Your dog's health matters to us .......
Feeding Raw
Suppliers have named their products slightly different, so you will see in the shop other variants such as 80/10/5/5, 80/20 with veg, 75/15/10, all are based on the 80/10/10 which is considered the species appropriate ratio.
Types of Raw Food
Feeding Raw; Simply put, its either 80/10/10, Complete or Mince. If you buy 80/10/10 you will likely want to add a small percentage of veg, perhaps supplements. When you do this, you are effectively making a Complete Meal. So whether you are enhancing your mince or going straight to complete, with a few treats and supplements in your bag, you are all set for the healthiest dog in the street.
80/10/10 – This is basis of the species appropriate diet, it means 80% Meat, 10% Bone and 10% Offal. Exciting additional flavours such as Game, Rabbit, Pheasant, Goose and lots more are available in 80/10/10.
Complete – Complete ranges are 80/10/10 with added Veg and superfoods such as Kelp, Salmon Oil, Spirulina and lots more. Created by our suppliers’ Nutritional experts; Wagging Tail chooses the very best in British Companies to bring you quality at affordable prices. Completes are our biggest range.
Mince – Minced raw dog food, comes from a variety of sources but mainly; Beef, Chicken and Turkey, it contains no Offal.
Packaging
Easy to stack, simply to serve with compostable and recyclable options.
Boxes
Waxed lined boxes contain no plastic packaging. Easy to store and serve. Pop in Recycling or your compost heap.
Sleeves
Peel back Sleeves come in two sizes and are easy to stack in the Freezer. Peel back lids which have a low waste volume.
Trays
Trays are easy to stack in the Freezer, simple to defrost and spoon out. Available in fully bio-compostable material.
Bags
Simple economy packaging with a low waste volume. The bags are easy to store, reseal and are available in 1kg sizes.
Cubes
Handy blocks of raw in a long sleeve. Easy to pick out and defrost in portions. Ideal for portion control, mixing proteins. Ideal for small dogs.
Changing to a Raw diet
There are several ways of moving to a Raw diet. The correct one is what suits you and your dog. Don’t worry about the process, dogs are hardy animals and most will adapt by their first meal. Here are some methods you may consider. Choose the plain meats such as Chicken, then Turkey and onto Beef and Lamb before introducing tasty meats such as venison, duck, game etc.
Next morning. Most dogs will tuck into a raw meal straight away starting the next morning. This is the easiest and most successful, however if your dog is known to have a sensitive stomach, which is why you are keen to move onto raw, then you can reset his digestion by a short fasting period.
Fasting. Fasting is not cruel, a species appropriate diet sits perfectly with species appropriate fasting. Wolves do not eat every day. Dogs are very good at making eyes with their human guardians, so if the pain of fasting is too much for YOU, try a gradual introduction.
Gradually. Split their diet over 5 days, slowing removing and adding their raw ingredients. Although this seems the best in terms of logic, as raw food digests quicker than Kibble/canned food, its not considered the best way of transition.
Advice. We are here to help you so if you need to discuss changing to a Raw diet, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us Wagging Tail.
Early benefits you will see
Smaller, harder poo – This is natural, most of the raw meal is absorbed by your dog, leaving very little waste and very little to pick up.
Multi coloured poo – don’t worry this is just a reflection of the meat types you are feeding.
Drinking less water – This is normal, processed dehydrated dog food dehydrates your pet.
Eating faster than normal – Only to be expected, try out a slow eater dish if its a problem.
Storage
Raw dog food is sold frozen, so it’s convenient to store in a freezer. Once defrosted, the food will last for approximately three days in a fridge. Don’t be tempted to defrost Raw Dog food in a microwave as this may result in hot spots and some of the nutrients in the food will get destroyed as it heats up.
The best way to defrost frozen raw dog food is 24hrs in the fridge or on the side during a morning period. Stacked or larger products will take a little longer.
As long as you follow good hygiene practices, there is absolutely no reason you would be at risk from Raw Food. Clean your hands after handling raw dog food and clean any surfaces with anti-bacterial solution – just as you would with any other raw meat product.
Puppies and Dogs
How much and how often?
Puppies should be fed 5-6% of their growing body weight and adult dogs 2-3% of their ideal body weight. Young Puppies should have their food split into 4 meals. We recommend feeding dogs over the age of 6 months twice a day, at this age they can start to move to exciting adult varieties. Working dogs that have active days should increase to 4%.
This is only a guide. Some dogs may need more or less to maintain a healthy size. For example; Our Chief Taster ‘Bali’ although the same age and breed as her sister ‘Tillie’, they eat very different amounts of food as Bali has a faster metabolism and Tillie is very lazy!
You don’t need to get out the kitchen scales every meal, there are plenty of package size options making easy and practical for portion control.
Kittens and Cats
How much and how often?
Kittens should be fed 5-6% of their growing body weight and adult cats should be fed 2-3% of their ideal body weight. This is only a guide. Some cats may need more or less to maintain a healthy shape. We recommend a feeding any cats over the age of 6 months twice a day. Feral cats that feed outdoors should have a reduced indoor dish.
Food Intollerance
If you think your dog or cat has an intolerance or sensitivity to some foods, you may wish to carry out a simple food intolerance test.
These are available online and once you have your report, bring it in to Wagging Tail and we can discuss a Menu, customised to your cat or dog's needs.
Most dogs and cats, will eat just about anything put in front of them. But for some breeds, they are particularly sensitive to food types and traces.
Showing your pet means they need to be in tip top condition and getting their diet spot on is essential to get your pooch into the judges best in show.
Google search Pet Food Intolerance, we recommend UK Pet Food Intolerance The hair follicle test costs around £30-£50 and results are with you in a few days.