does anyone mixed feed?

[mckenzie]

raw food for some meals and kibble for others?

I've been told not to, by an independent kibble producer, as dogs digest the foods differently and it can cause upsets.

I know the only way to know for sure is for my dog to try but if anyone does have any experience or thoughts, I'd love to hear it.

as dogs digest the foods differently

Every single animal that digests food, digests the different foods at different rates. I never understood why this should be such an issue for dogs who are originally scavengers and would naturally eat all sorts of food varietes at any one 'meal'.

You eat meat and potatoes (maybe). You will digest the potatoes long before you digest the meat and it won't cause you an issue.

Dogs eat wet food and kibble together. They will digest them both at different rates and it doesn't cause an issue.

The thing about mixing that does make sense is to be careful that a dog who is regularly fed raw food has a lower ph stomach acid than a dog who is fed kibble exclusively. So a dog that has been on just kibble for a while may need time to adjust to raw (the lower ph is necessary for killing pathogens before they are absorbed). A dog that is regularly fed both should maintain the lower ph, which should be fine.

When fed raw I would take wet/kibble on holiday etc and Battendog was fine swapping over.

That said, for other reasons not all dogs do well having their food messed about with, so something to be aware of.

thanks very much missbattenburg.

I don’t but that is because sock dog much prefers kibble whereas I prefer to raw feed.

Otherwise I would.

Yes, I mix feed my Labrador. She was weaned onto raw food and ate exclusively raw for a couple of years, and then I added some good-quality kibble. She usually has raw meat for breakfast, raw veg for snack, and kibble for dinner. Absolutely no stomach or other issues at all, she's 7 years old and super healthy, slim, teeth and joints in excellent condition etc.

Mine do. Its about 1/3 raw mince meat and 2/3 kibble. They love it and have a much nicer coat than on just kibble. Just make sure what you feed has a balanced nutrition.

Thanks very much for the posts.

I do
I mix kibble and raw together, dog is absolutely fine. I really don’t get all this ‘different digestion rates’ 🤨. Dogs are scavengers and will eat anything
People have fed Tripe and Mixer for generations
Just feed what you’re happy with and suits your dog best

I think we’re encouraged to overthink it far too much these days
Decent kibble with additional meat is fine
Xx

Interested in this thread, due to get a pup in 3 weeks and she's currently on kibble, looking to swap to raw or potentially mixed and wondered about how you gradually swap to raw or even mixed after having read about the ph levels etc etc.

I feed my Greyhound kibble mixed with raw mince etc. He is very partial to a bit of haggis.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good kibble to introduce. DPuppy is raw fed but storage is a bit of an issue and so we would like to mixed feed. I know I'll need to introduce the kibble gradually. Currently he is almost 12 weeks old and eats Nutriment with some cooked carrots and brocolli added plus he has a raw egg each day. I won't mess with that for a while but would like a recommendation on a good kibble.

allaboutdogfood.com is a great site to research food quality. There are quite a few good kibbles out there, but I usually feed Battendog one of the following, all of which are excellent:

• aatu
• akela
• millie's wolfheart (probably the cheapest of the best without compromising on quality)
• eden
• canagan
• orijen

There are also more good kibbles than that.