Feeding a mixed diet: raw, dehydrated raw and kibble???

[Rory]

I just started my doodle on raw a few of months ago. As a pup she had terrible stomach issues, with constant diarrhea, so I tried all sorts of diets and found she was only good with a very bland, limited ingredient, low protein kibble. Fast forward a year and a half, and now she can eat anything under the sun without a problem, so I decided to make her diet more interesting, more healthy, and more enjoyable for her. Right now she gets raw in the mornings (about 10-12 oz of ground whole chicken or duck - my butcher grinds the birds whole for me) and either high quality kibble (Orijen, Acana) or dehydrated raw (Honest Kitchen or Ziwi Peak) in the evenings. When she was eating all raw all day, she would vomit bile in the mornings, and the slower digesting foods seem to keep that at bay. She is doing really well and enjoys her meals so much more now. I would worry about overfeeding, but she is in perfect form (really lean, as always) and isn't a glutton, so she'll stop eating the kibble when she's had enough. Only with the raw or ziwipeak does she lick the bowl clean.

 

I am just curious what the more experienced raw feeders think of this sort of rotating schedule???

[Cindy M, Zachary & the Frenchies]

I feed my dogs raw exclusively I personally believe that it is the best way to meet their nutritional needs. However, what and how to feed our dogs is an individual choice and if this works for you, and your dog is doing well on it, then it is for you to decide if it is best. I would encourage you to consider trying the raw as it comes from the animal rather than ground. If she chews the actual bone and cartilage, rather than having it ground, not only will this benefit her teeth, it will stay in her stomach longer because her body will have to do the work of breaking it down and that might reduce the bile problem - although I am just guessing, since i have no idea why she was vomiting bile.

[Rory]

Thanks for your replies. I would love to feed her the raw not ground up, but she hasn't taken to it yet - she'll chew on marrow bones, but has no idea what to do with turkey or duck necks, etc...I keep them on hand, and keep trying, but I'm not interested in withholding food until she gets the hang of it. I'm sure she'll figure it out eventually, and in the meantime she can get ground.

 

I understand that many raw feeders are anti-mixing, but until there is some actual peer-reviewed scientific research on the topic, and as long as my pup is healthy and happy, I'm going to keep with our current schedule (and even that changes from day to day - today she'll be getting all raw, and a cookie before bed...tomorrow we will see)....I need her to be accustomed to eating the dehydrated and kibble for when I am out of town and she is boarding....and since the raw and dry meals are fed about 12 hours apart, I'm pretty sure the raw is all digested by the time she gets the dry stuff.....