One of the most common questions we deal with is 'How can I transition my adult dog to raw?'. We find that people become interested in raw for a number of reasons including general health, coat quality, skin issues and allergies.
Complete Meals: The easiest way to transition would be to use a pre-made 'complete' meal. If a meal is described as 'complete' it means it has the right balance of organ meat, muscle meat, bone content and fruit/vegetables/botanicals. We stock a range of complete meals from Nutriment, Paleo Ridge, Cotswold Raw, Naked Dog and Benyfit.
Proteins and Novel Proteins: Complete meals are available in single or mixed proteins. When you first transition to Raw Feeding it is a good ideal to stick with one protein for 7 to 10 days, our vet suggests starting with Turkey as it's gentle on the tummy. Tripe is also a popular choice for the transition period as it naturally contains digestive enzymes, which help ease the transition.
Many of our customers come to us after their dog has experienced allergies or digestive issues. The most common allergies we see are Chicken, Poultry or Beef allergies. For this reason, 'novel' proteins such as Rabbit, Goose or even Goat are popular. A 'novel protein' just means a protein that your dog hasn't come across before.
Supplements: Transitioning to raw can put the digestive system under strain for a short amount of time while the body adjusts. We really recommend using a high quality probiotic such as Nutraflora during the transition phase. We also recommend using a Bone Broth during transition to help ease your dog in to their new diet.
Amounts: In most cases we recommend feeding your adult dog 2-3% of their body weight split across two different meals. Don't forget we have weighing scales at our shop in Forest Row and (as long as treatment room is empty) we are more than happy to weigh your dog for you and help with the feeding amounts.
When to start: We recommend starting with a breakfast meal rather than an evening meal so that you are around to observe any changes in your dog.
Mixing Raw and Kibble: We do not recommend feeding Raw Food and Kibble in the same meal. This is because they digest at different rates and can cause tummy upset. If you still wanted to feed Kibble alongside raw then we would recommend feeding Raw Food for breakfast and Kibble for dinner.