Started the puppy on RAW

[Violeta]

For the first few days I give her Merrick canned food and she had no problems with it. Last night I give her a whole chicken drumstick. At first she licked it then started chewing in it and although was not able to get a lot of the meat, she did managed to eat the one end of the bone! Very surprised by the power in those little teeth, I made sure the drumstick was small but I still didn’t think that she will be able to eat the bone – this was more for play then anything .

Because I didn’t find any fresh ground chicken yesterday, this morning I had to take the meat off one drumstick and cut it in small pieces and feed her, and then I give her the rest of the bone and in the playpen with her.

She loves it! I also didn’t think that she will take to raw so easy. Her poop was looking fine also. Today I will go out again to find some ground chicken because I really don’t have time to take it off the bone again and cut it .

I hope that there will be no problems

[technodoll]

Today I will go out again to find some ground chicken because I really don’t have time to take it off the bone again and cut it

no need to do that at all, in fact is it *better* to leave the drumstick intact, and let puppy do the work you'll be amazed at what your little shark can do

[Violeta]

I already am! I could not believe that she was able to eat the ends of the bone. The first day she had some trouble taking the meat off the bone so she eat one end but no meat, I don’t know if she was going after the bone or she just didn’t know how to strip the meat …

This morning, I give her the meat first and after she eat that I give her the bone and she cleaned it completely and eat bought ends. For a 2 month old small pup it’s impressive.

[technodoll]

yes VERY impressive! woohoo!

maybe tomorrow morning, try giving her a whole drumstick but stripping most of the skin off, and slicing into the meat to "feather" it out away from the bone, to make it easier for her to grip and rip the meat off. she'll get the hang of it in no time, and make you a proud momma!

of course ground meat with bone will get more food into your pup if she's mostly playing and gnawing, rather than taking the food in.

[Violeta]

I have always stripped the skin off so it doesn’t give her any problems.

I was looking at her teeth, the front part (canines and the little teeth) are nicely formed but the back teeth are not … she does chew a lot on the drumstick, I am very surprised that she was able to break the bone but she does it and she really is enjoying the “workout”. Sometimes she looks a little worried that someone may take her food (again, probably because of the brothers ) but overall we could not be doing better with the switch.

Today I will go and buy some organ meat, she’s been eating just chicken for 4 – 5 days already and the poop looks good, firm and no undigested parts, no mucus and I think that she is ready for a little chicken heart or liver.
I plan to follow an advice from this book that I have “good owners, great dogs’ or something like that. The author says to touch the dog for a few seconds after you give the food and then in the middle of the meal to approach and throw an extra treat in there, and here comes the organ meat ! This way she will relax and associate people coming towards her food with good and not panic that I will take it away .

I just can’t believe that I’ve had her for under 1 week and already she is: fully crate trained, potty trained, comes when called, knows how to sit, much better with the nipping hands, learned to ignore most of the stuff in the house and not to try to chew on everything like the first few days, doesn’t react to laud noises (she does look at what happened but does not panic at all). I am happy so far, she is a great dog and I can’t believe that I considered not taking her because she was only 8-9 weeks and people on a Maltese only forum said that I shouldn’t take her, under no circumstances to take her!!! But I liked her and decided to risk it.

[technodoll]

I just can’t believe that I’ve had her for under 1 week and already she is: fully crate trained, potty trained, comes when called, knows how to sit, much better with the nipping hands, learned to ignore most of the stuff in the house and not to try to chew on everything like the first few days, doesn’t react to laud noises (she does look at what happened but does not panic at all). I am happy so far, she is a great dog and I can’t believe that I considered not taking her because she was only 8-9 weeks and people on a Maltese only forum said that I shouldn’t take her, under no circumstances to take her!!! But I liked her and decided to risk it.

congratulations! and you are a great mom!!

[Violeta]

I just came from the store and I got: ground chicken and hearts, gizzards and livers. Should I gradually introduce the organ meat or in the same time I should add some of the kelp + alfalfa in the ground chicken?

I am a little puzzled when comes to her eating habits, she would eat twigs and usually dry, crunchy leafs and grass, she really seems to be vegetarian outside (inside she would only eat the meat), all the plants are fair game to her , none of my dogs eat so much green stuff before.

Is she doing this because she needs some in her diet of she is just misguided on what to eat? I am just worried that she may eat something poisonous.
She also loves bugs , a few nights ago she got pinched by an earwig (sp ??) that she was trying to eat … lol, and she seemed very puzzled that it actually fought back .


Thank you! I try to do my best

[technodoll]

most puppies love to eat sticks, leaves, rocks, socks, dirt, bugs... hopefully this will pass with age and don't worry, her diet is not lacking in anything, you are doing great!

i would feed a tiny bit of organ meat with her regular meal, as too much can cause the runs. remember that, in general, a meat-meal only will cause softer poops, you need to add some form of bone to firm it up. also adding too many new things at once (kelp, organs, etc) can go super fine as it can go "oops cannon butt", it really depends on your dog... so go ahead and experiment, only you can know your dog the best