# Need help with 8 week old puppy and what he can and can't eat and misc questions.



## Mog (Aug 10, 2012)

Hi,

I have some questions I'm hoping someone would be able to help out with. I have been doing a lot of reading and loved The Raw Dog Ranch's website, but the links for puppies is not working and I have some questions regarding an 8 week old puppy as I would like to start my pup out on BARF/Raw.

1. When I bring Maximus home, he'll be 8 weeks old. I haven't had a pup in a long time, so bear with me, but at that age, what can he eat as far as RMB? Will he be able to eat a Chicken leg, thigh, etc? I'm worried about bones... Should I limit him to the type of RMB's he eats? And if so, when can I start introducing "bigger" pieces?

2. If the breeder has him on kibble, should I start him off on chicken and then slowly introduce him to other proteins sources for RMB? Should I start off with Chicken say 5 days a week and then add beef on the other two? 

3. Not knowing his weight, from what I've read, at 8 weeks he should be eating around 2lbs a day. So I was planning on one lb of chicken in the morning, 1lb of MM and a small amount of OM for dinner. An egg 2-3 times a week, Salmon Oil and Vit E if not in already daily, a small amount of tripe 3 times a week. Does this sound okay? 

4. At what point, do you go down from the 2lbs a day? I'll keep an eye on him and feel him to see if he needs to eat more or less, but I know he'll be growing in leaps and bounds and want to make sure I'm starting off right. 

5. What about multivitamins? Should they be given daily, weekly, if at all? And when people talk about multivitamins, do they have vitamins specificlaly for dogs? 


He'll be crated during the day on week days unfortuantely, but I plan on spending several hours over the course of the evening keeping him engaged, playing, training, etc... and as much as he needs on the weekends. Going to start taking him to different enviornents at least 4 times a week as well as soon as I bring him home, so he should have more than enough exercise.

Lori's posts and site have been great, but I can't find anything specifically dealing with 8 week old pups and a raw diet, so would appreciate your advice. I really want to do what's best for Maximus 

Alex


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

My pup was given some raw/some kibble at the breeder so whatever the new owner decided, the pup was adjusted to either. 
That said I would begin with chicken necks for the bone and chicken meat/beef calf liver. I'd also incorporate green tripe from the getgo. Tripe has digestive enzymes and a bit of probiotic to help the gut. After pup is about 10-11 weeks you can start with thigh or backs/legs may be harder but are edible. My pup was a gulper and he swallowed a leg whole, so I then went with thighs. The balance IMO should be given every meal so the digestive system isn't over worked with too much bone per meal or too much organ. I just give the same balance at each meal....45% rmb 50%mm and 5%om. Tripe is MM in my portioning. I gave beef and turkey, along with pork within the first month of him coming home, he was fine with the different proteins. Turkey necks(chunked in 1/3 or 1/2's) were introduced then pork neck bones(very dense) Venison is a great addition, but I don't feed the bones from deer.
I didn't start supplements til my pup was about 4 months and then introduced one at a time. 
1000mg of fish or salmon oil per day, after a few weeks introduced natural vitamin C(500mg) raw or hard boiled eggs every few days, along with plain yogurt in a rotation. Vitamin e is necessary but I try to give that in whole food form, beef liver and eggs have E so I don't supplement it often in capsule form. Then added in coconut oil on the days I didn't do salmon oil. All the supplements I give are human grade, out of the pharmacy, I take advantage of BOGO's and stay with the better brands.

I fed 3 meals a day until about 4 months old. Added in a midnight snack because my pup started barfing bile early in the morning. He was a big pup/growing like a weed(3# every week until 8 mos~weighed him at my vet every tuesday afternoon, my vet is just a couple minutes away so it was convenient. )
I adjusted the portions according to his ribs, and still feed 2# give or take per day at 90#. 
I never adjusted the meal according to his weight by weighing his portions, just eyeballed what I was giving.
It is easy once you get into it. There are some good places to get meat. I do like mypetcarnivore for the lamb hearts, tripe and some of the ground products.
Try to buy bulk with a meat processor or slaughter house for better prices. This site has some great articles on raw feeding and the tripe one is informative, I share it often! 
I use to get tripe from there, but MPC delivers to my area once a month, so just go in with local people to get food from there. 
A Place for Paws - Columbiana, Ohio - Raw Feeding


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## Mog (Aug 10, 2012)

Onyx'grl,

Thank you so much for the reply, that's exactly what I was looking for. You answered everything I was still unsure about  
I don't if I misread, but it seemed like a lot of people give the RMB in the morning; wasn't sure if there was a reason for it or not. I'll definintely break the meal up equally between both feedings.

Alex


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