegas in them. Raw are better than tinned, but if sardines and sprats are out of season or too expensive, or sometimes if I've forgotten to get raw food out of the freezer, mine have a large tin of pilchards between them. I just drain off the tomato sauce.

Thanks for the info. I was meaning fresh. I also use tinned if I forget.