Starter Guide
Basic Starter Guide for Introducing Raw Dog Food
You should aim to achieve a balance of 80% meat 10% bone 10% offal (5% liver and 5% either kidney, spleen, testicle or brain) fed at between 2-3% of an adult dogs ideal weight, (these are resting ratios, working dogs will need a higher % and more fat) dogs requiring weight gain or weight loss may need different ratio’s but we can help you with this if you contact us. Offal for dogs are secreting organs, so kidney, liver, testicles, etc. Items like heart, lung, and tripe are referred to as offal in a human diet but are classed as meat for a dog. Yes some people do eat bleached tripe ( this isnt beneficial to dogs though)
Once your dog has transitioned You can choose to feed an 80-10-10 ratio using minces, or balance your dog’s meals yourself, in chunk/ mince form adding bone or offal separately. You do not have to balance daily but can balance your dog’s diet over a week or even two. The choice is yours and the ratios are not set in stone as every dog is different, but Variety is key, and we should aim at feeding 4-5 different proteins nose to tail. If you want to add veg, add on top of daily allowance.
Please remember when preparing any raw meat that hygiene is very important. Wash surfaces with a good anti bacterial cleaner, wash any cloths used after contact with raw meat, wash your hands after touching raw meat, store raw meat seperately and in an airtight container in your fridge.
Puppy Feeding Guide
8% – 10% of present body weight per day
4 to 6 months
6% – 8% of present body weight per day
6 to 9 months
4% – 6% of present body weight per day
9 to 11 months
3% – 4% of present body weight per day
12 + months
2% – 3% of present body weight per day
TIPS
Too much bone in a puppy’s diet can be as detrimental as not enough bone, so try to stick to the suggested amount. If your pup/dog needs extra bone increase with a poultry foot or two or even re freeze some poultry mince 50% bone in an old ice cube container and pop one out at a time. This way you can increase by just the right amount.
Veg Feeding Guide
Feeding veg, fruit and seeds is entirely up to you as owners or your dog. A lot of dogs will graze on different grasses and plants especially by rivers or the sides of streams. If feeding veg the best veg is green leafy veg or veg not high in natural sugars. Veg high in sugars i.e. peas and carrots can promote yeast infections so stay away from them if your dog tends to be yeasty/itchy. Veg needs to be blitzed or partially cooked/steamed as dogs find it difficult to digest cellulose (plant cells and walls) so this makes it more digestible. I also suggest feeding dogs fruit or veg, on top of their meat and bone allowance, as it won’t add any weight to your dog. Grapes can cause major problems with some dogs as they are toxic to dogs so do not feed. Corn on the cob can cause major blockages as dogs cant digest the cob. Please research what fruit, veg and seeds are good to feed and which is not.
How to start if your dog has never been fed raw food before
Day 1 to 7 / Day 1 to 3 (if pup)
Plain tripe only
Either lamb or Ox
If your dog gets loose stools on tripe then move on to next phase which contains bone.
Day 8 to 14 / Day 4 to 6 (if pup)
Chicken and tripe
10% bone
Day 15 to 21 / Day 7 to 9 (if pup)
Duck and tripe
10% bone
Day 22 to 28 / Day 10 to 12 (if pup)
Ox tripe with chicken or duck 80-10-10
Day 29 + / Day 13+ (if pup)
Start mixing in some red meat 80-10-10s with tripe 80-10-10s as we want to introduce new proteins slowly or if feeding DIY (balancing yourself) mix new chunked proteins with proteins your dog is already used to. If introducing pork, British pork is a great protein, or fish please introduce very slowly as pork may be a little rich until some dogs get used to it and the texture of fish can mean it makes a re appearance until your dog is used to it. If your dog regurgitates and they want to re eat it its perfectly fine for them to do so, this is a natural process for dogs.
Some final notes
Puppy food is a myth they just need more food as they are growing which will obviously have more protein, nutrients and calcium than an adult dog would have, due to the amount they consume.
You do not have to use mince and the above guide easily translates into chunks too as we sell everything in chunk or whole form that we do in mince form. This is our advice based on experience, be warned there is a lot of conflicting advice out there any problems or questions then please email our office.
Frozen dog food can be refrozen, so you can defrost and re portion into relevant meal sizes, then re-freeze but please in summer months keep food to around 4 degrees to avoid bacteria multiplying.
Don’t repeatedly refreeze the same pack as this will alter the quality of the meat.
THE KEY TO A GOOD HEALTHY RAW DIET IS VARIETY AND FEEDING PROTEINS FROM NOSE TO TAIL (ALL PARTS OF THE ANIMAL) CHICKEN AND TRIPE ALONE IS NOT A HEALTHY RAW DIET!
Try to feed at least 4- 5 different proteins including oily fish and the occasional raw egg in shell. The more variety the better as your dog will obtain different nutrients from different sources of protein and feeding different parts of those proteins will also add different nutrients.
Healthy dogs should eat 10-20% fat in their diet as they need fat for energy and brain development, they do not process fat as we do but mix lean and fatty meats so ensure a balance. If you have a dog which cannot tolerate 10-20% fat i.e. maybe they have pancreatic disease then speak to your vet and ask an amount they should have in their diet, it can be trial and error as some dogs with Pancreatic disease tolerate more, some less, so I can’t give general advise re the exact amount but Raw food is very easy to adjust for each particular dog.
All dogs are different, and some need more food to maintain weight than others, some need a higher bone content, some can tolerate less offal. You can tailor this diet to suit each individual dog’s needs. Their Daily food ration needs to be split into however many meals you feed and if your dog puts on weight easily and you want to give treats then include treats in their allowance.
If your dog has been raw fed before then you can move along with adding proteins a little faster, so I would advise introducing new proteins every 3-4 days, Just like pups and young dogs. Seniors can have problems digesting bone so be aware if starting a senior. Any age is good to start a dog on raw and I’ve introduced a 13-year-old dog onto a raw diet who went on till she was 16.