Hi, Our second lab is 9 weeks today and I would like to switch his diet to raw. Our 18 month old lab is on raw and thrives on it. Our breeder suggested not changing his diet until 1 month after vaccinations in case of food intolerance. I was planning on this but he has very smelly soft stools which I remember our other lab had before going raw so ideally would like to switch asap. Would love to know peoples suggestions or experiences of switching a young puppy to raw and any knowledge of intolerances. I know he’ll love it as he already licked the raw beef tub like a puppy possessed Thank you!
We started ours on a raw diet at 9-10 weeks. It took until he was almost a year to learn --trial and error-- he had a chicken intolerance. Most vets are opposed to raw a diet so not surprised the wait one month call was made. Do it now. My advice on chicken quarters is to pound and crush the bones until dog reaches 4-5 months. Have a range of muscle meats and add fish like haddock, cod, or tilapia --never salmon, only salmon oil. Dogs don't digest enzymes of vegetables and fruit but I give a few beans and blueberries/strawberries for roughage. Calcium is critical so either pork neck or pork rib meat and bones is included with evening meal. And don't forget the liver. Google for lots of info and ideas and quantities.
It's fine to switch to raw, but I would really recommend using a complete raw mince during puppyhood and whilst the dog is growing. It's really important that a growing dog has the right nutrients and (for eg) the right balance of calcium to phosphorus ratios to avoid some quite serious problems. Getting this right is a challenge unless you do a lot of research into making a balanced raw diet. (I have a friend who fed basically just chicken carcasses to their pup and it ended up with rickets or some skeletal deformity.) Complete raws have been manufactured to provide everything a dog needs nutritionally, so you can be sure you are getting the right blend of things. Are you based in the US or UK? The brands of complete raw will differ. I'm in the UK and feed Nutriment.
