Buying a puppy and feeding it what the breeder fed

as the time draws nearer and daphni's puppies are nearly here, ive been thinking about weaning and what im going to feed the puppies.

my dogs get fed raw, and i want to wean the puppies on to at least a part raw diet. ive ordered some natural instinct weaning and puppy for them. i have also thought about feeding them dry, so owners who dont want to feed raw, can feed the dry...

i thought about feeding half raw and half arden grange puppy.

how many of you realistically would carry on feeding raw to a dog you bought? or would you switch?

i dont mind people switching from natural instinct to another raw supplier, as long as they know what they are doing.

i dont know whether to add wet food in or not, as when mine dont get raw they get wet and not dry, but i know alot of people like feeding dry for convenience.

i guess im just trying to get ideas on what you want your puppy to be on when you brought it home, whether you would carry on with what the breeder did (providing all foods were good quality)

in other words, without me babbling any more, what would you do?

Never bred dogs so can't advise with weaning, but I wouldn't carry on raw feeding if I got a pup from you (or anyone else )

I think whether you feed wet or dry makes little difference because people rarely stick with the diet the breeder feeds for long.

I fed my pups raw meat, I have only ever parted with one, I asked what sort of diet the prospective owner was going to feed with the intention of starting to gradually get the pup used to it before she went, happily the owner also fed raw so wasn't a problem.

thanks for that. ideally i would keep them on raw completely. they are only small dogs and feeding raw isnt that much different in price from feeding a good quality kibble.

still undecided as to what im going to do.. but i know they are definitely having at least part raw.

thats good as if you have only ever parted with one, id love to not part with any but dont think nana would appreciate it

To be honest, unless you know who is having a pup very well (enough to keep in regular contact, rather than the odd yearly update), you are probably not going know whether they carry on with it or not. Ultimately it is the owners decision anyway -- you can only guide them.

If the new puppy owners don't have much of a prior knowledge of raw feeding, I think it can be a little overwhelming. There is a lot of contradicting information on the subject on the internet, in books, from vets, etc. Maybe provide some comprehensive but easy to understand information on raw feeding with sample weekly menus? you could also provide a list of alternatives -- listing some high quality dry and wet foods should they not wish to continue with raw. Also mention about how to switch gradually over the period of a week or so (so not to upset tums).

Personally Id feed them one thing or another, their tummies will be very sensitive so swapping foods probably wouldn't be the best idea.
If your dogs are fed raw Id feed the puppies raw, but don't expect the new owners to continue with whatever you have fed as they will obviously feed what they think is best and thats what people have different views on

well with the raw im feeding them natural instinct which is complete anyway, but doing a food guide if they wanted to switch to a cheaper supplier or do it themselves, so they have an idea, is good thinking.

i know a few people who feed both dry and raw when weaning, half and half, so i might do this, just get them used to biscuits, i suppose its only the same as feeding them wet and dry as long as i stick to the same brand.

Personally, and its only my opinion, but I would think most of your new owners will not be into raw feeding , and given the likelihood of this I would feed your pups a good qauilty kibble, which you can send home within your puppy pack.

As people have said, many new owners go on to feed their own choice anyway, so looking at the odds, is it not best for the pups to only have one change of food... kibble A to kibble B, rather than , half raw , half kibble them straight onto kibble if the new owner does not like raw.

What best for the pups is as little change as possible. and it seems to me, raw and kibble then the owners choice of food , is a lot for little tums to cope with.