Switching our new Labrador pup to raw

[Saraswati]

Hey everyone!

I know there are quite a few "new puppy raw" threads but I couldn't quite find the answer I was looking for. I fed PMR in the past to an adult foster dog but I've never switched a puppy over to raw. I went by the rule of a bone in meal, some boneless, and a very small amount of organ every day so I'd like to stick to that regimen (I'm a little OCD haha)

I still have a ton of pork + beef heart, beef lips, chicken quarters and some chicken backs in my freezer but I'm not sure where to start with the new little guy. I just placed an order with my co-op for more chicken backs and some green tripe for later on down the road. Should I start him off on the backs and maybe split the quarters into legs and thighs? He will be 8 weeks old when we bring him home so he'll still need 3 meals a day. Just trying to figure out how I can split up the backs/quarters over three meals... Should I order some chicken or turkey necks as well? The pup won't be here until November 13th so I still have some time to go shopping if need be.

Also, I've read that puppies can transition a bit quicker than an adult dog who's been on kibble. How soon should I start incorporating new proteins and organs?

Thanks DFC :)

[DaneMama]

Yay for puppies on raw!

First off...what kind of puppy are you getting? What is its expected weight as an adult and do you know how much it weighs now?

You are right with them switching over more quickly. Some puppies can take only a few weeks to be fully transitioned, others it can take a few months just like an adult dog. It all depends on your puppy.

I'd start with chicken backs for at least the first few days. If all goes well with those, split the quarters in legs and thighs (if appropriately sized for your pup) and give those for a few days. If all goes well with those, add in either turkey or pork. Preferably turkey.

[Saraswati]

Yay for puppies on raw!

First off...what kind of puppy are you getting? What is its expected weight as an adult and do you know how much it weighs now?

You are right with them switching over more quickly. Some puppies can take only a few weeks to be fully transitioned, others it can take a few months just like an adult dog. It all depends on your puppy.

I'd start with chicken backs for at least the first few days. If all goes well with those, split the quarters in legs and thighs (if appropriately sized for your pup) and give those for a few days. If all goes well with those, add in either turkey or pork. Preferably turkey.

A black Labrador will be the new addition :) His mother is around 68lbs and his father is at the 80lb mark, so we're estimating him to be 80-85lbs. I'm not sure of his weight now but I can ask his breeder when we go to visit this weekend.

Okay, I'm positive he can handle the quarters split up. I'm thinking a turkey neck would be much too large for him- would I need to cut it/smash it a bit? The only other way to get turkey would be ground.

[DaneMama]

HA! I overlooked the small detail in the TITLE of the thread LOL....

He can definitely handle the quarters split up. A turkey neck will definitely be too large of him right now, unless its a young turkey neck...which you can find, you just have to ask for them specifically.

But I would use up the chicken backs you have left in your freezer for the first few days.

I'd start him off with just two smallish meals of chicken backs (1 back AM/PM) the first day and see how his body takes it. If he does fine with it, add a third chicken back midday. Feed him this amount for a day or two and keep an eye on body condition. Slowly increase his food intake as needed to maintain a good body condition.

Starting things out slow is the way to go!

We also demand pictures of said puppy!

[hmbutler]

A black Labrador will be the new addition :)

no advice to add here, just popped in to say nice choice on pup

[shellbell]

no advice to add here, just popped in to say nice choice on pup

I agree! I'm partial to the black labbies!

[BoxerPaws]

We switched our Boxer puppy over when she was 12 weeks. Follow Natalie's (DaneMama's) advice. If a chicken back is too big for 1 meal based on weight, use a heavy cleaver and just cut it in half width-wise (like you're going between vertebrae, not longwise along the spine). That's what we did for Zoey, since a whole chicken back was too much for her to eat in one sitting. She got chicken back 3 meals a day for a solid week before we started adding in drumsticks and thighs. And I also removed all the skin at first until she had good poos, then started leaving more and more skin/fat attached.

The only turkey we've been able to find decently priced so far has been wings, which we chop in sections for her (since, again, a whole wing is too much for 1 meal). It's a little difficult, but if you can get them at a good price, then hey, it's a protein! If you buy a whole chicken, you might get the chicken neck in it (whole roasters from our grocery store have the neck and innards all tucked inside the cavity). A chicken neck would be good and bony, but a better size starting out. :)

Yay for more raw puppies!

[Saraswati]

DaneMama- Unfortunately I can't ask for young turkey necks as our co-op orders whatever is available from the supplier each month. Would using pork as the second protein source be too much? Otherwise I was thinking I might cleaver the turkey necks into a smaller portion and split them in half. And I will be posting pictures today, promise! :) Thank you so much!

And thank you shellbell and hmbutler! :)

BoxerPaws - We've got a nice sized cleaver so I'll use that to split the chicken backs if need be. The last time I ordered wings they were HUGE! How many sections do you chop them into? Do you just separate the wing from the drumette? And yes, yay for raw fed pups! :)

[BoxerPaws]

BoxerPaws - We've got a nice sized cleaver so I'll use that to split the chicken backs if need be. The last time I ordered wings they were HUGE! How many sections do you chop them into? Do you just separate the wing from the drumette? And yes, yay for raw fed pups! :)

We started out separating the wing tip from the larger 2-boned wing portion, and then splitting the wing longwise; so separating at the joints of the 2 bones to give you 2 long bones with wing meat attached to each. Zoey had a tendency to try swallowing these, though.

So, we moved to splitting the 2-boned area in half width-wise. We cut through the meat, scored the bone with the knife, then turned it over and wacked the bone with the dull edge of the knife (the back, noncutting edge), so that the bone would break/snap, like would happen naturally if you were to break something. We didn't want to cut all the way through it and potentially have a too-sharp edge. Depending on the size of the wings, and how much Zoey needed in 1 meal (she used to get 3, now she only gets 2 meals, so each meal weighs more), we would do this to create 2 or 3 chunks. You end up with both bones in each chunk, surrounded by their meat. This shape just worked better for Zoey, but if your pup will properly gnaw the longer bones separated from each other, that's a little bit easier.