# New to RAW feeding my small pup



## Amy18 (May 17, 2011)

Hi, I'm Amy and i've been lurking here for a few days but since i decided to switch my dog over to raw i thought i'd join so i can get off to the right start. I own a 7 month old Yorkie named Lexie and she weighs 5lbs. She's been on kibble up till Saturday when i went out and bought a whole small chicken(just 2.2lbs). Saturday evening she had her first meal which was half a skinless bone in chicken breast, the next day she had runny poop. Yesterday i gave her half a skinless chicken wing for breakfast and half a skinless bone in thigh for dinner. Her poops now are very solid and tiny, some parts are yellow which caught me by surprise. I also give her fish oil every day to supplement. 

So i have a few questions,

1. Following the rule of 2-3% daily she should eat 1.6-2.4 ounces per day. I don't have a kitchen scale, should i buy one? or is there another way to make sure it's balanced 

2. Considering her size what cuts of meat are acceptable for her? are chicken backs ok? i have the back in the freezer and i'm not sure if i should give it to her and how much is ok to give. Also are chicken drumsticks ok or are the bones in them too much for her?

3. I've fed her beef before (when she was on kibble) and she loved it. When is it ok to start introducing beef and other red meats to her diet?

4. When do i start introducing organs and how much/often should i feed it. A little with every meal or once a week etc


Thank You


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

I would get a kitchen scale for such tiny portions, since it'll be so easy to overfeed. 

As far as what she can eat, it all depends on how she does with crunching through bones. Being a toy breed dog finding bones that are edible can be tricky. I think a lot of toy breed owners feed mostly poultry bones and then an assortment of boneless meats.

As far as adding other meats like beef and organs I would follow the guidelines listed out in detail in my "getting started" guide which is linked in my signature below. That gives you a full guideline of when to add in what. 

Hope this helps and I'm happy you've joined up!!


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## Lisa_j (Apr 7, 2011)

Hello! I have a 3 1/2 lb yorkie girl. SHe is able to eat chicken backs, cornish hens, thighs and leg of chicken. She also does fine with rabbit with bone, pinkies and baby chicks. I also offer short ribs too and allow her what ever she wants. When she gets bone, I allow her to eat what she wants. For example, today she had a chicken back for breakfast, it was a small back but she ate the whole darn thing! Tonight, she had a bit of boneless steak and she will have boneless meat and organ/liver the rest of the week. Sometimes her poops get a bit tarry but not uncontrollable and really, that back is probably way more than the 10% of bone she needs. This works for us, you will find what works for you too! Glad to hear you are feeding raw!!!!


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## Mollygirl (May 14, 2011)

We have a 5 lb yorkie mix and I have been giving her leg quarters, neck bones, wings, last night I cut up a whole chicken for all three of the dogs and she chomps down her share fast. Your little dog should be fine with the bones. Ginger is a little piggy and loves her chicken. I really don't weigh out what I give them. I usually give the puppies and chicken quarter or so each and then Molly the English Bulldog gets the most. I feed her until she tells me she's full.


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## Northwoods10 (Nov 22, 2010)

I would recommend a scale for sure. Like Natalie said, its probably easy to overfeed with such small portions. I got my scale from my mom that she got at Wal-mart a few years ago. 

I would think most chicken bones would be fine. You could also look for pinkies and baby chicks like someone mentioned above. 

Beef or another protein source would be fine to gradually add in after about 2 weeks of solid stools and no issues with bone in chicken. 

Organs should be fed very sparingly at first, take it slow. Once you have introduced organs and she can handle the full serving it is up to you if you want to feed them once a week or a few times during the week. We feed organ meat a couple times per week. 

Hope this helps and congrats on starting raw!!


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## Amy18 (May 17, 2011)

Thanks for the replies, she's been doing well so far. I bought a scale and measure out her food, it seems like such a small amount and she's already on the skinny side.

Question, do I have to remove the fat and skin from chicken, I always trim all fat. And her poops are really tiny, does that mean too much bone? it's like rabbit poop


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## FL Cracker (May 4, 2011)

Amy18 said:


> Thanks for the replies, she's been doing well so far. I bought a scale and measure out her food, it seems like such a small amount and she's already on the skinny side.
> 
> Question, do I have to remove the fat and skin from chicken, I always trim all fat. And her poops are really tiny, does that mean too much bone? it's like rabbit poop


Just get used to about 3/4 less poop than when on kibble...and I would be very happy with firm stool...than with the latter. If you go outside and inspect the poop...and overnight it has turned white/crumbly...cut back on the bone...too much. Hang in there...it's a bit complicated when starting (was for me)...but as you go it get's a bit easier.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Amy18 said:


> Thanks for the replies, she's been doing well so far. I bought a scale and measure out her food, it seems like such a small amount and she's already on the skinny side.
> 
> Question, do I have to remove the fat and skin from chicken, I always trim all fat. And her poops are really tiny, does that mean too much bone? it's like rabbit poop


If her poops are nice and firm and small, then I'd gradually trim less and less fat/skin off. Don't decrease the amount of bone just yet. Let's get her used to a normal amount of fat before we decrease the amount of bone. Let me know how this goes!


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## Amy18 (May 17, 2011)

I've noticed Lexie's joints cracking, it's been like this for maybe 2-3 months but the vet checked her and said she doesn't have luxating patella but that one of her knees are slightly loose. I know small dogs like yorkies are prone to getting it, so with her being on raw, should i give her some type of supplement to prevent it and strengthen her joints?. I was thinking maybe Cosequin or Missing Link Canine Plus


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## Amy18 (May 17, 2011)

And another question, Lexie was dry heaving this morning but nothing came up is that a sign im not feeding her enough?, this was before she ate. She looks skinny but she's always been on the thinner side. I'm feeding 2.6-3 oz per day


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Theres really nothing you can supplement to make orthopedic problems like a subluxating patella just go away. You can help prevent more damage from occurring with supplements but on raw there really isn't a need for supplements. Most of what you'll be giving in supplement form is naturally occurring in a well balanced raw diet. 

If she is still having good stools then I suggest increasing her portion if she's on the thin side.


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## Amy18 (May 17, 2011)

Thanks DaneMama

Luckily Everything is going smoothly so far and Im about ready to start introducing another protien, Ill probably go with pork. I'm wondering though what part of pork has edible bone my dog can handle? I'm sure I won't be able to ever feed her any type of beef bone but are pork bones soft like chickens?


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

you could try pork ribs. i use a cleaver and cut them in half and my pug does just fine, although he weighs more.....

yorkie teeth are sharper though and she might just power through them....

if she can't, use chicken as her bone content and she'll be fine....and you could use pork ribs as a teeth cleaner recreational bone.


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## Amy18 (May 17, 2011)

Ok so something is not right with Lexie today. Earlier she was dry heaving and nothing came up. I gave her dinner early around 6:30 because I thought she was hungry. Just now she puked up some yellow liquid. She's never thrown up before so this is way out of the ordinary. Maybe I should switch her back to kibble for a while and try again at another time. She is tiny so i don't want to take any chances with her getting sick. Not sure if this matters but I recently started giving her Cosequin for her joints


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

Amy18 said:


> Ok so something is not right with Lexie today. Earlier she was dry heaving and nothing came up. I gave her dinner early around 6:30 because I thought she was hungry. Just now she puked up some yellow liquid. She's never thrown up before so this is way out of the ordinary. Maybe I should switch her back to kibble for a while and try again at another time. She is tiny so i don't want to take any chances with her getting sick. Not sure if this matters but I recently started giving her Cosequin for her joints


when did you start the cosequin....if i had to bet, i'd say that's causing the upset tummy..

in the beginning, every time something didn't seem right, i was ready to go back to home cooking for my dogs....i had to realise with a lot of help from the people here, that transitioning to raw is a process....and takes a while...

it's just not something that happens over night.

even when we used to switch kibbles, we'd do it over a period of weeks, rather than one day to the next...

switching to raw takes a few months, at least...for their digestive system to make the change...

if you feed her anything with cartilage, like chicken feet, that might help with her knee.

is she in pain? or does it sound painful but is just noisy....


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## Amy18 (May 17, 2011)

magicre said:


> when did you start the cosequin....if i had to bet, i'd say that's causing the upset tummy..
> 
> in the beginning, every time something didn't seem right, i was ready to go back to home cooking for my dogs....i had to realise with a lot of help from the people here, that transitioning to raw is a process....and takes a while...
> 
> ...


thank you, she didnt seem to be in any pain and i stopped giving her the Cosequin, she hasnt thrown up since. How much chicken feet do i have to give her per week for it to have any effect?. Even though shes a pup her joints are weak and she desperately needs something to help that, my vet recommended i try Dasuquin. I'm gonna start adding organ and pork in this week. I cant seem to get the bone ratio right so her poops are rock hard and chalky im hoping the organs will balance that out

My friend told me she doesnt feel safe feeding pork because theres high risk of parasites etc in grocery store pork so she skipped that protein, is this true?


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

i don't think there are enough chicken feet in the world to accomplish what you want....having said that, you can feed a few a day...but keep in mind, it's part of the caloric content of her feeding...

any cartilaginous food will help....but if i were in your shoes...and this is just my opinion...i'd be getting this dog in for water therapy to help with her joints.....

pork is very safe....it's safer than safe.....promise. we buy human grade pork ribs in the grocery store...and the dogs love them...a year later, and they are still very much alive without parasites....


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## cprcheetah (Jul 14, 2010)

I balance the bone for my 2 littles (4#) 2 times a week, they get boney meals before organ meals, and they only get boney meals 2 meals a week out of (14 total meals) as I feed twice a day. That works for us, any more than that and they get constipated. Remember it's balance over time, not necessarily every meal has to be balanced. I work for a Vet and we've never seen any parasites caused by eating pork. They wouldn't be able to sell it in the grocery store if that was the case, so I think your friend was misinformed.

ETA: Ask your Vet about Synovi G3 or Phycox, I use the Phycox JS for Zoey as she has bad knees & hips, and she loves eating it and no upset tummies.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

I'm just not big on throwing chemicals at every possible problem that might crop up. If I were you, I would wait a month or two and see what effect the raw diet will have. You must might be surprised to see you don't really need to supplement anything.

Grocery store pork is safe. I've been feeding it raw for 9 years with no problem.

I would not start organs just yet. I would wait until she has been fed raw for a couple of months. Like Natalie said, its a process. Don't rush the process. There is a reason for everything and just be patient. Your dog has a lifetime to eat raw. Taking a couple of months to get her adjusted to it just isn't a big deal in the whole scheme of things.

Yellowish poop is what chicken makes. As long as you are feeding chicken, thats what you will get. If it comes out yellow and turnes white the next day, I wouldn't worry about it. The only thing I would be concerned about is if it is white when it first hits the ground. When you start introducing other protein sources, the poop will change color. I still see yellowish poops when my dogs have eaten chicken for a few days. Beef heart creates black poops. Pork is darker than chicken but not as dark as beef heart. You will soon become an expert on dog poop. :biggirn:

*ETA:* For more information on what to feed when, check out my web page linked in my sig.


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## rawdogs (Jan 29, 2011)

I had a yorkie,named Lily,she went to the bridge dec2009 aged 15,she was 3lb in weight,and her RMBS were,

Lamb chops
Lamb and pork ribs
Chicken wings and drumsticks and believe it or not,Turkey necks.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

rawdogs said:


> I had a yorkie,named Lily,she went to the bridge dec2009 aged 15,she was 3lb in weight,and her RMBS were,
> 
> Lamb chops
> Lamb and pork ribs
> Chicken wings and drumsticks and believe it or not,Turkey necks.


i'm sorry to hear about your loss of lily...i'm sure you miss her very much....gotta tell you, she must have had a true set of choppers on her to power through turkey necks 

course, yorkies WERE bred to catch and kill rats....that's sayin' something....


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## sassymaxmom (Dec 7, 2008)

Chicken feet have lots of joints with cartilage, that is the magic. Bony raw is loaded with cartilage, just make sure the bony bits have lots of joints and see how it goes. I have one not particularly authoritative site that says wet cartilage has 5% chondroitin sulfate. Max would get about 1400 mg of chondroitin a day, 1.4 grams. 1.4 grams is about 5% of an ounce. He gets about 10 ounces a day so if 10% of his diet was cartilage/tendon he would be good to go. A whole lot of conjecture and assumptions but makes me feel I am doing even more for his 11 year old joints than giving all that good protein he lacked for 8 years! I don't know about knees but supporting iffy hips with strong muscles is a super good thing to do.

Here is my source.Commonly Asked Questions of 2000 - Glucosamine and Chondroitin


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## Amy18 (May 17, 2011)

Sorry i went on vacation and am just now seeing these replies. Thanks everyone i decided to keep her on the Cosequin and her joints are already starting to improve, but i will still add in a chicken foot here and there. I upped her intake and that has really helped with keeping her regular, her poops are now not too hard or too soft. I also added pork and beef to her diet and she loves it, now liver is another story lol.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

Amy18 said:


> Sorry i went on vacation and am just now seeing these replies. Thanks everyone i decided to keep her on the Cosequin and her joints are already starting to improve, but i will still add in a chicken foot here and there. I upped her intake and that has really helped with keeping her regular, her poops are now not too hard or too soft. I also added pork and beef to her diet and she loves it, now liver is another story lol.


just a suggestion...and i'm glad she's doing well...maybe talk to your vet about an acid reducer like pepcid...coats the stomach and protects it from the cosequin...


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