advice on how to do part dry and part raw diet please

Hi, I'm hoping you guys can help.

we have a 5 month old-ish staff and we're really keen to go more natural on the food front. I've been looking into it and can't see how to implement it in a mixed form. Basically when he came to us from rescue we started him off on a small sack of Hills science puppy. Once that sack ran out my husband looked into other dry diets more and Burns was recommended so he got a huge sack of Burns puppy food! I'm a bit miffed because I really want to do the raw food diet, it makes total sense to me. Whilst my hubby agrees he's not keen on going total (my hope is he's not just yet but once we start he'll conveert totally!)

So what I's like to know is how can we use the Burns dry and do some raw? I initially thought we'd give hima chicken wing in his dinner but have since learnt that dogs process the ready made food like burns alot faster than a natural raw diet. So would feeding a raw diet for his evening meal be ok or is mixing ready made and raw not work, end of? He's on 3 meals a day because of his age. Any ideas or suggestions how we could implement this mix diet would be greatly welcome

im now only feeding dry but i have dabbled with feding some raw before when he was a little younger and i found feeding dry breakfast raw lunch and dry tea worked better for me

Show your OH this site, it explains things quite well.

http://www.rawmeatybones.com/petowners/whatisrmb.php

If you want to mix commercial & raw, then the thing to remember is that raw is digested in about 4 or 5 hours, whereas commercial is digested in about 17 hours. So, in order not to mix them in your dog's stomach, possibly resulting in a dodgy tum, feed raw in the morning (and lunchtime if you're still feeding 3 meals) and commercial at night - just remember to leave at least 4 hours between athe raw & commercial meals.

Also, have a look through this thread, which might answer some questions for you.......https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t2170-looking-into-barf?highlight=barf

thanks so much for your replies. I have checked those out from your other thread Caryl thanks for that it was interesting and helpfull. I'm set on the concept like I say it makes complete sense to me, just like baby led weaning does for my human babies lol!! The thing is I suppose I would like an idiots guide like give this ... and when ... but totally see it's individual and you tailor diets and meat types for your dog, it is for me I suppose having the right info. and the right confidence to go for it if i'm honest!

And you see I got it wrong I though the raw diet took longer to digest What would be a good raw starter diet for an 11lb 5 month old? And would I give a regular evening feed as I am now? thanks so much

The number of feeds remains the same, so at 5 months your pup should be getting 2 or 3 meals a day. If you're going to mix, then the morning one should be raw & the evening one should be commercial.

Try to vary what you give your pup - lamb, chicken, beef etc, the main part should be a raw meaty bone. This can be chicken wings/necks/carcasses, lamb ribs/necks, duck or turkey necks. About once a week give him some offal (tripe, kidneys, liver, spleen) and maybe a raw egg.

I've never fed by weight, so I can't give you an amount to give your dog, I just go by trial & error. If he puts on too much weight I cut down his food, if he starts to lose weight I increase it. Don't forget, though, that a raw fed dog often needs less food than a dry fed dog because there is more in the raw that the dog's body can break down & use.

Good luck!