Feeding my dogs a raw diet is something I would really like to do in the future. However, I can't feed raw at this given point in time. As such, my new pup (and my dog back at home) are both on a natural kibble - Innova specifically.

With my new pup (who is with me full time at school now), I'd like to be able to give her the occasional raw "snack". For example, an egg here and there...a chicken leg, etc etc. Are there any guidelines for how I should feed this since her daily diet is kibble? Would it be too much of an upset to her stomach (assuming she doesn't have a sensitive stomach) if I occasionally fed her a completely raw chicken breast or leg?

Also, I'm open to any suggestions on this topic. If you've got a suggestion as to any raw food I can feed as a snack or in place of a meal here and there, please do share it with me!

My preference is not to mix raw meat with kibble diets (in order not to slow down the speedy passage of raw foods through the dog by mixing it with kibble), but many people do with no problem.

If you feed a combo, I'd recommend that raw meat and the kibble be spaced far apart.

Egg would probably not be my first item. Just as with an all-raw diet, I would probably choose a food that most dogs handle great even as beginners, such as chicken backs with the skin removed (at first) so that the fat, which is good but is sometimes a surprise to the new-to-raw system, can be added gradually.




P.S. You could also choose to feed a non-kibbled commercial food that's made for adding RMBs to, like http://leerburg.com/honestkitchen.htm

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

My preference is not to mix raw meat with kibble diets (in order not to slow down the speedy passage of raw foods through the dog by mixing it with kibble), but many people do with no problem.

Connie is right, there are some dogs that can tolerate this schedule and some cannot. Mine has no problem with it, and I started feeding her raw snacks when she was a pup, but seperate from her kibble.

Backs and necks (chicken) are good first raw choices. You may also want to consider adding plain yogurt to her meal, to help w/ establishing beneficial bacteria in the gut. I add yogurt on a daily basis (like a tablespoonful) and I do that regardless of what I am feeding (raw or kibble).

Once she's good on that, I like small thighs and legs. Breast is heavy on meat (can cause loose stools), so if you are going to do that, lop some meat off for yourself first...

After I started with 'snacks', I decided to just feed one kibble meal in the am and a raw meal in the pm and I did this for quite awhile with no stomach issues, other than the initial softer stool adjustment period that some dogs have when starting raw. (this lasted less than a week)

I'm now on this rather odd schedule of raw on the weekends only (finances are not great right now) and Chula does fine with that also.

Give it a try!

Okay, I will have to mull over these suggestions a bit. I would like to try and feed one kibble meal in the am and one raw meal in the pm first (assuming she can handle that) but I need to do some number crunching to figure out whether doing that or feeding THK would be more cost effective.

Keiko eats first around 8 in the morning and her lunch-time feeding is at about 1 pm...which would give about a five hour lapse between the kibble in the morning and the raw chicken back or neck I would give for lunch. Would this spacing be far enough apart? Her next and last feeding of the day is usually somewhere between 6 and 8 pm which would give about another 5-7 hour lapse between the raw and the kibble.

I also need to do a little more browsing and reading on the forum about ingredients and nutrient requirements, etc regarding raw feeding.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

P.S. You could also choose to feed a non-kibbled commercial food that's made for adding RMBs to, like http://leerburg.com/honestkitchen.htm

Also, I've seen this abbreviation on the forum - what does RMB stand for?

 Quote: Lamarr Couttien

 Quote: Jasmine Dillon

Also, I've seen this abbreviation on the forum - what does RMB stand for?

Raw Meaty Bone

Thanks!

Edited by Jasmine Dillon (07/14/2009 12:52 AM)
Edit reason: Fixed the quote

Jasmine, she's eating 3x a day?

That's a lot. A predator's stomach does not need 3 meals per day; in fact, it's not designed for food to come that frequently. With this schedule, I would not advise adding raw. The feedings are just too close.

Why not eliminate lunch and feed kibble in the am and raw at night?

How old is the dog? I might have misread "new pup." I was thinking "baby pup."

I might have misread the whole thing. I thought we were talking about the dog in the sig pic.