Hi all, thanks for the add to the forum. I've been pouring over the content and there is loads of amazing stuff that'll keep us going for years I'm sure. I wanted to ask about feeding pup. We have a new pup, Blue, he's a black lab at 2 months old. He has come from working parents on a working farm. Now today, is our first day at home. The breeder sent us away with his lunch, tea and dinner. The first being RAW/ BARF food whilst the other two are kibble. Moving forward we have bought the same kibble. Now, I'm starting to think that the breeder has been feeding Blue RAW/BARF more than we first thought judging by, what appears to be bone product in his poo. The two portions of kibble we have been soaked over night. Now, we've given both lots of Kibble and he's completely ignored it. Now I'm sure some of it is first day anxiety/excitement although he did eat his RAW/BARF lunch in the usual lab seconds. At his vet check, the vet recommended stopping the RAW/ BARF food whilst he is small which we'd intended to in any event, so how do we entice him back to the kibble. I'm thinking I need to mix it with something to entice him to it but I'm not sure what. Any thoughts/ experience of this?
Hello and welcome to the forum from me and my two, Willow and Shadow, who are nearly two years. It may just be that, as you say, it's all a bit much for him today, with leaving his litter mates and moving to a new house. If you want to add something to the kibble, there are a few things you could try; tinned sardines, unsalted chicken stock, some mince, a little bit of honey... Is the BARF a package of minced up food? If so, you could mix some of this in with his kibble. Although those packets normally have everything minced so finely that you wouldn't be seeing bone in his poo. Puppies are well able to eat either raw or BARF from weaning, so don't feel you have to go onto kibble until he's older; it just needs either plenty of research to get the balances right yourself or else the use of pre-packaged meals that have done the balancing for you. Not to say that you should do that, either; it's entirely your decision and kibble has a lot going for it. Some vets are very against feeding raw, and it certainly helps to be on the same page as your vet. I feed a mixture of kibble and raw to my two. Willow started eating chicken wings when she was 8 weeks.
It might be nothing to do with how boring or otherwise kibble may be. Most breeders do not feed kibble meals in one bowl to one pup - quite understandable, they might have 10 or 12 puppies. So an important motivation to eat is competition with littermates. If you don't tuck in quickly, well, you don't get your fair share. Faced with a bowl of food all to themselves for the first time, some puppies are just a bit put out. I'd check the puppy likes the kibble - does he take it as treats eagerly enough etc? And if so, just take up the kibble if he doesn't eat it and offer fresh at the next meal time. You only have to worry if he goes more than a day without eating. If he seems disinterested in the kibble as treats, maybe try a different brand. Myself, I wouldn't add things to kibble. First, because I believe feeding a good quality kibble with quantities of protein and minerals balanced for a medium/large breed puppy is the best thing to do, and second because I want to feed kibble so I need my dogs to eat and enjoy it. Adding things to kibble can mean that dogs won't eat it unless you always add things. Oh, another reason - I want to keep the sardines, fillet steak, king prawns etc for training treats, not give them away in a bowl for free.
Just to say - I don't feed raw generally, although have fed my dogs raw things time to time (eg duck necks etc) so more experienced people might comment but I don't think it's normal to see bits of bone in poo. Are you sure it's bones? Has your puppy been wormed at 2, 4 and 6 weeks? Your vet should prescribe ongoing worming treatment, particularly if you are seeing 'things' in poo....
I do add something to my dogs' kibble, probably more for my sake than theirs, I like to give them a change! The one Lab would eat anything, the older one is more fussy. I add about a desertspoon of a good, wet dog food which I get from Waitrose, although they do like Chappie and sometimes some Mackerel in tomato sauce.
Hi guys, thanks for your comments, all of which make absolute sense. The vets reasoning was that she is currently treating 2 other pups with salmonella related illnesses, one of which may not be cured. She is sure that the cause was RAW/ BARF food. She implied this was 'home grown' or supermarket bought foods. However, she did make some suggestions if we still wished to go ahead with that kind of feeding. Bone product, I need to take the plunge, I was putting it off and made an assumption but I'll have a proper look. We talked about Blue's tum with regard to the type of feed and she did suggest worms could cause an upsets etc. Previous worming, we can only presume that this has actually happened although I have no reason to presume not particularly as we have been sent home with the next round and when I showed them to the vet, she seemed happy. I'm not over concerned at the mo as he has been full of beans all day and largely hasn't stopped all day. The kibble we've bought was purchased from the breeder as it was the one they use. Thanks for the advice, I think I'm gonna monitor and see how we go, although when talking about adding stuff I was thinking of flavour rather than substance. JulieT, re you mentioning kibble as a treat, can it be eaten dry? I appreciate this may be a silly question but I've always assumed it had to be soaked.
It doesn't have to be soaked, no. Your 8 week old pup is capable of crushing a chicken wing etc in her jaws, she can cope with kibble. I think the reason that people say kibble has to be soaked is because some kibbles come with such a high volume of filler it's a challenge for a pup to eat that volume of dry food - think eating your way though 8 packets of ryvita without a glass of water. My pup came home on a completely bizarre mix of raw food, 'sporting breed puppy' kibble that had to be feed in incredibly high volumes, and rice pudding. I immediately switched her to a high meat kibble that was fed in a fraction of the volume of the original kibble, and she has no trouble eating it as it comes.
Kibble can be eaten dry You can put it in treat dispensing toys or use it as training treats. You shouldn't be seeing bone bits in poo, even if feeding actual bones. Might just be a matter of the digestive system adapting.... But I've been feeding meaty bones almost daily for many years and have never seen a bone bit in poo.
Thanks all for the input. I will inspect the poo's more closely in the morning when its light. Since the thread started he has eaten his evening meal. I'm still thinking I will need to revisit his like or dislike for the kibble at another time but we clearly need to give him a few days to settle in. Thanks again.
If he'll take the kibble as treats, you could put it in a Kong Wobbler or similar, so he has to work for his dinner - it'll be a fun game for him, and will tire him out, too. As well as regular training once he's settled in. Some people never feed "meals" to their dogs, and they get their entire rations as training rewards. Apparently, some dogs also appreciate their food more when it's earned, rather than given away for free - and you may as well get the added benefit of a tired puppy out of it
Hiya an update on Blue. We had the usual first night, although not as bad as I'd expected. But I've been up since four now so feel like I've done a days work already! lol I wanted to assess whether he had an upset tummy or whether he genuinely didn't like the kibble. I put some chicken in and he woofed this down. I've also had a closer look at his poo this morning and they are definately bone fragments. I've done a little reading on this and it seems that it can be very common for young dogs when they have been put on a RAW diet as they can't digest the bone properly. I'm planning on having chat with the vet this afternoon as I'm a little concerned he's not himself although no more tired than a normal pup weakness etc etc.
