Hi, wondered if you could give me some advice on RAW. I have a 5month old puppy. She is a cross between a cavalier and mini poodle. And a royal pain in the backside side to feed. Tried dry and failed. Tried wet and success with her digestion problems when she went on to Lily's Kitchen but 4 wks later she decides she does nt want it. Starved herself for 3 days then the vet had to intervene again. She refused her Lily's Kitchen this morning. Out of sheer desperation I gave her raw turkey mince and raw veg this morning and she ate it all licked the bowl and begged for more. She got more for lunch and evening meal. She spent half her day sat by the fridge crying for more. She has never really paid much interest in food so this was totally out of character for her. Maybe it's the right to try her onto a raw diet now. I have spent the whole day reading reading reading. Tilly is only 7lbs and her adult weight will be approx 12lbs. I get the amount to feed. After reading Sleeping Lions info I am comfortable with giving vitiams etc that are require. What I am struggling with is the following:

Can I give her mince regulary?
Can I give her chucks of raw meat like chicken, rabbit etc
With her being small is chicken on the bone safe for her to eat?

I would appreciate some advice.

Yes you can give mince regularly. I give Poppy Raw To Go mince for brekkie every morning.

Yes you can give chunks of raw meat. Poppy has poultry chunks from Landywoods to which I add liver or kidney or tripe or heart, but you can feed other meat too.

Yes to chicken bones. I would stick to chicken wings and hold them until your dog gets the hang of eating them, that way she wont gulp them down and will learn to crunch them up. In fact I still hold Poppy's and she's been having raw for a few months now.

Poppy weighs 5kg so not much different to what your dog will be adult size.

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Poppy's blog: Poppy's Puppy Tales

Put small chicken wings in tea towel and bash with rolling pin so they're a bit easier for her to eat. Hold them while she eats so she learns to chew properly.

As she's very little, stick to smaller bones (rabbit pieces could be good). Bones are fine if not cooked.

Try more turkey mince, chicken mince, lots of butchers do chicken carcasses that you could chop up. If you can source it, green tripe is fab.

Please read the stickies on raw, all huge but worth it so you do it properly. Message Sleeping_Lion who can email you her raw feeding guide. She feeds veg and knows her stuff.

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Transplanted Geordie
RIP Jake, my best dog. 10.8.10
RIP Boomerang, beautiful horse. 27.5.08

If she doesn't like (or your worried about) bones; Landywoods do mince with ground bone in it... that way you get the good stuff without needing to supervise feeding.

Pulp some veg too to add in... not every meal (we do 2-3 times a week) and you can also add some natural yoghurt (encourages the stomach cultures).

The variety is more for interest than anything...its the raw meat/bones (or raw meaty bones) that is the key.


Forgot to add... chicken on its own is OK but better with the bones. Also, treat the food as if you were preparing it for yourself. The biggest risk of upset tummies from raw is from stuff we pass on to the meat, not the meat itself.