Part-time Raw

[pita75]

My dogs are currently eating DVP Natural Balance w/ some home cooking thrown in. I was just wondering if it would be okay to feed them a Raw meal every once in awhile? They do get a raw beef bone about once a week and have had no problems so far. I would like to supplement a Raw meal 1 or 2x's a week.

I can't go totally raw mainly b/c my husband won't keep it up while I am away ( I can expect to be gone about 45 - 90 days at a time about 1 to 2 x's a year...when I'm gone their diet will most likely be kibble+some canned) So far neither dog seems very picky, they both eat anything I put down, especially Peet who knows what it is like to live on the streets. I just hope that if i do feed a few Raw meals that they don't start to turn up their noses to kibble and canned, but maybe its a risk I will have to take and maybe I can convince the hubby to carry on the Raw when I am away. :rolleyes:

[gmacleod]

Raw purists would probably be horrified ;) But I'm of the view that some real food is far better than none.

Do you think you could stretch things to making it a bit more regular though? For example, raw for breakfast and kibble for dinner on a daily basis? They'll still cope OK if you have to go through periods of feeding solely kibble, but I would think there's less chance of tummy upsets or mutiny that way.

The only thing you really shouldn't do is mix raw and kibble together in the same meal. But if they're fed separately, with a decent space of hours between meals, then I think it's fine :)