Puppy on BARF - how wean to kibble - Page 1

Hello. I am getting a 8.5 week old GSD in a few days. She is on BARF at this time. I would like to make the move to kibble (premium, like California Natural or Innova. How would one do this? The breeder is giving me a recipe as a stop-gap measure. I have been told NOT to mix BARF and kibble. And can I simply move the pup to adult food? I currently feed California Natural - a mix of their lamb/rice formulation and their herring/sweet potato formula (my current boy has allergies) Thanks so much

I feed a barf diet but because we deploy for search and rescue missions I add a handful of kibble (Wellness) to their feedings. My suggestion is to wean slowly. very slowly. continue on the barf and add kibble then as with any dog food change ,a little at a time. You may also want to add some acidophilis (sp) to assist the gut with the change.

You actually can mix raw food and kibble and in fact, I suggest that even if you intend to primarily maintain your dog on kibble that you add some fresh food in there from time to time (hamburger, lamb, turkey, eggs, etc.). Big problems arise when we feed a lot of carcass/bone in conjunction w/ a high-calcium kibble, especially to a puppy. Chances are your pup will not be used to the grain content in the kibble and that may take some adjusting. As K9SAR suggested, you could add some digestive enzymes to help ease the transition. Canned pumpkin is a nice thing to have on hand in case your pup gets the squirts.

I imported a dog in from Holland about 6 weeks ago, she was on a raw diet, I gave her Eagle pack adult formula as she was 16 weeks old She still gets some raw meat if we are cutting some for a meal, in very small amounts, but otherwise was switched directly to kibble. I keep pumpkin on hand incase of the runs, but she didn't have any trouble what so ever, so was never needed, firm stools still to this day. I was told by the breeder to never MIX raw or kibble diet as you can give your pup too much protein and vitamins and cause more trouble than you will want to deal with. I hope this helps. Good Luck!

Probably should avoid mixing them in the same meal. As grains/fiber may take longer to digest than meat. Mixing them may also upset the balanced formula of kibble. Since it is a puppy and you are probably feeding 3 to 5 meals a day, start with changing one meal (dinner/supper) to kibble for a week, then gradually increase 2 kibble meals per day for the second week, then 3 the third week, and so forth. Supplement with probiotic during the transition as suggested by K9SAR. I am a hobby breeder and I fed my dogs with BARF for the last 3 years and they are absolutely healthy and I am very happy with it. Now I am on the 3rd generation. 2 litters of 3 weeks old puppies with me now, I believe BARF helps strengthen immunity.

hi, Just readding this and does canned pumpkin really work?? could you give them baked pumpkin as well???

You can never have too much protein -- if that were the case, wolves would be in serious trouble. It's the calcium that you need to be careful of.

Yes, canned pumpkin really works. It's an old showdog trick. It soaks up excess liquid in the intestines and enables the dog to control the "output" a bit better. It's also good to offer if the dog is a bit constipated as well -- it's a great balancer.

canned pumpkin IS cooked! It works both ways too! In small amounts it can help with loose stool. In large amounts it can help with constipation. Debby