Raw feeding puppies: what to know before you start

The short answer

You can raw feed a puppy, but take more care than with an adult. Puppies are growing fast, and what they eat in their first months matters. If you want to feed raw, choose a complete raw food made specifically for puppies, follow its feeding guide, weigh your puppy often and keep your vet involved from the start. The Kennel Club’s advice on raw feeding is to speak to your vet first, and that goes double for a puppy.

Puppies need a complete food made for growth

A puppy needs a food formulated for growth, not an adult food. Growing dogs have different needs from adults, and getting the balance wrong is harder to undo in a young dog. That rules out home-made mixes you haven’t had checked, meat-only products and adult complete foods, unless your vet tells you otherwise.

Read the label. A complete food says so; a complementary food is meant to be fed alongside something else. On a puppy food, look for wording that says it is complete and suitable for puppies or for growth. If the label isn’t clear, ask the brand, and take it to your vet.

Several UK raw brands make puppy ranges. Bella & Duke, the brand we feed our adult dogs, lists Puppy and Working Puppy ranges among its dog ranges (Adult Premium Complete, Puppy, Senior, Working Dog, Working Puppy, Superfood and Pure Meat + Bone). All About Dog Food, an independent rating site, scores two of its puppy foods:

Those scores look at ingredients and labelling. They don’t tell you how a food will suit your puppy. Our page on the Bella & Duke All About Dog Food rating explains what the percentages measure. If you have a puppy from a working breed, our page on Bella & Duke Working Dog covers the Working Puppy range too.

One thing to avoid as a puppy’s whole diet: All About Dog Food describes Bella & Duke’s Pure Meat & Bone as a complementary food, not a complete meal. The same goes for similar products from other brands.

Portions change month to month

Puppies eat far more for their size than adult dogs, and the amount changes as they grow. That is why the usual adult guide, 2–3% of body weight a day from the Kennel Club, doesn’t apply to puppies, and why we won’t give you a puppy percentage here.

Our raw feeding calculator deliberately gives no number for puppies. Choose “Puppy” and it explains why instead: their needs change month by month, and they need a puppy-specific plan. What to do instead:

• Follow the feeding guide on your puppy food. Brands that make complete puppy foods give puppy feeding guidance; some work out portions for you when you sign up.
• Weigh your puppy often. Weekly is a sensible habit while they are growing fast. Puppies should gain weight steadily.
• Adjust as they grow. A portion that was right last month may not be right now.
• Split the day into several meals. Puppies usually eat more often than adults; your vet or the food’s guide will suggest how many.
• Count treats. Training a puppy involves a lot of rewards, and they all add up.

Once your puppy is grown, our guide to how much raw food to feed covers adult portions. When to move from puppy to adult food depends on the dog, and larger breeds often stay on puppy food for longer, so ask your vet.

Involve your vet from the start

Tell your vet you plan to raw feed at your puppy’s first check-up, and keep them in the loop. Vets have different views on raw feeding, and it is better to hear yours early than to find out later. A vet who knows your plan can check your puppy’s growth and weight at each visit and flag anything that needs changing.

Things worth asking:

• Is raw a sensible choice for this puppy, and is there anything about their breed or health that changes that?
• Does the food I have chosen look suitable for growth?
• How often should I weigh them, and what should I expect them to gain?
• How many meals a day, and when should that drop?
• When should they move from puppy food to adult food?

Moving a puppy onto raw

If your puppy came home eating something else, change gradually rather than overnight. A new home is a lot for a puppy, and many owners keep them on their existing food for a while before introducing anything new. Ask your vet when to start.

When you do switch, mix small amounts of the new food into the old and increase it over a week or more, watching stools and appetite and slowing down if your puppy’s tummy seems unsettled. Our guide to switching from kibble to raw sets out a gradual plan; with a puppy, take it slowly and check with your vet if anything worries you. Diarrhoea in a young puppy can become serious quickly, so don’t wait it out.

Hygiene with a puppy and children

Raw meat carries bacteria, and a home with a puppy and young children needs a careful routine. The Food Standards Agency tested 380 samples (277 dog, 103 cat) of raw pet food on sale in the UK and found harmful bacteria in 35% of them, including Salmonella in 21%. The survey didn’t name brands, and the government’s note to vets about it stressed good hygiene when handling raw pet food.

Puppies lick faces, chew everything and drop food around. Children put hands in mouths. Sensible habits:

• Wash hands after preparing food, after picking up bowls and after puppy cuddles, and help children do the same.
• Keep children away from raw food, bowls and the feeding area at mealtimes.
• Pick up bowls as soon as your puppy has finished, and wash them in hot, soapy water.
• Clean surfaces where raw food has been prepared, and keep it apart from family food.
• Defrost in the fridge, covered, on the bottom shelf. Bella & Duke, for example, says its food takes around 24 hours.
• Think twice if anyone at home is very young, elderly, pregnant or unwell: a cooked or dry food may suit your household better. Ask your GP or vet if you are unsure.

Our guide to whether raw dog food is safe sets out what the FSA and vets say, and our guide to storing and defrosting raw food covers the kitchen routine in detail.

Our experience

We are honest about the limits of what we know here. Our two dogs are Roxy, a 10-year-old mixed breed, and Bracken, a 3-year-old border collie, and they have eaten Bella & Duke for about three years. This guide is general advice drawn from the sources at the bottom of the page, not a puppy diary.

Cost and offers

Puppies eat a lot for their size, so raw feeding a puppy isn’t cheap, and the bill grows with them. Get a quote for your puppy’s expected adult size as well as their current one before you commit.

If you choose Bella & Duke, our friend code gives 40% off your first two boxes, then 20% off the third, each up to a cap. It covers frozen food on your first three orders only, and its puppy ranges are frozen food, so it should apply to them in the same way. Check the discount shows on your first order before you pay. Our Bella & Duke discount code page has the code, the caps and who qualifies.

New UK customers only: your household must never have had a Bella & Duke account or delivery. Frozen food on your first three orders only, and it can't be combined with another offer.