Switching From Traditional Dog Food to Raw Dog Food
WHO WE ARE
Why should you consider switching to a raw food diet for your working or assistance dog? Albion has over 30 years of experience when it comes to researching, preparing, and delivering premium quality raw dog food, in addition to our experiences observing the wellbeing of dogs who consume raw dog food. We firmly believe that feeding your dog raw food that is free from wheat, rice, soya, eggs, dairy, additives, preservatives, and artificial colours allows your dog to eat food that is closer to their natural diet and therefore healthier for their body. Albion is proud to provide the Biologically Appropriate Raw Food Diet (BARF Diet) to ensure your dog receives all the health benefits of switching to a professionally prepared raw food diet.
What Traditional Dog Food Lacks
Many commercial dog food products are prepared with intense heat that reduces the nutrients the food contains, including vitamins, minerals and enzymes. This is unfortunate because these natural vitamins and minerals, when uncooked, strengthen your dog’s joints, immune system, and help dogs to maintain healthy skin and fur.
Certain processed dry and wet foods contain large amounts of additives, preservatives, and artificial colours. These provide few to no health benefits for your dog, and too many additions such as grains and cereals can even cause obesity. While it is true that domestic dogs have evolved from their wolf ancestors and can digest grain more easily than wild wolves can, grains are one of the most common allergies in dogs and can cause digestive troubles in many dogs, especially if fed to certain dogs over long periods of time.
Benefits of Raw Dog Food
A variety of health benefits have been connected with the BARF Diet. Some of these benefits include:
- Less gas and body odor
- Smaller and more solid stools that are easier to pick up and produce less odor
- Improved bone and joint health
- Improved dental health, dental hygiene, and less smelly breath
- Improved immune system
- A softer and shinier coat
- More balanced weight
- If your dog has a grain allergy, switching to a grain-free raw food diet will reduce the itchy skin your dog experiences from their allergy
We do not recommend that you cook our products, as this risks reducing the nutritional value. All of our products are designed to be fed to your dog raw. For more information on how to prepare our meals, read our pages on how to feed raw dog food and how to safely feed raw bones to your dog.
How To Switch to a Raw Dog Food Diet Safely
Switching your working dog to a raw dog food diet should be done with care, as some dogs can adjust to a new diet immediately and others may need more time. If you swap your dog’s food immediately, it can upset their stomach and cause temporary diarrhoea or vomiting (usually in the form of yellow bile or a small amount of white foam). This brief struggle to switch to a new diet occurs as the digestive tract adjusts to higher levels of protein and lower levels of carbohydrates in your dog’s diet. Because of this, we recommend switching your dog to a new raw food diet over the course of 7 days. To do this, you should provide your dog with half a serving of their usual food and half a serving of the new raw food each time they are fed. From Day 8 and onward, you should be able to feed your dog servings of 100% raw food with no risk of upset stomachs.
- Kibble and raw food are digested at different rates. We do not recommend mixing kibble and raw food at the same time. Instead, space small portions of these foods out throughout the day.
When preparing a raw food diet for your dog, you should only defrost as much food as you will actually use each day to prevent spoiling. Do not re-freeze any raw food that has been defrosted. However, raw dog food can be refrigerated and will stay good for 3 to 4 days. Always dispose of raw food that has been left out for over 4 hours, as such food can develop salmonella.
- Is your dog a fussy eater? Consider starting them off with one of our starter hampers, which are extra flavourful.
You may find that when you switch your dog to a raw dog food diet, they begin drinking less water than usual. This is completely normal and results from higher levels of moisture in raw dog food (compared to most commercial dog foods). When your dog is able to obtain more water from their food, they do not need as much from a separate bowl. That said, you should always continue providing your dog with fresh water throughout the day. Changing your dog’s diet to a raw food diet is not a complete substitute for access to clean, plentiful water.
Is a Raw Food Diet Safe For Puppies?
Yes, raw food can be safely fed to expectant mothers and puppies unless a puppy is experiencing a medical issue. When a breeding bitch is fed raw dog food, it allows her to produce a strong, healthy litter and naturally develop healthy milk. When raw feeding your new puppy, always choose complete products that are specifically designed for puppy diets (our Complete Puppy Beef and Complete Puppy Chicken are excellent examples). Our puppy food products contain high-protein chicken and beef which provides puppies with all the nutrients they need to grow. All Albion Meat puppy products are prepared specifically for working and assistance dog puppies, meaning that they are nutritionally complete and do not need anything else added to them.
When Should I Wean Puppies?
Young puppies can eat our raw pet food when they are 3 to 4 weeks old. We recommend feeding them small amounts alongside their mother’s milk to ensure they make the transition to weaning naturally. A slow transition to a raw dog food diet will allow your puppies’ digestive systems to adjust slowly to the high levels of protein in raw pet food.
Still have questions about raw dog food? You can find even more answers on our FAQ page.
Where Can I Find Raw Dog Food Treats?
On average, even our raw dog food treats contain about 70% protein and 6 to 9% moisture per 100 grams. Treats like this can provide your dog with extra energy and water they need throughout the day, and is 100% natural. Our treats are air dried to maintain their quality, flavour, and nutrition. We offer a variety of treats that can be used as training aids or to add variety to your dog’s diet, including dried tripe, beef tails, chicken breasts, raw shanks, and cow ears with fur. All our treats are low in fat and can significantly improve your dog’s oral hygiene and health.