# Weaning puppies on raw



## paux (Jul 26, 2009)

I'm breeding my Alaskan Klee Kai girl next month and I was wondering if any of you have weaned puppies onto a raw diet. The book I have on whelping puppies doesn't really address anything other than canned food and kibble as far as weaning puppies onto solid food is concerned. The book actually recommends to stay away from meat because it's too rich for puppies. However, I know there are a number of people who have weaned their puppies onto meat without any trouble at all. What I'm wondering though is, how should I introduce meat to young puppies, and should the meat be diluted with some other product? Thanks!


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## Dogluvr (Feb 14, 2008)

I haven't ever weaned puppies onto raw, but I think it would be great. I don't see how it would be too rich for them...dogs are carnivores so raw is a very species-appropriate diet. 
I wish I had some suggestions for you, but I currently don't have any experience with it.


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## MafiaPrincess (Jul 1, 2009)

I have a friend who has 6 week old JRT pups at the moment. They were weaned directly onto raw. She had concerns being her first pregnancy totally on raw, and then her first raw puppies, but things are going well.

She has found the dam is regurgitating food at times though for the pups. Something she hadn't ever had happen before on kibble fed litters.


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## phoebespeople (May 27, 2009)

We put Phoebe on her prey model raw diet when we got her at 7 weeks. I have seen a Lab breeder website showing photos of 3-4 week old pups eating ground raw chicken and there is also the lady on youtube who breeds Papillons weaning them onto whole chicken legs, they were just tearing them apart. So yes, Feed the mom raw, wean the pups on raw as soon as they are interested, and keep them on a prey model raw diet for the rest of their lives.
That would be my advice. 
Phoebe is a year old now, and her teath are like pearls, her coat is like silk, and she may be the happiest, healthiest dog I've ever seen. 
That is what a raw diet will do for your dogs.


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## DobManiac (Aug 12, 2007)

I've started doing research into this as well, so I will give you a couple of websites to get you started. But I would still highly suggest you talk this through with your mentor before trying it out. And if your mentor doesn't feed raw maybe he or she can refer you to someone that does. You really need to have a person to bounce questions off of and to call if you have concerns later on. It is very easier to mess up a raw diet, and even easier to mess up a raw diet with a puppies. They could end up with serious structurally problems if the diet isn't planned out exactly.

Here are a few sites to get you started:

http://www.b-naturals.com/newsletter/weaning-puppies-on-a-raw-diet/
http://www.dearjubilee.com/index.html
http://www.b-naturals.com/newsletter/puppy-protein/?main_page=Jan2004.php

You should also read Ian Billinghurst, Grow Your Pups With Bones. But I still strongly recommend talking to a live person. That will help you to iron out the details.


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## paux (Jul 26, 2009)

DobManiac said:


> It is very easier to mess up a raw diet, and even easier to mess up a raw diet with a puppies. They could end up with serious structurally problems if the diet isn't planned out exactly.


Thanks for the websites. I was thinking about maybe using the pre-packaged raw food for the puppies. I have some Nature's Variety because I got a 50% discount on a couple bags. Do you think that might work since the meat is all mashed pretty well and there is a bit of veggies in it for vitamins and minerals? I also don't know anyone personally who does the raw food diet, unfortunately


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## txcollies (Oct 23, 2007)

joine the rawfeeding yahoo list, also the rawbreeder yahoo list. They'll help you.


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