Totally Raw Natural Dog Food Inc. recommends transitioning your adult dog to natural feeding using our Complete Ground Dinners. Feeding your dog commercial, processed food creates an artificial state whereby his stomach becomes much less acidic. Feeding ground food for a few days will allow the stomach to return to its natural acidic state and become ready for whole foods. Dogs fed a variety of foods may transition faster than dogs fed kibble only. For a minority of dogs, a switch in food will result in gastrointestinal distress. This may produce temporary symptoms of vomiting or diarrhoea. In these cases, limit the variety of raw foods, allowing time to adjust to the new diet.
Once your pet has transitioned to ground dinners, you may choose to feed whole foods, see http://www.totallyrawdogfood.com/SampleMenu.aspx. For the first couple of weeks it is best to limit the variety. Organ blend, mackerel and tripe are better options once your dog has been eating raw for a week or two. Once this introductory period is over, try introducing your dog to a wider variety of foods until he consumes everything listed on our Sample Monthly Menu.
We do not recommend mixing raw and kibble. Raw dog food is processed though the digestive system correctly which means it is processed much quicker than kibble. Because dogs are not designed to eat grains and cooked by-products, the digestive system takes a long time to process them. When the two are fed together, kibble slows the digestion process and produces a 'stewing' effect where bacteria can bloom.
It is natural for puppies to eat a raw diet. They haven’t gone through the unnatural digestive adjustments necessary to adapt to a processed diet. As such, there is no transition period to adjust to; they can simply start eating raw. Puppies do best with ground dinners until they are twelve weeks old. After that you can start introducing whole foods. The small breed pups might need to eat ground longer as they might not have the ability to eat whole foods. Regardless, they should be offered regular chew bones such as beef neck bones and beef tail to keep their teeth and gums clean and healthy.
Whole Foods or Ground?
Both have advantages.
Complete Ground Dinners are often preferred by those feeding small breeds such as Chihuahua and Yorkshire terriers. Very small breeds sometimes have difficulty consuming whole bones and may need to get their consumable bone content though the ground dinners (Ground dinners contain a balance of muscle meat, organs, bone and fat). In additon to small breeds, dogs that suffer from severe periodontal disease from eating commercial kibble may not have the dentition to eat whole foods as their primary diet. These dogs should still be given recreational bones once a week to keep their remaining teeth clean and gums healthy.
If you are feeding the Totally Raw Ground Dinners, provide your pet with a bone (e.g., beef neck) to keep teeth and gums clean and healthy at least once a week. Unless your pet is underweight, bones can be given in lieu of his or her regular daily meal.
Dr. Karen Becker, an expert in canine nutrition, discusses important information regarding a raw, natural diet.