Kibble versus raw/homemade...

[Black Labbies]

We're firstly raw/homemade feeders and have been for 21 years. With puppies, however, I don't feel comfortable enough to feed raw/homemade, so tend to feed the kibble the puppy's breeder has been feeding.

Loua saw her vet 2 weeks ago and her vet, being a pet nutritional vet specialist, encourages feeding raw/homemade and whole foods to all ages of pets. She said, "even if you feed kibble, at least feed the following". Below is an email note from Dr. Wanda on what she wants us to feed Loua. Loua is loving all the whole foods we're giving her, more than she likes her kibble. It's a no brainer in due time...

2)Start giving Loua some juiced or pureed raw vegetables and fruit daily (including such things as carrots, greens (chard, parsley, bok choy, spinach, cabbage), pea pods, broccoli, and fruit, especially berries. You can freeze this into ice cubes and give Loua a couple of these per day, or mix a tablespoon or two in with her meals. You should also keep giving her vegetables and fruit for treats (if you start them as puppies, they are much more likely to eat them when they are full grown).

Continue with the yogurt, but you can give her a tablespoon twice per day.

Also start giving her chicken necks, bits of raw meat, cooked or raw eggs, and other non-processed food.

[Snowshoe]

It's so nice to have a Vet who supports raw. I wish we had started out with the Vet Oban has now. She is also a raw enthusiast.

[smartrock]

Interesting. I don't feed raw but none of my labs have turned away from eating pretty much anything I've offered them, although I haven't offered cabbage or bok choy. I'm sure mine would love for me to ramp up the offer of some of those things.

[Black Labbies]

Yes, we're very lucky to have Dr. Wanda, she's a farm girl and believes in feeding farm to dog/cat bowl (farm to table for us humans).

Back when I was young and had dogs, that's how my Mom fed our dogs. Veggies from the garden, ground beef slightly cooked and boiled white rice - they rarely needed vet visits either.

We tried some other things not on the list (in small pieces) and Loua likes all except for lettuce.

[silverfz]

The strange thing is kibble is such a western cultural thing. Growing up in india i have never seen cat or dog foot fed to any of our dogs. We never neutered either. i do feed kibble to gigi and she was spayed. not sure if i will do it again on my next dog.

[Pam and Brandy]

Dory's been fed raw since she was weaned. I stuck to premade "complete" meals for the first 12 months but not sure I really needed to. You are so lucky to have Dr. Wanda. I'm sure she could guide you on feeding raw to a puppy.

[Black Labbies]

Hi Pam, it's been a while since you've been on the board. Welcome back! What a great picture of your dogs! Especially love the sugar-faced girls!

Yes, Dr. Wanda can guide us, and is. What I've haven't mentioned is that Loua is co-owned with us and her breeder and we've agreed to feed her kibble, but have told her that we will feed whole foods and some raw as snacks. It's not something we wanted, but all Lab breeders in Alberta seem to be doing this with their pick of the litter boys and girls. We completely see the need for this, to keep the pure bred Labs alive and well, over the backyard breeders breeding 'designer' mutts, like the Labradoodles, Goldendoodles, etc. Of course we're not sure what the future holds for Loua, but we're taking it step by step.

Dr. Wanda is a pet food nutritional expert (check her website at https://hthvc.ca/) and has helped us to look at some good quality kibbles and we've narrowed it down to 2 of them. More to come on this once we switch Loua over...

[Black Labbies]

More to come on this once we switch Loua over...

We're almost ready to switch Loua to her new kibble once the order of it comes in. It's Holistic Select LB puppy. As of now, Loua is a slow kibble eater, she picks a few pieces, puts them on the floor and eats, then takes a few more pieces and repeats, then if she feels like it, she'll eat some more in her bowl. What a slow-poke eater she is! With a medium amount of Ursa's homemade/raw food, she eats fast and licks out every drop in her bowl. We're hoping she more enthusiastic about her new kibble.

[Berna]

The strange thing is kibble is such a western cultural thing. Growing up in india i have never seen cat or dog foot fed to any of our dogs. We never neutered either. i do feed kibble to gigi and she was spayed. not sure if i will do it again on my next dog.

You can still switch to raw, can't you?

[Berna]

Also a book by Lew Olson "Raw and Natural Nutrition for Dogs" also has recipes for feeding puppies and dogs with various conditions. I've seen my dog on raw and on kibble and in my experience feeding kibble is a much greater risk. Feeding your dog is not rocket science as pet food companies want us to believe.