Can I move to a raw diet for my eight year old and also, what snacks?

[BirthdayRainbow]

My golden retriever is in brilliant health and the perfect weight. She has dried biscuits for her meals and some treats. In the evening she has a dentastix.

I would like a replacement for the dentastix as I've learnt they aren't the best for her.

I've been thinking about moving her to a raw diet as emotionally it feels more natural but have I left it too late? She is eight.

If not too late, how would I go about it, what to give her and how much?

Since she is so healthy I suppose it sounds daft to change but I would be interested to know your thoughts. I've spent a while reading another thread on here and can see there's lots of well informed dog owners.

TIA.

If she is in brilliant health, i'd be tempted not to.

For snacks we use dried fish skin and rabbit ears.

Where do you buy those from please? Not sure my son would approve though.

Raw feeding is great for any age dog. Id definitely recommended the change to keep her healthy add she gets older.

How much you give is based on the weight of your dog. I have a very active 3.5year old Lab and she has 500g/day split over 2 meals

At breakfast I add a raw egg, at dinner she has a chicken wing.
I keep any veg peelings, ( carrots, courgette, peppers etc) and mix them in chopped up. I also add apple, blueberries when I have them.
I have a fish oil and add a couple of squirts a day to her meals, or a few sprats of I have them.
Oh and she LOVES a banana!

You don't have to stress over having all the exact nutrients in every meal. As long as the diet is varied your dog will get evert thing it
needs and more!

Start slowly introducing these foods to her current food, and build up to moving to fully raw.

Dog is raw feed, and it never looks enough but apparently it is. Her snacks are raw carrots, broccoli, peppers, pumpkins, chicken wings, duck necks, chicken feet, rabbit ears. Have a look on raw websites and go from their. It is more expensive.

We tend to get random animal parts from eBay.

Are you dog and son in the habit of exchanging saliva?

He wouldn't want her to have rabbit ears.

Thank you to everyone else.

@BirthdayRainbow My dog is raw fed, with some kibble too (as OK'd by the vet) and I've checked she's getting the right amount using various raw feeding calculators. We mostly use DAF raw food and they have their own calculator, linked here. People like different brands and it depends on your budget but I like the variety that DAF do for a reasonable price, and their meals are complete with the right mix of bone, meat and offal so it's dead easy. I mostly feed tripe mixes but always have five or six different flavours in the freezer and rotate around her favourites. Where we are it is sold in various shops in single blocks so you don't need to buy in bulk, and a lot of online dog food shops do the same.
https://www.durhamanimalfeeds.co.uk/raw-dog-food-calculator/

Am not a dog nutrition expert nor a vet but I'd say if she's doing well as she is then I'd be inclined to stick with what you're doing. We moved to raw because she wasn't eating well and I bought some tripe one day to test it out and she scoffed it like never before.

Re snacks: there are loads of natural/raw treats you can feed but it depends on what your tolerance is for smelly/slightly vivid body parts. As a starter I'd recommend having a look at both JR Pet Products and Anco, both of which supply a huge range of all sorts of proteins and that should give you an idea of what there is out there and what your dog might like. A lot of independent natural treat shops buy in from both of those brands wholesale, so you will find lots of JR/Anco stuff in smaller retailers too.

I don’t actually give my dogs long last chews or treats…maybe a very unpopular opinion but I think a nice bit of chicken breast as a reward for doing something is far more beneficial. I also like knowing my dogs settle without needing something to ‘entertain.’ Does she actually need them? Most of them (even the healthy ones) aren’t really necessary. Can you not just have some chicken breast on standby in the fridge for when she’s been a good girl?

On raw food, never too late to make the switch! I switched one of mine at 9 to raw 😊
That being said, if she’s happy and healthy as she is, I wouldn’t change.

I'll read again and make notes but I suppose I think the variety might be nice for her and real food as opposed to biscuits. A lot to think about. Thank you.

If you just want to add variety I'd look at adding a topper to the kibble - egg, veg, tinned fish, leftover meat etc.

I tried raw for a while with my older pup but she had to eat loads more than recommended to maintain weight and she never seemed overly keen so it was too much faff and expense to be worth it.

I was also wondering today as she seemed to be having a bit of trouble going to the loo. I was thinking if tinned fish would help with that?

I couldn't do raw. My dog loves to give us (including kids) licks on the face. He can also slobber around the home a bit.
Don't fancy any Salmonella or E. Coli around the place, thanks !!

Appreciate it may be different for you if your dog keeps their tongue in their mouth!

You can feed her natural treats and meat etc. without switching to raw.

If she is constipated you'd be better off giving her more fibre. Psyllium husks are great for bulking out stools as is StoolRite. She might benefit from some extra veg in her diet too.
I wouldn't change her onto raw at this stage. It does suit some dogs but not all.
Take a look at Skippers Pet Products for fish treats.

I've raw fed dogs for over 20yrs. My dogs are licky and affectionate with me and with the DC (when they lived at home). No one in my family ever went down with eColi or Salmonella - just use common sense. You are probably more at risk from a bag of supermarket mixed salad leaves. the testing regime for raw dog food manufactures is rigorous. Use a reputable supplier.

Mine have good quality completes from brands such as PaleoRidge and ProDogs, Treats can be whole frozen mackerel (their version of ice lollies in summer!) or easy to digest bones like lambs ribs, where they eat the whole thing. Raw veg is a favourite, carrot, kale (weird I know but they all LOVE it) and broccoli stalks. They queue up for bits of squash and the peelings from them.

I've never regretted the switch to raw - which I did when an old dog was diagnosed with cancer and was not eating, she wolfed down the raw. The more I learn about the impact of UPF foods on the human gut the happier I am with the decision. It's not the cheapest option though. Conventional vets disapprove - but they are exposed to an awful lot of propaganda from the pet food manufacturers (many of whom are the big name human UPF brands)

Do some research @BirthdayRainbow - if you are on FB then join the group RawPetMedics and watch some of their video chats (its two vets and a canine nutritionist with occasional guests)

@LibisMum I'm not anti-raw feeding but I do find raw feeders get a bit evangelical about the subject. And I should know because I used to be one of them. That was until my dog got really sick and stayed sick for a long time. She can't tolerate raw food now. I don't know for sure if it was the raw food but I suspect it might have been.

I don't doubt raw meat is best for dogs, ideally freshly killed whole prey.
But I'm not convinced that the way the food is produced and then transported makes it the right choice for many dogs. I think it can be easy to feed a diet too high in fat when you feed raw and to get the balance wrong especially when you start out. There also disagreement in the raw feeding community about what should and should not be included and at what percentage and which bones dogs should and should not eat. I'm also not convinced it's the best choice for older dogs who might need to be tempted to eat when they get sick with something nice and warm and therefore smelly in their bowl.

Having said all that, I may well try again with a future dog but this one won't be getting raw again and I think the OP might be better enhancing her dog's diet rather than changing it completely.

I feed my dog a good quality dry food and then add in fruit and veg and natural treats - ears, skin, necks etc as and when. I have fed raw to another dog as it was recommended for her health issues (and did help ) but it was a faff and I would not do it if I didn’t need to.

There is zero evidence to say dogs do better on raw food over a good quality dry or wet. The best diet is the one that suits the dog.

One Christmas I gave her a new treat which was quite big and then she was poorly in the night. I've been hesitant as to change or add new stuff from the shops now. Raw equal natural in my mind. I used to buy Wagg until it was pointed out the colourings weren't good for her.

She is mostly fine it is occasionally it takes time to come out. Someone said she eats too much grass but I'd have thought grass would help.

Thank you all and yes, enhancing seems like a good option for her and me.

I wasn't talking about things like Wagg, but proper human grade meat, vegetables and raw treats like dried pigs ears or tendons etc.

If she is eating a lot of grass, she's almost certainly got digestive issues. She may well need a probiotic, prebiotics, digestive enzymes, digestive support as well as extra fibre.
I think it would help her to do a bit more research about diet as Wagg is pretty dreadful as are Dentastix. What biscuits is she on now? Does her tummy gurgle? Are her stools soft? Well formed?
I only say this in case it helps but she doesn't sound to be in brilliant health. That's not a criticism of you and hopefully you'll take on some of the advice here and do your own research to help her health improve.
Edited to say: new treats/food should always be introduced slowly. It can be difficult with hard natural treats like pizzles but you can saw them with a butcher's knife although it does take a while.
Second edit! Have a look on allaboutdogfood to get more info on food. Wagg gets 27% so gives you an idea about that.

I wouldn't say she eats a lot of grass. A woman who prides herself on knowing everything about dogs - bur doesn't imo. - said she had eaten too much grass and that's why she could not go easily. But she hadn't.

@redboxer321 the vet is very happy with her. No tummy gurgles, normal formed poo. Just sometimes she takes a little bit longer to pass the end of her poo. Weight is perfect. She's a very happy dog. Someone was shocked yesterday that she is eight as they thought she was a lot younger.

I only bought one pack of Wagg then threw it when told it wasn't great. These were just for a snack when out.

I am taking it all on board and making notes.

A lot of dogs just like eating grass. It’s sweet and tasty. Mine is a muncher at times and no stomach issues. My cat on the other hand if I see him eating grass he’s always sick soon afterwards.