Before the Food -
He is weighing in at 5.4 pounds and his health is in its normal condition. His breath is unbearable, as always, and his coat is thin but sleek and shiny.
Week 1-
He is very excited about the chicken and seems to be eating it whole. After each meal he begs for more but he only begs when I have the chicken in my hand so I do believe that he is eating enough and after a week if he weighs in less then his original 5.4 lbs i will up his dosage of food. The first couple days he seems to be really hot but i have decided not to trust my judgement because I think I might just be worrying and everything else about him seems normal and happy.
Week 2-
This week i introduced Beef heart since i was not able to find green tripe in time since i could only find it at a butcher very far away. He is still very excited to be eating the meals. This week he went through the detox period. He puked twice and had diarrhea. He was only sick for one day and i did consider ending the new diet and switching back to dog food but since it only lasted one day and the next time he was fed beef heart he did fine i decided to continue with the diet. He did miss one meal in the morning and i was very worried about him but when i got home after school he was hungry and excited to eat the next meal. I have found that he does not like to chew his food so i decided to cut up the thicker meats more so he would be able to digest them better. Also, his weight is 5.6 lbs.
Week 3-
Everything is going good with his diet and he ate an egg this week and he liked it! He hasn't gotten sick anymore and he seems used to his schedule. I do have some concerns that he is not getting enough food though because he always seems more hungry. I decided to wait a little longer before giving him more food though because he has gained .2 lbs.
Week 4-
Weighing in at 5.7 lbs I have decided not to up his food however I will continue to check on him to make sure his weight stays good. This week Pudders got his first pieces of bone and egg shell and he was not too happy about the eggs. It is hard to break up the bones to sizes that I think are easy for him to chew but since he refused to eat the egg that's what I had to do this week. My hopes are that he will get used to the egg and eventually begin to eat it.
Week 5-
It has now been a whole month on the new diet!! So far so good, Pudders is no longer getting sick however I have yet to see any benefits from the diet. It is not fun cutting up and preparing his food but he does seem to enjoy it a lot and weighing in at 5.8 lbs he seems to be doing well! Though he still refuses to eat the egg shell :/
Week 6-
I am beginning to worry about Pudders. His attitude has been becoming worse and he seems more cage aggressive. I'm worried that he will try to bite me or my parents... it is a good thing we do not have any young kids who come over or I would have to keep Pudders away from them. He is still eating well (except for the egg shells).
Week 7-
At this point I am beginning to suspect that the raw food diet is not the right option for Pudders. Since Chihuahua's are known for having poor attitudes to begin with the added pressure of eating the diet of a feral animal might be causing him to become worse. Since the only thing that has changed in Pudders routine is the raw food I suspect that is what is causing his poor attitude.
Week 8-
Contestant Number 1, weighing in at 5.8 lbs..... PUDDERS! My 2 month trial period is over! and my final decision is *drum roll* ..... Not to pursue this diet with Pudders. This is because, even though he LOVED the raw food diet, his behavior was not acceptable. His health seemed great but his breath did not improve :(
DO NOT LET MY RESULS DISCOURAGE YOU!!!
While for my Chihuahua this diet was not a good option that does not mean that for other Chihuahua's or dog breeds that this won't be a good option either. The facts are that my dogs weight and health seemed to improve but his attitude and breath got worse. An issue with the situation of Pudders could be that he was already a sassy dog before the diet and the raw meat just made him act more feral. His size could also be a problem.
AS A SIDE NOTE: I know of multiple miracle stories about this diet. Many people have decided to use the raw food diet in an attempt to make their animals healthier. The people who shared their stories with me had bigger dogs who had developed cancerous tumors. They claim that immediately after starting the raw food diet the tumors growth stopped and their dogs health improved. While this may not help all dogs, in desperate times this diet might offer a healthier solution for your pets! And remember, if this diet does work for your dogs, SHARE YOUR KNOWLEGE! Help others who may be lost in where to start or desperate to find a new method to help their dogs get healthier.