Our Miniature Pinscher Has Gone Raw!

We’ve finally gone and done it. Mikki has been put onto a raw diet after almost 5 and a half years of eating kibble (with some meat treats in between). Uncertainty about the raw diet knowledge-wise is what made us so slow in switching him in the first place, with me believing that our financial circumstances wouldn’t allow us. But now we have finally made that jump and allowed Mikki to experience what real, healthy and natural food really is on a consistent basis. Okay, it’s only been 3 weeks and we are still monitoring him. By this we mean his bowel movements, mostly, and his general demeanour.

A Dog’s Natural Diet

Dogs are carnivores. As the raw diet is all-natural and as nature intended, the benefits of having a dog on it are plentiful. Dogs although they are able to digest plant and vegetable matter and a certain amount of grains, they are largely carnivorous. A dog’s dentition and they way they eat is a strong clue that they are meant to tear meat, swallow it after chopping it up-not chewing-and crunching bones with their strong jaws. Their arrangement of teeth are called carnassials which are common of all carnivores. The dog’s ability to survive and derive benefits from a diet rich in healthy carbohydrates is one of the many modifications these wolf decedents have undergone over the thousands of years of domestication. But today, the fact that dogs can live as an omnivore causes much confusion and argument amongst dog owners and those in the dog community with some believing that dogs should eat strictly as a wolf would and only be fed animal matter and some believing that dogs should be fed in their own unique, omnivore kind of way. The latter makes a more cogent argument, however and a raw diet predominantly meat-based with some healthy carbohydrates, is the ideal diet for dogs and a growing amount research supports this argument. See Feeding Your Miniature Pinscher for more. It is our belief therefore that every breed of dog can benefit from a raw diet.

How We Went Raw

We decided to opt for premade/pre-prepared raw food instead of attempting to do a DIY raw diet at home. There are several reasons for this firstly, we enjoy the convenience of being able to pick up Mikki’s raw food from our local pet stores rather than having to shop around for different ingredients. Premade raw food comes in balanced recipes because it can be a rather daunting task to prepare a raw diet at home and having to ensure you are including a balance of the food groups and all the right nutrients. Added to this, we are also vegetarian and so both not completely on board with handling and preparing raw meat. There are many premade raw companies out there to choose from now and you can either have your Min Pin’s food delivered to your door from the company’s website or pick them up from a store.

Choosing a brand of premade raw requires you to have basic knowledge of raw feeding so you understand which different meats and food groups provide what. Some dogs digestive systems may be sensitive to certain meats so switching to a raw diet will mean some trial and error. This is also true if you have a fussy eater. Premade raw brands usually have a selection of recipes using different meats with varying amounts of the vital nutrients suitable for different ages (puppy, adult and senior) and for active/working dogs. Some recipes are complimentary which means they should be combined with other recipes as they are not balanced by themselves and some recipes are complete, suitable to be fed on their own. An example is a recipe comprised of just beef which is a rich meat source and should be fed in conjunction with a less rich meat. For information about feeding guidelines for raw food and how to store it see here.

How Is Mikki Doing On his New Diet?

The first thing we noticed when we served Mikki his first meal was the amount of food in his bowl. It looked and still looks like a very small amount compared to when he had kibble. We weren’t concerned for long because we realise that as meat is more nutrient dense per gram, we find we need less than you would with the average dry food. Of course Mikki noticed too! He wolfs down his raw food in about 15 seconds and safe to say he loves it. We noticed he is more hungry than he would be with kibble but this is mostly a result of kibble being stuffed with cheap, non-nutritious fillers. So he really appreciates his treats now! Mikki always looks forward to his raw meals and appears far more excited when meal time swings round than he did with his old meals. So far, we’ve tried him on a few different recipes such as turkey to beef to lamb to salmon and chicken. He has not shown any preferential treatment at this early stage and eats them all with gusto.

What We’ve Noticed So Far

Mikki’s bowel movements were pretty consistent on a kibble diet and firm however he did produce a lot of waste. One of the benefits of raw is of course smaller, firmer and less smelly stools which are far less frequent. As with any diet change, his stools have been inconsistent and badly formed coming into his fourth week on raw. The reason for this is because a dog’s microbiome needs to adjust and grow in order to effectively get used to processing a natural diet, which is very different from a carb-based one. Raw fed dogs have a much more diverse and healthy microbiome than if fed an unnatural kibble diet. We rotate the recipes so every 6 days he’ll get through a kilo of raw. He started with a pure beef recipe which I did not realise was a complimentary recipe when I bought it and it caused him to have dark liquid stools. With the following recipes, his stools range from firm to diarrhoea as you can see below. Recipes that are rich in protein and iron such as beef can cause loose stools especially since that particular recipe also had tripe and beef liver but no bone in it.

The premade raw company advised me that the salmon and chicken recipe was the best one to transition Mikki onto raw with as it’s more gentle on the digestive system and has a balance of food groups i.e. muscle and organ meat and bone with some carbohydrate sources. Mikki gets acid reflux some days which he didn’t have before the switch. This means that he vomits bile (stomach acid). It’s a yellow, sometimes foamy liquid that he brings up which are called ‘hunger pukes’ amongst raw feeders. This can happen in dogs who’ve just transitioned to raw from a diet of kibble. This is because of a few reasons. Firstly because dogs typically eat a loss less in volume of raw food with the digestion process being a lot quicker, therefore their stomach is emptier. So some dogs can actually experience real hunger for the first time. Mikki certainly gets a lot less food now. As a dogs stomach is highly acidic, they can feel sick and start to vomit.

There’s isn’t a need to worry because this is all part of the digestive system adjusting but do speak to your vet (providing they approve of raw…eek!) or see here for advice. However, there are some things you can provide for your dog to ease this transition for his digestive system and that is to feed him 2 or 3 meals a day instead of 1 (like we do). Another is to feed him some healthy raw meaty bones or other biologically appropriate treats such as bone broth to fill that hole in his stomach. Mikki has also had a bit of dry, flaky and itchy skin that’s come about past few weeks which he has not had in a while. This along with shedding is temporary and happens when your dog’s body is detoxing from the poor quality diet he has been fed prior to raw-see here for more.

We put Mikki straight onto raw food but skipping the transitioning period where you gradually introduce the new food isn’t advised. Typically over 1-2 weeks but sometimes longer depending on whether you know your dog has a sensitive stomach, you make your dog’s meals up of the existing food and the raw food, slowly adding more raw as the days go by. Don’t do what we did! We were too eager for him to make the switch! All in all, it can take several months for your dog’s body to adjust to and fully accept the raw diet. If your dog has always had some variety in their diet such as fresh foods throughout their life rather than just kibble alone, their bodies will go through this transition quicker. Once your dog stools have firmed up and are no longer reacting to the diet change, then your dog is fully transitioned. All dogs’ systems need time to adjust. The brand you choose for your dog will have guidelines and advice for transitioning him onto the new diet. Here are a glimpse of the benefits typical of a raw diet we’ve noticed after just 3 weeks;

• So far, we have noticed that Mikki’s breath is a little less smelly as there isn’t a fresh amount of food getting stuck between his teeth and gums but more importantly, his digestive system will become healthier which means his breath will get even fresher over time.
• His coat is shinier and does not have that greasy feel it had with his previous kibble diet
• He’s a little less smelly in general-doggy smell that is!
• He produces less waste
• He isn’t drinking anywhere near as much

As time goes on, we look forward to seeing these benefits and the improvements in his health amplify. Remember that the issues your Min Pin experiences initially are likely signs of a detox which are purely transitionary. Transitioning your Min Pin onto a raw diet will be the best thing you will ever do for his health 😀 Tell us in the comment section if your Min Pin is on a raw diet or if you have any experiences you would like to share 🐾