# Not sure if im doing it right



## zedative (Jan 21, 2014)

Hi everyone, so i brought Chich home about a week ago, and I had him on Eukanuba large breed puppy kibble for the first few days, approx 1 cup for 3 meals each day. I found he wasn't taking to it so well so i thought I'd give him a raw meal for dinner rather than kiddle, a few days later I got him some chicken kidney and necks, he would inhale these within 2min, even the necks included. A few days later he began to have runny stool and eventually it was liquid, my first thought was it was the raw, as it was new and plus he wasnt grinding the necks properly. I also added beef mince to his kibble meals to get him to eat them (instead of 1 cup kibble, id go half n half with the mince) this was fine but still he had runny stools.

I decided to stop the necks and kidneys and instead give him chicken wings and legs, a bigger bone which he would have to chew and take his time with. Today it seemed to be working, but he has a mixture of solid and runny stools. Im not sure if this is because he is being over fed or something else, I have him wormed, and i dont think he is sick as he is still very active and biting/chasing everything he can. I am sure its his diet, so basically is there anyone out there who can help me please.

How much should he be getting fed? how many times? and is there any way to make him eat his kibble in one sitting (at the moment he has some then he leaves and intermittently comes back for more)?

Just a note: the kibble meals weigh approx 120g per meal, and the raw is anywhere from 150-200g per meal, also I plan on substituting the raw meal with a red meat raw bone once or twice a week.

Thank you in advance for the help.


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## mydogs (May 4, 2012)

Beautiful puppy! I'm of no help with raw. But to get him to eat just kibble have you tried adding alittle canned? Or plain yogurt? The loose stool is from change in diet. Have his stool checked for any parasites if it continues 


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## David Winners (Apr 30, 2012)

Super cute puppy 

If you haven't taken the opportunity yet, I suggest you read through the stickies in the BARF/Raw Feeding section of the forum.

There is also a lot of information at Raw Dog Ranch.


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## sehrgutcsg (Feb 7, 2014)

I am using Eukanuba large breed puppy kibble a little over 1/2 cup mixed with 2 tbl. spns. of white rice, and 2 tbl. spns. of Van Patten's Natural Balance chicken, mixed with 1/4 tea. spn. of the calcium montmorillonite clay. The clay is a digestive enzyme and mega minerals. I gave her a raw chicken heart and it took a while but it was gone in a few. The pup is 8 weeks next Wed. 12 -25-13.

I stopped at my vets office and we chatted about foods and this is about the conversation. If you disagree and something else works for you great, I am only sharing what we spoke about. ! So, far he has asked me for no money, a big plus when every penny goes into care. We have a history 1987 to present.

I asked this:

dry food: $1.50 lb.
wet food: $2.50 lb.
lotus raw: $5.00 lb.

I asked about carrots and sweet potato's because I remembered hearing but could not remember, what. He said, some dogs have allergy's to these foods, so you have to try it to know..>?

I ask about cooking chicken. I buy the discounted chicken at about .99 cent per lb. and freeze it that day. My friend uses a crock pot and shreds his.

White potato was mentioned as good, not with white rice or not with barley. Switch back and forth and add one ingredient (binder) every 7 days to see, if the pets stools are okay.

peas : good
green beans : good
carrots : good

When I walk my Jack Russell and my wife walks the pup together Bella pulls like a Alaskan Malamute. We graduated to around the block at 7 weeks. 15 minutes. if for some unknown reason the Puppy gets sick, she is very strong to begin with and this is my reason for lean and exercised.

I tried Lamb and Rice and did not like it, it works for my Jack, but not the GSD puppy.

Dr. Al Plechner has been in this game a long time and in 1992 Spankie grew eyelashes upon enzyme adding to her food and she was in bad shape, so I trust him big time.

Now this is the kicker of the story. Kirkland "Costco" had been deemed very good as Eukanuba large breed puppy kibble 40 lbs. @ $56.00 is a lot of money when the nutrition is coming from the digestive enzyme additive, so he said; just get a small amount as my 3 - GSD ate 40 lbs. per week. So this is my story, if it does not work for you and you want to use Lotus @ $5.00 a pound there's no "heart" feelings, just not ready to do that and I am not giving the pup bones or bone meal. A raw Chicken Liver or Heart is on the menu, but the organs are too small in my opinion to do this now. She has done pretty good in 7 days on the paper training and I am happy with my results..


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## shepherdmom (Dec 24, 2011)

When I first brought my boy home he had pudding poo. After having it checked by my vet she suggested pumpkin. (get the canned 100% pumpkin with nothing added, not the pie filling) and within a day it had formed up. It was still soft though so after a couple of days I slowly mixed in a different food and now it is normal poo.


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## zedative (Jan 21, 2014)

He just passed a stool infront of me, its more solid, but after starting him on chicken wings and drum sticks last night, i found a bone about the size of a pinky in his stool, and a very little dab of blood on the last piece of his stool (I assume caused by this bone). Any advice? I think I am going to stick to kibble for his last meal tonight.


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## mydogs (May 4, 2012)

I don't understand the whole raw and bones fad. Dogs ate this ions ago in the wild. Our dogs aren't in the wild. Add your own home cooked as topper to kibble


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## Serbrider (Jan 30, 2014)

It's not a fad. Dried cooked kibble has only been around since the 1950's, and only became popular in the 1980's when there were news reports released with all the myths we now associate with raw, like the bones will splinter (only cooked will), it will turn your dog into a bloodthirsty monster (lies), it's impossible to feed a balanced diet unless it's kibble (also very untrue), salmonella risks (extremely low actually), etc. So people started feeding kibble bc they wanted to do what was best for their dog, and continued bc it was convenient and mostly cheap. We are learning more and more now, and while some dogs DO have sensitive stomachs (due to breeding or a lifetime of kibble), and do best on a balanced cooked diet, most dogs are far more likely to thrive on a species appropriate diet of raw meats, bones, and organs.... Preferably whole prey if possible, but doing that is hard. 

So, I won't get mad at anyone for feeding a quality kibble, I know people have their reasons, whether finances, convenience, freezer space, etc. But don't go knocking it or people who feed it without fully understanding the history and reasons as to why people choose either. It's not a fad. In the grand scheme of things, KIBBLE is a fad.

To the OP, I'm glad you're finding what is working for you and your pup. I'd give pumpkin a try to help firm up that stool if you can... 


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## Eiros (Jun 30, 2011)

If your dog can't eat the bones, how about getting a pre-ground raw or grinding it yourself? We get pre-ground whole prey model raw, which includes the bones and organs, ground "chunky" but still small enough. 
If we feed chicken backs or anything, we cut them into pieces small enough so he isn't swallowing anything too large. 


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## sehrgutcsg (Feb 7, 2014)

My friend Nick in Denver, CO had a hybrid wolf who was thrown a entire raw chicken, in the wild I have no problems with this, the wolf choked and died. I am never against anything that works, just take all the necessary steps to prevent heartache...Nick has 500+ cattle, long horn's, 100+ horses and 3000 acres in Antinito, accidents happen.. T Bone ranch.. :crazy:


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## Heidigsd (Sep 4, 2004)

Zedative: check your PM


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## Heidigsd (Sep 4, 2004)

*Zedative:* I get this great newsletter from Tufts University and they had an article on Homemade Diets in the February issue that is really good if you are interested (Volume XX Number 2)

Your Dog

They evaluated 200 recipes and only nine provided all the necessary nutrients. Eight of those recipes were written by veterinarians board-certified in nutrition. Really interesting article since you are raising a puppy. Just thought I would mention it


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## zedative (Jan 21, 2014)

Thanks for all the replies and help guys, Chich has his stool back to normal now, I've decided to keep him on just kibble till he gets a little older and bigger and try reintroduce raw meat. I give him 3 meals a day, a measured cup at each meal, and soak in warm water for 10min before giving him his meal. Although he still isnt taking to well to it, I wanted to get something to add to his kibble so he will be more interested in his food. Unfortunately there is no source of 100% pumpkin in a can in Australia, so is there any other recommendations? I was thinking all natural greek yoghurt?

Thanks again guys.


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## Suburbandiva (Jun 9, 2013)

Hey zedative,

Glad to hear that Chich is feeling better. It sounds like you are taking the right approach. I add a capsule of slippery elm supplement from the pharmacy when she has pudding poop. Another thing that helps to firm up the poop (and dogs love it) is 1/4 cup of 100% all bran, believe it or not. It works like a charm. I got both of those ideas from the forum here. I also add a sprinkle of powdered gelatin to her food to help with joint health and a nice coat. She seems to like the taste.

I went through basically the same thing as you, but it took me a good two or three months figure out why Revy was having diarrhoea issues. We had her on Royal Canin German Shepherd puppy food for a few months when she suddenly developed diarrhoea. We switched her to a grain-free food, but it didn't help, we put her on antibiotics and it helped for a while then returned, we tried ground beef and rice, and boiled chicken and rice, and it would get better and then return. We tried her on raw, but didn't do enough research. Finally, we put her on a limited ingredient/novel protein diet (kangaroo and oatmeal from Iams) and stopped all treats of any kind - nothing but the kibble. That cleared it up. When we switched her to a new food, we took several weeks and transitioned slowly and she's been fine for the last 5 months now. She's on Natural Balance rabbit and potato.

As it turned out, what caused the problem for us was introducing too many foods too quickly, switching her food too quickly, feeding her too much, giving her too many treats and the big one was that we didn't realize that we shouldn't let her chew on raw hides. It took us probably a good two or three months to figure it out and it was just so frustrating and heart breaking. 

I'm glad to hear that you've got things under control. Good luck to you and feel free to send me a pm if you are looking to commiserate.


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