[schtuffy]

So for his first week eating raw, Louis has been getting chicken necks and chicken wings. I started out peeling most of the skin and fat off in case he got diarrhea from the transition. Luckily his poop was firm and compact right off the bat, and I now refer to them as "tootsie roll" poops :tongue: However, I've noticed in the past couple days that his poop is turning harder and rather crumbly, and also has quite a bit of bone pieces mixed in. If I give it a squeeze, it breaks apart almost like a dry cookie. When he eats kibble, his poop is always on the soft side, so I guess what I'm trying to say is, I don't know exactly how hard is too hard for poop. Is he ready for the skin and fat now, or am I just feeding too much bone to meat ratio?

 

[RawFedDogs]

Try leaving the skin and fat on. You may be feeding a little more bone than you should but not excessively so. If, after adding skin and fat back, he still has the problem, you might add a little meat into his diet. A piece or two of boneless breast would work. Remember that his stools are going to be more solid than you are used to anyway. Don't think of kibble stools as normal under any circumstance. They will also loosen up in time as you add less boney pieces to the diet. In my mind, what you have now is much preferable to diarrhea. :smile:

 

[DaneMama]

Basically the rule with raw feeding is that if you see crumbly poo it means that you are feeding too much bone, or if you're seeing loose dark colored stools you are not feeding enough bone. Just adding more flesh into his diet would do the trick. You are doing everything "by the books" and that is what we suggest since its the easiest and most effective way to switch to raw. Congrats, you've gotten past what would be considered the hardest part by most people! Keep up the good work.

What else are you feeding him? If you have seen nothing but consistent normal bowel movements I would say that you're ready to start adding in more variety. I suggest either small, raw fish if he will eat them or suitable turkey parts, turkey necks cut into smaller sizes for your little dog!

 

[schtuffy]

Yea, I'll take tootsie roll over caramel sauce poo any day :tongue:

He has just been getting the lean chicken meat for now, and I am thinking of adding in a new protein. I was thinking of frozen salmon or sardines, but the sardines I have are canned in water (not sure if you can even get them fresh?). It does seem to be a bit harder doing raw for smaller dogs due to finding cuts of meat that are small enough though. Would he primarily be getting his bone from poultry? Other than a lamb chop, everything else with bone seems too big.

Any small fish suggestions? I've been searching around for meat sources these past couple of weekends. So far I've found cuts and odd parts of chicken, turkey, duck, pork, beef, lamb/goat, rabbit, frog...haven't seen any venison yet, and various types of ocean fish that I might be able to eventually rotate in.

 

[DaneMama]

You can definitely give whole fresh fish. If you are close to any Asian markets, or any ethnic market, they usually carry them for a really decent price. We get small ones for the cats, which make a perfect meal for them.

You can also feed canned fish, since some dogs wont touch raw fish. They are packed usually in brine solution or oil, but both are fine to feed. Just add them in slowly and fed along side a bone in meal that your dog already does well with.

And yes, probably most of the bone content will come in the form of poultry. You can also look into feeding things like quail or other smaller game birds. Even day old chicks!