[Katie J]

Thank you. Simmons appears to have a better reputation that Diamond from what my search pulled up. I don’t think I’ll have to rush back to TSC to return the cans my boyfriend picked up!

[Katie J]

Thank you, Betsy and crazy4cats!

I did purchase that booklet and found it very informative. It’s on my phone to reference at any time. I still want the other two books as well so I can be properly armed for when I do decide to go raw. My boyfriend wants to do kibble/wet and raw, but I would prefer to go completely raw. The convenience of kibble in the AM when we are generally scurrying off to work may just be the deciding factor assuming both dogs can handle the split diet. But honestly why would any dog go back to kibble after having tasty raw?! Lol!

I’m using Answer’s as well in his AM feeding. He only gets a small splash, but it’s been doing wonders with his digestion while we find good he loves.

He really seems to like the variety or at least the better quality over 4Health. Another thing I learned here was that while 4Health is rated well it’s made by Diamond, and I am not comfortable with making it a staple in his diet. I may have missed it, but does Diamond make the wet food too? Because I really like the price point!! Anyhow I would have stopped the variety had he shown a poor reaction to it. As long as things are going well for him, I want to continue. Though if we stick to kibble with a wet topper, I will likely pick 3-4 brands to rotate and rotate the proteins within brands.

And thank you for the new job congrats! I am looking forward to the change and growth potential. Plus the extra money is nice 😉

[Katie J]

I can’t edit now. But I wanted to add that I am really thankful and grateful for all the advice given here and in other threads that I have read. I went from almost buying Purina’s puppy formula to having two solid (in my opinion) brands to rotate and a couple that I I want to look into as a potential third. I have nearly figured out how to balance a raw diet and have both of the “bibles” on order. I am pricing making the switch and putting together a plan to do so. With a new job for me in the future (I just received the offer this week), I plan to get that ball rolling.

It’s been awhile since I had a puppy. A long while. And I have tried to spend a lot of my free time researching and learning to make things better for him. I’m certainly not perfect and still learning. Without the kind folks here, who knows what crap I would have gotten him from Petsmart or whatever my local store has been told to push! I had to listen to about a 5 minute speech on Evanger’s canned. They left out the part about the huge recall though.

To me, little Gichin appears to be flourishing. I see a happy and playful puppy that is growing what seems like daily with appropriate and normal elimination. He’s officially settled in after nearly a month in his new home. His potty training has been fantastic. I can’t remember the last time he had an accident.

And I really have this forum to thank for all of it as they help me tweak everything to make things perfect.

[Katie J]

He’s eating Earthborn and trying Fromm currently. I didn’t know these were poor. I meant that I could not justify a commercial raw diet. We are pricing a homemade raw diet. This pup hasn’t even digested anything below a 4 star food since I brought him home. I picked up samples because I was concerned he didn’t like the first food I bought him. We have since found good he does like and plan to rotate with those. Thanks for your concern though.

[Katie J]

Paula – I do agree that I feel like I have been very lucky with how he has handled transitions. I panicked when he stopped eating like a chow hound! Fortunately he has handled switched very well, and I was lucky enough to get several samples of particular foods to give him time to adjust. All in all, he seems to like having something new. And I keep careful watch because I know I am throwing a lot at him.

Amy – Some may say he’s small even for a Shiba. Though their normal weight is around 20 lbs. I think we are coming close to 10 lbs. he gets weighed again next week. I would guess he’s put on 3-5 lbs in the month I’ve had him.

As for his feedings, we scaled back to 2. His AM feeding with me seemed lackluster with an extremely enthusiastic dinner. After my boyfriend asked me one dinner feeding if I had even fed him that day, I decided that especially on fun, high activity days (going to the barn or taking trips to pet stores) he probably needs a lunch/snack. I cut his breakfast down the next day and gave lunch before heading out to play. Dinner was gobbled down and then some. By the looks of him, I think we’re hitting another growth spurt. My boyfriend and I both agreed he looked bigger since the morning! And now my terrier has acceptable his role as puppy playmate so it’s a nonstop cycle of playing until they pass out so they are both looking for more food!

At this rate, I think we may hit 30 lbs by adulthood. Though I think that’s the max we could possibly do. Personally I am happy with anything as long as he is happy and healthy. So far that’s the case! My boyfriend wishes he would get bigger though. This little guy reminded him of his favorite childhood dog, a 100 plus Akita. I just had to break the news to him that Gichin will grow to a certain size regardless of our presences. Heck I like small dogs! We’ll just have to love him nonetheless! 🙂

[Katie J]

I checked Craigslist for a freezer. Might have to pick it up, but I guess I’m not exactly sure how to troubleshoot those sort of things. It might be a good way to buy a piece of junk.

I’m looking to possibly making a 50lb purchase at ReelRaw. I like the variety and the 10lb grinds look like a good price and convenient. The bf and I are pricing places and seeing how much each option with cost us (kibble+wet vs raw). Kibble is winning, but how much providing the best for your dog worth? I toyed with 1 kibble and 1 raw meal, but I am pretty certain that my picky terrier will gladly skip his kibble meal after finding raw! He already prefers wet.

I truly appreciate everyone’s help! It’s great to have a community of knowledgable and friendly people who all want the best for dogs everywhere!

[Katie J]

RescueDaneMom – I will definitely check that site out! Thanks for the heads up!

Pugmomsandy – Oh my goodness!!! I could definitely see myself doing that! It would be quite the scramble for a freezer before it arrived. Talk about stocking up!

I grabbed a can of sardines last night. My boyfriend has been begging to feed an egg. And I am stalking our fresh meat at work for markdowns. I’m considering thawing the whole chicken I have and letting the boyfriend cut it down. So many options!

[Katie J]

Thank you! I realize now how silly that question was after you explained it. I guess I was worried about “too much of a good thing” type issue.

I’m feeling pretty indecisive, and the due date to order for the co-op is getting close. I think I may hold off and tour a couple of local butchers while I decide what I want. I’m thinking that I won’t need to have a ton of meat on hand, but investing in a small freezer is a good idea.

It’s really exciting and sort of overwhelming with dog nutrition. I don’t seem to care half as much about what goes into my body!

[Katie J]

To avoid creating another thread, I think this still fits hear, but I want to add sardines once a week. Currently the pup really seems to like the Earthborn Holistic Primitive Naturals, which contains whitefish. I have read that Steve Brown discourages feeding kibble that contains fish due to a concern of rancidity. I have to admit that I like how much my pup likes it and the 5 star rating. Assuming I continue to feed it, would his appropriate serving of sardines be too much given the kibble contains fish?

[Katie J]

I’ll definitely pick up that book you’re suggesting this weekend. We’re planning a puppy outing at our local town center that has several pet friendly stores.

My little guys are pretty active. When they aren’t napping, it’s full on puppy mode for both of them! Plus we make trips about 5 times a week to where I board my horses, and spend several hours playing and exploring. I figure once the pup is full grown, we’ll be going through about a pound a day between the two of them. But I have no idea how big the pup will get. I could be underestimating. The co-op I plan to purchase from estimates about $1.50 a day to feed a 40 lb dog, and I think we will be under that weight between the two of them. I can get behind that! I am a little overwhelmed with their offerings as a lot of it is large portions. I’m not sure how to feed it all. I guess those books would answer that for me!

Next I want to look into supplements for their raw diet. I gather that they can have human multivitamins. The only draw back is that I have to make sure it’s safe for dogs and the mix may not be optimal, right? I know that Hound Dog Mom buys things separately. But I’ll admit her list of supplements confuses me quickly!

[Katie J]

Thanks guys! I was wanting to introduce all of the potential raw ingredients through his puppyhood before making the leap. I keep reading that making the switch to raw is a lot easier than it seems. But boy, it sure looks awfully complicated going through this thread!

In reference to SSLL, am I missing the serving size guide on the website? My iPad doesn’t zoom the bag picture correctly. I see that it’s highly recommended, but I want to see what it’ll actually cost me to feed.

$90 for a grinder is very reasonable. I hadn’t started looking yet, but I was thinking that would be quite the investment. I could supplement with grinds from another source and grind chicken in house. I am just looking to be as inexpensive as possible. I may not be factoring everything right, but it sounds like feeding raw could be cheaper than the kibble I have been experimenting with. We haven’t settled on a kibble that the pup loves. And my terrier has been taking a liking to wet food over his kibble.

I have a sample of Steve Brown’s book saved. I have been debating on purchasing as I wasn’t sure if I was ready for it yet. The other book sounds promising.

Maybe I’ll get some things from the co-op to try. Also I think I saw someone say that they buy from the grocery store. I work at an Aldi. Not sure if anyone is familiar with the store. We don’t have a butcher but have a decent selection of pork, beef and chicken prepackaged. Is that safe for dogs?

[Katie J]

So I have went through this entire thread (skimmed a tiny bit) and couldn’t find my answer surprisingly enough. I have been toying with the idea of going raw for my new pup that I mentioned in the Editor’s Choice forum, but worry that I could screw him up if I get the balance off. The puppy stage is too important to screw up. I keep researching raw anyhow because I want to switch to raw eventually for him and my terrier mix. I even recently found a co-op that delivers close by.

My bug question, as I see most people are feeding medium – large dogs, is how I maintain balance for small dogs? My terrier is 15-20 lbs (just guessing but I can weigh him), and my pup is 8-9 lbs (he weighed 7 lbs about two weeks ago at the vet). For those who haven’t read the other thread, he’s almost a 4 months old Shiba Inu/Akita Inu that I purchased secondhand but was a pet store pup. Yes, he is very small for his age, and no, I have no idea how big he’ll be. He seems to be growing like a weed though! Anyhow to maintain the proper balance for the pup, would I have to rely mostly on grinds? I assume I can find a proper balance for my terrier without solely using grinds. I haven’t even looked into the cost of a grinder yet. If I were to use a premix like See Spot Live Longer, do I give these little guys 1 lb of boneless meat? Seems like an awful lot! And on the topic of supplements, I know a lot of puppy foods have added DHA. Would I want to add that in a puppy raw diet? I was also toying with the idea of placing an order with the co-op for a few things to try to add in to the current diet of kibble and wet my pup is getting to help him transition. Is it safe to use raw as a topper on kibble? Or should I feed raw as an exclusive meal?

Thank you for all of this information! I discovered this website about a week ago and have since made it my personal mission to find out how to give my dogs the best!

[Katie J]

He actually watches the other dog eat. So I asked my boyfriend, who he apparently eats better for, if he bring my terrier in for feedings. He does not. I thought he had been being that I told him to… Lol. I had been separating the pair in the bathroom of all places. It was just a convenient place at first. It is quite crowded with the three of us. But I do have to keep any dog getting something special out of sight of the spaniel as she is very territorial over food/treats/anything special. Perhaps the extras I having been giving my terrier will just have to be after I feed the pup for now. I don’t have an ideal situation currently. Eventually they will have special places to eat.

I had planned to switch to 2 meals and found out that the boyfriend fed lunch today. I will just give him a very small dinner to hold him over. We’ll go to 2 tomorrow. I am nervous about having him eat just dry as he hasn’t been forced to suffer that torture in about a week. 😉 Would doing a mostly dry meal in the AM and a mostly wet meal in the PM be a good compromise?

I had a sneaking suspicion that I was totally getting played with the spoon feeding. And there is a reason that I have furry kids and not the human kind. I guess I would be that mom forcing food down her kids’ mouths! It’s been several years since I’ve had a puppy as opposed to an adoloescent or adult. I have been extremely paranoid and concerned with every bit of him.

I did a bit of online vet work to see about his water habits. And I was figuring that he just hadn’t understood that water isn’t just a boredom thing. His potty training has been coming along so I was thinking about letting him get a few more water breaks so he can get the hint. I will discuss his habits with our vet just to be sure as he acts like a normal puppy.

We just picked up some new goodies for him tonight: 2 samples of Signature and two cans of Wild Calling. And since the price was good on the Orijen Treats, he got those too. We almost picked up a small bag of the Stella raw, but we were wanting to try a small bag of the rabbit before committing to a big bag.

Crazy4cats – Thank you. He’s my little special man. I just want the best for my little guys!

[Katie J]

He’s due for his last set of shots on the 14th. I didn’t get his vet records from his previous owner after many attempts so my vet wanted to redo his second set just to be sure. But my vet is a friend of the family, so I’ll ask him if I should bring him in earlier. I’ve not seems a loss of appetite per se, and he does visibly appear to be full after a meal. I figured that the feeding too much thing was a good guess. Stepping back to two meals yesterday made him gobble down dinner. His stools seems to be normal to soft, but can get slightly runny when a food changes… But he did get upstairs and found the adult dogs’ water dish before I could grab it and have himself quite a water belly. Definitely better safe than sorry about such a thing.

[Katie J]

In regards to pet stores, I agree. This pup and my spaniel are exceptions. I currently own two off the track thoroughbreds that I adopted and my terrier mix from a rescue whom I know even less about as he came in as an abused stray. Plus I have brought home several barn kittens along with several other adopted and well bred pups alike. To me I feel sorry for these pet store pups. They get born into a horrific system, and they have no control over it. They were just born and get the brunt of it all because giving them a loving home that they wish to have supports the monsters that brought them to life.

Not sure how I left any details out in that novel of an original post, but I did. He gets a little more than a quarter cup of kibble with two heaping teaspoons of wet. Though the wet is enough to mix thoroughly with the dry. The 4Health suggests up to 2 cups for him hence my feeding so much and so often. I also have picked up the adult dogs’ food while he is with them because he would sneak their food and not eat his. Plus Sir Pees-a-lot hadn’t quite understood that he shouldn’t drink half his weight in water and have all sorts of accidents. I am proud to say that he has been accident free for nearly 2 days (knock on wood) so I may let water stay down more often. I have been giving him lots of little water breaks simply for potty training purposes.

And I guess it never occurred to me that I was feeding too much. My boyfriend and I discussed feeding too much per feeding but not in general. I’ll admit that I am very worried that he’s not getting enough to get “big and strong” but didn’t think I was giving too much. Perhaps I should cut back on both kibble and wet by a tiny bit? Or do the same ration just twice a day?

[Author]

Posts