[PAID BY FORD]

Hello Everyone,
I am so glad i found this site and it has definitely given me the confidence to feed a raw food diet. I picked up my new puppy this morning. 5 month old male dogue de bordeaux. not my first bordeaux but definitely my first raw fed dog. Am I correct in feeding him on the first day I purchased chicken backs after reading so may of the posts here also is that the only thing to feed him or can i give him chicken leg quarters this early in his conversion to raw?. I am really appreciative of all the great info this site has given me and hopefully I will not have to trouble everyone with too many stupid questions.
Thx
Emanuel
P.S. His name is Romeo

 

[Animal Quackers]

Welcome, and congratulations!

I do not know how much your boy weighs or how big he is, but we started feeding our Boxers raw when Penny was 6 months old and weighed only about 42 pounds. I never bought backs - they right from the start ate chicken quarters. I split them up a bit, because initially, they were not sure how to eat them, but they did not have any problem with them or with runny poops from eating them.

)

 

[PAID BY FORD]

he is 63 lbs, am i correct in using the adult weight formula for him 2-3% of his projected adult weight?. well maybe i should get him some leg quarters for tomorrow. It is ok to feed him the backs though, isn't it?

 

[PalmettoPaws]

It's fine to feed the backs. I feed my female Standard Poodle backs occasionally and she doesn't have any problems with them. The reason they're suggested in the beginning is that they have a lot of bone which helps keep them from getting diarrhea while their system gets used to raw. However, I started my dog out on quarters and she was absolutely fine. It varies dog to dog though. If he seems like he's constipated eating only backs you want to add more meat and less bone.

 

[DaneMama]

Hello and welcome!

Glad to hear that you are going to feed raw to that new puppy of yours. Its the best thing that you can do for him.

I would definitely feed him 2-3% of his projected adult weight. What did his parents weigh? That is the best starting ground. I would personally start on the lower side of things rather than the higher amount and adjust accordingly.

You should start with chicken backs for the first few days, and then feed quarters. You want to feed high bone content so that you can keep him from getting diarrhea right off the bat. Bone binds stool together and keeps them firm and regular, so the more bone that you feed the firmer the stools will be. Quarters have less bone in them compared to backs. I would start feeding quarters after a few days of normal stools.

Good luck and don't hesitate to ask any and all questions :wink: :biggrin:

 

[PAID BY FORD]

his father is 170 lbs and mother 140 so i am figuring for the time being 150 lbs at 2% for now and see how that goes for starters. in fact i just fed him, gave him 1 chicken back with excess fat trimmed of. took him about 5 mins to eat it thoroughly. figured i give him another he ate that one just as quickly chewing completely with out trying to swallow it whole. tomorrow i will feed him the normal 3lbs in 3 feedings and hope it goes as smoothly as today. Thanks again for the support you guys are great!!!

 

[DaneMama]

Let us know how it goes!

 

[redspoo]

Welcome to the forum. Would love to see pictures of your new pup!

 

[PAID BY FORD]

i wish i knew how to post!! lol

 

[Rottnk9s]

Welcome to the forum. Would love to see pictures of your new pup!

Me too! And Romeo will be so happy he gets to live with you and eat his nutritious food!!

 

[magicre]

congrats on your new pup...one of my favourite breeds of dogs....

 

[PAID BY FORD]

thanks again for such an enthusiastic welcome, Romeo ate 3lbs of chicken backs today, his stool is solid and wet. No where near the volume as I am use to in a puppy thankfully!! lol. He also seems to drink a lot less water. Is that also a side benefit of eating raw?

 

[Ania's Mommy]

Great to hear that! Gotta love the little poos!

Yes, drinking less water is normal. Fresh meat already has a good amount of water IN it. So there's less drinking going on.

Keep up with the great work!