Freeze-drying is a technique that preserves raw ingredients such as fresh meat to deliver a finished dog food product which is safe, shelf stable and lightweight. Freeze dried dog food is technically raw and full of nutrients.
Freeze dried foods are often a good alternative for people who like to feed a raw diet. Your dog gets the same nutritional benefits of eating raw without the mess. The foods are nutritionally balanced, easy to handle and store, plus they keep a long time.
Freeze-drying leaves the food nearly unchanged compared with raw frozen diets, and kills a percentage of bacteria (4). This process kills most bacteria including Salmonella and Listeria (6) without altering nutritional quality.
Kibble in the Morning, Raw at NightThis is great as both a long-term solution and as a way to transition to a fully raw diet. Between the morning meal and the evening meal, your dog's body will have plenty of time to fully digest the food. The starch will no longer have an effect on the pH level.
Fresh food is of course one of the healthiest options for your pet, but its not always affordable or time-efficient. Freeze-drying retains nearly 100% of the natural nutrients in foods, almost as good as eating it raw!
Although it may not be so obvious, freeze dried fruit can be a much healthier option than regular dried fruit. Without using the freeze drying process to keep fruit fresh for an extended period of time, most dried fruit snacks have added sugars and preservatives to keep them from going bad.
Raw diets, especially raw meat diets, are not recommended because of the risk for salmonellosis and other infections that can affect pets and their owners.
With a raw food diet, dogs are able to absorb more of the ingredients. Therefore, dogs poop less frequently and overall produce less fecal matter. Your dog is able to go longer on less food, compared to a kibble diet.
Not only will a raw food diet increase your dog's lifespan by up to three years, but your dog will also enjoy increased healthfulness and energy during their longer life. Change is never easy, but switching from commercial dog food to raw doesn't have to be hard, expensive, or time-consuming.
Our vets don't recommend preparing your own pet food – whether cooked or raw – as without help from a specialist in pet nutrition a homemade diet could be nutritionally unbalanced which can cause your pet to become ill. Bones are also another hazard with raw feeding, especially with “Raw Meaty Bonesâ€-type foods.
A raw food diet for dogs consists of uncooked meats, raw eggs, and whole or ground bones. But raw food could be contaminated and lead to bacterial infections that compromise your dog's —and your own—health. Feeding your dog raw food could also lead to your pup having nutritional deficiencies.
One is to do a meal of raw and one meal of kibble and another way is mixing 50/50. Mixing the two types of dog food will allow your dog to get more nutrients than they would with a kibble only diet. To achieve a Supplemental Combination Diet, we recommend feeding at least 50% raw food in your dog's daily intake.
If you mix homemade food together with dog food, the homemade food will be stalled by the slow digestion of balanced feed, causing improper fermentation in the stomach which will cause gases and increase the risk of suffering stomach torsion.
Feed your dog three-quarters raw food with one-quarter dry kibble for seven days, than slowly introduce more dry food by removing another quarter of raw food from the mix and replacing it with dry food. The diet is now half raw and half dry kibble. Feed this mix for the next seven days.
It is entirely acceptable to feed your dog a pure kibble diet. Or you can mix their diet up with some cooked or raw meat, fish, vegetables and rice. Practice impeccable food hygiene as the risk of both you and your dog getting a food-borne bacterial infection such as campylobacter or salmonella is high.
Avoiding raw feeding — deliberate feeding of raw meat and offal is a significant route of protozoal transmission to cats and dogs, as well as tapeworm transmission to dogs. Avoiding raw feeding altogether would eliminate parasites being transmitted via this route.
- Nature's Variety Instinct Frozen Raw Food.
- Nature's Variety Instinct Frozen Raw Food.
- Nature's Logic Raw Frozen Patties.
- BARF World Raw Food Rolls.
- Steve's Real Food Frozen Dog Food.
- Primal Freeze-Dried Nuggets.
- TruDog Feed Me Crunchy Munchy Beef Bonanza Raw Freeze-Dried Dog Food.
- Stella and Chewy's Freeze-Dried Meal Mixers.
Chances are, your dog will never get sick from eating raw meat. However, if you are concerned about the potential bacteria, then maybe a raw diet is not the way to go for your dog. Instead of feeding him raw, feed him cooked meat or a higher-quality dry dog food.
10 quick & easy food boosters you can add to your dog's meals to improve their health
- Raw Eggs.
- Goat's Milk.
- Kefir.
- Sardines.
- Pumpkin Puree.
- Bone Broth.
- Fresh Vegetables & Fruit.
- Fermented Vegetables.
6 Ways to Improve Your Dog's Kibble
- Add digestive enzymes.
- Add raw or lightly steamed veggies.
- Add raw or lightly cooked meat or eggs.
- Add oils for essential fatty acids.
- Add goat's milk, cottage cheese, yogurt, or canned fish.
- Feed raw, meaty parts of poultry.
All complete foods (dry, wet, raw or anything in between) can be safely combined together so feel free to get creative. Different foods can be fed within the same meal or, if your dog can handle it, you can switch between different foods at each meal time.
How Much Raw Food to Feed a Dog? Feed approximately 2-3% of your dog's weight daily and split this between two meals. For example, a 50 lb dog would need ½ to ¾ of a lb raw dog food per meal. Very active or working dogs may need more and less active "couch-potato" dogs may need less.
Carrots, peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, and bananas are packed with important vitamins, along with potassium, which is good for a dog's muscles, nerves, and kidneys. Their fiber can also help dogs stay regular. Oranges are great source of vitamin C.
Let's face it--kibble is hard. It's dry and brittle, and most pets probably end up swallowing whole pieces rather than chewing them up, which causes more work for the digestive system to break down these pieces. Our pets have an extremely short GI tract compared to ours, so food spends less time being digested.
