Feeding Dry And Raw

[tomas]

I also feed dry and raw in the same meal and have had no problems. I don't feed bones. My dogs are feed once a day and they get kibble topped up with kangaroo, vegetables and fruit most days. To mix things up I also give cooked chicken, raw beef, raw lamb, sardines, yoghurt, eggs etc.

Our homeopathic vet has said that if you feed half or more of their daily requirement of kibble you should be fine and not need to worry about supplements. If you feed less then half kibble then you have to add supplements like calcium etc. While she would prefer we fed raw, she believes that if you are going to feed dry you should supplement with fresh meat, vege, fruit etc. She also has no problem doing this in the same meal.

Ultimately it is the condition of our dogs that tells us we are on the right track. They visit their breeder regularly and she is very happy with how they look, their weight and their coats.

Good on you for caring for your friend's pup. Hope they work out their feeding routine.

ETA - I'm not sure if the half kibble ratio would work for a pup. I would veer towards feeding the prescribed amount of kibble and using raw as a top up. Just watch for weight gain.

I would be very cautious about adding calcium to a pup's diet.

Tomas, if your friends aren't going to feed an appropriate (ie containing bone) raw diet, their pup will do better on a good quality kibble. I would suggest they seek advice about whether to feed a "puppy" or an "adult" formula as many giant dog breeders are cautious about the high levels of calcium found in such formulas.

They were feeding Eukanuba initially,now they have swithced him to Orijen,we are in NZ,no irradiation.

They have had vets advice and my advice and various other doggy peoples advice. As they are freinds of mine at work and are nice people,I am trying to help them as much as they can.

Frankly I want them to pick either raw or dry but this is what they have chosen so between me,you guys and what they can find on the internet we should get it right

My other concern was as first time dog owners how hard is a Neo going to be? I have already gotten them enrolled in puppy school and have said as much socialisation as this dog can get they will be thankful about when it's older!

[Dogsfevr]

I feed raw and kibble in the evenings and raw only in the mornings. I don't have any issue with it and neither do any of the dogs. I don't feed bones though.

Really happy to know that some people feed the raw and kibble together and don't have issues. I am thankful for all the help you guys are giving me,going to make an email of all the info and send to my friends. By the way they have a Neo mastiff pup!

All mine get raw.kibble together & never had issues in 25yrs

[tomas]

I feed raw and kibble in the evenings and raw only in the mornings. I don't have any issue with it and neither do any of the dogs. I don't feed bones though.

Really happy to know that some people feed the raw and kibble together and don't have issues. I am thankful for all the help you guys are giving me,going to make an email of all the info and send to my friends. By the way they have a Neo mastiff pup!

All mine get raw.kibble together & never had issues in 25yrs

Thank you I really appreciate all the feedback.

[stormie]

There can be "issues" with feeding both. The fake food is much more difficult for the dog to process, and therefore sits in the stomach much longer than raw food does.........Some dogs get seriously sick due to the raw food staying in the gut too long & bacteria gets time to grow........salmonella etc.....

That is why it is recomended that if you feed both to feed them at seperate meals....as the raw diet will be processed far more quickly & easily, while the fake foods will keep the raw in the gut too long. Hope you know what I mean LOL

Sorry, but this is totally incorrect. Food doesn't all sit in the stomach until its all digested. It goes from the stomach into the intestines where its digested as it passes through. If you're theory was correct, then feeding RMB's would be just as bad, as bone takes a lot longer to digest than meat.

[Adele]

When my pup was growing I was a little hesitant to go all raw mainly due to being inexperienced and she is a large(ish) dog. Now that she is over 18 months I feed kibble in the morning and raw at night with no problems - again I haven't got rid of kibble totally because I still feel unsure but am totally happy with her appearance and energy levels.

The only thing we did notice is if we mixed kibble and raw together she would get a lot of gas that could clear a room

[Bokezu]

I feed both, I like Advance Puppy for the youngsters, but feed around 70% raw, mainly chicken wings and lamb, some offal and fish, never had a problem in 8 years, dogs are glowing with health. I get frustrated when new owners are worried about bones, particularly larger dogs, and knowing how much they love chewing them. My puppies start on necks and wings at 4 weeks.

[Belgianlover]

I also feed dry and raw in the same meal and have had no problems. I don't feed bones. My dogs are feed once a day and they get kibble topped up with kangaroo, vegetables and fruit most days. To mix things up I also give cooked chicken, raw beef, raw lamb, sardines, yoghurt, eggs etc.

Our homeopathic vet has said that if you feed half or more of their daily requirement of kibble you should be fine and not need to worry about supplements. If you feed less then half kibble then you have to add supplements like calcium etc. While she would prefer we fed raw, she believes that if you are going to feed dry you should supplement with fresh meat, vege, fruit etc. She also has no problem doing this in the same meal.

Ultimately it is the condition of our dogs that tells us we are on the right track. They visit their breeder regularly and she is very happy with how they look, their weight and their coats.

Good on you for caring for your friend's pup. Hope they work out their feeding routine.

ETA - I'm not sure if the half kibble ratio would work for a pup. I would veer towards feeding the prescribed amount of kibble and using raw as a top up. Just watch for weight gain.

I would be very cautious about adding calcium to a pup's diet.

Tomas, if your friends aren't going to feed an appropriate (ie containing bone) raw diet, their pup will do better on a good quality kibble. I would suggest they seek advice about whether to feed a "puppy" or an "adult" formula as many giant dog breeders are cautious about the high levels of calcium found in such formulas.

In the good quality Dry Foods there are specific 'Large Breed' foods that have lower levels of calcium due to the fact that percentage-wise large breeds grow slower than smaller breeds (hence the reason they take longer to reach full size).

I feed a mixture of high quality dry and raw in the same meal and my girl is very healthy and full of energy. I feed her different things throughout the week. Some days I feed her dry with an egg or two over it, other days I will feed her beef mince or chicken frames/necks. I make my own training treats from liver cooked in the over to ensure there's no added preservatives etc in them.

[tomas]

I really appreciate all the feedback those of you who responded have given.

I have sent my workmates an email outlining how they can go about feeding their Neo pup based on what was said here. From that they came up with this....

They are using a 1/2 (daily) serve of Orijen as a base and also raw food to 1-1.5% as the best guessitimate of what the dogs adult weight will be.

It seems they will feed one meal dry and one meal raw,though they have also done a 'mix' meal...so far so good....

I managed to finally get through to them about chicken bones being soft so at the very least this wee pup will have something to chew on other than sticks!

Have also convinced them to stick with chicken for now and in a week or so if no digestive upsets they can intro some chicken meat with no bone,then organ and so on ,so in a month this pup will at least be on chicken and beef or lamb or pork etc etc...depending on which meat they choose next.

They are also including a probiotic capsule,1/2 given am and 1/2 at the night meal.

They said the wee man ,Caesar is hoovering everything he is offered and must think the world is a great place to be.

Just wanted to get back to you all and thanks again.

[jamie]

I really appreciate all the feedback those of you who responded have given.

I have sent my workmates an email outlining how they can go about feeding their Neo pup based on what was said here. From that they came up with this....

They are using a 1/2 (daily) serve of Orijen as a base and also raw food to 1-1.5% as the best guessitimate of what the dogs adult weight will be.

It seems they will feed one meal dry and one meal raw,though they have also done a 'mix' meal...so far so good....

I managed to finally get through to them about chicken bones being soft so at the very least this wee pup will have something to chew on other than sticks!

Have also convinced them to stick with chicken for now and in a week or so if no digestive upsets they can intro some chicken meat with no bone,then organ and so on ,so in a month this pup will at least be on chicken and beef or lamb or pork etc etc...depending on which meat they choose next.

They are also including a probiotic capsule,1/2 given am and 1/2 at the night meal.

They said the wee man ,Caesar is hoovering everything he is offered and must think the world is a great place to be.

Just wanted to get back to you all and thanks again.

Tomas,

Where are your friends getting Orijen from???

I'd love to get Bosco back onto Orijen,he loved that gear.

Jamie

[tomas]

Tomas,

Where are your friends getting Orijen from???

I'd love to get Bosco back onto Orijen,he loved that gear.

Jamie

Hi Jamie,

We are in NZ,it is not irradiated here either. I said it was about the best choice of dry they could make,so am happy they went with it.

There is also a grain free from Canidae,can you get that in Aust?

Tomas.

[jamie]

Tomas,

Where are your friends getting Orijen from???

I'd love to get Bosco back onto Orijen,he loved that gear.

Jamie

Hi Jamie,

We are in NZ,it is not irradiated here either. I said it was about the best choice of dry they could make,so am happy they went with it.

There is also a grain free from Canidae,can you get that in Aust?

Tomas.

No we can't get Canidae over here to the best of my knowledge.I used to feed Orijen but now feed Innova Evo large bites.

[Staranais]

Have also convinced them to stick with chicken for now and in a week or so if no digestive upsets they can intro some chicken meat with no bone,then organ and so on ,so in a month this pup will at least be on chicken and beef or lamb or pork etc etc...depending on which meat they choose next.

Sounds great but can I can make one suggestion? Could you suggest they intro beef or lamb muscle or heart meat next after the chicken bone (unless they have a good reason to intro chicken meat next instead)?

Puppies need more iron and zinc than you'd think, and there's bugger all of either in chicken meat.

Hope it all works out for them!

[tomas]

Have also convinced them to stick with chicken for now and in a week or so if no digestive upsets they can intro some chicken meat with no bone,then organ and so on ,so in a month this pup will at least be on chicken and beef or lamb or pork etc etc...depending on which meat they choose next.

Sounds great but can I can make one suggestion? Could you suggest they intro beef or lamb muscle or heart meat next after the chicken bone (unless they have a good reason to intro chicken meat next instead)?

Puppies need more iron and zinc than you'd think, and there's bugger all of either in chicken meat.

Hope it all works out for them!

True! Good point Star! Will do.

[tomas]

Tomas,

Where are your friends getting Orijen from???

I'd love to get Bosco back onto Orijen,he loved that gear.

Jamie

Hi Jamie,

We are in NZ,it is not irradiated here either. I said it was about the best choice of dry they could make,so am happy they went with it.

There is also a grain free from Canidae,can you get that in Aust?

Tomas.

No we can't get Canidae over here to the best of my knowledge.I used to feed Orijen but now feed Innova Evo large bites.

That's a shame,but Evo is also a good food

[Staranais]

Have also convinced them to stick with chicken for now and in a week or so if no digestive upsets they can intro some chicken meat with no bone,then organ and so on ,so in a month this pup will at least be on chicken and beef or lamb or pork etc etc...depending on which meat they choose next.

Sounds great but can I can make one suggestion? Could you suggest they intro beef or lamb muscle or heart meat next after the chicken bone (unless they have a good reason to intro chicken meat next instead)?

Puppies need more iron and zinc than you'd think, and there's bugger all of either in chicken meat.

Hope it all works out for them!

True! Good point Star! Will do.

Great, good luck to them.

[Aphra]

I quite often combine the two in the same meal,usually a barf patty + a cup of evo + an egg or a tin of sardines.The rest of his meals are stuff like lamb necks,roo tails,fresh sardines and chicken frames stuffed with lamb heart.

This is how I feed my dogs as well. I feed a mixture because I live in the country now and it's harder to get as much raw food at a decent price. So my dogs get kibble + in the mornings (+ a bit of Nature's Gift tinned food/or tinned sardines/or yoghurt/or a raw egg/ or whatever). When they go into their runs they get a bone (raw) to chew on and in the evenings they get one or two chicken frames. Occasionally they will get some of the Ecopet roll for the evening meal instead of chicken.

I usually supplement their kibble with a couple of flaxseed oil capsules and the older dogs get glucosamine.

They are not noticeably less shiny/healthy/active then when they ate all raw.