How old should my dog be to start RAW?

[sashadog]

The videos were very helpful. My question is how old should they be when they start? My 2 still have baby teeth. Will they be able to chew bone? Should I just start with raw meat? They boy is 29 lbs. If i calculated right he should have 1 lb of meat 3 times a day? That seems like alot

[whitedaisy]

I know breeders that start when they are just a few weeks old, of course they start with ground meat but you can't start too young!!
I started Poppy when I brought her home at 10 weeks. I cut the carcasses into smaller hunks so it was easier but she got it.
Oh, you want to feed at adult weight. My Poppy gets more then my Daisy. It's 2-3% of adult weight. Poppy is 36ish lbs but I feed her 13 oz twice a day. Daisy is (adult) 50 lbs and gets 10 oz twice a day - she isn't as active as Poppy.
I know there is a raw calculator somewhere.... let me see if I can find it.

[whitedaisy]

http://www.raw4dogs.com/calculate.htm

Here is the calculator. It is helpful

[sashadog]

That is a great calculator. Thanks. My one question what percentage should I use. They say a puppy should have 10%. To what age or weight to you start to go down in percentage?

[whitedaisy]

I was afraid you would ask that LOL I'm pretty sure that once the 10% exceeds the estimated adult weight amount is when you change
roughly 50-55 lbs for girls and 65 or so for boys

then you have to just watch the body, you want to see the last 2 ribs. If the dog is chubby cut back and if you're see lots of ribs and hips add more.

[sashadog]

Great so if I go by 8 percent he would get about 37.12 ounces per day or 12.5 ounces per meal. Is 8 percent to much. What part of the chicken do you suggest we start with? It that all they get, just the chicken? Are their teeth able to chew the bone. Boxers are not know for chewing their food.

[AussieGirl]

Originally Posted by sashadog

Great so if I go by 8 percent he would get about 37.12 ounces per day or 12.5 ounces per meal. Is 8 percent to much. What part of the chicken do you suggest we start with? It that all they get, just the chicken? Are their teeth able to chew the bone. Boxers are not know for chewing their food.

8% of current weight would be good to start - the thing is just like the guide on commercial foods you may need to increase or decrease slightly to suit your pups requirements, so keep an eye on their condition and use it as a guide whether or not they need more or less . While they are getting used to their new diet yes chicken is all they get for 10 -14 days, then if they have no bad reactions to chicken you then introduce another type of protein for 10 - 14 days, until they have at least 4 different sources of protein, then offal is introduced. Their teeth are able to chew the bones fine chicken bones are quite soft, at that age I mostly gave legs, frames and chicken necks until I could see she was handling it okay. As for not chewing their food my girl was swallowing very large chunks of rump the othr day it bothered me more than it bothered her though.