Dog food - raw?

[Logarhythm]

My little whippet pup arrives next week, he's currently on Wainright's puppy food and seems to be doing fine on it.
Am I mad to be considering something less processed? Something more natural. Introductions to changes slowly but what else do I need to know. Do dogs need veg or is this a human thing.....don't they eat grass for nutrients - they wouldn't eat veg in the wild though?

You can feed puppies a raw diet and you don't slowly introduce it like you would a change of kibble. Mixing raw meat and kibble in the same meal is a no no as they digest at very different rates so you just go straight into raw.

There is disagreement over whether dogs need veg. I tend to follow the thirds method - third meat and offal, third bone and third fruit, veg, nuts herbs and seeds. Veg blitzed in a processor before serving.

The easiest way to start raw is to go to one of the suppliers that offers a complete mince such as Honeys, Nature's Menu etc. It's a lot easier when you are starting out.

rawfeddogs.org/rawguide.html

As a pup he will need more than the 2 to 3 % body weight as food per day.
Once you're comfortable with it, it's worth sourcing your food from suppliers.

The only time I give veg is when I cooked too much for myself or they need using up. Otherwise just meat, offal and meaty bones. The odd eggs, cottage cheese thrown in.

Thanks, lots to read up on but we're on holidays this week so I have plenty of time. We follow a mostly Paleo diet in our house so it just seems logical that our dog would eat the same way we do but I haven't looked after a dog in 25 years and back then things were very simple - our dog just ate leftovers!

I feed the same as Marco (though I have never given cottage cheese) using the 80/10/10 % model for meat/bone/offal. I would recommend raw feeding uk on FB too for info.

I also feed the same as Marco. It is the best thing i've ever done for my dog, he is in such good condition, he looks forward to his meals with gusto, his teeth are perfect...I could go on I am a big fan of raw feeding.

The only thing I don't like about sourcing from meat suppliers is that they're not nicely packaged like natural instinct or nutriment etc..... But you do get wonderful choices of meat. Got lamb, venison, salmon, turkey, veal boneless chunks as well as the standard chicken and beef. My two dogs love meaty bones. Keeps their poo firm and their teeth clean. They get fish and coconut oil dressing and a sprinkle of powdered egg shells. And a clove of garlic three/four times a week. Though in the same family as onions, in the right dosage it's beneficial for their immune system.

Have started my puppy on honeys raw food , she's had it for a week and goes mad for it. Poos are teeny and hard which is a big plus! W did a straight swap with no problems . I would thoroughly recommend honey's .

We rescued our girl and I remember picking up steaming mounds of foul smelling poo off the lawn with a shovel. Started thinking wtf and looked into her diet.

I feed a mix of natures diet and bargains from Morrisons and our butcher.

She now leaves me firm little poo and her coat and teeth are both in fab condition.

I feed the odd carrot and apple (not the pips) plus coconut oil, garlic, fish and raw egg.

She dances for her dinner now which is not something she ever did for dry food.

I started my Border Collie on raw at eight weeks, just changed him overnight and he's been fine and is very healthy on it. I use Natural Instinct plus their bones/duck necks etc as I don't want to do DIY raw.

He has small non smelly poos and rarely farts which is a bonus.

I think our puppy has decided for us, he arrived today and refused kibble, he's skinny and I expect he's been turned off it for a while, fed him some leftover lamb and he rediscovered his appetite....I'm off to the butchers tomorrow for some chicken wings.

Kibbles and wet food are made from meat and organs plus some stuff that are of no use to dogs (these may in fact be the causes of some dog's poor health) so there is no need to nuke and render the meat. Our fur babies deserve to eat the freshest food as nature intended. Glad that your pup has decided to eat raw.