Raw Diet for Puppy

Nope, it's a gigenormous, heart stopping SNAKE.  She did change her avatar pic, but the one in her profile is MONSTEROUS!  And she's snuggled up to it!
 
Scared is what I am of high places.  I am absolutely PHOBIC about snakes.  Silly as it is, that's my private terror and I own it.

I raise and train field trial (performance) beagles and introduce RMB to my pup's once they are fully weaned from their mom. They get beef ribs (or short ribs) at first, with little actual meat on them, to chew on. This helps to adjust their GIT to the raw meat bacteria and such. Once they have adjust to this, I introduce chicken legs. Beagle's can be zealous eaters and feel the wings are just to easy for them to gulp down.
 
While they do get some raw (3x/week), they are on a quality kibble for growth/nutrient requirements, as are mine adult dogs. None of my 18 dogs are on totally raw and will never be. I don't feel that it provides everything they need to perform optimally. During hunting season, I get whole rabbits and they really enjoy them []
 
It has been my personal experience with beagle puppies, they need a consistant form of nutrition, with fresh supplementation. My pups are beautiful, with shiney coats and TONS of energy. They are introduced to the "field" at about 4 months and the better the shape they are in, the better they perform. That is why I choose to provide a quality kibble and supplement with raw.
 
Good luck with your puppy.

kennel keeper, thanks for posting that.  Your experience should be very helpful.

ORIGINAL: glenmar

Nope, it's a gigenormous, heart stopping SNAKE.  She did change her avatar pic, but the one in her profile is MONSTEROUS!  And she's snuggled up to it!

She's actually still a baby in that pic... if anyone else loves big gorgeous scaly things... I'll pm you a link to her photobucket. She's a bit over 5 feet of chunky fatness now, and more beautiful than ever!

Anything wrong with feeding cooked meat?  I do not want to feed raw to my dogs, but they do enjoy cooked meat...along with quality kibble and other things like fruits, vegies, and cheese..
 
It seems like you are taking a chance when you feed bones and hope they are soft from digestive acids, and plus the bacterium count of it all...Just don't know that much about this.

Anything wrong with feeding cooked meat? I do not want to feed raw to my dogs, but they do enjoy cooked meat...along with quality kibble and other things like fruits, vegies, and cheese..

 
  Not at all; it's a myth that raw food is always more nutritious than cooked food;   [linkhttp://www.monicasegal.com/newsletters/2004-04NL.php]http://www.monicasegal.com/newsletters/2004-04NL.php[/link];
Examples of Higher Nutrients in Cooked Foods
Calcium found in Venison: 11mg raw / 14mg cooked
Iron found in Venson: 2.92mg raw / 3.35mg cooked
Zinc found in Vension: 4.20mg raw / 5.20mg cooked
Niacin found in Vension: 5.70mg raw / 9.257mg cooked
Folate found in Vension: 4mcg raw / 8mcg cooked

Iron found in Lamb: 1.55mg raw / 1.79mg cooked
Potasssium found in Lamb: 222mg raw / 339mg cooked
Copper found in Lamb: .101mg raw / .128mg cooked
 
   As far as the bacteria is concerned, most dogs seem to be able to eat raw meat with no problem; I feed Jessie Nature's Variety raw medallions a few times a week. I would be concerned about feeding raw to puppies though because of their immature immune system. 

She's actually still a baby in that pic... if anyone else loves big gorgeous scaly things... I'll pm you a link to her photobucket. She's a bit over 5 feet of chunky fatness now, and more beautiful than ever!

What kind is she; my son had a red tailed boa and she was very easy going. When she grew to 6 foot he was concerned about being able to provide her with adequate housing so he took her to the pet shop and traded her for a ball python. The python only grew to be 4 foot, but it was more nervous and more reluctant to leave its terrarium.

Now back on topic; there is a lot of variation in pre-made raw. An example would be Nature's Variety being 95% meat and Steve's Real Food being 65% meat. Can a dog get too much meat in their diet?

Awwww, geeze, sure hope someone has a crash cart standing by.......
 
The problem with any boneless meat, cooked or raw is keeping the phosperous/calcium ratio balanced.

ORIGINAL: glenmar

Awwww, geeze, sure hope someone has a crash cart standing by.......

The problem with any boneless meat, cooked or raw is keeping the phosperous/calcium ratio balanced.

 
Thanks for the second half of your comment, the helpful one.

Jessesmom, that is quite interesting.
 
I am duly concerned about changing from kibble of any kind to home made.  Seeing as we really can not discern where ingredients are being sourced from, until the deaths from kidney failure are reported to FDA...
 
But, sounds like from previous comments on this thread, a well rounded diet and understanding proportions is key. And cooked food is great!  Thanks.  ;  )

My apologies.  The first was at the very thought of looking at a pic of a snake that large!
 
However, you are absolutely right...we ALL need to stay on topic.

I understand~  ; )

come on, biological organisms are not as delicate as you folks suggest. A few nutrients more or less here and there won't damage your puppy. Raising a puppy on a raw diet is not rocket science and is far healthier than any kibble, if done right. Just keep the calcium low and the puppy skinny and he'll be fine.
You people actually trust dog food companies these days? I don't.

edited:  In reference to your question about raw fish and Vit. B, I don't know...sorry.  I do know this about raw fish:

Raw fish from the Pacific Northwest can carry a dangerous fluke.  The problem with buying any fish is that you don't know if it was farmed in the Pacific Northwest.  Unless you catch it yourself, most rawfeeders say to cook any fish b/c of the possiblity of picking up this fluke organism.  And you pretty much need to buy fillets b/c the fish bones are too hard to pick out.  (canned Jack Mackeral is alright with the fish bones b/c it was cooked at high pressures and the bones turn to mush---but homecooking fish does not do that for bones).

Glad you are going to a balanced kibble while you learn.  I have read on the yahoo nutrition group or on dogaware (not sure which) that calcium ratios are different for puppies than adults and what everyone else said about other nutrients being balanced being super important in puppy stage.

Good luck with your pup....and I will look for a pic in the photo thread and hope to see a picture!!

edited again:  Mudpuppy, if it were an adult dog, I think all of us would be more lenient and encouraging.  But long term problems can happen really fast with a puppy in it's growing stage.  I have read on one of the listed sites how super important it is to do this right.  Now, I don't remember details b/c I'm busy learning how to cook for my food allergy guys, and my brain doesn't have the space right now to absorb puppy information since it's not relevent to my situation.  But, I know I have read that it does take more work and balancing.  (and, truthfully, there's alot of balancing and learning curve with knowing what to do with an adult dog --- it has taken me some time to pick up on details, and I am still learning.  --- But, a puppy doesn't have that time frame to wait for you to learn. Too much is happening too fast in a puppy's life that you can't dawdle around with the details and take your time learning).  No one here is discouraging learning to home fed, just that a growing puppy does need more knowledge / balance in the SHORT term than an adult would - and you can get away with leanring as you go with an adult.
No, I don't trust dog food companies for the most part.  And I would certainly be picky about what brand I bought and I would analyze the ingredients closely.  But, with the knowledge that I have now - not much about puppies - I would still not go homecooked and I would have to trust the dog food until I got caught up on speed about the nutrient needs.  At this point, with a puppy, I would still have to chose dog food - with some fresh foods thrown in to get them used to eating veggies (and make sure I knew which ones were safe) and stuff. 

I did not mean to cause a commotion. It just doesn't make sense to me to pay more for something that I have been told is worse. But I am going with a kibble for the first six months, then I will add natures variety, and then my own raw diet.

I bought a 28lb bag of Innova Evo because of the no grain and high protein features. Since I already ordered the Solid Gold mutivitamin, I will research if I should still use it or not. I was only using it because of the lack of minerals and vitamins in raw diets.

Thanks for the help everyone.