I have been raw feeding partly for about five months and have loved the results.  I dont want to go the whole hog as I cannot be doing with the worrying whether I have the balance right etc but my question is I currently feed the raw meat with mixer (good quality such as laughing dog or fold hill) but wonder if the better way to do things would be to feed maybe a complete kibble in the morning and then a meal of just raw mince in the evening instead of feeding with mixer?  what do people think?

Hi there,
I feed a totally raw diet, with no commercial foods at all. If I did feed dry as well, I wouldn't feed them together, as they are digested at very different rates. I would feed them as you have suggested two different meals. Maybe raw in the morning and then kibble at night. Raw is easily digested and passes through the dog's stomach and into the intestinal tract in 4 1/2 hours, dry foods can take anything up to 16 hours.
But I would say it's not as hard as you think feeding solely raw food, plenty of reading and chatting to experienced feeders, you'd get the hang of it quicker than you think ;o)

I agree totally with what CarlyMallie says, don't feed raw and processed together because of digestion and feeding a raw diet is easier than you think, just read lots - I like Ian Billinghursts books, and keep them as reference, you will find all the correct ratios to get the correct balance.

this was why I was thinking of feeding in two different meals but cant decide whether to stay as with mixer and mince or to go to complete in the morning and fully raw in an evening.

Mine are mostly fed raw but I like to keep kibble in their diet to ensure we always a convenient option for feeding whilst travelling, or if I forget to defrost! 

When I first did  my research I was told it's best to keep them seperate due to digestion rates. 4-6 hours for raw and 12+ for kibble.  However there seem to be some people that combine them in one meal with no adverse affects (although I don't like the fact that kibble draws so much fluid before digestion)

Re the timings - I prefer raw for breakfast then kibble for the evening meal.  Even though I leave it at least an hour and half before walking, I must admit I don't like them charging around on a 'kibble full stomach' and raw seems more gentle on their systems somehow.  Kibble also makes mine a bit droopy which works well for us at night.

interesting thoughts.  My dogs get walked first thing in the morning at about 6am, and fed about 2 hours later.  Evening meal is normally about 6pm and the moment they are walked at about 3pm by my husband during the daylight hours. so for me feeding kibble in the morning would probably work better and then raw in the evening as we train at least once a week in the evening.

> Mine are mostly fed raw but I like to keep kibble in their diet to ensure we always a convenient option for feeding whilst travelling, or if I forget to defrost

Mine are fed raw, but I have never had a problem feeding them in kibble in emergencies. In fact they seem able to eat anything without a problem - which, I'm sure, is because they are fed raw :)

Daisy

I feed raw once a day and complete once a day -which meal depends on what shift my husband is on as he will feed the raw and I will feed the complete. (I couldn't feed the raw without throwing up I'm afraid!) The dogs all do great. :)

i feed both mine on a raw diet

on the odd occasion if ive forgotton to defrost raw they will get fed dry food but that would normally only be for breakfast

they get fed at 7am and 6pm both raw meals

<<However there seem to be some people that combine them in one meal with no adverse affects>>

I'm one of those people! Unless my lot are having a RMB meal, they get raw minced meat with a small handful of Orijen kibble - not soaked. Admittedly that isn't much kibble, but I fail to see the difference between the old fashioned way of feeding which was meat and biscuit, and feeding meat with kibble.

My dogs don't seem to be suffering any ill effects and range from 2 - 17 years old, so I can't be doing things too badly.

>>However there seem to be some people that combine them in one meal with no adverse affects
>I'm one of those people!

And I'm another! Mine get kibble for breakfast (soaked); supper is soaked kibble, fresh meat or fish and mixer. It's never been a problem - they live to pretty good ages and aren't in and out of the vets all the time. In fact I don't want their stomachs to be empty after 4 or 5 hours when there's another 4 hours or so till the next meal - how horribly uncomfortable.

im another !!

Mine have well soaked kibble mixed with mince for breakfast and the same again for tea.  With regards to exercise/feeding I have a bloat prone breed therefore my boys are usually fed an hour or two after exercise (depending on type of exercise / how puffy they are) IF I have to feed them before exercise, such as if we are going to do a canix run or going to an agility show then they are fed a good 3 hours or more before hand (this can mean getting up at 5am to feed them !!)

thanks guys really useful to know what everyone does - my main query really was to decide whether to start feeding a complete instead of the mixer I am using with them competing and making sure they get everything they need. 

If you are feeding a variety of raw foods inc bone, offal and veg etc then a mixer (usually grain based without meat) would be a suitable 'filler'.  If you are just feeding raw meat then you may need a complete to ensure your dog is getting all the nutrients - there is alot of rubbish complete foods out there so a high quality food would be best.  I feed all raw but if I had to feed a complete then I would use something like Burns.

yep id do some research if your going to feed completely raw as its important to get the right balance of food