Raw diets and my pup

[bhender254]

I agree, raw is the best way to go. Our vet bills have gone down dramatically since we switched. Sugar always had yeast infections in her ears before I switched. Both of my dogs were about a year old when I learned about and researched a raw diet. So they are never to old to switch.

[navarre1316]

I was wondering about the age thing too.  I have a 5/6 year old boxer.  She's a rescue, so I have no idea about her history.  I've had her 6 months now and so far she's been healthy, but my GSD had a lot of health issues and I was looking into raw when he died.  If I switch Daphne do I do it slowly, like you would when switching regular dog food?

[Kermit]

I was wondering about the age thing too.  I have a 5/6 year old boxer.  She's a rescue, so I have no idea about her history.  I've had her 6 months now and so far she's been healthy, but my GSD had a lot of health issues and I was looking into raw when he died.  If I switch Daphne do I do it slowly, like you would when switching regular dog food?

Actually, you just do it "cold turkey" style, lol. (Like the pun? )
You can just feed kibble one day and raw the next day, and you never have to go back to kibble. Some folks recommend skipping a meal to clear out the intestines, since raw is digested faster than kibble. (It's best to not have them both in your dog's system at one the same time.) You don't want the meat to go through your dog's gastrointestin al tract too slowly.

So you could do this:
Kibble Monday night. No breakfast Tuesday. Raw dinner Tuesday night.

Or: kibble Monday night, no food on Tuesday, and raw breakfast on Wednesday morning.

Also worth noting, a lot of people recommend feeding only chicken for the first two weeks, to help your dog get used to raw meat. It's easier for them to focus on digesting one protein at first.
 

[ibenu]

I started a thread assking a bit more about weree to go I have found the plethra of info online to be overwelming and very little on the transition. I have been told that kibble brings the ph down and they need high ph to do the raw. In addition that kibble takes a very long time to break down and raw very fast (4-5 hours) so as far as adding something that is quick digesting to the slow I just cant ferret out how its going to work. Really want to get him on not cooked food as what seems to be consistent is that is very hard on them. Arrggg... Plus when he barfed up three bones it really scared my boyfriend. I need to do this with least stress to pup and partner. As I believe I posted somewere he doesnt appear to have the acid to do it yet....But with everything I read aside from knowing that raw is better and meet and bones and organs are the way to go I feel very ignorant as to much else.