I adopted Luc in May, I immediately transitioned him to a high quality kibble (was getting Puppy Chow). I waited about a month before starting to give him raw because I needed a better idea of his ideal adult weight. I get him frozen prepackaged meals delivered to my house. I went this route because it's very important for a puppy to get their nutritional needs daily because their bodies don't "hold" nutrients and I wasn't comfortable calculating the meals myself. I may eventually start making the meals myself when I know more but the ease of prepackaged is nice.
When I first got Luc he had some stomach issues and was scratching a lot. That has stopped. Though that might have been more to do with no more Puppy Chow. At first he loved the better kibble I got him and would gobble it down. After a month he seemed bored with it and sometimes didn't finish his meals. He took to raw very quickly and even now loves his food. I get the puppy boxes from Raw Dog Food and Co. It has 5 different protein sources so every other day he gets a different meat. He also gets raw meaty bones, like chicken wings, feet, ribs etc, and raw eggs. He loves quail eggs. I tried giving him a whole quail once but he mostly played with it until I broke it down. Then he just ate the meat/bones and left the organs so it has to be ground up for him to eat them.
It's important not to feed a dog the same kind of meat every day. Protein sources, even if you feed kibble, should be switched up. Feeding them the same protein source all the time makes them more likely to develop a food allergy.
At first Luc shed a good deal but that slowed down after fully on raw. Eventually he hardly shed any fur. Of course now he's shedding for his winter coat so it's all over the place.
Fur is soft and shiny. He's only 7 months now but his teeth are clean.
My previous dog started thinning his hair at around age 10 and was diagnosed with hypothyroidism (also had many other health issues). His hair got thinner and thinner and was pretty much bald by age 14. Very long story short he got sicker and I got his blood work looked at by a specialist and she diagnosed him with Cushing's. I'd recommend having your vet do a blood test and ask them to specifically look for these diseases.
Happy for you and your perp!
