Raw food for a kibble dog?

Hello,
I am interested in diversifying my dogs kibble diet with more raw meat, without giving him an upset stomach. I can’t switch to raw entirely (unfortunately), but for treats and snacks - I would love some suggestions.
Can I cut up a raw steak, freeze and feed as a treat or in the Kong? Or should I cook it? What other types of meat can I use? What’s the best, should I include organ meat and fish? If so what types? Is tuna or salmon from the can ok? Please include weight or measurement.
I read on another thread about giving raw meat bones (RMB) to dogs to help clean their teeth (and enjoy!). I was wondering how to specifically obtain one of these. Sorry if this is a dumb question but if I was to walk into a butcher shop, what would I say? :S
What type of meat, cut, size ect? How much “meat†should be on it?
Can I also give him the “T bone†from my beef steak after dinner to chew?
Sorry for all the questions and thank you so much for your help and information! :hail:

A few times a week one of Dante's meals is replaced with a raw turkey neck.
I use Bravo Raw Meaty Bones - Excellent for Teeth & Gum Nourishment which I purchase at a natural pet supply store.

I have also fed Bravo, Primal and Columbia Natural premade raw and been very happy.

I've never tried feeding raw as a treat in a kong - kinda gives me the "ickies" for some reason :lol-sign:

Canned tuna is not a great idea, can be high in mercury, canned salmon can be fed - so can raw if you're NOT in the NW.

Never give any kind of cooked bone!!!!

Beef and pork rib bones are great for cleaning teeth, and a great chew if really meaty. Knuckle bones can be really hard, and are often called "wreck" bones as dogs can break their teeth on them, so stay away from any of these, or remove them once the marrow is out of them. You can give a shank steak with bone in, but again, remove the bone after. (these are typically called soup bones or marrow bones, and look like a donut.

Lamb necks, pork hocks, turkey legs, all can be good chews, but if you're just looking for a treat, these have too much meat on them and your pooch will quickly put on the weight, as well as have some runny poos from all the changing back and forth kibble to raw, I'd really stick to the beef ribs if you only want clean teeth, but not a meal.

Other treats can include exotic meats like dehydrated ostrich liver, my dog loves this. Also I give her icecubes, really, one of her favourite treats, and it doesn't add any calories to her diet at all! Also she will steal an apple or carrot occasionally, and while she only chews them to bits, she seems to enjoy it, even if she doesn't get anything healthful out of it. What stimulates the mind stimulates the body...

My boy Finn eats high-quality kibble as his diet, but I give him a raw meaty bone at least once every week or two. It's a treat he loves, and it cleans his teeth and keeps him busy for a long time.
I've fed a few different types of bones, but my favorite is a good raw lamb shank. Great size for him (he's medium-sized) and good hunks of meat on both ends to keep him occupied.

The first few times he got a raw bone, his poop was a bit weird afterwords (A little softer than normal, but not runny, and came out normally) but otherwise I've had no problems, and his digestive system accepts the weekly RMB just fine now.

Hope that helps!

Personally, I consider knuckle bones MUCH, much safer than beef ribs. Beef ribs really don't provide much teeth cleaning and the ends are easily gnawed off... and not digestible. Every time Gonzo has had them, he has yacked up the ends a few hours later.

Knuckle bones are really good for cleaning teeth, and generally won't cause tummy issues, if fed in supervised sessions. They are actually the knee of a cow, so they're a small bone covered in cartilege and tissue. Ripping/gnawing at the cartilege and tissue provide amazing teeth scraping, and it takes my dogs at least 1-2 hours to get through all of it. I recommend giving your dog a knuckle bone for 15 minutes or so each session, to prevent upset tummy. You can just rinse it off and put it in the freezer until next time. Promptly throw it away once your pup has worked his way to the boney center. This is what a knuckle bone should look like, for reference (bone is not visible... that's all several inches of cartilege):



For occasional raw supplementation, I recommend buying a disgestive aid to help with the transition and/or feeding plain yogurt and canned pumpkin. If your dog has had a varied diet up until now, he'll probably be fine, but if he has been fed kibble and cookies only since birth he probably doesn't have much good flora in his system. Chicken and turkey are good meat sources to start with... Chicken Backs, Chicken Wings, Turkey Necks, Turkey Wings, etc. Remove any excess fat, as that's a big culprit for upset tummy.

My dogs are eating kibble 75% of the time now, but Raw meals don't even phase them. Fozzie was raised on Raw and Gonzo has been eating it for most of the past 3 years, so they both have pretty tough tummies at this point. It's nice, because I can also feed them all sorts of different foods, canned foods, chewies, and leftovers without worrying about the big D at 3 am.

This is important, I agree! Finn gets at least one Kong a day full of his kibble and topped with some canned food - only so his digestive system gets used to it. That plus the RMBs and his kibble all provide a great variety for his stomach, in my opinion, while theoretically he's eating 90% kibble, so it's soft on my wallet. You never know when a food switch may be in order, for whatever reason.

This. I've given Sierra beef ribs a few times (got them on sale) but it's not something I like doing, and I am quick to take away the bone once she's gotten the meat off. It's not an edible bone the way chicken (anything) is, but it's more breakable than the marrow and knuckle bones we use for recreational chewing. If I let her go at it she'll break big chunks off and swallow them, horking them back up several hours later in a puddle of stomach goo. Gross.

You need to know your dogs chewing style. I know marrow bones, being weight bearing bones, are very dense and can break teeth, but Sierra is good about how she chews them, and I can easily leave her with one of these and not take it away until she gets bored of it. (Usually they stick around for most of a day). Knuckle bones are the same way.

I really like to give her beef neck bones, but I haven't been able to find them at a butcher or anything like that, I get them at pet stores that sell raw food. They've got lots of abrasive edges, they are not too hard, not too soft, she can eat pieces safely but doesn't eat the whole thing, the perfect recreational bone (IMO).

Bones probably are the best way to incorporate raw into your dogs diet at this point until you are ready (or willing) to go raw 100%

We have a butcher right by my place (literally a 2 min walk away, if that), and before the owner of the store passed away (his sons own it now) he would give us bones to give to Rosey. You could walk into a butcher and just ask either for soup bones, or tell them you have a dog and ask if there's any bones they can't sell that you could buy (generally you'll get really good prices for the bones, and they'll be more than willing to sell it so they can get rid of it).

We used to give her the "T bone" when somebody here had a steak, but were told that she shouldn't have them after she went to the vet for a UTI. Apparently the T bones are hard on their digestive tract.

Allie>> Lamb shanks aren't RMB... a RMB is like a chicken backs, turkey necks, pork ribs etc.. something where they are eating the WHOLE thing. Lamb shanks (with or with out meat) are rec bones.. weight bearing bones as a rule aren't edible.

The messy poop is likley due to fat.

Eating RMB is a great cure for messy poop. Too much RMB will make them poop concrete (I speak from experience.. well my dog's experience)

I love turkey necks, beef necks, bison necks (Nilly you can get those at market or the bison farm) when introducing a dog to RMBs. Not too fatty like chicken frames can be.

NO its COOKED bones that are hard. You should NEVAR EVAR feed a cooked bone. If you want to give your dog a whole T bone steak they would be fine, or if you wanted to cut the bone out and then cook, the bone would be fine.

Cooked bones are a real hazard, they are harder and will splinter into sharp shards when a dog chews. Raw bones are rubbery and break off in crumbles and bits, not shards.

Oh! Well then. I just assumed a raw meaty bone was, well, a raw meaty bone.