**non dobie** Anyone feed 50/50 raw and kibble?

[Lil Misfit]

Hello, just curious if anyone feeds a 50/50 diet to their dogs and how it's affected their health? It'll be a minute before I can fully switch to a 50/50 regimen but I have a farm where I process my own ducks, chickens, pigs, rabbits, goats milk and eggs so there's an abundance of off cuts and organ meats as well as whole birds and rabbits so I can definitely supply my own raw food and give them lots of variety. I'd like to keep feeding a good kibble to make sure the most basic macros are met but I've noticed some health problems and I'd like to give them a higher quality feeding (separate from the kibble, I know not to mix feeds) to help with the occasional hair loss, doggy smell and stomach upset.
My pit bull has pretty bad allergies and I'd like to help him keep his thick glossy fur and not turn beet red out of the blue, his skin is the main problem, plus he can be super gassy. The mini Aussie has stomach upset issues and throws up if he eats anything other than kibble. They all get a little yeasty smelling in the warmer weather and I've noticed they smell really doggy and greasy. Has a raw diet helped anyone with sensitive or smelly dogs? Will 50/50 be effective or is it a waste?

 

[Sunje]

I feed my boy about 50/50 and he is doing great! But I use quality premade patties b/c I'm not comfortable making up my own raw. He likes kibble too and gets about 40% kibble. I also give him a freeze dried raw food. I've had no problems w/ any of it. I've fed kibble and raw in the same meal time and never had a problem.

CocoLoco has fed a completely raw diet and has been very happy w/ it.

 

[GennyB]

I feed 100% raw and very happy with the results. I live in a homesteading community that will barter with me for the meat I don't raise. We have a meat processing plant not real far that follows a "recipe" that our holistic vet gave me. It has the correct meat, bone, organ percentages so I don't really worry about getting it right. I do add other things (blueberries, carrots, various herbs etc)to it to change it up from time to time.

 

[Coco Loco]

I've been a raw feeder for about 16 years now. I only feed 100% raw to my boy. He gets fruit, veggies and bites of cooked food as treats but not as part of his regular diet.

Sugar has actually never eaten kibble because his breeder weaned him onto raw. This was a dream come true for me as a raw feeder. I have no doubt he would love kibble because he loves to eat.

Sugar is allergic to all birds so he only eats beef, goat, lamb, pork and fish. My old girl ate all kind of birds which makes raw feeding more affordable.

My old girl ate kibble her first year and then transitioned to full raw for the rest of her life so I have no experience with feeding both at the same time.

It is important to do your research and know proper ratios to feed. I feed 10% organ (heart is not considered an organ as it is a muscle meat, 10% RAW (never cooked) bone and 80% protein. I also rotate proteins every 3 days.

I love feeding raw and it is not more complicated than feeding kibble once you have the hang of it, know what you're doing and how your dog is doing.

 

[LifeofRubie]

My last boy was 100% raw that I sourced and ratioed out and that is not for the light of heart There are some 'rules' about bone to meat to organ percentages.

I would love to feed my dogs 100% raw but it's not really financially realistic for us. They get kibble with all the toppers (bone broth, yogurt, and their supplements) in the morning and then about 60% kibble and 40% premade raw patty for dinner.

From my own experience: my last boy was fed whole cuts of meat with bone and did experience a perforated intestine from a bone. Yes, they can 'process' raw bone but we just got really unlucky that day so I always share as cautionary. After that incident, surgery, and recovery, I bought a meat grinder and put anything with bone through that.