Frustrated owner in need of help

I changed my dog's diet not short of a week ago from Morrison's cheap tinned food to frozen minced tripe, rice and veg. I then altenate between a raw egg and a hand full of porridge oats every other day. I have noticed a significant change in her skin and coat and even her behaviour seems to have improved. The only trouble is, it has made her have really runny pooh that she can't control. Every morning and every time we come home, the kitchen is covered in mess. After having spoken with a few people who have dogs, they have told me that I should have phased the new diet in, maybe I was a bit naive here. I'm not sure what to do now. I don't want to put her back on her old diet because I know it is not as good for her, but my wife and I can not cope with having to clean up after her all the time.

Please help.

Ste

[sarahj]

Im fairly new to this home diet malarky, but rice and porridge oats are bulky.

I would not have thought they would cause a runny bum.

Is tripe, veg, eggs, rice and oats all the food she gets?

x

Yes, this is all the food she gets.

Thanks

Ste

Hi there. The diet's not right for her. You've added a lot of different (new) foods so it will be difficult to tell which one's upsetting her.

Dogs don't need veg or oats. I only give mine 3 raw eggs per week. I feed mine raw chicken wings, carcasses and a dog mix the butcher makes for me (heart, liver, lung, tripe, tongue). He gets no grains.

Try the tripe on its own for a bit? Keep her diet to mainly meat - try some raw chicken legs and see how she does.

[lisyonok]

Have a look at the previous threads here on raw feeding before you dive into it - there are rules you have to follow in order for your dog to get the right amount of nutrients from the food. You definitely cannot use tripe and eggs as the main source of protein, you also have to feed offal meat and meaty bones. The meat ought to be frozen for a couple of weeks to kill salmonella etc., and then defrosted prior to feeding. Definitely stay away from grains - it's not natural for the dog to eat cereal nor it is beneficial. And I'm afraid your friends were right - when changing from one type of food to another (even changing the brand of the same type of food) you have to do it gradually over a period of at least a week, otherwise the dog will have upset stomach.
Hope this helps.
Oh, if you decide to add veg to your dog's diet, it needs to be either mashed up or pulverised for the dog to be able to digest it properly, otherwise it will come out of the other end looking exactly the same as it did when it went in!

[Caryll]

I'd go back to the old food, and then gradually change over. I agree that grains are not needed.

Once you are about half way through changing your dog's diet, try a raw meaty bone (I use lamb ribs because my 2 dogs are chicken intolerant - found out the hard way!). If you pulverise the veg your dog will get some benefit out of it. I also give mine the occasional raw carrot - purely because they love them & enjoy crunching them up! I also give 1 or 2 raw eggs a week - too many will inhibit the absorption of some vitamins/minerals.

Tripe's ok for a low protein diet. If your dog needs high protein then I'd go for chicken wings etc or lamb. Beef is often too high & can lead to hyperactivity. Raw feeding is very beneficial to most dogs (note, not ALL) but needs to be approached properly.

A friend who has just had a litter born (well, 6 weeks ago, actually) is already giving raw bones to the pups - they can't chew them yet, but boy, do they enjoy them!

Mine has lamb rib bones too as there's not much marrow in them. I tried him on marrow bone once - he absolutely loved it... Unfortunately it was too rich for him and we saw the aftermath at 3am, 4.30am, 6am

[Caryll]

Originally Posted by Anni

Mine has lamb rib bones too as there's not much marrow in them. I tried him on marrow bone once - he absolutely loved it... Unfortunately it was too rich for him and we saw the aftermath at 3am, 4.30am, 6am

Oooh, been there - don't want to go there again! Yes, the lamb ribs seem to be a little gentler on the tum.

Originally Posted by cukki

Yes, this is all the food she gets.

Thanks

Ste

Agree with everyone else.
She needs more than just this
If your looking down the raw feeding route then please research first
For her sake either go back on cheap kibble or feed a better uality one to get the balance right or if raw research, research and more research

[maxandskye]

Hi Ste, the reason your baby has a runny bum is the new diet, & TBH the old diet isnt very good neither.

Dogs do not need vegetables in their diet, I use to feed raw & my dogs got 1 tablespoon of mushed up raw vegetables per week. Also if you are feeding tripe which by the way is an excellant choice you dont need to feed any vegetables at all. Rice is just a cheap filler, & provides no goodness at all.

I would suggest that you start feeding your dog a bland diet for the next couple of day. Now I know I said that Rice is just a filler but its a good base for a bland a diet to get your dog back on track, & to stop the runny bum. Feed boiled rice or pasta with plain natural yogurt little, & often throughout the day for a day or so, then go onto rice or pasta with some boiled chicken, or boiled white fish for a day or so, or until your dog is back to normal.

Personally for me, you carnt beat a good quality kibble ie; Arden Grange, Burns, JWB or even Wainrights from pets @ home which is very good value, a big bag costs approx £30 which would last a month-ish.

Hope this helps.