# raw + kibble



## Pipikuma (Oct 30, 2012)

Hey everyone, i have a 11 months old toy poodle and I wanted to give raw feeding a try after reading about its many merits on this forum. I have tried feeding her natures variety instinct raw, raw chicken wings and raw chicken necks and she loves them all. However, I dont have the time and resources to make her home cooked meals every day and ensure a balanced diet, so I would like to keep her on her kibble and just feed raw a few times a week. My problem is if i feed her raw once, she would not touch her kibble for days...until she is absolutely starving. I am actually hoping to put some weight on her as she is currently a bit on the skinny side, but im afraid that if i give in and keep feeding her raw, she would never go back to kibble. 

any advice on how to feed both raw and kibble to a picky tpoodle? 

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## -Lilith- (Nov 21, 2012)

Don't. Raw and kibble shouldn't go together. They digest differently and can cause some digestion issues. You don't cook raw either. I started 4 weeks ago. I buy a 5lb roll of minced lamb from a butcher in the area. As well as lamb ribs and fish. Just bought a lb of beef heart and beef liver. All of this will last her about 3-4 weeks. 

I portion it out to what she should get each meal then freeze it. There are a lot of raw groups on Facebook. One that I really like is Raw Fed Pets. Helpful info and they will answer any questions. Go on there and get more info. 

It really isn't as much work as you think it is. I promise! 


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Personally, I don't believe in the whole "raw and kibble digest differently and can't be fed together" thing. But, if your dog is being picky, you are probably going to have to either choose all raw or all kibble. My boy did this and he is fed all raw.  The others eat both raw and kibble.


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

My Molly is fed both...no problem. The raw digests faster than kibble, so if you do both you feed raw in the am and kibble in the pm. I feed Molly raw chicken or Dehydrated Raw in the morning, and then put about 1/4 cup of kibble in her bowl as she is a 'grazer' Most times she never finishes that 1/4 cup of kibble anyway! She prefers her raw but if she gets hungry she WILL eat the kibble!


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## Pipikuma (Oct 30, 2012)

MollyMuiMa said:


> My Molly is fed both...no problem. The raw digests faster than kibble, so if you do both you feed raw in the am and kibble in the pm. I feed Molly raw chicken or Dehydrated Raw in the morning, and then put about 1/4 cup of kibble in her bowl as she is a 'grazer' Most times she never finishes that 1/4 cup of kibble anyway! She prefers her raw but if she gets hungry she WILL eat the kibble!


how much raw do you feed her in the morning then?

when she doesnt finish the recommended amount of kibble, which is more and more often now, I get worried that she is not eating enough 

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## Pipikuma (Oct 30, 2012)

CharismaticMillie said:


> Personally, I don't believe in the whole "raw and kibble digest differently and can't be fed together" thing. But, if your dog is being picky, you are probably going to have to either choose all raw or all kibble. My boy did this and he is fed all raw.  The others eat both raw and kibble.


what kind of raw do you feed?

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## Lene (Jan 18, 2013)

I feed both... I feed kibble in the mornings and raw at night... I mostly feed chicken - wings, legs, thighs... I don't really like the backs as they're so efficiently cleaned of meat, that it's just basically just bones... I also feed lamb sometimes, but chicken is the cheapest... 

When Storm gets an 'under weight' meal, I give him some liver to go with it... to make up the weight...


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

I use 'I and Love And You' (yes that's the name)or Sojo's Turkey Dehydrated raw which I mix up in batches of, 1 cup of dehydrated, mixed with a 12oz can of Variety Home Recipe.(That makes approx 2+cups of food,) which I then separate into containers, each containing 3-1/4+ cup servings. I freeze and use as needed. Each container is for three days and this amount fills approx 3 containers(9 days of food) As for the chicken, she gets either a sm.thigh or a leg or a wing 2-3 times a week instead of the dehydrated raw.
Kibble is 1/4 cup a day left in her bowl.
I don't worry about her not eating, in fact I just realized I had to stop sharing 'my' food with her as she has been gaining weight! Her treats are enough!!!LOL!


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Pipikuma said:


> what kind of raw do you feed?
> 
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I get a lot of my meat from My Pet Carnivore. Chicken quarters and turkey necks come from the grocery store, and when I'm lazy I feed any of the premade patties - I like Stella and Chewy's a lot.


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## Carley's Mom (Oct 30, 2011)

I feed kibble in the morning and raw in the evening. So far both my girls eat both meals with gusto. Maybe she just does not like your kibble choice. Maybe try a different food. I am feeding Wellness Core Grain Free right now and my dogs love it.


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## kontiki (Apr 6, 2013)

Pipikuma said:


> My problem is if i feed her raw once, she would not touch her kibble for days...until she is absolutely starving. I am actually hoping to put some weight on her as she is currently a bit on the skinny side, but im afraid that if i give in and keep feeding her raw, she would never go back to kibble. Sent from Petguide.com Free App


This seems obvious that she is telling you something. She knows what she needs to eat. Feeding raw is actually much easier to give her a healthy diet. It isn't difficult at all. Some have recommended good sites. Another is the Yahoo Rawfeeding group.There are over 27,000 members


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## Dawnsohma (Jan 24, 2013)

i feed Esther either primal frozen or stella and chewys freeze-dried (if i forget to defrost) it really isnt THAT expensive to feed to a small poodle. if you used one of those then you could still feed home-made when you have time or want to save some $$$. i have two dogs only my poodle eats raw the chi eats kibble because he is already old he will eat anything and it saves on cost.


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## Pipikuma (Oct 30, 2012)

i have been wanting to try stella and chewys for a while but not sure where to buy it since i live in canada (toronto)

what kind of home-made food do you guys feed?

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## Dawnsohma (Jan 24, 2013)

well you can get primal in Canada. i dont know about stella and chewys doesnt look like it from there website but you could email them to find out for sure. i personally like primal better there ingredients are all things you can say were as s&c not so much. one thing i like about s&c is they post there test results on there website. 

Primal Pet Foods: Store Locator

primal also makes freeze dried but i normally get frozen from them and freeze-dried from s&c because it comes in a smaller bag and i only use it if i forget. i normally pay $25 to $30 (depending on the formula) for a 3 pound bag of frozen which i normally buy about 2 bags a month. my poo is a mini and i was trying to put weight on her tho so you most likely would not feed as much as i do. i normally feed her 4 nuggets a day now down to 3 since she is the weight i was hoping for. the store near me sells lamb, duck, pheasant(is $30) and turkey and sardines she likes all of them. also tho make sure to call the place you find because i went to one on the list and found out they dont keep it in stock but i could order it from them. 

Complete Raw Diets for Pets: Canine Duck Formula

i dont do homemade raw. i tried giving her chicken necks she wouldn't even touch it. the commercial raw is the only thing ive ever been able to get her to eat willingly so that is why i give it to her. 

i personally think there is little reason to feed both kibble and raw aside from trying to save money but the kibble you should toss out after a about 2 months of being open anyways so with a toy you will not use it that fast even with a small bag so its wasting id say go one way or the other.


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## KristaLynn (Mar 22, 2012)

I feed Spring Meadows, here's a link to their list of Toronto retailers.
Toronto


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## Joelly (May 8, 2012)

Hi Pipikuma,

Don't worry about feeding him raw + kibble together. That's Charlie's dinner and he loves it and he doesn't have digestive issue. His stool is fine and he poop less with that combination. He used to hate kibble and now he eats only kibble for breakfast.

If you want make his food more interesting to him, you can sprinkle Liver Biscotti (get it from Centinela in a green or red bottle) and sprinkle any flavor of Stella Chewy Freeze Dried stuff (Charlie's favorite is the Duck or the Venison).

Also, in the days when he doesn't touch his food at all, give him absolutely no treats. He will act hungry and follow you everywhere but be tough. This will teach him that you are a no nonsense Mommy. No eat no treat. This breed will outsmart you if you're not strong enough and show him who is the pack leader. It is like a game of tug wars with picky toy poodles. You want to make sure you win it by setting this "No eat no treat" rules. You also must be consistent which means if he finished his food, make it a huge deal for him and hand him the treats. Treat could come in many forms (not just food), it could be 10-min play fetch with you or 30-min walk on or off leash. My Charlie loves his chicken jerky from Trader's Joe. Also, I sometime would sprinkle his favorite treat (Bill Jack small liver treats), I would broke three of those and sprinkle them on top of his food and he'll finish them. The trainer taught me that trick and it works. Of course, sprinkle less and less treat so you won't have to anymore. I don't have to anymore now.

I have another toy poodle (Edison) and he finishes whatever I put in front of him. He is like my dream come true toy poodle.

I hope this get you some ideas to feed your dear toy poodle.


Regards,

Joelly


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## liljaker (Aug 6, 2011)

I know a purist would say don't feed raw and kibble together; however, I do from time to time and many of the raw feeders I know locally do, too and there are no problems. Maybe Sunny is not getting the full benefit by doing so, but occasionally I will add a venison medallion on top of some grain free Acana and he loves it and is in great shape. Maybe they do digest at a different rate, but I don't see a huge issue with it.


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## ItzaClip (Dec 1, 2010)

The reason behind not feeding at same time is that raw moves through the digestive tract fast, add kibble and it bogs it down and can encourage bacteria growth/samonilla. Healthy dogs with good tummy enzymes probably be OK, but in my store I always tell People to feed raw am, kibble pm.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

ItzaClip said:


> The reason behind not feeding at same time is that raw moves through the digestive tract fast, add kibble and it bogs it down and can encourage bacteria growth/samonilla. Healthy dogs with good tummy enzymes probably be OK, but in my store I always tell People to feed raw am, kibble pm.


This is a myth. People like to say that, but there's really no proof of it. I don't buy it!


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## liljaker (Aug 6, 2011)

I have been feeding raw (more or less) for 14 years now, give or take, and I have heard the "don't feed them together" too, although my holistic vet who initially got me onto raw said not to worry about it and if I mix it occasionally not a big deal. She did not seem too concerned and definitely never talked about bacteria, etc. If I mix none of my dogs had any problems. I would not get too hung up on it either.


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## Joelly (May 8, 2012)

I can't separate the kibble from the raw either as Charlie seems grossed out to eat raw alone. Once he finished this last NV bag, I won't buy another one for the next three months or so. Charlie is so picky, if I don't mix things into his kibble, he won't eat it, he'd rather starve.

So, its not that I don't buy the "don't mix" theory but in my household, mixing is a way of life for my Charlie. Thank God for Edison, he loves mixed kibble or just kibble. Such an easy boy Edison is. Now if only I can get him to stop staring at me.


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## faerie (Mar 27, 2010)

i mix kibble and raw, if i have kibble in the house, but if i'm feeding raw meaty bones (like chicken frames, backs, necks etc) i won't offer kibble at that meal time.


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## Pipikuma (Oct 30, 2012)

Thanks for all the feedback everyone! Going to give the morning/evening raw and kibble separate thing a try...hopefully she won't be too picky and stubborn for too long


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## elaine amj (Jun 9, 2013)

We just started our raw adventures. I gave my picky mini a 1/8 cup of kibble (he likes it mixed with some water) to start his dinner. Then I gave him 1.5 (small) chicken wings. So far so good - no upset tummies yet. I'm watching him closely.

My plan is to feed kibble for breakfast and raw for dinner. I like the convenience of kibble for travel and when he only has 5 mins to finish his dinner because we are going out.


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## Pipikuma (Oct 30, 2012)

does it matter if.its kibble in the morning raw at night or raw in the morning kibble at night

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## elaine amj (Jun 9, 2013)

Pipikuma said:


> does it matter if.its kibble in the morning raw at night or raw in the morning kibble at night
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


My understanding is the general recommendation is raw in the morning (faster to digest) and kibble at night (longer to digest). It's impractical for me to feed raw in the morning (too much going on) so I'm planning to do kibble in the morning, raw at night.

Like I mentioned, I mixed the two at dinner tonight, and so far, so good. Time will tell.


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