Rhumb did all of the work for the first three plus weeks, nursing her puppies when they were hungry, which was about every two hours. There is no recipe for that other than feeding the Mama Dog as much as she wants whenever she wants, so she in turn can feed her pups.

RAW FED PUPPIES grow at an appropriate rate, and much more slowly than kibble fed puppies. Their muscles, bones, ligaments, and tendons grow evenly and as nature intended. Feeding raw fed puppies isn’t about meeting the nutritional requirements each day, but rather over a weeks time, maybe two. The Mama dog is providing the real nutrition, so truthfully keeping her super well fed and healthy is uber important.

MAMA DOG – Rhumb is eating nearly 6 lbs of raw food a day, plus raw meaty bones. Her health and the puppies health is not just ‘healthy’, there is a vibrancy and vigor to them that amazes me. So Mama dog, take super good care of her.

3 weeks 4 days – A GRUEL OF SORTS – a whole chicken, bone in, meat, skin, gizzard, heart – ground 3x, with the addition of a probiotic, raw fermented goats milk, to make a smooth milk paste. I offered this 5x per day. Rhumb was still nursing the pups about every two hours, so the gruel was really just to open up the digestive system and allow the pups to get use to food. They did eat everything, messy and every place, but they did eat it all.

4 weeks 5 days – A whole chicken bone in, 1/2 rabbit bone in, ground 3x, with the addition of a half of a banana, a hand full of spinach, and a 1/4 C of green tripe. probiotic, slippery elm, and a Natural Rearing supplement (garlic, kelp, couchgrass, hops, barley). Everything was then ground together. I also introduced raw meaty bones, whole raw  sardines, duck heads, turkey necks in the afternoon. Rhumb was still nursing the pups about every two hours, so the gruel was really just to open up the digestive system and allow the pups to get use to food. They did eat everything, messy and every place, but they did eat it all.

5-7 weeks of age – At this stage until roughly 6 months of age, raw fed puppies eat about 10% of their daily body weight, so this is when you start to blow through a lot of food. I started to change up the proteins about every 3-5 days. From this time forward I did not add milk to the meat mixture. I served the raw goats milk with DE (1 tsp per pup) after they ate, and I no longer ground the chicken 3x, just once through the grinder. I was serving 4 meals per day, sometimes just three meals if the raw meaty bone was filling.

7-10 weeks of age (and now pretty much forever forward) – They are eating 3-4 meals per day, and if they are hungry I feed them more. Every afternoon between 12-2pm they get either a turkey neck, raw whole sardine, raw meaty bone, lamb shank, lamb trotter, chicken neck.

NATURAL WEANING – Rhumb is still allowing the pups to nurse once maybe twice a day and we are at 9.5 weeks of age, and so the meals are now their main source for nutrition, and nursing is more for comfort and supplementing. I feel that Rhumb is beginning to dry up, and that natural weaning is taking place. The puppies are also not as interested in nursing accept maybe in the early morning, or right before they go to sleep.

NOTE – With each grind I supplemented a bit differently – nothing or a combo, depending on what I was seeing (nothing in great quantity, just an addition) – NR Supplement, camelina oil, +/- DE, milk thistle, spirulina, slippery elm, PAXXIN, probiotic (in the billions)

VARIETY – These recipes are what I made and rotated through with the puppies and our adult dogs, quantity is all I adjusted. We have since added beef, bison, pork, and quail. Variety is the key, these recipes should be used as guidelines – Nancy

RECIPE #1 – 1x thru grinder

whole cornish hen

1 lb rabbit with bone

1 banana

1 green apple

1 lb raw green tripe

2-4 oz lamb liver

RECIPE #2 – 1x thru grinder

Whole chicken with bone

4 sardines

1 lb raw green tripe

2-5oz lamb liver

2 apples

1 pear

2 C spinach

RECIPE #3 – 1x thru grinder

Whole chicken

1 lb ground lamb meat

2-4 lbs ground elk meat

4 oz lamb liver

1 lb raw green tripe

1 sweet potatoe

1 bunch dandelion greens

RECIPE #4 – 1x thru grinder

Whole duck with bone

whole rabbit with bone

1 lb raw green tripe

2-4 oz lamb liver/kidney mix

1 banana

2 green apples

2-4 C chard/kale mix

RECIPE #5 – 1x thru grinder

Whole chicken

4 lbs elk meat

2 lbs lamb meat

3 turkey necks

1.5 – 2 lbs raw green tripe

5 oz lamb liver

4 C spinach

RECIPE #6 – 1x thru the grinder

Whole rabbit bone in

4 lbs wild boar

4 oz lamb liver

1/2 lb raw green tripe

1/2 sweet potatoe

1 bunch dandelion greens