I know with Little One and Pereg, who both had kibble [until I discovered Raw for Pereg] they had a puppy kibble until they were about 5-6 months old, then went on to adult kibble. I never gave Little One any supplements, probably because I did not know anything about them, nor did I give Pereg until her epilepsy and she had to have medication. Even then I just gave her supplements to help support her liver, which was at risk from her medication. I learned about Raw feeding from Dogsey and changed Pereg's diet completely from kibble only. Tikva was not weaned when I was told to go and collect her, and after bottle-feeding her with milk substitute for puppies, then weaning her gradually with human baby cereal mixed with her milk, I started her on Raw and gave her supplements - all for puppies. General complete vitamin one, one for skin and coat, and one for hips and joints. Just 1/8th of a teaspoonful of each, increasing slowly as she gained weight, until she had 1 tsp of each with her "wet" [meat and veggies] meal. She is now a few days from her first birthday and at 5.5kg is fully grown. Small but heavy for her size due to good bones and rock-solid muscles. And still as skinny as a rake, with all ribs showing and frequently her spine obvious as well, but then being such a short-coated dog they probably show up more. My question is this. She has just finished the puppy supplements and I have the adult dog versions of the same ones. Is it OK to class her as an adult for them now? It would still be 1 tsp of each. Same brand, which seems to suit her just fine.
When I bought dry food for my hooligans when they were 1 year old I got them junior ones. Same with the cod liver oil I got the junior version until they were 2 years old.
As Tikva has been on raw, starting after I had gotten her used to lapping up first human baby cereal with her milk, and then with human baby food [powder] that I bought from iHerb for one of her meals, I am now giving her the adult supplements. I contacted the manufacturers to query whether it was OK and they reckon that at her weight, even though she is small, they do not consider it necessary to give her the puppy versions now. Good, as the puppy versions cost the same for an 8oz packet as the adult ones to for a 16oz packet, and at a tsp a time each pack lasts a heck of a long time. Whereas I gave Pereg her supplements [apart from the SAMEe and Milk Thistle to help support her liver] as human vitamins and supplements, she was so much bigger when I started her on raw and gave her the supplements, so I think that I am probably doing the right thing by Tikva with these powered supplements, which seem to suit her. Luckily everything from iHerb gives the full details of the contents so I know what I give her and from where they came. Also the biscuits I buy here - one when she gets up when I let her out of her crate but I am not ready to surface properly, and a smaller one when she goes into her crate at night, or if I want her in her crate so I can to across to the macolet. Interesting - one brand "Kira", the larger biscuits, come from Italy, and Tikva gets one when she has woken and gone into the salon, and done p&p until I am up - and the smaller ones Yehuda brought are the Dr Pet make although I am not sure where they come from, but all dog food and biscuits imported have to be approved by the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Health [presumably to show that they are safe for human consumption], and I am not sure where else. This puppy has proven that I was correct to bring her home when I did. And although she is far from easy, I would not be without her now.
