# Want to move in direction of more 'raw' meal but more like 'pseudo-raw'? Unsure how to begin



## Oceanside (Mar 29, 2021)

Oh boy, another raw food vs kibble post — I am surprised you haven’t already been trampled by the PPP campaigners 

I also train with freeze-dried raw “toppers”. I find them to be a super convenient and healthy training treat. As far as moving toward raw for meals, I think there are a few stages to think about: 

Kibble topped with a freeze-dried raw topper
Freeze-dried raw topper/bites/patties for some meals
Freeze-dried raw or frozen raw toppers/bites/patties for all meals
Fresh/frozen home-prepared raw food
I think the best way for you to start to “improve” his meals is to add some of the topper like Rawbble (I haven’t looked into the brand specifically) or some other brand of balanced freeze dried bites/toppers on top of the kibble at each meal (adjust quantity of kibble accordingly). If all goes well, you can then select one meal a day (or however you’d like to do it) to exclusively feed the freeze-dried raw, and leave the other meal(s) as just kibble or kibble with topper. 

As far as keeping the diet balanced, the key with the above is that the freeze-dried raw is a balanced food itself and your kibble is a balanced food itself. So you should be able to progressively add more/less raw without impacting the balance of the diet because each food is individually balanced. If you were to add, for example, pieces of raw meat on top of the kibble, you’d be throwing off the balance. The people who are feeding custom bowls with added fruits, frozen supplement paw prints, etc. are (hopefully) doing a lot of work to calculate the nutrient balance for each meal. I don’t have that kind of time, so I personally feed a few different commercially prepared frozen raw foods and rotate the meats regularly. 
Hope this helps.


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## FinnTheFloof (Jun 27, 2021)

goldenlover41 said:


> As far as keeping the diet balanced, the key with the above is that the freeze-dried raw is a balanced food itself and your kibble is a balanced food itself. So you should be able to progressively add more/less raw without impacting the balance of the diet because each food is individually balanced.


Thank you for this! Does it matter if the topper and the kibble have slightly different balances, if that makes sense? Or is it generally close enough to be fine? 


goldenlover41 said:


> The people who are feeding custom bowls with added fruits, frozen supplement paw prints, etc. are (hopefully) doing a lot of work to calculate the nutrient balance for each meal. I don’t have that kind of time, so I personally feed a few different commercially prepared frozen raw foods and rotate the meats regularly.
> Hope this helps.


So if I wanted to add something like blueberries or carrots, I would have to calculate what those foods would add to the diet, then take away some of the kibble and balance it out with supplements? (example: idk if this is true, but say blueberries are high in one thing, so I could take away however much kibble but then supplement with protein powder or something?)

Are things like coat or joint supplements (assuming you have a healthy dog) actually worth taking the time to put into your dog's meal, or do they just give the feeling that you're doing something productive and make it look appealing with different colors?

Is there anything to be said for using broth (bullion cube in a cup of water) as opposed to just adding water to kibble? Can that be added without concern?


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## Tagrenine (Aug 20, 2019)

You’re overthinking it. Yes you’re throwing off the balance but unless you’re making 15% of your dog’s diet blueberries and random chunks of raw meat, it’s not a huge deal.
Balanced is balanced. It wouldn’t make much sense if two AAFCO diets couldn’t be used together. You will mostly just need to count calories. 
Think of how many dogs get human leftovers every single night and are just obese as a result.
Feeding a dog isn’t rocket science and if you want to add fresh food every now and then, go for it.
Now if you want to do entire custom diets (as mentioned above) it is much more difficult and much costlier. But for what you want to do, which is add fruits and pawprint molds or coat supplements, you’re not going to have issues outside of calories.


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## Oceanside (Mar 29, 2021)

FinnTheFloof said:


> Thank you for this! Does it matter if the topper and the kibble have slightly different balances, if that makes sense? Or is it generally close enough to be fine?


The critical aspect of a so-called "balanced diet" is to ensure that we aren't feeding a food that is way too high or way too low in a given nutrient that may cause a deficiency or surplus of the nutrient. So without getting into extreme detail, no, it should not be an issue at all.



FinnTheFloof said:


> So if I wanted to add something like blueberries or carrots, I would have to calculate what those foods would add to the diet, then take away some of the kibble and balance it out with supplements? (example: idk if this is true, but say blueberries are high in one thing, so I could take away however much kibble but then supplement with protein powder or something?)


To answer this fully, I'm curious to know the specific reason you'd like to give blueberries or carrots, for example? Would it simply be to provide a fun treat, or for specific properties i.e. antioxidant? Without knowing that answer, I'll say this: you can give a small amount (some say about 10% of a dog's total diet, which I think is reasonable) of anything, which could be blueberries or carrots, as a treat without being concerned about throwing off the balance. So if you just want to give a carrot here and there or a blueberry or two with a meal for some interest/variety, you can do so without adjusting for possible imbalances, because the percentage of nutrients that one carrot provides compared to the total amount of food he eats in a day is so small that it's a non-issue.



FinnTheFloof said:


> Are things like coat or joint supplements (assuming you have a healthy dog) actually worth taking the time to put into your dog's meal, or do they just give the feeling that you're doing something productive and make it look appealing with different colors?


I think you'll hear mixed opinions, ranging from "they're useless" to "X joint supplement changed my dysplastic dog's life". I can't comment directly because I've never used a coat or joint supplement. I think they're something to explore if you have a specific issue, i.e. aging dog with arthritic joints, but for a puppy/young dog (assuming no specific issue) I would just focus on quality food.



FinnTheFloof said:


> Is there anything to be said for using broth (bullion cube in a cup of water) as opposed to just adding water to kibble? Can that be added without concern?


I don't really know - but the first thing that comes to mind is the concern over high sodium (or even possibly herbs that dogs shouldn't consume) in a broth. If I were you, I'd just use water. I have heard of people using bone broth (I feel like I've seen "dog safe" bone broth products and recipes) so if that's something of interest I think you could find more information about that throughout the internet in general.


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## FinnTheFloof (Jun 27, 2021)

Tagrenine said:


> You’re overthinking it.


That is, in fact, my MO!


Tagrenine said:


> You’re overthinking it. Yes you’re throwing off the balance but unless you’re making 15% of your dog’s diet blueberries and random chunks of raw meat, it’s not a huge deal.
> Balanced is balanced. It wouldn’t make much sense if two AAFCO diets couldn’t be used together. You will mostly just need to count calories.
> Think of how many dogs get human leftovers every single night and are just obese as a result.
> Feeding a dog isn’t rocket science and if you want to add fresh food every now and then, go for it.
> Now if you want to do entire custom diets (as mentioned above) it is much more difficult and much costlier. But for what you want to do, which is add fruits and pawprint molds or coat supplements, you’re not going to have issues outside of calories.


Do you think that I'd be ok re: calories if I just use common sense and don't dump an entire container of anything into his bowl?


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## FinnTheFloof (Jun 27, 2021)

goldenlover41 said:


> The critical aspect of a so-called "balanced diet" is to ensure that we aren't feeding a food that is way too high or way too low in a given nutrient that may cause a deficiency or surplus of the nutrient. So without getting into extreme detail, no, it should not be an issue at all.
> 
> 
> To answer this fully, I'm curious to know the specific reason you'd like to give blueberries or carrots, for example? Would it simply be to provide a fun treat, or for specific properties i.e. antioxidant? Without knowing that answer, I'll say this: you can give a small amount (some say about 10% of a dog's total diet, which I think is reasonable) of anything, which could be blueberries or carrots, as a treat without being concerned about throwing off the balance. So if you just want to give a carrot here and there or a blueberry or two with a meal for some interest/variety, you can do so without adjusting for possible imbalances, because the percentage of nutrients that one carrot provides compared to the total amount of food he eats in a day is so small that it's a non-issue.


Thank you for explaining!

I want to add blueberries 100% because I see them in almost everyone else's fancy custom bowls. That's it, it would just be a fun treat that seems healthy


goldenlover41 said:


> I don't really know - but the first thing that comes to mind is the concern over high sodium (or even possibly herbs that dogs shouldn't consume) in a broth. If I were you, I'd just use water. I have heard of people using bone broth (I feel like I've seen "dog safe" bone broth products and recipes) so if that's something of interest I think you could find more information about that throughout the internet in general.


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## Oceanside (Mar 29, 2021)

Re: calories, yes, common sense will suffice.


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## Tagrenine (Aug 20, 2019)

FinnTheFloof said:


> That is, in fact, my MO!
> 
> Do you think that I'd be ok re: calories if I just use common sense and don't dump an entire container of anything into his bowl?


Yeah, it’ll be fine


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## FinnTheFloof (Jun 27, 2021)

He is very active, so I don't think that a few extra calories would actually accumulate enough for him to put on any weight.


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## goldielynn (Sep 5, 2020)

Windsor has been on The Honest Kitchen, which is dehydrated human grade goodness. I top his breakfasts with pumpkin and 1/2 cup of Purina Pro Plan adult just so he has nice crunchiness as well. I find the "balance" between THK and PPP to suit him just fine. I've stopped overthinking his diet months ago -- so long as his poops are solid and I can feel his ribs. Every now and then I'll also add a few slices of banana to his meal, or whatever I'm having to munch on (he also loves eggs, broccoli, celery, carrots, etc). I love dressing up his meals to be fun and exciting.

Mental brain drain game with blueberries: if you take 5-6 blueberries and put them in a slow feeder bowl and spread them out, it will take your dog 10-20 mins to fish them all out with his tongue. Occupies him and also is very mentally draining for your puppy.


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## FinnTheFloof (Jun 27, 2021)

Oh yeah, I meant to ask- we have our own chickens and therefore our own eggs. Are those still ok to put in a bowl? I see lots of people crack a whole raw egg into the bowl and then put the shell in too.


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## Tagrenine (Aug 20, 2019)

FinnTheFloof said:


> Oh yeah, I meant to ask- we have our own chickens and therefore our own eggs. Are those still ok to put in a bowl? I see lots of people crack a whole raw egg into the bowl and then put the shell in too.


Its fine, a lot of people like to add eggs and egg shell


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## Piper_the_goldenpuppy (Aug 26, 2016)

FinnTheFloof said:


> Oh yeah, I meant to ask- we have our own chickens and therefore our own eggs. Are those still ok to put in a bowl? I see lots of people crack a whole raw egg into the bowl and then put the shell in too.


I'm jealous that you get to have fresh eggs! They are the best. You've probably already thought about this, the only thing with raw animal products (eggs, meat), is you want to wash out the food bowl well each day. 

How old is Finn? You might not need to add warm water to his kibble at this point. Nothing wrong with it per se, but I like dry kibble because it helps clean their teeth.


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## pawsnpaca (Nov 11, 2014)

Keep in mind that you don't have to jump whole hog into the raw feeding thing. Just adding some "live" food will increase your dog's health and vitality (and not bust the budget!). The Dog Aware website has some great guidelines. I can't give you a link because they solicit donations (which violates forum rules), but if you Google "Dog Aware" the website should come up. From their home page, go to the Diet tab, and then to Commercial Foods, and then to Adding Fresh Foods. I LOVE this website by the way... I encourage you to take a look around.

And I'm not discouraging you from "going raw"! I've fed my dogs a commercial raw diet for the last 10-15 years and I definitely believe in the benefits of such a diet. BUT, it is VERY expensive, especially if you go for a commercial product (I do commercial because I'm too lazy to research how to create a home-made balanced diet or to do all the prep that's necessary). You've gotten some good suggestions about how to add some raw to Finn's diet without breaking the bank. But, there is also value in adding things like eggs, veggies, canned fish, bone broth etc. to a quality kibble diet.

FWIW I do add quite a few supplements to my dog's diet, but it's less because I think that the food is "missing" anything than pure paranoia on my part in making sure my dogs are getting everything I can possibly give them to live long, healthy lives. I give them some supplements to protect their joints (glucosamine, MSM, green lipped mussel, etc.), some probiotics, some mushrooms (to fight off cancer/boost their immune systems) and, because I also don't use chemical pesticides with my dogs, they get things like apple cider vinegar and a garlic supplement - both of which are supposed to have some tick/flea repellent qualities (not sure I'm sold on that, but both things have other health benefits, so I give it anyway). But as I say... most of this is pure paranoia/overkill on my part and I often wonder if ANY of it is worth what I pay for it! 🤷‍♂️😁


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

Seems like a great deal of trouble and expense with nothing to gain except a warm fuzzy feeling.


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## FinnTheFloof (Jun 27, 2021)

SRW said:


> Seems like a great deal of trouble and expense with nothing to gain except a warm fuzzy feeling.


Well, for me it’s worth the warm fuzzy feeling, as I only have a few years with this dog until I go to college, and likely won’t be able to have my own dog for a long while.


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## FinnTheFloof (Jun 27, 2021)

Piper_the_goldenpuppy said:


> I'm jealous that you get to have fresh eggs! They are the best.


I love them!


pawsnpaca said:


> Keep in mind that you don't have to jump whole hog into the raw feeding thing. Just adding some "live" food will increase your dog's health and vitality (and not bust the budget!).


That's what I was hoping to do!


pawsnpaca said:


> The Dog Aware website has some great guidelines. I can't give you a link because they solicit donations (which violates forum rules), but if you Google "Dog Aware" the website should come up. From their home page, go to the Diet tab, and then to Commercial Foods, and then to Adding Fresh Foods. I LOVE this website by the way... I encourage you to take a look around.


Thank you for the recommendation, I'll check it out!


pawsnpaca said:


> FWIW I do add quite a few supplements to my dog's diet, but it's less because I think that the food is "missing" anything than pure paranoia on my part in making sure my dogs are getting everything I can possibly give them to live long, healthy lives. I give them some supplements to protect their joints (glucosamine, MSM, green lipped mussel, etc.), some probiotics, some mushrooms (to fight off cancer/boost their immune systems) and, because I also don't use chemical pesticides with my dogs, they get things like apple cider vinegar and a garlic supplement - both of which are supposed to have some tick/flea repellent qualities (not sure I'm sold on that, but both things have other health benefits, so I give it anyway). But as I say... most of this is pure paranoia/overkill on my part and I often wonder if ANY of it is worth what I pay for it! 🤷‍♂️😁


I think that I'm probably not going to do any supplements, simply because he has healthy joints, a healthy coat, etc. I'd like to try to keep it simpler, at least in the beginning.


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## FinnTheFloof (Jun 27, 2021)

lunch today! 
that looks like more apple than it actually is- it’s about 3/4 of a slice, I just cut it into small pieces.
I used just under a cup of kibble instead of a heaping cup, and took about the amount that came off the top of that cup in the food topper.


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## pawsnpaca (Nov 11, 2014)

... And what was Finn's opinion of his new goodies? I doubt my dogs would have eaten the egg shells (even the one that was raised raw and was given eggs every day by his breeder), but I know some dogs will eat anything...


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## FinnTheFloof (Jun 27, 2021)

pawsnpaca said:


> ... And what was Finn's opinion of his new goodies? I doubt my dogs would have eaten the egg shells (even the one that was raised raw and was given eggs every day by his breeder), but I know some dogs will eat anything...


Suspicious at first, but ate everything! He actually picked up a piece of apple and put it outside of the bowl, and ate it at the end 😂 I put the egg shell because I’ve seen other people do it (my life motto with him lol... “I’ve done x with him because everyone does it”).


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## pawsnpaca (Nov 11, 2014)

LOL! Based on all I've read, I don't think the egg shell will hurt him, it just personally freaks me out a bit. I have the same problem with raw meaty bones. Handing my dog a raw turkey neck or chicken frame just makes me nervous... that's one of the reasons I feed an all-ground-up commercial raw product, even though at least two of my dogs were raised by their breeders on raw meaty bones.... 

FWIW I don't think there's a lot of food value in the egg shells, and I THINK there may be potential to over do the calcium if you feed them often (but that could be my paranoia talking). Either way, though the egg shells won't hurt him, I wouldn't go out of your way to feed them either (assuming he's still eating a balanced/complete kibble as his primary food source).


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## FinnTheFloof (Jun 27, 2021)

pawsnpaca said:


> LOL! Based on all I've read, I don't think the egg shell will hurt him, it just personally freaks me out a bit. I have the same problem with raw meaty bones. Handing my dog a raw turkey neck or chicken frame just makes me nervous... that's one of the reasons I feed an all-ground-up commercial raw product, even though at least two of my dogs were raised by their breeders on raw meaty bones....
> 
> FWIW I don't think there's a lot of food value in the egg shells, and I THINK there may be potential to over do the calcium if you feed them often (but that could be my paranoia talking). Either way, though the egg shells won't hurt him, I wouldn't go out of your way to feed them either (assuming he's still eating a balanced/complete kibble as his primary food source).


I figured I’d add them because I’ve seen other people do it and I didn’t have anything to go in the last quadrant of the bowl, and having stuff in three would have annoyed me a lot. Could have done green beans but on dog aware it said that they won’t actually get any nutritional value from them unless you blend them up, and I didn’t really want to get the food processor out.


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## Coastal Pup (Jan 30, 2021)

LOL that’s so funny about the apple slice 😂 saving it for dessert maybe?! Beckett loves apples, he gets 3 pieces (1 slice cut in 3) every morning after he waits patiently at his Place. I’ve not given Beckett eggs yet but that’s mostly just because I’m afraid he’ll like them so much and then I’ll constantly have to be making eggs 🤣


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## FinnTheFloof (Jun 27, 2021)

Coastal Pup said:


> LOL that’s so funny about the apple slice 😂 saving it for dessert maybe?!


I guess that it was just such a superior piece of apple that it had to be enjoyed separately 😂


Coastal Pup said:


> LOL that’s so funny about the apple slice 😂 saving it for dessert maybe?! Beckett loves apples, he gets 3 pieces (1 slice cut in 3) every morning after he waits patiently at his Place. I’ve not given Beckett eggs yet but that’s mostly just because I’m afraid he’ll like them so much and then I’ll constantly have to be making eggs 🤣


We have such a surplus of eggs from the chickens that we honestly need to get rid of some, so this works great!


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## pawsnpaca (Nov 11, 2014)

FinnTheFloof said:


> Could have done green beans but on dog aware it said that they won’t actually get any nutritional value from them unless you blend them up, and I didn’t really want to get the food processor out.


Any kind of veggies can always be put into the microwave for 30 seconds or something... you don't necessarily have to grind them up. Another hack is to just put a bunch of veggies in the blender, blend them into a mush and then freeze them in an ice tray in small portions and then throw them into zip lock bags and back into the freezer. Then you can pull out an ice cube or two as needed. This can also be done with canned pumpkin (and then you also always have some on hand if he gets diarrhea or constipation and don't have to worry about using up a whole opened can). We have a juicer and when we use it for juicing for ourselves we'll freeze some of the juice in the ice cubes, but also save and feed the fiber that is left behind (again - in small portions!).


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## FinnTheFloof (Jun 27, 2021)

pawsnpaca said:


> Any kind of veggies can always be put into the microwave for 30 seconds or something... you don't necessarily have to grind them up. Another hack is to just put a bunch of veggies in the blender, blend them into a mush and then freeze them in an ice tray in small portions and then throw them into zip lock bags and back into the freezer. Then you can pull out an ice cube or two as needed. This can also be done with canned pumpkin (and then you also always have some on hand if he gets diarrhea or constipation and don't have to worry about using up a whole opened can). We have a juicer and when we use it for juicing for ourselves we'll freeze some of the juice in the ice cubes, but also save and feed the fiber that is left behind (again - in small portions!).


Good to know!


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## Taz Monkey (Feb 25, 2007)

I feed completely raw to 3 of my 4 dogs. For examples sake, my almost 3 year old golden will eat tonight for dinner: a commercial raw blend from BJ's Raw dog food, which consists of whole chicken (meat, bone, and organ), beef, tripe, pork, and salmon a fresh farm egg (shell and all, but only feed shell if they are fresh eggs, not grocery store eggs which are bleached)), a whole mackerel, 2 veggie paws (blended green pepper, broccoli, kale, and spinach then poured into silicon molds and frozen), 2 fruit paws (blended blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, pitted cherries, and pomegranate poured into silicon molds and frozen). This changes all the time. I rotate between chicken, beef, boar, rabbit, venison, turkey, duck, goat, beaver, lamb, etc, and they don't get eggs and fish every night. My golden gets an egg and a fish 3 times a week because the fish are large. My smaller dogs eat smelts, which are smaller, so they get them in every meal. I aim to feed them about one days worth of food in fish, spread out over the week, which equals out to about 3 large fish for the golden. If I have different veggies or fruits I'll chop those up and skip the frozen paw molds for that meal if I'm trying to get rid of stuff before it goes bad. That being said, all of this is balanced. The extras do not account for more than 10% of the diet, and none have weight issues so feeding the extras is not a problem. For a kibble fed dog, I'd say don't let the toppers account for more than 10-15% of the diet, and watch the weight, but otherwise, feed what your dog likes. Lightly steamed and blended veggies digest better. I buy all my veggies frozen and make the paw molds from that after it's thawed. Fresh veggies don't digest very well, but mine love raw baby carrots and get them often. You can also give lightly cooked or raw meats, kefir or goat yogurt, etc. Just keep a watch on the poop because that will tell you how it's all digesting and how your dog is reacting to it.


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

Why is Finn on a GI food?
The reason for that may be reason enough not to mess w his diet.


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## FinnTheFloof (Jun 27, 2021)

Prism Goldens said:


> Why is Finn on a GI food?
> The reason for that may be reason enough not to mess w his diet.


When he was little, he was on Royal Canin Golden Retriever Puppy, and then started having diarrhea. Our vet advised us to switch to this food, and he’s been on it since. He also used to be very sensitive to other foods that weren’t his kibble or a very specific treat, but has become less so over time. He also didn’t react negatively at all to yesterday’s add ons to his meal.


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## Piper_the_goldenpuppy (Aug 26, 2016)

FinnTheFloof said:


> When he was little, he was on Royal Canin Golden Retriever Puppy, and then started having diarrhea. Our vet advised us to switch to this food, and he’s been on it since. He also used to be very sensitive to other foods that weren’t his kibble or a very specific treat, but has become less so over time. He also didn’t react negatively at all to yesterday’s add ons to his meal.


If he has a sensitive tummy, and his stools get softer over the next couple of days with the add ins, you might introduce one new raw food every week or two weeks. The apples you included are probably fine, but thinking more about the raw eggs/raw meal toppers. That way if something disagrees with him, you might have a better idea of what it is.


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## FinnTheFloof (Jun 27, 2021)

Piper_the_goldenpuppy said:


> If he has a sensitive tummy, and his stools get softer over the next couple of days with the add ins, you might introduce one new raw food every week or two weeks. The apples you included are probably fine, but thinking more about the raw eggs/raw meal toppers. That way if something disagrees with him, you might have a better idea of what it is.


He has been fine with the raw meal toppers as I've been using them as training treats for a few weeks. I'm also not doing add ins for every meal, because I'm not home most days and like to train scent work with his dinner on the days that I'm home for it.


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## Emmdenn (Jun 5, 2018)

My dogs eat 90% PPP performance. I do add toppers like blueberries or sweet potatoes or if I have leftover salmon or something like that I’ll throw it in their meals. I buy premade raw as a topper when I feel like it and also give meaty bones and other animal parts as chews 1-2 times per week. As far as I understand if you’re feeling less than 15% raw/mix ins you’re fine and still balanced. My reasoning is because my dogs like it and because I feel like it 😏


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## FinnTheFloof (Jun 27, 2021)

here’s breakfast today. Did the same thing with the topper, the egg, and the apple as before. The pink are frozen watermelon yogurt treats that I made last week, and the green beans are cut small and warmed in the microwave. It looks like a lot but it’s really only three green beans and like 3/4 of a slice of apple. His other two meals today will be all kibble to make sure to keep the balance.


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## Popebendgoldens (May 16, 2008)

One comment on the term “balanced diets”. This term “Balanced diets” is nothing more than a Madison Ave marketing term. This has been used for decades to make feeding a highly processed diet of kibble more palatable for consumers to buy. 

How often does anyone here have a 100% FDA balanced diet? I doubt very few make each meal 100% nutritionally balanced. Dogs were never meant to have each meal nutritionally balanced. Raw feeders look for balance over time not at each meal.

Finally the kibble diet has 50% it’s contents of filler ingredients in each bag. Why? Because it would cost way too much to make the kibble 100% meat.


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## FinnTheFloof (Jun 27, 2021)

today’s dinner. Kibble, topper, banana, carrot (microwaved with water) and dragonfruit.


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## pawsnpaca (Nov 11, 2014)

Dragonfruit, huh? 😆 Please promise me that you’ve researched what foods are toxic to dogs. I don't necessarily think dragonfruit is, but I’m not sure enough people eat it for it to appear on most “bad for dog lists”… Just be careful…


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## FinnTheFloof (Jun 27, 2021)

pawsnpaca said:


> Dragonfruit, huh? 😆 Please promise me that you’ve researched what foods are toxic to dogs. I don't necessarily think dragonfruit is, but I’m not sure enough people eat it for it to appear on most “bad for dog lists”… Just be careful…


I looked it up specifically before giving it to him!

we had it because I saw them and I was like “I want a dragonfruit” but then we realized that none of us actually like dragon fruit, so now it’s going in smoothies and the dog bowl.


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## Taz Monkey (Feb 25, 2007)

pawsnpaca said:


> Dragonfruit, huh? 😆 Please promise me that you’ve researched what foods are toxic to dogs. I don't necessarily think dragonfruit is, but I’m not sure enough people eat it for it to appear on most “bad for dog lists”… Just be careful…


The only foods that are okay for human consumption but toxic to dogs are onions, grapes/raisins, chocolate, and macadamia nuts. Everything else is fine. Obviously, every dog is different and their reaction to certain foods can be good or bad, but nothing else will actually kill them.
Oh, and sugar free gum.


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## Tagrenine (Aug 20, 2019)

Taz Monkey said:


> The only foods that are okay for human consumption but toxic to dogs are onions, grapes/raisins, chocolate, and macadamia nuts. Everything else is fine. Obviously, every dog is different and their reaction to certain foods can be good or bad, but nothing else will actually kill them.
> Oh, and sugar free gum.


I want to add a quick clarification to the last one - xylitol, marketed under numerous different names (including birch sugar) is HIGHLY toxic to dogs. Small doses can rapidly cause liver and kidney failure. Not only is it in sugar free gum, but some peanut butters use it too, so always read the ingredients!


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## pawsnpaca (Nov 11, 2014)

Taz Monkey said:


> The only foods that are okay for human consumption but toxic to dogs are onions, grapes/raisins, chocolate, and macadamia nuts. Everything else is fine. Obviously, every dog is different and their reaction to certain foods can be good or bad, but nothing else will actually kill them.
> Oh, and sugar free gum.


Well... actually, Xylitol (the ingredient in sugar free gum that is so dangerous, also sometimes listed as "birch sugar") is showing up in more and more products, notably peanut butter, so it's always a good idea to read labels of any processed food, even if it's something you've fed in the past. I've found it listed in some pretty weird foods and human supplements...

There are other foods that frequently show up on lists (usually with a scary "Foods that will kill your dog" kind of title) that are absolutely fine to feed _*in moderation*_ (e.g., garlic; avocado; oranges; coconut oil; some dairy products such as yogurt, cheese or kefir, eggs - raw or cooked; and raw meaty bones). There are others that only certain parts of the item will cause problems (e.g., apple seeds, fruit pits, avocado skins, potato leaves and stems, etc.).

It's always a good idea to be an informed pet owner. Read up on any "human" food before you feed it to your dog (go beyond the click-bait lists - articles from places like the AKC or a veterinary website is likely to be far more accurate than a random Facebook post, but be aware that even dog "experts" can disagree - some of the foods that are warned about in mainstream vet medicine - such as garlic - may be considered a healthy addition to the diet by those with a more holistic bent). Be aware that even the foods that are truly "toxic" may really depend on your dog's weight and how much they consumed. If you aren't willing to do the research, then just avoid these foods all together (but know you may be avoiding them unnecessarily).


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## Taz Monkey (Feb 25, 2007)

pawsnpaca said:


> Well... actually, Xylitol (the ingredient in sugar free gum that is so dangerous, also sometimes listed as "birch sugar") is showing up in more and more products, notably peanut butter, so it's always a good idea to read labels of any processed food, even if it's something you've fed in the past. I've found it listed in some pretty weird foods and human supplements...
> 
> There are other foods that frequently show up on lists (usually with a scary "Foods that will kill your dog" kind of title) that are absolutely fine to feed _*in moderation*_ (e.g., garlic; avocado; oranges; coconut oil; some dairy products such as yogurt, cheese or kefir, eggs - raw or cooked; and raw meaty bones). There are others that only certain parts of the item will cause problems (e.g., apple seeds, fruit pits, avocado skins, potato leaves and stems, etc.).
> 
> It's always a good idea to be an informed pet owner. Read up on any "human" food before you feed it to your dog (go beyond the click-bait lists - articles from places like the AKC or a veterinary website is likely to be far more accurate than a random Facebook post, but be aware that even dog "experts" can disagree - some of the foods that are warned about in mainstream vet medicine - such as garlic - may be considered a healthy addition to the diet by those with a more holistic bent). Be aware that even the foods that are truly "toxic" may really depend on your dog's weight and how much they consumed. If you aren't willing to do the research, then just avoid these foods all together (but know you may be avoiding them unnecessarily).


Yes, I was just talking about foods that are created as nature intended ie: whole foods. Not foods created with ingredients. Also, apple seeds, cherry pits, avocado pits, etc. are also toxic to humans. Same with things like mushrooms. Mushrooms that are toxic to humans are also toxic to dogs. Mushrooms that are fine for humans are fine for dogs. Some dogs are lactose intolerant. Some dogs cannot have high fat foods, etc. But nothing besides that short list will kill a dog if ingested. I generally don't feed my dogs anything that has an actual ingredients list unless it's a dog treat and most of those are single ingredient meat products. They only eat whole foods.


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