Some questions on raw diets
 

Autumn, my 6.5 month old GD pup has the worst time on kibbles. She’s never had a firm poo since we’ve had her. She has a clean bill of health from her vet. We’ve tried switching various kibbles; started with Solid Gold, then Eagle Pack, then Canidae, currently Go! Natural. She is also very hard to keep any weight on.

I am considering switching her to raw but still unsure. She has a very delicate system and most people food send her into a vomit/poopfest. When she was sick with a stomach bug she was able to eat boiled hamburger/rice with no problems though.

I’ve been reading a little about raw and still a bit confused. There is raw that you buy at the supermarket, there is raw stuff that comes ground in patties and then there is this dehydrated stuff that is raw but you add water too.

I probably sound like a total idiot but I really don’t know where to start?

Hi KimandAutumn,
Our golden retriever had the same problems you described. He didn't have a firm stool since we brought him home from the breeder's place and we too tried various "high end" kibbles like Solid Gold, Foundations, DVP Duck and Potato, all to no avail.
We made the decision to switch to raw and right off the bat he started having firm stools. We were :cloud9:
I think it's a great idea if you try raw, but you should probably have the doggy looked over by a vet first to make sure that there isn't some other underlying condition that is causing the loose stools ie. parasites, colitis, etc.
As for starting out, we started with the commercial raw and a good probiotic capsule with each meal. However, if I could go back, I would avoid the commercial raw completely. It's unnecessary and WAYYYY over priced for what you are getting...(the meat to bone ratio is about 50/50, so basically you are paying astronomical prices for bones).
If I were you, I would go out and buy a whole chicken and cut it into quarters. You should be feeding approx 2-3 % of doggy's ideal body weight, so ration accordingly. See how he does on the chicken for a few weeks and then you can begin introducing other meat sources, raw eggs, green tripe and organ meats. The key is to go SLOOOOOWLY. We made the mistake of being a little too gung-ho and we ended up with loose poops for a bit, so we scaled back and started from scratch and now everything is :thumbs up again.

Good luck and let us know how :dog: likes his first raw meal :D