Hi there new to champdogs.I have an 11 year old curlycoated retriever who is fed raw due to allergies.Yesterday we picked up our 12 week old husky female puppy,she was being fed on Bakers (yuk),I would prefer her to be on a raw diet but not sure how to go about it,since yesterday she has been fed my homecooked diet which has a third fresh salmon a third rice and another third veggies,I am giving her 3 meals a day,where as with the breeder she was free feeding,I tried her with a scrabbled egg made with a little water and the shell lunchtime which she loved,I just need some advice on how to change her over to a raw diet,thankyou in advance

Welcome to champdogs - sure you will find it a very useful mine of information :-)  

My first thought initially is that at your pup's age I would still be giving it four meals a day.  In addition to that I would look at something like natural instinct puppy food as a basic meal   http://www.naturalinstinct.com/products/Puppy.html  and then look to gradually add all the food types that you would give your older dog.  I freeze chicken wings for puppies - gives them something nutritious to knaw on and helps cool sore, teething gums. 

A new puppy is a good time to refresh your knowledge by re-reading any raw feeding books/forums that you can find.  Have a look through some that are recommended on this site.

thankyou for your reply,should i swap her straight over or do it slowley,I have had a look at some raw websites,some say do it slowley others advise to swap straight over

whenever I have a puppy I just swap them to raw straight away. they seem to adapt really easily. Never had a problems with upset tums. With a pup fed on Bakers I would certainly switch as soon as I could.

I've never had any problems swopping pups straight over and Bakers is a dreadful food!

great news I really didnt want to change her over slowley,and I have to agree with you Bakers is terrible,she has had her salmon and rice for brekkie,I am going to try her with a chicken wing for lunch and see how she goes

I picked up my pup who was weaned on Beta and switched him straight onto a raw diet.
He is 7 weeks and weighs 5.2kgs so gets fed 450gms of meat 60 gms of bone 60 gms of organs per day, split into 4 feeds.  This works out at a pack of mince, a chicken wing and a slice of liver, split into 3.  I make him scrambled eggs for brekkie over and above all that.
Thing I got from your pups diet was, the lack of bone(calcium).  One thing that is majorly important for growth.  Also, they don't need the rice(or veg for that matter).
Weigh the pup, make up your own feeds.  80%meat, 10%bone, 10%offal and he should be getting up to 10% of his overall weight for a day.

You've mentioned that you want to change to raw but say that you are currently feeding a homecooked diet.  Is this just a transition phase or is the salmon/rice/veg mix your intended diet?

As others have already mentioned you should probably still aim to feed 4 meals a day for a while longer and it's ok to move from Bakers as soon as possible however I'd say that your current diet isn't an ideal diet for your growing puppy.  A raw diet should be just that - raw - and doesn't need cooked grains or eggs.  You also don't need to feed such large amounts of veg, either cooked or raw.  Ideally you would have your dogs on 80% meat, 10% bone and 10% offal and this balance is particularly important for a puppy.  You can give egg shell as a replacement for bone from time to time but do double check the quantities (somewhere in the back of my mind I have the ratio as 1tsp egg shell to a lb of mince, but I can't quite remember...)

Do you intend feeding any sort of kibble to your pup?  It's always worth keeping some in their diet somewhere if you find it's more convenient when travelling or when someone else is looking after your dogs and, as long as your pup doesn't suffer from similar allergies as your older dog it's really handy as training treats too.  I agree that Bakers is a terrible food but there are plenty of pretty good kibbles around which might also help you transition your pup to a predominantly raw diet - and give you a bit of time to buy in the extra food she'll need.  If you can tell us where you are perhaps we can recommend a raw food supplier...

I only cooked the salmon rice and veggies as i didnt want to feed dry kibble at all,my older boy has thrived on raw and i want the same for this puppy,also i want to feed them both the same diet which i know will be easier in the long run,she enjoyed the homecooked(only fed her this until i could get some advice )but she has eaten the chicken wings with such enjoyment ,it was a pleasure to watch her eat and she knew exactly how to eat it,thankyou so much for your input,it comes as second nature to feed my old boy,but I feel quite wary with the new puppy,so any advice is greatly appreciated.
By the way the salmon and rice got put in the bin at lunchtime

Forgot to say I have no problems with suppliers,my local butcher is great .

Be aware of possible constipation when feeding chicken wings and other types of bone to your pup. (chicken mince has a high proportion of bone in it).Don't neglect the offal part of the diet - particularly the liver - very nutritious and good to feed after a bony meal. 

Do come back and let us know how you're getting on :)

hi there,just a quick question,how much raw should my girl be having,she is now on 4 meals a day,she is loving the raw,She weighs 17lb and although her ribs are covered she looks like she could do with gaining a little extra weight,she is having a pack and a 1/4 of naturemenu raw plus a small slice of liver and 1 chicken wing each day,but after every feed she is looking for more,she was wormed by the vet the week before we got her(checked vet card),I just want to make sure I am feeding her enough,her poos are now great not unformed like when she first came to us
Thankyou in advance for any input

This raw food calculator is useful - aim for 8-10% of current weight or 2-4% of expected adult weight.  Amounts are a little vague as it really depends on your pup and tweaking portion sizes is usually necessary for the first 12 months!!

Looking for more isn't unusual and doesn't necessarily mean she is still hungry.  Your best guide to portion size at this age is 1) how does she look/feel and 2) is her poo reasonably well formed.  Firm and kickable poo is desirable in an adult dog BUT pups eat so much over such a short period of time that it doesn't sit in the gut for long enough to 'form' or 'dry' like an adult dog poo.  Graphic - sorry!!  As long as it has a little shape rather than being completely mousse-like that should be ok :)

Edited to say: do try and make sure that each of your 4 meals are fairly equal in size and at regular intervals

Thankyou,yes the poo's are shaped,her meals are equal in weight,will have a look at the calculator

If my pups looking for more, he gets it.  I feed to appetite, not a chart as they are all different.

Sorry for the slow reply niamhmarie.

As suggested by DAB, the raw food calculator is a very useful starting point but as DAB also pointed out - it's often necessary to tweak the portions to suit your puppy's needs. 

I still weigh out my adults meals - not because I feel the need to control their weight that way (I do that by the look and feel of the dog) but because it makes it easier to defrost the right amount of food at a time and therefore avoid waste.

Used the calculator,I had been underfeeding the girl by a few oz's so I have upped her food since last evening,Thankyou everyone for your patience

If you have the right scales I'd recommend converting your dogs weight to kilos - it's just a bit easier to tweak portions when you weigh food in grams :)

My dogs are adult now and I still weigh their meals - as already mentioned it's useful to calculate amounts to defrost but I also realised very early on that my guesstimates can weigh vastly different amounts!!  It's also very much easier when other members of my family are dishing out the food

if you are on fb join the rawfeeding uk group loads of good info there too

I am not on fb ,my daughter is though so will get her to have a look for me