# Raw and kibble



## MacyGSD (Dec 22, 2011)

It's been a week now since I've been feeding my GSD pup 2 cups of innova dry puppy food in the morning and raw chicken, beef liver, and tripe. She loves the Raw food, and takes her time eating the dry. She is 14 weeks about 30lbs and looks lean. Is this good? dry in the morning and raw at night? I also noticed she would have diarrhea after raw. I figured she's just getting used to it.


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## Zisso (Mar 20, 2009)

Be careful how much liver you are giving her. It will give them the runs if they get too much and their system is not used to it. 

I will let others help you with the rest.


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## MacyGSD (Dec 22, 2011)

Thanks Zisso. That's definately good to know


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## studio1one (Dec 13, 2011)

Some people don't recommend mixing raw and kibble diet because they take different amount of time to digest. Personally I don't hold with that philosophy, meat and veg take different times to digest too. 

I feed my dogs on a mix of raw (35% meat and offal, 35% raw meaty bones and 30% veg) and Orijen kibble. I feed 2/3 raw and 1/3 kibble mixed together in every meal. It means they get the vitamins / oils etc that are added to the kibble and the great balance of proteins and vits from the raw.

If I served them seperately the kibble would get left but I mix it up so the kibble is thoroughly coated in the raw and the lot gets wolfed down without touching the sides.


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## nitemares (Dec 15, 2005)

I have been doing the same except i fed the kibble at night. then decided to switch to complete raw. 
Liver and chicken skin can cause loose stool. too much tripe i noticed also cause loose stools. My pup sometimes would leave the skin uneaten if he had a bit of loose stool before. 
If you're worried about vitamins feed whole prey like i do. My pup looks great and stopped scratching (it was occasional) after completely eliminating kibble.


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## MacyGSD (Dec 22, 2011)

nitemares said:


> I have been doing the same except i fed the kibble at night. then decided to switch to complete raw.
> Liver and chicken skin can cause loose stool. too much tripe i noticed also cause loose stools. My pup sometimes would leave the skin uneaten if he had a bit of loose stool before.
> If you're worried about vitamins feed whole prey like i do. My pup looks great and stopped scratching (it was occasional) after completely eliminating kibble.


I did notice loose stool with chicken. So I feed her beef and just a little bit of chicken. I also found out about liver(the hard way) So I just give her a small portion of that.


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## Zisso (Mar 20, 2009)

I didn't say this before because some people don't agree with it, but I do feed raw/kibble.

I feed the raw meal in the morning before work. That way I k now they eat before I leave for the day. There is a ton of information on Laurie's site Welcome to the Raw Dog Ranch
I found her site to be the most helpful when trying to determine how to feed raw.

Then after work, in the evening, I feed kibble. By this time their morning meal is digested well enough to cause no worries. The kibble digests overnight, the dogs don't sleep on an empty stomach and they settle much easier than they would if they were hungry. 

If I remember correctly, (and other's can correct me if I am wrong) is one concern about feeding raw and kibble at the same time (raw mixed with kibble for a meal) is related to bloat due to the rate of digestion. Something to always be aware of and please, keep Gas-X on hand .... the kind that dissolves on the tongue. 

It is also said that dogs do not need veggies like humans do. They provide little to no nutritional value for the dog and as carnivores, they are not designed to digest veggies well. 

For the loose stools with the chicken; my boy can't eat chicken anymore, and I found that he is healthier and has a more stable GI tract if I give him probiotics at least a couple times a week. Lastly, watch how much bone you feed because it can make your pup get constipated. That is why they say 80, 10, 10. The way I look at it is 80% meat-preferably good chunks for the dog to tear into-I like roasts to feed and pork is cheapest, 10% RMB or bone content to keep stools stable, and 10% organs of which 5% is to be liver- As in most thing in life, this is all adjustable to fit your dog as needed.

Good luck


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## studio1one (Dec 13, 2011)

Dogs are actually omnivores, rather than carnivores. They can digest vegetables fine and benefit from the vitamin content of them. The recommended level is 15-20% of the diet being based on vegetables. Although none from the allium family as these are mildly toxic to their system. I also feed a small amount of nuts and seeds as these are in the stomach of wild prey and nut oils have some great benefits for coat and joints. Finally they get omega 3 supplement once a week if they don't eat any oily fish.

I understand the concerns some people have over kibble and raw together but I have not seen any scientific studies that back this up and I have never had any issues with my dogs over the long time I have been feeding them a diet like this.


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