Guinness is on a completely raw diet, as will Cuervo when she moves in. Right now, Guinney eats something called Instinct raw, which he loves… but it's far too expensive to be economical for a large dog too. So, I'm going to be switching the pack to Sojos grain-free diet, and supplement with meat purchased from a butcher or my dad's hunting excursions. They also get raw bones, fresh fruit, veggies and the occasional human food "treat".

Thanks for all of the information in this topic!  Our dog, Chance, passed away from cancer October 1, 2010.  He had food/allergy/thyroid issues his entire life, and while we thought we were buying the best food possible for him at the time, I had never heard of feeding raw until finding Tripawds late in his diagnosis…I wish so much that I had known more when I had my Chancey-boy.  Now, we are considering adopting a puppy (Shepherd/lab mix).  I want this pup to have the very best start possible so I have been reading up on feeding raw and foods such as Healthy Kitchen and Stella and Chewy's. 

Any answers to the following questions are greatly appreciated as I have never done this before and there is so much information, I'm not sure where to start.

1.  Anyone have experience staring a puppy on raw? What is the best way to go about it?  This pup is only 8 weeks old with little tiny puppy teeth. 

2.  Healthy Kitchen looks easier to find in our area (versus Stella and Chewy's), so I was looking at Embark (seems less intimidating than trying to figure out what to buy at the store and/or cook at home right now).  It looks like most mix raw meat with the Embark for higher protein/lower carbs – what type of meat?  How do I determine how much a puppy would need?  Do I determine amounts off of her current weight or what her adult weight will be?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Good Morning all -

Riley has been eating the EVO weight management dry (and rotating the different flavors in the canned) for a few years now as she was constantly scratching and chewing and we traced it back to an allergy to grains.  A couple times a week she gets a soft boiled egg (microwave 30 seconds not gourmet style). Supposedly it helps with shedding – but with the amount of hair I vacuum up each week – I am not so sure !!

We also have her on something called Joint Complete (liquid form) of Glucosamine / Chondroitin / MSM / Vit. C   – made for humans by tropical oasis.  It has no taste and I mix it into her food every night.  We can see a noticable difference in her activity level since she has been taking this (over a year now). She also gets wild alaskan salmon oil once a day and a couple of doggy vitamins.

Since the amputation, she also gets 1/2 cup  am/pm of chicken livers, hearts and gizzards plus broth – a few days after surgery we took her in as her gums were pale and the vet said she was borderline anemic.  I got some dessicated liver pills too but she isn't too keen on them.

We started her on the K-9 immunity mid January along with milk thistle and acidophilis – still trying to figure out how to disguise the kelp so that she will eat it – but no such luck so far.

Lastly, and most importantly (to her anyways) she gets chicken strips and duck strips for treats….and then a fresh bone every night to chomp on….it gets taken away and tossed in the trash once she starts grinding on it…

Is she spoiled or what!!!!!

Thank you everyone!  Yes, I did mean HONEST Kitchen!  (sorry about the typo!!)  ;)

Found a store locally (The Pet People) that offers a wide variety of food choices, including Honest Kitchen, Primal, Grandma Lucy's, etc.

Chance was on California Natural because of his food allergies, so I have that on my list of foods to compare as well.  Thanks for the breakdown on the calcium and energy density – I will call and check into that.  I have researched some of these foods on the Dogfoodadvisor.com and am feeling better (not so overwhelmed) about the choices.

I truly appreciate your time answering my questions!

I was planning on feeding my monkeydog 12 week old male golden retriever puppy a home cooked diet.  I contacted the vet nutrition dept at Tufts, and they strongly recommend NOT feeding a puppy a home cooked diet.  Blew my plan out of the water… I have since contacted the nutritionists at North Carolina State for a consultation (after a tip from K's mom about a good nutritionist and they are hundreds of dollars cheaper than Tufts), but until then– what do I feed my puppy? 

Pam said…

The goal for a large breed pup is about 3.5 grams of calcium per 1000 kcal of diet.  Make sure not to exceed 4.5 g/1000 kcal.  It can be hard to find this info on the product or website.  I feed California Natural to Julian…  Where do you find this info?  SHould I feed him this food? If so, which variety has these ratios?

His breeder stressed that I should never him  feed  puppy food (they had him on Purina Pro Plan Adult Lamb and rice) but dogfoodadvisor does not recommend this particular food, and I want to upgrade to a 5 star premium food–

Anyone know of a 5 star premium (not raw) food that has  Pam's recommended ratios?

Thanks,

Catherine

daisy2010 said
Anyone have experience feeding a stone former?

I have Samson on 1200mg Allopurinol day and he gets 1 can of Merricks day split into 2 meals. (and no, despite his monkeydog bragging its not Daisy stew) also a handful for science diet dry UD

He gets whole grain pasta, brown rice, cottage cheese, cheese, probiotic yogart and a small bowl of wheaties with skim milk as side treats. I tried both the Science Diet UD and Purina NF canned fomula but he hates them and its SO expensive.

All of you talking about grain free diets scare the begezus out of me. He hasnt had a block up for 8 years and he is 13 now. When he did block up he was on Iams canned and dry.

I do. My non-cancer dog (a Lab) takes methioform every day to keep his urinary pH low, and he eats Natural Balance Limited Ingredient kibble, either chicken and sweet potato OR venison and sweet potato. He's been on this program for about 3 yrs, and it has worked. Early in the program, we tried giving him rice and chicken when he got an upset stomach, and it caused urinary problems every time. Now we know to cook up white potatoes and chicken when his stomach is upset. That doesn't seem to cause the same problems.

It sounds like you've had great success with what you're doing so I wouldn't mess with it!