# Weaning puppies to raw



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

I thought I would post about the Cresteds weaning process since it started last week. 


*First Meals*

I start the pups on raw at 4 weeks of age. Their first meal is goats milk and ground turkey. I get the goats milk fresh (UNprocessed) from a local goat farmer. I use ground turkey because it is more 'mushy' than any other ground meat.

I mix 25% ground turkey with 75% milk in a plastic container and warm it up to 100 degrees by floating the container in a bowl of hot water.

You want this slurry to be about the same temperature that Mom's milk would be.

Be prepared for a mess! Puppies only know sucking at this point so I pour the slurry onto small plates and let the pups go to town. Some take to it right away - other don't even want to try.

My boys were the into it right away - some literally!





























I put a blanket or towel down in the box so I only have to wash that and not all their bedding:











I watch the pups eat and make sure no-one is hogging a bowl and that everyone gets a chance to at least try the food.

You can see that my pups tend to stay to the outside of the plate - they aren't used to eating upright and having to lean in for food:










This is why I use small plates to begin with. They do eventually get to the middle of the plate:











Mom is waiting patiently to clean up after them:


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

The first couple days in Week 4 I offer the pups the goats milk and ground turkey slurry a couple times a day.

As they progress in getting more proficient at eating I reduce the amount of milk and increase the amount of meat.

By the 5th day of weaning they were eating straight meat - still turkey.


I try to keep Kaynya out of the box after SHE eats because she is a puker. She will bring up her food for the puppies. I don't MIND her doing that but her pieces of food are too big for the pups to handle.

Now that they are off the milk I start adding variety. Unlike with adults I add tons of variety right away with the pups.

Last night, which was Day 6 of weaning, the pups were offered ground turkey, chopped up Tilapia and ground tripe. Everything was tasted and some pups like certain things better than others.

This morning pups had their leftovers from last night and some ground lamb with bone. This was their first meal WITH bone. They ate almost all the lamb but only a bit of the leftovers. from the night before.


Here's what on the menu for the next 7-10 days:

Ground lamb with bone
Ground chicken with bone
Ground turkey (with and without bone)
Ground Venison
Ground Pork (with and without bone)
Ground green tripe
Ground rabbit with bone
Bison organ meats
Venison liver
Fish
Beef


Because Cresteds get teeth later than most other breeds they aren't able to handle any whole RMBs until they are almost 3 months old.

I do give them chicken necks and wings to gnaw on for fun and learning but they don't get much (if any) actual food from them.

I do have some pinky rabbits (babies without any fur yet) that Spike likes - I might try those with these guys to see if they can handle them. Another idea is to try some baby rats or mice from a feeder breeder.


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

Tonight the pups had a mix of ground turkey, ground lamb (with bone - Bravo product) and ground green tripe - all mixed together with a raw egg.


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## rjvamp (Aug 23, 2008)

That looks puppy yummy!


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

This morning it was the leftovers from last night - plus some extra lamb with bone.

Tonight they are dining on ground pork heart.


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## VaBeachFamily (Apr 12, 2005)

do you have a bone grinder? Or do you get the premade?


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

I buy some premades (bison, venison, lamb w/bone and turkey w/bone) and use a friends grinder to do chicken w/bone.

The premades I prefer are Bravo.


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

Sorry I know this is kinda OT but how's the teeth/skin on your hairless? I know the hairless CCs tend to have issues with those things, I imagine the raw diet helps a lot?


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

Chicagocanine said:


> Sorry I know this is kinda OT but how's the teeth/skin on your hairless? I know the hairless CCs tend to have issues with those things, I imagine the raw diet helps a lot?


It's about half diet and half genetics. So far Kaynya has very good teeth. Not all of them (not many Hairless do) but she has most and they are very strong. I believe that they work they put into crunching up the bones in the chicken necks and wings they get help to strengthen their teeth and jaws.

Many CC people will tell you to bathe your Hairless every week. I find that actually makes their skin worse. Just like with a coated breed you will dry out the skin and strip the natural oils.

Spike is going through a bout of Teenage CC acne. He has some large pimples on his back and back legs. A month or two ago it was on his neck.

Kaynya has some pimples on her stomach and the inside of her back legs but nothing serious and nothing near the stuff I hear from other CC people.


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

Lauri & The Gang said:


> It's about half diet and half genetics. So far Kaynya has very good teeth. Not all of them (not many Hairless do) but she has most and they are very strong. I believe that they work they put into crunching up the bones in the chicken necks and wings they get help to strengthen their teeth and jaws.
> 
> Many CC people will tell you to bathe your Hairless every week. I find that actually makes their skin worse. Just like with a coated breed you will dry out the skin and strip the natural oils.


Thanks! That makes sense, since the bad teeth/skin seems to be inherited in the hairless, diet can't completely make it go away but it sounds like it helps.
I've been reading on some CC forums lately and I've noticed several people mentioned that bathing less often made their dogs' skin better.


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

The pups have had the following so far:

Ground Turkey
Ground Beef
Ground Pork Hearts
Ground Pork
Ground Green Tripe
Ground Turkey (with bone)
Ground Duck (with bone)
Ground Lamb (with bone)
Raw Eggs
Chunked Tilapia


New proteins being added in the next few days:

Ground Venison
Ground Bison Organ mix
Canned Jack Mackerel

I bought some Veal Soup Bones at the store tonight for them to TRY to gnaw on (they don't have much in the way of teeth yet).

I have some Elk on order for them, too.


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

Just an update ...

Pups are now working on WHOLE pieces of meat. Of course, they are cut up into small chunks (like the size of a thumbnail) but it still requires them to chew! 

They will be 8 weeks old tomorrow and I think I'll try them on some whole chicken necks.


This is what they've had so far:

RMBs:

Ground Lamb
Ground Chicken
Ground Turkey
Ground Pork
Ground Elk
Ground Duck
Ground Rabbit

MM:

Ground Venison
Ground Pork (meat and hearts)
Ground Green Tripe
Chunked Tilapia
Ground Beef
Ground Turkey
Chunked Pork
Chunked Beef
Canned Jack Mackerel

OM:

Ground Bison organ mix
Chunked Lamb lungs
Chunked Venison Liver

Misc:

Raw Eggs
Chunked Bing Cherries (I had leftovers to share)


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