Ril-Mas

I'm doing a happy dance right now! LOL

Dad agreed to let me switch Abby over to raw. The only catch is that now I'm the one who gets to feed her all of her meals. That's really not a big deal since I can feed both her and Logan at the same time anyway.

So, she's just shy of 35lb and is 5 months old. She's still teething and quite a bit smaller than Logan. I had posted earlier about switching her to raw and it was suggested to feed her chicken quarters, but if I'm thinking correctly those are larger than the whole chicken legs I'm feeding Logan right now. The legs I feed logan consist of the thigh and drumstick. Aren't quarters the same thing with a portion of the hip/back attached? How would I be able to feed all of that and still keep her within her daily percentage? Would she be ok with just thighs and/or drumsticks or would those be a choking hazard?

As for her daily percentage I'm seeing that you should feed puppies 10% of their body weight or 2-3% of their ideal adult body weight. This doesn't make sense to me because they're two different amounts. If I went with the 10% it would be roughly 3.5lb of food a day (plus I'd continuously weigh her and adjust accordingly) and if I did 2-3% of her adult weight it would be around 1.3lb of food a day. Am I right here? I'd much rather go the 2-3% of her adult weight formula.

I'm very excited to be getting her on raw!

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Doggiedose

Yay for Abby! She's going to LOVE it!!

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dawnybabe

I'd go with the 1.3lbs of food a day. Then judge by her body shape if she needs to lose or gain weight!!


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BuddhaBoss

I feed Buddha 2-3% (it varies) of his ideal weight and he just turned 6 month. However we feed Boss (who is only 3 months) 10% of his weight. We also divide their meals into 2.
I started Buddha at just under 5 months (you actually gave me some advice when I started).. and I was feeding him chicken legs (drumstick and thigh). I was worried at first about choking etc. but was given a lot of advice on here that they are capable of eating those bones. When we first started I held his food.. now I just give it to him.. sometimes he chews through everything and sometimes he tries swallows it whole. I found that wings were too small for him and he just swallowed them and then coughed them back up. You can also give her chicken backs.
We just started adding beef today.. they are in heaven!

2manydogs

When the 10% ratio amount surpasses the 2-3% adult ratio you switch to the 2-3%. I would start off feeding her the 1.3 lbs and adjust up to 1.5lbs if needed As for the chicken question, you can feed just a thigh or just a drumstick if it is closer to her meal weight. I routinely cut a chicken quarter in half to make the numbers work.

Welcome to Raw Abby girl!!!

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Kari ~ Keeper, servant and mommy to the following crew



**Proudly Raw fed since 2010**

sasasola

Oh that's great Mandy!

I'm still working on my hubby....

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Susy
Mom to 2 beautiful daughters , Duke and Dusty

af_wx_wife

My hubby said he doesn't want to go raw with our girls. He said first & foremost is the amount we will be spending & the fact that we'd need another freezer or 2 just for them. Then he said he heard about dogs getting the taste of blood. Told him that is just a story.

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Ril-Mas

Thanks everyone. I was going to wait until the weekend to switch her so I'd be home to keep an eye on her, but I just can't. I'm going to swing by the supermarket on my way home to pick up some thighs and drumsticks. She's going raw tonight as long as the store has them. Since she's a puppy I won't be fasting her. I'm not comfortable with fasting her at her age. Hopefully tonight I'll have some pics and/or video to share of her and her first raw meal.

If you're interested in trying to convince him to switch, just keep bringing it up. Do some research to find a good source of meat in your area so you can do some price comparisons. I haven't found my jackpot yet, but a lot of people save more money with raw than with a high end kibble! I guess it all depens on how shopping savy you are.

As for getting a freezer, yeah I've found that to be a bit of a necessity. I have one on order that should be ready for pick up next week. It'll be nice to have one for just their stuff. I only got a 5.5 cu ft freezer since space is limited so you don't have to go all out and get a super huge one.

On the becoming blood thirsty part. It's funny that so many people are worried about that. That thought never crossed my mind when I was researching. I mean how many people would be feeding raw and supporting it if made their dogs go vicious?

I hope you're able to convince him! It'll be worth it in the long run.

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NikkiL

Do you feed supplements to your dogs or just quarter chicken legs? I've recently put mine on "complete meals" that I've bought at a raw pet food store. It has kelp and omega oils in it so I don't need to add anything... I think it has veggies too, I'll have to look. I can't remember as we went through all different kinds. They one they are on is complete and antibotic free. The more I research the more confused I get..

2manydogs

Do you realize how much blood is in dog kibble??? lol Just sayin

Also I got 2 of my chest freezers for free!! Just look on Kijiji or Craigslist

NikkiL, Healthy Paws is not complete, you still need to add in organ meats. The only supplements my guys get is Fish oil and Vitamin E. No, you can not just feed chicken legs, you should feed a minimum of 4 different proteins.

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Kari ~ Keeper, servant and mommy to the following crew



**Proudly Raw fed since 2010**