How owner transitioned from kibble to a raw dog food diet and what she learnt

At Healthy Active Pet we are passionate about improving the health of dogs.

We want to inform and educate as many dog owners as possible about what the best options around dog health, dog food and what to feed your dog.

And we love sharing stories from dog owners who have had their own journey with a raw dog food diet and transitioning from traditional commercial dog food to a raw food diet.

And today, Julie is sharing her story of her gorgeous dog Maddie and Maddie's raw dog food diet.

Maddie's Raw Dog Food Diet & Journey

I started a raw feeding dog food diet about 5 years ago when Maddie was 1.

I transitioned Maddie slowly but threw myself into the raw feeding dog food world, I made my own dog food recipes after reading countless journals and articles on the topic.

I came to realise the cost was the same if not cheaper than kibble, and it was extremely satisfying knowing every single ingredient was a quality one, and was locally sourced where possible.

I had heaps of fun sourcing ingredients from all different places, getting different cuts of muscle/organ meat with additional supplements and experimenting with recipes to see which ones she enjoyed more (all were inhaled so I’m not sure how I could even tell).

I gradually realised handling some cuts of meat weren’t natural to me (if you’ve ever handled raw beef cheek you’ll understand, just thinking about the texture makes me squirm) so then it became a chore!

Over time I realised making her meals ate up my Sundays and I was spending more time on her food than my meal preps.

So I went looking for pre-made option to simplify things and found a fair few options which I like to rotate now, along with throwing in the odd home made dog food recipes when I’ve got the time or the extra meat.

The hardest part was wrapping my head around the ingredients; what they can eat, what they can’t eat, what sort of quantities, etc.

We are fed so much misinformation about the cost of raw feeding being more expensive, or that it’s dangerous, or that it’s not nutritionally balanced, but all of that is a marketing ploy from the kibble companies to convince us to buy their product.

Sure, it can be convenient having a shelf product that we can feed our dogs using a scoop and forget about.

But what if humans ate like that? What if we ate a dehydrated product that had a shelf life of a year or so, had a (sometimes artificial) flavour of some sort such as chicken, but was mainly comprised of maize ie corn?!

I, for one, would hate that, and would be surprised if I didn’t feel sick after mainly eating carbohydrates for all my life and pretty much nothing else.

We’re told time and time again that fresh produce is crucial to maximising nutrient absorption to fuel our bodies, it’s the same with dogs.

Maddie is my best friend, my snuggle bunny, my reason for going outside some days and frankly she’s annoying other days, but she’s first and foremost a dog, her ancestors would have foraged for food by hunting, so she gets something similar; mainly muscle meat, a bit of organ meat, veggies and some supplements to top it off.

Occasionally I throw in some home made bone broth which is insanely easy to make, and some fermented veggies.

She has a health check once a year by the vet and has never had any issues.

I want to give her the best chance at growing old with me, I want to see her white whiskers come in, I want to see her age gracefully (or not) but I’d like to maximise her time with me on this planet and raw feeding gives me a better chance at that.

Feeding raw may seem daunting, but it’s easier than it seems!

If you are looking to start a raw dog food diet and don't know where to start, then check out Healthy Active Pet raw feeding dog food recipes.