DIY / Home Made Raw

DIY Raw Feeding: A Practical, Cost‑Conscious Guide for Dog Owners

Many owners explore DIY raw feeding because it offers flexibility, control over ingredients, and the potential to reduce costs compared to pre‑made raw meals. Whether it becomes cheaper depends on where you source ingredients and how much value you place on the time spent preparing meals. With thoughtful planning and a good understanding of nutritional balance, DIY feeding can be both economical and deeply rewarding.

What Is DIY Raw Feeding?

DIY raw feeding involves preparing meals yourself using raw meat, bone, and offal in proportions that reflect a whole‑prey nutritional profile. There are two common approaches:

• Whole‑Prey Feeding: Feeding an entire animal to mimic natural consumption.

• Franken‑Prey Feeding: Combining parts from different species to create a balanced “whole.”

DIY feeding requires planning, organisation, and an understanding of nutritional ratios, but it offers full control over quality, variety, and cost.

How to Begin DIY Feeding

1. Start With Pre‑Made Raw

Beginning with pre‑made raw meals for a few weeks or months helps you learn your dog’s preferences, digestive patterns, and portion needs before preparing meals yourself.

2. Introduce Raw Meaty Bones

Offer raw meaty bones occasionally, then balance the bone content by providing bone‑free meals as needed. Stool consistency is your best guide:

• White or hard stools → reduce bone

• Difficulty passing stools → offer boneless meals until normal

Include organ meats such as 5% liver and 5% other secreting organs (e.g., kidney). While missing organs occasionally won’t cause harm, they are essential for long‑term balance.

3. Transition Gradually

Start with DIY meals 1–2 days per week. Some dogs may be selective with offal — mincing it into meat or lightly flash‑frying before serving raw can help. Increase DIY meals slowly while monitoring digestion and tolerance.

Essential Equipment for DIY Raw Feeding

Having the right tools makes preparation easier and safer:

• Digital kitchen scales

• Disposable gloves

• Reusable freezer bags or good Tupperware

• A vacuum packer & sealing bags if space is hard to come by in your freezer

• A good quality meat cleaver

• Strong kitchen scissors

• A method for labelling that is freezer proof

• A rubber mallet

• A defrosting board

• A freezer large enough for bulk buying such as Beko Chest Freezer, Willow Chest Freezer, Hotpoint Freestanding Freezer. (full freezers are more energy‑efficient)

Some owners also use heavy‑duty grinders capable of handling sinew and certain bone types, such as the Meat Grinder Commercial Electric Mincer 170KG/Hr Stainless Steel Butchers Sausage Maker Cutter Burger Mince Heavy Duty Blades recommended by a gamekeeper.

Finding Affordable Ingredients

DIY feeding becomes more cost‑effective when you shop smart:

• Look for supermarket yellow‑label reductions.

• Compare prices with raw pet food suppliers.

• Use local suppliers to reduce delivery costs (via our Suppliers Map).

• Keep a well‑stocked freezer and rotate ingredients efficiently.

  
  

Balancing a DIY Raw Diet

A commonly used guideline for balanced DIY meals is:

• 70–80% meat

  • Up to 20% of this can be muscle‑based organs (heart, lung, trachea, tongue, green tripe, gizzards).

• 10% bone

  • Adjust using our Bone Calculator and stool charts here.

• 5% liver

• 5% other secreting organs (kidney, spleen, pancreas, brain)

For personalised support, many owners consult  1 on 1 nutritionists

Additional Nutritional Considerations

General Supplements (if not feeding plant matter)

✔️ Dorwest Herbs Easy Greens

✔️ Dorwest Herbs Keepers Mix

✔️ Proflax Flax Range Oil

✔️ River & Wren Botanical Everyday Blend

Extra Nutrient Sources

• Bone broth (daily) – gentle digestive support

• Raw eggs (2–3× weekly) – nutrient‑dense whole food

• Raw oily fish (2–3× weekly) – natural source of Omega‑3s

Always balance high‑bone meals with boneless options to maintain healthy stool consistency.

Liver, Vitamin A & Copper Sensitivity

Liver Feeding

• Keep liver at 5% of the total diet.

• Excess liver may cause loose stools.

  
  

Vitamin A

Typical raw diets don't exceed safe levels, but awareness is helpful:

• Max recommended: 62,500 IU per 1000 calories

• Beef liver: 16,989 IU per 100g

• Chicken liver: 11,078 IU per 100g

  
  

Copper‑Sensitive Breeds

Some breeds have difficulty processing copper, including: Bedlington Terriers, Dobermans, West Highland White Terriers, Skye Terriers, Dalmatians, and Labrador Retrievers.

Clarifying Muscle Meat vs. Offal

Only secreting organs count as offal. Muscle‑based organs (heart, lung, tongue, trachea, green tripe, gizzards) are classified as meat.

• Heart should make up no more than 20% of the total diet.

• Some dogs may react to high‑histamine foods like tripe — see your Blog About Tripe for more detail.

  
  

Final Tips for DIY Success

• Plan meals ahead to avoid mistakes and reduce stress.

• Monitor stools — they reveal how well your dog tolerates bone and new proteins.

• Adjust ratios based on your dog’s individual needs; 10% bone is a guideline, not a rule.

• Introduce new proteins slowly to support digestive comfort.

DIY raw feeding takes practice, but with preparation and observation, it can be cost‑effective, nutritionally rich, and incredibly rewarding.