Mixing raw and dry dog food is one of the questions we’re asked most often in the shop, usually followed by “is that allowed?” If you’ve read different answers online, you’re not alone, as it’s a topic that gets people surprisingly heated. As the evenings draw in and lots of you start thinking about freshening up the food bowl, we thought we’d share how we approach it at BTB, what it may mean for your dog’s digestion, and the gentle tips we find ourselves sharing in the shop every week. No rules, no judgement, just a friendly look at the options.
Why mixing raw and dry dog food is such a hot topic
You may have heard that raw and dry food “digest at different speeds” and should never meet in the same bowl. It’s a theory that has been around for years, and it’s easy to see why it worries people.
One of our favourite voices on this is Dr Conor Brady of Dogs First, who has looked at the dry and raw mixing debate in detail. His conclusion is that there simply aren’t studies to support either side yet, and he points to X-ray work suggesting kibble moves through the dog only a little quicker than meat and bone. So the “different speeds” worry may be smaller than it sounds.
What happens in your dog’s tummy
This is the gut health bit, and it’s fascinating. Dr Brady explains in his Dogs First FAQ on mixing raw and dry that dry-fed dogs tend to have a stomach pH of around 2.5, while a raw diet calls for a more acidic environment of around pH 1.5. That might not sound like much, but pH works on a scale where each step is a tenfold change.
That’s exactly why we always suggest going slowly when mixing raw and dry dog food. And if your dog does have a little wobble along the way, please don’t worry. It happens to plenty of dogs, however carefully you go, and it doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong.
A little fresh food is better than none
This is something we say in the shop all the time. Not everyone can, or wants to, feed fully raw. Budgets, freezer space, busy lives and fussy eaters all play a part, and that’s completely fine. You can only feed the best you can, and adding even a spoonful of fresh food to a dry diet is a lovely step.
Many of our customers find mixing raw and dry dog food works well in one of two ways:
- As a stepping stone. Gradually increasing the fresh portion over days or weeks while you move across to raw. Dr Nick Thompson, in his sceptic’s guide to raw food, says most dogs convert in one to seven days, and that changing over a month is also fine if you have dry food to use up.
- As a long-term way of feeding. Fresh food alongside dry, every day, for good.
How we suggest mixing raw and dry dog food gently
Here’s what we usually recommend when someone pops in wanting to give it a go:
- Start small. A teaspoon at one meal, a little more at the next, and build up from there. There’s no prize for rushing!
- Use minced raw if it’s going in the same bowl. Ground raw food mixes in nicely with dry, but we’d keep meaty bones as a separate meal rather than serving them alongside kibble.
- Think about separate meals. If you’re feeding both long term, plenty of our customers like raw in the morning and dry in the evening, or the other way round.
- Start with a familiar protein. Most dry foods are chicken or beef based, so a simple chicken raw is often a gentle first step. Naturaw Real Simple Chicken is a single-protein option many of our customers like to begin with, and BR Chicken 80/10/10 Mince is a handy minced complete for building up from those first teaspoons.
- Keep an eye on the poo. It’s one of the best everyday clues to how your dog is getting on (we wrote a whole post on it last week!).
If your dog has a sensitive tummy
For dogs whose digestion is already a bit unsettled, we’d take an even gentler route than mixing raw and dry dog food straight away, starting with a little broth or lightly cooked meat first. A warm splash of broth over dinner is also a lovely way to make the bowl more interesting while things settle. Forthglade Hearty Chicken Bone Broth Topper is an easy one to keep in the cupboard, and you can read more in our post on why bone broth is good for dogs.
And of course, if your dog’s tummy is regularly upset, please have a chat with your vet before making changes.
Mixing raw and dry dog food: our take
There’s no single right answer, and anyone who tells you otherwise may be overselling the evidence. What we can say is that mixing raw and dry dog food, done gently and sensibly, is a perfectly reasonable choice for lots of families. Whether you’re mixing as a stepping stone or as your forever way of feeding, every little bit of fresh food counts. If you’d like to go fully raw, our Raw Feeding Transition Guide walks you through it step by step.
Pop in and chat with us
If you’d like to talk through mixing raw and dry dog food for your own dog, we’d love to help. Pop into the shop at Unit A, Newton Farm, Tewkesbury, GL20 7BE. We’re about a minute from Junction 9 of the M5, so it’s an easy stop on your way through. We stock 12 raw food brands, including Naturaw, Durham Animal Feeds, Dougies, Henley Raw, Wilder Pet Food and Betsys, plus dry and cold-pressed foods from DAF, Forthglade, Ydolo and Alpha Spirit, so we can help you find a combination that suits your dog and your life.
Can’t get to us? Our local delivery covers Tewkesbury, Cheltenham, Bishops Cleeve, Malvern, Worcester and the surrounding areas. You can browse everything at btbdogsupplies.co.uk.
Happy autumn feeding from all of us at BTB!
Natasha Hartwell, BTB Dog Supplies
This article is for general information only. If your dog has ongoing digestive issues or you’re worried about their health, please speak to your vet.
