The Raw Food Diet Transition - Weaning Your Puppies

Many pet owners often start their pups on dry food or commercial dog food diets early on thinking that this may be the best. This makes a dog accustomed to eating this type of food and not very open to eating raw food. However the change from a current diet to a raw food diet can still become successful.

One thing that you should keep in mind when doing something like this is to make sure that you do not make the switch suddenly. Take the time to transition slowly so that developing a taste for raw food for a puppy happens.

If your puppy has not yet started eating solids then it may be easier for you. You can start of by giving it natural milk (such as goat’s milk). Once it starts eating solids, then mashed vegetables can be introduced, followed by the introduction of finely ground raw meat (you can grind your own or have your butcher do it).

A good sign that a puppy is ready to take in solid foods is usually taken from its mother. When you begin to notice a bitch regurgitating her food for her puppy it means that it is ready for solids. As your puppy gets older it will get more accustomed to eating raw meat and will soon be able to take on larger pieces until such a time that it can already chew on bones.

Some owners may decide to introduce raw meaty bones early on when they start introducing a different form of milk. A puppy will not eat these but they may lick on the meat and bones allowing it to develop a taste for it even at a young age

Now if your pup has already started eating solids and are taking commercial dog food, you will be using a similar method to wean it. Start out by giving your pups cooked vegetables and ground meat which has been cooked. Mix this into the dry dog food which you give it.

Continue to do this slowly, gradually decreasing the amount of commercial dog food and increasing the amount of homemade dog food that you give. Most importantly, remember that cooking the food is only to help it adjust. As you continue to wean it and adjust the amount of homemade food you give, you also need to adjust the amount of cooking that you do; making the food that you give less and less cooked until such a point that it will welcome the taste of raw meat and vegetables.

Once your puppy welcomes the taste of raw meat, you can then begin to include pieces of boney meat to the food you give it. Eventually, as your puppy grows, it will be able to tolerate bigger chunks of meat as well as bigger pieces of bones.

Whether you are starting early or starting late with the introduction of raw food for your puppy, it does not really matter as long as you do it properly. Just make sure not to force wean it and to go through the process carefully and patiently so that they do not grow an aversion towards raw food.