Moving from Raw - quickly or gradually

[CDoodle]

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Hi,

New here so hi!!

We've recently got a labradoodle puppy who is raw fed. We are considering moving him from this to a dry or mixed diet.

Should we do this quickly, just swap over or do it gradually and introduce the dry food? If I do this do the dry and raw meals needs to be separate?

Does anyone feed a mixed diet with some raw meals and some dry?

Once he's on dry can he still have occasional raw? Mince for example?

I have been looking at Millie's Wolfheart which seems to be highly rated?

TIA for your advice, I've been googling like mad and just seem to have confused myself more!

 

[excuseme]

Hi, what a lucky puppy having been reared on a raw diet, his breeders have certainly done the best for him.
Why do you wish to change to a dry kibble?
Your choice of "Millies Wolfheart" is one of the best, and with the most choice of how much meat and fish is in the mix. (how rich the kibble is)
If you must change to a kibble I would suggest that you choose one of Millies 40/60 mixes to start with and then step up to a 50/50 and later a 60/40.
I reared my puppies this summer on a meat diet but including a little of Millies Wolfheart 40/60 Forerunner so that their tummies were used to some kibble before they left home.
I would suggest that making a changeover this way round that you should take a couple of weeks to change over.
Continue using raw is a fantastic idea, preferably some chicken wings or carcass, this is very nutritious and will remain an essential part of cleaning teeth, 3 to 4 times a week.
You can mix raw and kibble together, but if you prefer feed separately, this is fine too.
If you should need help in understanding the RAW feeding process and why!
I always suggest purchasing a little book "Honey's Natural Feeding Handbook for Dogs". It can be obtained from the Honey's website for FREE, ( Honey's will NEVER pester you to buy any of their products! Or you can purchase the little book from Amazon for as little as 1p (used ). It is an easy book to read and understand.
I have fed Raw to my dogs on and off for up to 40 years, depending on supply.
Our dogs are healthy with no weight problems and no health issues. I would suggest that Raw is the best.
Best wishes.

 

[Kara 1]

I am another raw feeder ...if you only have the one dog you can buy some amazing raw products that have veg etc already included. ..i prefer to buy meat and then add fruit veg etc ...as i have 5 to feed works out more economical for me ....i have never fed kibble as before raw (20yrs +ago )I cooked meat and veg for my dogs before i realised iwas cooking alot of the best nutrition out of the food. ...

 

[CDoodle]

Thank you both so much for your replies, genuinely really helpful, I feel like I've been going in circles. Although as a family we've always had dogs and been around them. This is the first dog we've had in our little family and I'd never heard of raw feeding before so it's a bit overwhelming.

There are a few reasons for wanting to change (or maybe adapt), I won't deny that convenience is part of it, freezer space/travelling etc, I'm not great at handling certain raw meat (although weirdly poo etc don't bother me!), and a few other small personal concerns (which I appreciate may be purely due to lack of experience or knowledge of raw feeding) and tbh we're just finding our feet. But I want to do the best we can for him. Hence wondering about mixed feeding. That way he can still benefit but it is a little easier for us. I'm certainly not adverse to raw or want to completely eliminate it.

excuseme, are they raw chicken wings or cooked? Just from the butcher? We have an awesome organic local butcher that we can get stuff from. I definitely going to read that handbook, thank you for the suggestion.

Kara (my name is Cara! ), thanks. That's the other thing we're unsure on fruit veg etc. Can you recommend any makes/products?

Thanks

 

[JoanneF]

are they raw chicken wings or cooked?

Only raw, never, ever cooked as cooked bones are brittle and splinter.

 

[CDoodle]

Sorry, I may have opened a tin of worms of never ending questions!

Had a look at Honey's a quick glance through the guide, it's awesome thank you! I will be taking the time to look through it in detail today.

Does anyone have any experience with their food? Looking at the food, it looks great and the way it's packaged and ready mixed etc may help us with some of the storage and handling issues. Are they good? Are there other good companies that do raw like this? This isn't a cost thing, so I don't mind paying for a little convenience if it means we can still give him the best. Just trying to find the best solution for us and the little fella.

 

[excuseme]

Any/all raw bones are safe, but must never be cooked!
There are plenty of raw suppliers these days and a lot of them supply "complete" meals.
These are just a few; Natures Menu, (from most good pet food suppliers with a freezer), very convenient!
WolfTucker (fantastic), Honey's Real dog food, Paelo Ridge,Natural Instinct. ( Daves Doggie Dinners, Raw Pet Supplies, Raw to go, all provide an assortment of makes).
Feeding raw does not mean blood, smell and mess!
ENJOY.

 

[Caro Perry]

Sorry, I may have opened a tin of worms of never ending questions!

Had a look at Honey's a quick glance through the guide, it's awesome thank you! I will be taking the time to look through it in detail today.

Does anyone have any experience with their food? Looking at the food, it looks great and the way it's packaged and ready mixed etc may help us with some of the storage and handling issues. Are they good? Are there other good companies that do raw like this? This isn't a cost thing, so I don't mind paying for a little convenience if it means we can still give him the best. Just trying to find the best solution for us and the little fella.

I have some of Honey's in the freezer and Harri has it sometimes. It's excellent human quality meat and ethically produced. It comes in a plastic "sausage" so you have to defrost the whole thing so depending on the size of you dog it may last a couple of meals. I keep the opened packs in a sealed tupperware container so no smell and I just squeeze out what I need. I won't handle raw meat.

Harri also gets raw chicken wings for his lunch most days. He loves them and has lovely sparkly white teeth!

He won't touch the frozen Nature's Menu and the cooked sachets are the only food I've found so far that doesn't agree with him.

I mix cooked, raw and occasional kibble with no ill effects. Dogs are natural scavengers anyway. Kibble is my least favourite. Even the super premium brands like Millies are heavily processed and worlds away from a natural dog diet.

 

[excuseme]

Where about in the country are you, this may help us suggest suppliers for you.

 

[CDoodle]

Where about in the country are you, this may help us suggest suppliers for you.

I'm in Sidcup, so SE London/Kent.

 

[JudyN]

I use Nurturing by Nature: Nurturing By Nature BARF Diet Raw Natural Dog Cat Pet Food They're local to me, though they deliver all over the country. I don't mix with kibble, though my dog does get kibble as treats/rewards. They do finely pureed veg as well - any veg you feed should ideally be finely pureed or lightly cooked. Though the jury is still out on whether dogs need/benefit from it in their diet.

There's a dog food called Gentle that is supposed to be good for feeding alongside raw, or e.g. switching to when you're on holiday. I've no experience of it, but @JoanneF feeds it, so I've tagged her here.

 

[JoanneF]

Yes, Gentle is formulated to be suitable for a mixed diet. It also scores very well on the independent dog food comparison website www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk and importantly my boy loves it.

 

[CDoodle]

Thanks, I'll check them out too.

Reading all this and checking out some of the recommendations, I'm feeling much more encouraged and less daunted by it all. I think we'll try to stick with raw for now and see how we get on. May get some of the Gentle too, to see how he gets on with it so it gives us some options if travelling or when we might need an alternative.

 

[excuseme]

"Daves Doggie Dinners" are from Kent, they supply along the south coast and higher, with quiet a few different brands of raw!

 

[Lennor Magill]

Hi
I fed my greys raw diet the minute they came into my keeping ( Morgan at 8 wks his brother at16months) I feed WolfTucker.There's a good variety of raw diets served in a handy 500gram recycling packs. A larder freezer will hold 48 meals. The meals are not mushy but coarsely ground and complete with everything needed for a dog's well-being.
My dogs have very soft glossy coats and are healthy . Minor knocks and scrapes heal very very quickly . I've tried other complete raw diets (I did trial offers from different raw suppliers) and have stuck with this one as my dogs love it best.
I had read the very informative booklet by Honeys on raw feeding while waiting for Morgan's birth it helped decided on feeding raw.
Hope this is helpful and didn't confuse you with choice.