Natural instinct raw food - two quick questions.

[needastrongone]

Hi.

Our puppy is fed on raw food in the main, we are switching over gradually to use up his kibble as I see no reason to waste money tbh!!

He's being fed chicken in the main, various 'cuts' so to speak and whatever else is cheap at the farm shop or supermarket. Getting loads of bones and stuff from said local farm shop who know me and I have been going to for years so they are pretty helpful to me.

However, I did order some chicken, tripe and lambs necks from natural instinct for times when I haven't managed to plan well enough in advance.

Not sure how to incorporate the tripe that I have bought, as a meal in itself or with other stuff? Really sorry if that's a stupid question!!

Also, and probably another daft question but it seems to me to defeat the objective to mince the food? Puppy loves chewing on his chicken bits but wolfs the minced stuff as fast as kibble therefore not really getting the satisfaction and jaw workout intended!

Perhaps I just need to be mega organised.

In fairness, the necks are super but its far too expensive for me to use exclusively tbh.

Cheers.

[thegriffon]

I use tripe the same as any other meat, sometimes give it on its own, or might add to other food, ie chicken leg, to make up the 600g he has for his dinner. Best to introduce any new food gradually, small amount added to something he's used to.
Agree about the pointlessness of giving mince, dogs need big chunks they can chew. Also mince has had more processing so increased chance of harmful bacteria. My dog only had minced beef once, he had the runs for 3 days.

[tabulahrasa]

It depends what your objective is whether mince defeats it or not, lol.

I'm raw feeding because I can't find a dry food that he'll eat and that also doesn't make his bowels loose, he's done ok on wainwright trays, but raw is cheaper.

So I use a fair amount of mince, he goes also get other things that he has to chew, but at the moment it is more mince than anything else. Mostly because what I can get from the butcher's varies.

[needastrongone]

Ok. Thanks for your replies.

A choice thing Tab, rather than for other reasons. We've done some research and liked the idea once we had figured out the practicalities.. He was already on grain free kibble, it seemed the next logical step.

It's chicken in the main with some lamb bones and bits of oxtail, a couple of eggs a week. Sardines seem to make him a bit loose bit salmon skin doesn't.

I am going to try and ensure we have a supply of stuff from the butchers etc. natural instinct is hellish expensive. Plus, I like watching him crunch!

[needastrongone]

He gets raw carrot and veggies too in small amounts, his high value treat for training being liver, albeit cooked.

[Bunnylion]

I don't think mince defeats the purpose as long as they still get something with bone in to crunch on. Mince is the same mushy texture as canned dog food and a lot of dogs live solely off of cans.

The nutritional benefits of mincing and not mincing are the same.

With tripe I cut it up into small pieces and mix it with his other minced raw food. In the summer I don't cut it up and he spends the afternoon laying on the grass chewing through it. I generally mince raw food more in winter and give more challenging/interesting cuts to my dog in the summer - like quartering a chicken for him to crunch through outside or a whole fish.

[needastrongone]

Thanks, I hadn't really appreciated why food is minced at all tbh, so I am glad for some input.

The tripe was minced too but he's now had it for two days without any ill effects.

I can see I have a lot to learn re raw feeding and have only really dipped a toe in the water. I need to source more food locally I think. I have a book by Carina Beth MacDonald and understand the amounts appropriate for my 11kg puppy and how that changes into adulthood and as he grows etc. I also understand that a balanced diet for raw can be over a week or so rather than daily iyswim?

I tried to order some chicken carcasses and lambs necks from Natural Instinct last night and they tried to charge £11 postage. We send tons of stuff via carrier at work, I KNOW how much that weight of good would be using any of the major companies in the market and felt a bit ripped off tbh so didn't order. This stuff I need to figure out.

Thanks again for your useful input.

[Notonaschoolnight]

Do you have a local stockist mines about 10m away, a freezer in a grooming parlour, but to be honest my pup seems to be preferring the daf stuff right now, which is way cheaper