Why choose a raw food for a puppy?
How to feed a raw diet for puppies
Why feed a raw dog food diet for puppies?
Feeding raw brings tangible, long-lasting benefits to a dog at any stage of its life. By putting your puppy on a raw diet, you'll be providing biologically appropriate raw food (BARF).
Without any grains, fillers, or artificial ingredients, raw feeding aims to mimic the diet that dogs would have evolved to eat over thousands of years. This approach builds their overall wellbeing in the following ways:
· Supports digestive health – When puppies are still getting used to solid food, they can occasionally suffer from digestive issues. Raw food is easy to digest, which helps maintain energy levels and also promotes optimal oral health for your puppy.
· Naturally great tasting – Our raw puppy food contains no bulking agents, additives, or artificial enhancers. With biologically appropriate ingredients and high-quality meat, the taste of our food will be something your dog loves, completely naturally.
· Promotes healthy development – A BARF diet promotes healthy growth and protects dogs from unwanted effects such as poor digestion, bad breath, or greasy coats.
Do you sell raw treats for puppies?
Yes. Our range of puppy food includes delicious raw puppy treats.
From tasty raw sprats to dried favourites like tripe sticks and fish twists, natural treats are a brilliant way to complement your puppy's diet. They provide valuable nutrients and help to keep their brains busy too, ideal for settle training and more.
Just remember to check the label before you give your puppy a new treat, because certain types are only appropriate for dogs with adult teeth.
What are the ingredients in your raw puppy food?
We take pride in our ingredients. Our puppy formula has been developed by canine nutritionists who have sourced human-grade quality meat and carefully selected vegetables to create the base of our tailored puppy raw food.
Buying Nutriment raw puppy food means that your growing dog will get all the essential nutrients, amino acids, vitamins and minerals needed for optimum development. Our complete puppy raw food recipes only contain:
· Meat – including chicken and turkey.
· Offal – like beef heart, kidney and liver.
· Vegetables – from curly kale to fresh broccoli and butternut squash.
· Superfoods – including spirulina, chia seeds, and raw sea kelp powders.
How do you start feeding a puppy raw food diet?
· 3-6 weeks: Weaning paste
Our weaning paste allows you to gently introduce puppies to raw food. Expertly developed for puppies aged between three and six weeks old, this paste is designed to supplement their mother's milk. It's best offered after a milk feed.
· 6 weeks onwards: Puppy raw food
From six weeks of age, you can start to introduce other recipes included in our raw puppy food range. It's a fantastic time to let your puppy explore different tastes and textures, building both their curiosity and confidence.
· After 16 weeks: Adult raw food
Once your puppy reaches four months of age, it's time to start trying the flavours across our complete range of raw dog food. Once they're fully weaned onto raw, you can pick and choose between their favourites to suit your budget.
For more information on feeding a nutritionally complete raw diet for puppies, please head over to our online guide.
How much raw food should I feed my puppy?
We recommend feeding between 4 and 6% of your puppy's weight per day. Here's an example of the appropriate feeding ranges per weight:
· 5kg - 200 to 300g
· 10kg - 400 to 600g
· 15kg - 600 to 900g
· 20kg - 800 to 1200g
· 25kg - 1000 to 1500g
· 30kg - 1200 to 1800g
However, it's worth remembering that every dog is different. When you're working out how much raw food to feed your puppy, you should also consider their breed type, activity levels, and expected adult size. Our raw feeding calculator can help you with your first order.
Is raw meat for puppies safe?
Yes. With the appropriate storage and hygiene, our raw dog food for puppies is perfectly safe to feed every day. We only use human-grade meat from Red Tractor-assured partners, advocating for animal welfare and strong environmental practices.
Additionally, our weaning paste is ground very finely for maximum safety and digestibility. This means that young puppies can still get all the nutritional benefits of bone without the risk of choking on small pieces.
We understand that you may be worried about bacteria in raw food. Our products are thoroughly tested for salmonella and other bacteria. Our ingredients, including all meats, are all fit for human consumption.
Can puppies eat raw food and kibble?
Yes, you can feed a combination of raw puppy food and kibble. You just need to make sure that they're getting all the right nutrients and calories to suit their breed, age, and activity levels. With careful planning, you can enrich your dog's diet.
It's perfectly safe to feed a mixture of dry and raw food to your puppy. Maybe you serve raw meals from a bowl in the morning, but feed kibble by hand when you're training together. Alternatively, you might mix and match to help balance costs, or perhaps you lead a busy lifestyle and spend lots of time away from home.
No matter your circumstances, raw puppy food is a beneficial choice for any growing dog.
When should I put my puppy on a raw diet?
If you've already got a puppy at home, it's never too early – or too late – to transition them onto a raw diet.
For puppies who started out on a dry food diet from their breeder, it's worth knowing that adjusting to raw meat puppy food might take a few days. The transition might be easier for puppies who are already used to wet or fresh puppy food, but it's still worth introducing the food gradually.