Kibble and Raw Feeders

[Anita D]

I read on another thread that there are a few of you that feed a mix of kibble and raw.

For those of you that do can I ask at what age you started your dogs on that way of feeding?  And do you feed kibble at one meal and then raw for the next?

When I want to change the kibble I feed do I change it gradually a spoonful or so at a time?

[brownsugar]

Hello, our Toby is fed partly raw partly kibble. Can't remember the exact age we started, but he's 20 months now and have been doing it for quite some time. He's doing really well on it too with usually nice firm poos. He gets minced raw for breakfast (in a kong) and kibble for tea (in a pyramid).

We did change his kibble at some point to a different brand. In the past, when we changed brands with our dogs, we used to do a very slow proces of mixing old and new. This is the most common method, I think? However, this time we did it differently; we fed him just his raw food (twice a day) for a few days and than started the new kibble full on. Had no problems. But perhaps others have different experiences?

[Nicola]

Mine are on a half and half diet, they get Healthy Paws kibble in the mornings and raw - usually chicken wings, lamb ribs, rabbit or tripe - in the evenings (they also get sardines once a week and usually Naturediet once a week too). I tried completely raw feeding and completely 'commercial' feeding before settling on this but they've been on it a while now so I would say that Tilly was about 3 and Rodaidh would have been about 1 when they started on it (they're now 5 and 3). I put Caoimhe on it straight away when I got her home at 5 months old.

To change kibbles generally the rule is to slowly decrease the old one while increasing the new one, say 10% at a time. I have to admit I don't do this though, if I change their food I tend to just put them straight from one to the other and they haven't had any issues with this. If you're not sure of how your dog will react though and/or they have an easily upset stomach a slower changeover would probably be better for them.

[tigs71]

Mason has been eating both since he was about 14 weeks old.  He has Arden Grange for his breakfast and Natural Instinct raw meat for his tea.  Three times a week he has chicken wings or lamb ribs instead of the NI.  He also has lots of raw carrots, celery, pears etc with the occasional raw egg to chase around the garden   

Recently he has off days and leaves his kibble so I am toying with the idea of feeding completely raw.  He is definitley more enthusiastic about his raw meals   

The kibble should be fed seperately from the raw meals - try to allow at least 5 or 6 hours between the two types of food as they digest at different rates.

[Anita D]

How long do you suggest puppy should stay on the food that the breeder had him on?

[tigs71]

Personally I would give your pup at least 2 weeks to adjust to his new surroundings and then gradually make the change to the food you want to feed.  Mason was on Arden Grange and raw 4 weeks after he came to us.  When he came to us he was on Pedigree Puppy  so I had to get him off that asap

[Hurtwood Dogs]

How long do you suggest puppy should stay on the food that the breeder had him on?

With me, it's if I think the puppy food is ok or not. My second pup came on Puppy Nature Diet but it didn't really suit him so I slowly moved him onto Burns puppy after he'd been with me a couple of weeks. I wouldn't swap them in the first week or two as they have enough to cope with in leaving their mums & litter mates etc but if after that you would like to move him onto a different kibble, then start to gradually introduce it from when he seems settled living with you.

ETA: posted at same time as tigs71

[Anita D]

Thank you for all the advice everyone.