# what raw diet should a 4-5wk old be on??



## smason (Dec 23, 2008)

i have a puppy of unknown age (http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...n=72229&Words=&topic=0&Search=true#Post914019)
maybe 4-5wks old. what would be an appropriate raw diet for it?

currently i have been feeding usually small amounts of rice with raw chicken (meat and liver, etc) wetted with some milk.

any suggestions?


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## Anja1Blue (Feb 27, 2008)

You might find this helpful:

http://www.b-naturals.com/newsletter/puppy-raw-diet/

_______________________________________________________

Susan

Anja GSD
Conor GSD - adopted from this Board
Blue GSD - at the Bridge


















naturals.com/newsletter/puppy-raw-diet/


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## smason (Dec 23, 2008)

thanks! does anyone else have suggestions as to what to feed this puppy? I have checked out the BARF threads, but do the menus there apply to a puppy as young as this as well?


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

I start weaning my puppies at 3.5 to 4 weeks so the same diet would apply though my pups are also still nursing. 

I use mostly ground chickens (whole chickens) at first mixed with warm water. Then I start adding other animals that will go through my grinder (turkey is about it though rabbit would probably work too). Then more meats like beef will be introduced and offal, maybe a bit of pork and lamb (I am talking just muscle meat since the bones are too hard). Eventually they will get some eggs. Once they are 6 weeks I am giving them chicken parts to chew on and by 7-8 weeks they are easily handling chicken parts, will clean off most other bones and even handle smaller turkey necks. If you can get chicken necks they are the easiest for them to learn to eat unground, but they are mostly bone so can't be all they are getting.


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## smason (Dec 23, 2008)

thank you lisa. thats a big help. i have been trying to mix of the variety of meats. one day chicken breast, the next ground beef, the next liver, etc. she can't eat bones yet for sure! she will clean a chicken leg bone though quite thoroughly. turkey is hard to find here. she eats real well although her bm's seem on the loose/runny side. is this normal? i feed her 3 times a day usually pretty close to the same time each day.


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## mspiker03 (Dec 7, 2006)

From your above post, it seems as if you are feeding liver as a meal or a large portion of a meal? Liver should be fed in very small amounts, even for mine (who are 4 years old). If you feed too much, it will cause your dog to get the runs. Also, is your pup eating any bone? It didn't seem like it from your post - and she should be consuming some bone in her diet. 

I don't know anything about feeding a puppy, let alone one that small, as I started mine on a raw diet when they were 2.


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## smason (Dec 23, 2008)

she has not eaten any bone because she cannot chew it...too young still. 
as far as liver...i have fed her liver once a week for one meal only during the 3 day meals (so for the almost 2 wks we've had her...she has eaten liver only 2 times total).
there are so many various thoughts and opinions as to what a common menu is and what they should have or not have, etc that it seems quite conflicting at this point.

my hardship is that here in Albania, quality dry food is impossibly to find. the dry food that can be found is cheap in quality but very expensive. all the dogs we have raised through my growing up have eaten dry and lived long healthy lives, so i assume just feed dry food. but it just can't be found here. raw food is relatively cheap so i figured better to just start her on a raw diet.
being that she is of unknown age...maybe about 5 wks now...(still not able to chew bone, although she likes chewing in her toys and things she leave no marks of any kind!)...I am just trying to feed her a decent diet so she will get the nutrients needed and grow strong especially in this first weeks/month of her life!


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Is there any way for you to get the chicken parts ground? She must have the bone. This is why her poops are so soft. If you can find necks she might be able to eat those. 

I would also limit her to one protein source for a week. Throwing so many different things at her can upset the system too. When you add the liver, I would give a very small amount at lunch each day (or just one of the meals) for a few days. In an adult dog I feed it as part of one meal a week, but puppies need small amounts at a time. If you are feeding whole chickens they usually have offal still attached (at least here they do) so I don't feed offal every day like many do.


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## smason (Dec 23, 2008)

ok this is helping clarify, thank you! I will see to find some way to grind the bones up or look for necks.

when you say one protein source for a week, do you mean only one kind of meat each week? beef one week, pork the next, chicken the next?

also, what parts are you considering offal of the whole chicken? just the various internal organs...heart, liver, etc?

what about the skin and fatty parts of the chicken...should i feed those? 

thank you so much for your help!

-Sean


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## mspiker03 (Dec 7, 2006)

If you can't grind the bones, maybe hacking them up a bit will help her be able to eat them???


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## balakai (Feb 9, 2005)

How about chicken necks? You can smash them up with a hammer or mallet.

~Kristin


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Only when you start out. I start out with chicken. Then I start introducing other protein (meat) sources. This way you don't overwhelm their young systems. Start with chicken. If everything goes OK with that for 5 days, then add in some beef for a few days. If that is OK, then you can try rabbit for a few days. Then lamb, etc. Be careful of pork. Some dogs just don't handle it well. Obviously the beef, lamb and pork will be meat only since the bones are way too hard. I would do the same with adding offal. Do a little over a few days. Same with eggs. Yogurt. Etc, anything you offer. When feeding beef, pork or lamb meat make sure the next meal is again a source with bone (rabbit or chicken). Also remember to feed enough meat with that bone or you will constipate the puppy. Wings have far too much bone. That is why I use whole chickens. 

mspiker is correct. You could bash it up with a hammer too. Put it under a paper bag to reduce splattering.


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## smason (Dec 23, 2008)

thank you so much lisa. you along with the others are a great help and ease it trying to get this raw feeding thing going for this young pup. although i wish i didnt get her so young, i am confident that her life with us is much better and turned out a lot more positive than if she were to stay at the so-called home she was at!

already i have see her bm's change considerably since i have been feeding her the bone of the whole chicken. i have been serving the whole chicken (minus the breasts which i already had cut and fed) chopped up. she has been scarfing them down with no problem, just too fast if anything. when i feed her i serve each meal in small amounts at a time, watching her eat so she will not "inhale" the food. if anything she needs it seems a bit more meat all her to poop more easily as she seems to be having a bit of a hard time to get it all out!

do you ever mix meats? for example, some chicken meat with bone, mixed with some ground beef?


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## mspiker03 (Dec 7, 2006)

I mix meats in a meal all the time...BUT, when we first started, we introduced them one at a time. After they have been introduced, you can mix all you want.

So, week 1 chicken; week 2 add beef so she can have chicken and beef; week 3 add turkey (or whatever meat you choose) so she can have chicken, beef, and turkey...and so on.


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## smason (Dec 23, 2008)

ok great! 

next question... currently as our puppy (still unnamed! i am american, my wife is lithuanian and we live in Albania...so finding a name thats works for everyone is hard!) is still only eating chicken bones....as she grows will she be able to chew up other type of bone? or is chicken bone the only bone fed to even more mature dogs?


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

She should be able to handle all poultry bones, most pork, some beef, most lamb, venison, rabbit, etc. I don't like to feed the long bones of the bigger animals since they tend to throw the chunks up instead of digesting them.


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## Barb E (Jun 6, 2004)

Is there a concern with raw Pork in other countries and the trich...trick......BRB going to Yahoo.....Trichinosis?


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## smason (Dec 23, 2008)

not sure in Albania. I have yet to hear of any issues with pork...


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

You have gotten great advice so far!!

The reason why people suggest introducing proteins one at a time and then giving it about a week is to help you determine if there are any problems with that protein.

Usually with weaning puppies I don't bother. I give them everything in a mix all at once. But it doesn't hurt to be cautious.

Once thing you can do to help her learn to chew is to give her BIGGER pieces. For a muscle meat meal I like to take the skin off a chicken leg and let the pups chew/suck the meat off. You can save the skin and feed it later.

By 8 weeks of age a healthy GSD pup should be able to handle a chicken wing with no trouble!


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## smason (Dec 23, 2008)

thank you! this forum is great. it really has been a great help.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Good catch Barb. I forgot about pork safety in some contries.


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