Changing your dog onto a raw diet can make a big difference to their health and well being but the idea can be intimidating. Initially a raw diet can seem complicated and confusing, the answer is to start out simply and add to it as you and your dog adapt.
Different people suggest different methods of introduction, from going all in (cold turkey) to a gradual introduction. Originally I converted one of the 2 daily meals our dogs had to raw and when I was comfortable and they were showing no signs of distress I swapped over the other meal. If I was to change them now I would do it cold turkey mainly because of the differing digestive processes required between kibble and raw. Raw meat requires a lower stomach PH to digest it than kibble, and takes a shorter length of time to digest, so feeding the 2 may not be the best and may delay adaptation. Whichever way you choose do not feed kibble and raw together in the same meal.
How much to feed.
Just as we as humans need differing amounts of food dependent on our age, individual metabolism, and activity levels so do dogs. As a guide most dogs require between 2-3% of their body weight (adult dog) with dogs in full work generally requiring 3%. These are however guidelines and the best way to work out your dogs requirements is simply to keep an eye on their weight. If you can feel their ribs with a slight covering they are at an ideal weight if you can plainly see their ribs they are underweight. In the winter our kennelled, working dogs need feeding more than my house working dog to keep them in good shape, but as spring arrives I find I can lower their percentages.
For puppies the calculations are slightly different and depend on whether you know the expected adult weight of your puppy. If you know how heavy your fur ball is likely to be once fully grown then feed them 3% of their expected adult weight. If however you are not sure how heavy they are likely to be then you can feed based on their current body weight. You can find the suggested feeding percentages for puppies here.
Our Feeding Guide percentage table will help you judge the amount to feed your dog, start at a percentage you feel is appropriate and adjust it as, when, and if, you feel necessary. Divide the weight required between meals - so for our working cocker spaniels when they are in full work they get up to 450g a day divided between 2 meals, so roughly 225g per meal, whereas during the summer months they usually only get around 150g per meal - 300g a day.
When to Feed
Most dogs are now fed 2 meals a day once fully grown although some feeding kibble you may be feeding just 1 meal a day. I would suggest that at least initially you divide raw feeds into 2 meals a day with a 'snack' portion before bed. The reason for this is that certainly in the initial stages of raw feeding your dog may suffer from what is known as the ‘hunger pukes’. With a quicker digestion and a more acidic stomach dogs sometimes regurgitate bile - a yellowy/greeny, maybe foamy liquid that can even contain bits (often bone) because they are hungry. This is harmless but not pleasant, most adapt over time, but not all, 1 of our spaniels still occasionally does this in the early morning. We generally feed our dogs twice a day, early morning and mid evening, and they get a turkey foot or a couple of sprats around midday if they are working in the late afternoon/evening and their meal may be delayed or as a 'snack' at bedtime if they had tea early.
What to feed
When transitioning a dog to a raw diet it is advisable to introduce a range of proteins gradually so that they can adapt, and you can be aware of any possible issues. Unless your dog has shown signs of allergies a good starting place is often chicken or turkey because it is readily available and most dogs tolerate it well. An alternative would be to start with tripe for the first week which having no bone content may be easier to digest initially whilst their stomach acidity adapts.
For the first week feed just the 1 meat in a minced form, gradually adding chunks and some wings or carcass pieces if feeding chicken or turkey at the end of the week. Keep a diary, noting what you have fed and any changes you see in your dog and how their digestion copes.
After the first week you can introduce a second protein by mixing small amounts initially into the original protein and then gradually increase the percentage. After this you can add another to 1 of the accepted proteins, and so on until you have as wide a range of protein sources possible that you can call on for their raw diet. Our dogs regularly eat chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, pork, venison, rabbit, game, green tripe, salmon, mackerel, sardines, herring, sprats….
Offal
Offal is an important part of a raw diet for dogs but many dogs can be iffy about it so you may have to be sneaky to get them to accept it! Once your dogs is eating a number of different proteins start introducing offal in TINY amounts, with its strong flavour you do not want it to be dominant, so chop up small bits and mix them well into their mince. If they pick them out chop them smaller or even liquidise or puree it with a food processor. Personally I used to put a selection of offal pieces through my food processor so that they were chopped into a fine slush and then freeze it in ice cubes. These I could either leave to thaw and mix into their mince or feed them frozen. Now I can feed chunks or pieces of offal to most of our dogs with their food, although one still picks out any large bits!
The ultimate aim is to feed a diet of 80% meat, 10% offal and 10% bone.
Fish
Fish is something that again may take time to introduce and be accepted but again includes vital sustenance to your dog and those all important fish oils in a natural and most effective format. Dogs can often gulp down fish to then regurgitate and re-eat it several times, my trick has been to serve it still frozen. I started out with small Sprats as a treat at lunchtime and then progressed to portions, and now whole fish such as mackerel, herrings and sardines. Salmon can also be fed to dogs although I personally tend to stick with the smaller oily fish. Fish should only be a small portion of the diet making up around 2 meals a week.
Vegetables
There is a long running debate around the inclusion of vegetables in a dogs diet with well supported positions for and against. Some believe that wolves and dog ancestors would have eaten the partially digested stomach contents of their whole prey, others believe that the guts of prey and their contents would be left behind. Those against feeding vegetables point out that dogs do not have a digestive system suitable to digest plant material, those for their feeding point out that the stomach contents of the prey the dogs eat would have been partially digested already. It is well known that dogs do not require dietary carbohydrates, but we are also aware of the nutrient/mineral depletion of our soils and therefore all the foods we eat and that vegetables may provide a direct supplement.
Basically the choice is yours! Personally I do feed vegetables, but not continuously and not even every day, and I stick primarily to leafy green vegetables and restrict the amount of starchy vegetables I include. I use a mix of vegetables such as kale, chard, cabbage, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, courgette, green beans etc. and only very small amounts of carrots, beetroot, squash - usually whatever is leftover in the bottom of my fridge and/or is available in my vegetable patch.
Vegetables should be finely chopped for dogs as they cannot chew their food in the same way we do so I pass it all through my juicer and then add back the juice to the pulp (you can also use a food processor). I will then leave the whole lot to stand for a day or two (often adding some well fermented water kefir) so that the whole lot can start to ferment. Then I freeze it in ice cube trays so that I can pull out small portions when I wish.
You can of course also buy raw minces with vegetable already included in the mix although these do tend to be more of the starchy vegetables such as carrot and squash, than leafy green ones.
