# Bridget has less energy



## bridget246 (Oct 26, 2011)

Been on raw a little over a month now. We recently switched to freeze dried treats as well. But so far I've only given her chicken. The treats claim to have chicken organs and every thing from a chicken in them. I don't see any problems other than more sleep. I didn't know if her diet was the cause of this. It took her awhile to adjust to the chicken and she still has trouble if I give her skin. Just wanted to know if there was a little of any other meat I should try to give her to help with this.


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## chewice (Jan 1, 2012)

Was she super high energy before... or just your normal pup?


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

One thing I noticed when I switched from kibble to raw was that my dogs became more manageable, some might take it as having less energy and I suppose that could be true in the beginning of the transition stage but my two transitioned easily from one protein to the next although I didn't do turkey breast meat only turkey necks.

It might be time to try turkey necks, JMO


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## luvMyBRT (Mar 8, 2010)

I have found that my dogs seem to act more satisfied. After a meal they usually sleep for a while. I know with Lucky she just loves a good chew and tear session. I imagine the work it takes to eat can be a stress and energy reliever for some dogs.


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## Maritan (Nov 11, 2011)

My Border Collie had this frantic energy and she would just bounce off the wall all the time. Now, she still has tons of energy when I run her around an agility course/ class but that frantic nature has gone away. She exudes a more calm energy but still tons of it. It's kind of hard to explain but since I've had her since she was 4 months old (a wee little lass) I can see it quite easily.


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

Maritan said:


> My Border Collie had this frantic energy and she would just bounce off the wall all the time. Now, she still has tons of energy when I run her around an agility course/ class but that frantic nature has gone away. She exudes a more calm energy but still tons of it. It's kind of hard to explain but since I've had her since she was 4 months old (a wee little lass) I can see it quite easily.


Tis true!!:thumb:
It's crazy how manageable my Rhett and Keeva's energy is compared to the kibble feed BCs I've met around the same ages!!!


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

bridget246 said:


> Been on raw a little over a month now. We recently switched to freeze dried treats as well. But so far I've only given her chicken. The treats claim to have chicken organs and every thing from a chicken in them. I don't see any problems other than more sleep. I didn't know if her diet was the cause of this. It took her awhile to adjust to the chicken and she still has trouble if I give her skin. Just wanted to know if there was a little of any other meat I should try to give her to help with this.


i think, with raw feeding, energy changes in a dog or cat.....

but a month of only chicken might also explain what you see as a lack of energy....if her stools are solid and her stomach is not an issue, i'm thinking it might be time for the next protein....

i would even go so far as to say skip the turkey stage and move on to pork ribs.....and pork.

she will have more energy when you get to the richer red meats, such as heart or beef or venison or whatever you can get that is red meat and nicely fatty....plus, when you start feeding organs later, that will help.

the only time i would be concerned is if she doesn't waken easily.


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

Oh and also.....what brand are your treats??


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## monkeys23 (Dec 8, 2010)

Yeah mine became less frantic too, but they still can run for days. Literally. My parent's kibble fed BC can't keep up with them at all... unless he's obsessively circling the 4wheeler, but thats another story! When we hike in the pasture usually they run like crazy and he just trots by my side. In his defense he is a few years older than Lily and has very typey confo (roached back) which leads me to suspect he probably has some arthritis already in his shoulders and spine.

I find the girls think through problems better now too. Not that they didn't before, but it seems to really have clarified their mental state. Like a kid thats eaten bacon and eggs for breakfast instead of two pop tarts!


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## BoxerParty (Nov 9, 2011)

My two are noticeably calmer on raw. They are still very energetic when in the park, but are quieter in the house. 

But, I've noticed that in the past week since I have increased their food intake and they have had more red meat, they have much more energy. Could you be underfeeding? 

I agree that adding pork at this stage might be helpful.


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## bridget246 (Oct 26, 2011)

magicre said:


> i think, with raw feeding, energy changes in a dog or cat.....
> 
> but a month of only chicken might also explain what you see as a lack of energy....if her stools are solid and her stomach is not an issue, i'm thinking it might be time for the next protein....
> 
> ...


She isn't waken easily. Getting her to move is hard. I don't think I trained a lets go for a walk in her. If she is standing up then all is fine. If I ask her to come she will. But if I put the leash on her while she is sleeping she will just opening her eyes for a few seconds and go back to sleep. No amount of light tugging gets her to move either lol. This almost normal for Bridget when is sleeping. However, before she didn't sleep quite so much. 

Her stomach is fine looking. Stools are still firm. A recall gets her up with no problem so it is strange that the leash doesn't do anything at all.


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## MissusMac (Jan 6, 2011)

You aren't feeding any organ besides what is in the treats? If not, I would definitely start adding in at least some liver or kidney. Miko got very lethargic after a couple of weeks on raw, very much like you are describing, and it was because he wasn't getting the nutrients he needed from organs since the PMR quickstart guide says to introduce them so slowly. I added a thumbnail-sized piece of liver to his meals (he was 50lbs then) and he perked up within a matter of days!


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

bridget246 said:


> She isn't waken easily. Getting her to move is hard. I don't think I trained a lets go for a walk in her. If she is standing up then all is fine. If I ask her to come she will. But if I put the leash on her while she is sleeping she will just opening her eyes for a few seconds and go back to sleep. No amount of light tugging gets her to move either lol. This almost normal for Bridget when is sleeping. However, before she didn't sleep quite so much.
> 
> Her stomach is fine looking. Stools are still firm. A recall gets her up with no problem so it is strange that the leash doesn't do anything at all.


perhaps i mis stated what i meant.

what i'm talking about is waking the dog......does she waken easily? or is she lethargic and hard to wake up. i'm not talking about whether or not she has recall or wants to go for a walk.

i'm talking about physically waking her up.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

MissusMac said:


> You aren't feeding any organ besides what is in the treats? If not, I would definitely start adding in at least some liver or kidney. Miko got very lethargic after a couple of weeks on raw, very much like you are describing, and it was because he wasn't getting the nutrients he needed from organs since the PMR quickstart guide says to introduce them so slowly. I added a thumbnail-sized piece of liver to his meals (he was 50lbs then) and he perked up within a matter of days!


she's only fed chicken for the past month. would you agree that a progression of proteins are in order?


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## eternalstudent (Jul 22, 2010)

Becka was a bounce of the wall puppy when she was fed kibble. But it was only in short bursts then sleeeeep.

When we switched to raw I felt like she ran around the same amount but it was spread out over the day not just in mad 5 minutes.

As for the hard to get out of bed Becka is so with Bridget. She wakes up and rolls over asking for belly scratching then I will get up to leave and she will roll over and go back to sleep ).

I think though after the month you can definitely try feeding something a bit richer which can give them an energy boost.


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## MissusMac (Jan 6, 2011)

magicre said:


> she's only fed chicken for the past month. would you agree that a progression of proteins are in order?


Absolutely! I was adding on to what you said....


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

MissusMac said:


> Absolutely! I was adding on to what you said....


::::::smacks forehead::::::

D'oh!


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## bridget246 (Oct 26, 2011)

Scarlett_O' said:


> Oh and also.....what brand are your treats??


Vital-Essentials-Freeze-Dried-Chicken-Niblets



BoxerParty said:


> My two are noticeably calmer on raw. They are still very energetic when in the park, but are quieter in the house.
> 
> But, I've noticed that in the past week since I have increased their food intake and they have had more red meat, they have much more energy. Could you be underfeeding?
> 
> I agree that adding pork at this stage might be helpful.


I brought some pork ribs. It didn't say boneless but it doesn't have very many bones in it. Should I go back and get the one that clearly has the bones? I thought all pork rib had bones. Being a vegetarian makes it very hard to pick out meat. 



magicre said:


> perhaps i mis stated what i meant.
> 
> what i'm talking about is waking the dog......does she waken easily? or is she lethargic and hard to wake up. i'm not talking about whether or not she has recall or wants to go for a walk.
> 
> i'm talking about physically waking her up.


She is waken up easily. It just concerned me a bit that she doesn't want to get up. I left the house this morning and my dog just looked at me from the couch. I couldn't even get a goodbye sniff.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

if it has bones, it should say so.....not sure what you bought...

i buy pork ribs...not baby back ribs, but pork ribs...i also buy pork butt or shoulder.....it can be called by both names.

usually, they are from costco, the ribs....they cost less and are meaty, made by swift and not enhanced.


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## bridget246 (Oct 26, 2011)

magicre said:


> if it has bones, it should say so.....not sure what you bought...
> 
> i buy pork ribs...not baby back ribs, but pork ribs...i also buy pork butt or shoulder.....it can be called by both names.
> 
> usually, they are from costco, the ribs....they cost less and are meaty, made by swift and not enhanced.


We have a costco. So should I feed the food I have? It says it might be enhanced... But it had lower sodium amounts than the ones that don't say that.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

if it says it might be enhanced, look at the nutrition panel.....

you have only fed chicken for a month. you're only going to give a bite sized portion to introduce the pork....

if it is enhanced and it's the first time for pork, then no.

personally, i would get turkey necks and intro that as your next protein...


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## bridget246 (Oct 26, 2011)

magicre said:


> if it says it might be enhanced, look at the nutrition panel.....
> 
> you have only fed chicken for a month. you're only going to give a bite sized portion to introduce the pork....
> 
> ...


Where? I did find her about 4 oz's of it today. No real problems with it. I brought 4 pounds of it


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