# Switched to raw diet -- constipated?



## highhung723 (Aug 30, 2011)

I've been feeding my dog raw food for 4 days now. It's been once daily, 2% body weight (he's lazy):

-ground beef
-chicken quarters
-ground beef
-chicken necks mixed with tuna

I just read yesterday that it's more appropriate to start with just one meat, but I had already mixed beef with chicken. My concerns are these:

1.) He doesn't like the chicken very much. He'll take a couple of bites, swallow, and then refuse to eat it. I had to slightly microwave the chicken quarters in oil and I had to mix the necks with tuna to get him to eat it. Is this normal? I'm guessing chicken might be too lean for him, but not sure.

2.) Usually he will poop within 5 minutes of going outside. Now he waits until about 20 minutes of walking/sprinting. It's been a single turd whereas before it used to be at least three. He holds it in for almost 24 hours at a time and doesn't have the urge to go immediately when we get outside. Is this normal or even healthy? Can Salmonella build up inside him if it stays inside for 24 hours?


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## Sybille (Oct 5, 2011)

highhung723 said:


> ... I had to slightly microwave the chicken quarters in oil ....


Unless you have the quarters de-boned first that is a really bad idea! Please don't heat bones up, it makes them brittle and they could injure your dog! The rest of your questions I leave to the resident raw-experts ;-)


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## highhung723 (Aug 30, 2011)

The only part that gets heated is the outer skin part. It turns an off white color but the rest of the chicken is still red. Rest assured, the bone is uncooked.

Does anyone have any tricks to getting a dog raised on kibble to eat raw food he doesn't want? He'll only lick at the chicken thighs. Should I take food away from him for a while until he's really hungry? It's odd because he usually never rejects food. He'll even hunt in the trash for scraps (albeit cooked scraps) and even paper towels.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Instead of putting the meat in the microwave trying heating a frying pan and searing the chicken just until it smells good. That might get him going and won't cook the bone. If you think he isn't sure how to get that big thing into his tummy try cutting the meat and skin down to the bone in several places so it is easier to grab and chomp. Your idea of smearing the meat with something tasty is a good idea. What about a few smears of canned sardine or peanut butter?

I would drop the beef for now, my dog prefers beef to chicken too and your dog needs to learn how to eat chicken for its bone content. Max preferred chicken backs to thighs and necks were a swallowing hazard he couldn't digest. Are you weighing the food? Perhaps he isn't hungry and the beef is enough to keep him happy. Max only needs 1.5% of his actual weight to maintain good condition.

Raw poop is tiny compared to kibble poop as there is no indigestible plant fiber in it for poop firming. If the poop is crumbly or really hard then you don't need to feed as much bone. If the dog has trouble pooping then you might be feeding too much bone as well.


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## Dezzoi (Sep 19, 2011)

At first, my dog didn't like the chicken, but suddenly after a few days, LOVES it! I didn't put anything on it. 
Also, what size is the chicken? If you haven't already, he might prefer them if you cut them up, not too small though, he needs to crunch on the bone for healthy teeth. I usually do this with a big knife and a hammer. Works great!

Also, the constipation might be from too much bone. Try stripping the chicken meat off the bones and giving him half the amount of bone that the chicken has (again, hammer and big butchers knife works best - or just a hammer on a bare stripped bone to halve it up) and see how he does then. 
And like someone mentioned, raw crap is smaller compared to kibble crap.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that raw food experts say that most dogs digest raw food quicker and aren't subjected long enough for salmonella to harm them, unlike dog kibble which does contain salmonella too, stays in the digestive track longer and gives the dog a higher chance of contracting it.


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## oldhounddog (May 31, 2010)

Too much bone will constipate your dog and can impact bowel...............

oldhounddog


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## wolfsnaps (Apr 27, 2007)

When I first started raw, my dogs didn't like chicken either. But chicken is a great source and cheaper too. To start out, I pan seared it to get the smell and it was more familiar to them. Try that, as others have mentioned. Just make sure you are only searing it and the bone does not get cooked. Don't microwave it. It very well can cook the bone. Also, I think the searing is the smell they like so much. 

Patience too. Only offer chicken. A healthy adult dog will not starve itself. When I first got my mastiff, he did not understand that the raw food I offered him that the other two dogs loved so much was food. My husband said he would NEVER it raw. Guess who loves raw after a few attempts. You are basically reteaching your dog what food is.

Dont feed cooked food with raw. Dont feed kibble with raw. The digestion rate is different. Raw digests faster. You could complicate things inside by mixing stuff. 

Too much bone can lead to constipation. When he does go, is he straining? Is the poop mostly white? That is a sign of too much calcium/bone in the diet. 

Raw fed dogs have much smaller poops than kibblefed or cooked fed. 

I basically just reiterated what everyone else said but its all true. If you are in doubt at all, a trip to the vet is not a bad idea. While I am a big fan of raw and its an ideal diet, there are cases where bowl perforation happens. If he stops eating altogether, its time for an xray. 

Good luck!


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## highhung723 (Aug 30, 2011)

Thanks everyone.

I cut up the chicken into smaller pieces and grilled it for about 10 seconds. He chewed it up quickly. 

I don't add bones to his diet. All he gets is the bone that comes with the meat. He's not straining when he poops, he just takes a much longer time to find his spot and poop. The poop is a dark brown color.

I need to clarify my concern: Sammy is eating in the morning and pooping the next morning (he doesn't need to go during the evenings). That means the food stays in his system (from ingestion to excretion) for almost 24 hours. I thought dogs digested raw food within a few hours. Does food being inside Sammy for 24 hours allow Salmonella cultures, etc. to grow?


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Humans rush food through the stomach in a couple hours and into the small intestine for a long time where it gets the carb treatment. That is where intestinal bacteria do their important work and where pathological bacteria can set up shop. Dogs and other carnivores have food sit in the stomach for a long time, maybe 8 hours, so the bones and meat can get started digesting then the food rushes through the small intestine. Dogs don't keep food in the intestines for long as they aren't designed to digest carbs.

Since the poop is so much smaller he needs more stimulation to get the peristalsis going than he did before is all. It may go back to what it was, it may stay the way you have noticed in the past couple days. He always did digest food in 24 hours, it is just coming out 20 minutes later now.


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## wolfsnaps (Apr 27, 2007)

Kathyy...RIGHT ON!


Highhung723 .. No you don't have to add bone to create too much bone in their diet. But, say you feed too much boney parts...Like, too much chicken back or chicken wing. The poop never lies. Its good that its brown. Oh, and it should never be black....

Happy feeding.


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