questions for those who feed raw

About 2 1/2 weeks ago I started my corgi on a partially raw diet. What I have decided to do is feed one meal a day of pre-packaged raw (I decided to go with Nature's Variety Bison formula), and then the second meal 1/2 kibble (to put in interactive toys to keep him busy) and 1/2 raw meaty bones (for dental health) The RMB are mostly drumsticks, and I am just starting to introduce beef ribs and have also bought pork necks. So far I've had no vomiting or diarrhea from the transition.

My questions are, do you think feeding the pre-packaged raw and kibble will balance the diet enough so that when I do feed the RMB I don't have to add much variety to the type I feed (and can I only feed RMB and not have to mix all meat and organs since I'm feeding 3/4 of the diet "balanced")? I'm feeding the RMB mostly for dental health. I'm not ready to switch to a totally raw diet because I just don't have time right now to look all over town to find a source of offal (at the local stores I can only find liver so far). Maybe I will make the full switch closer to Christmas when my schedule isn't so crazy or next summer when I have time to do thorough research and searching.

Also, do you think this mix of food will still give my dog the health benefits of raw and a thicker shinier coat? And last of all, the last week or so Franklin has been grazing CONSTANTLY. Every time I take him out to play he will play for a few minutes then head to the tall grass and eat and eat and eat. Do you think this is from an upset tummy or something lacking in the diet? or is it possibly just the time of year when grass is super tasty to dogs?

THANKS!!

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Permalink Reply by John Wolff on November 13, 2010 at 9:56pm

Our dogs like grass too, dunno why.
We get frozen ground raw meat delivered to our door by a local company. We add just a little Wellness kibble. Too much kibble and their breath starts getting stinky and their teeth dirtier (we suspect). We give them the occasional big beef bone, raw but parboiled for disinfection. They gnaw them forever.
Beware choking hazards, esp. if your dog is a gulper. We lost a dog that way, a small corgi who inhaled everything; she was routinely fed raw chicken wings, drumsticks, and even chicken necks. but one bad day she was fed a turkey neck and died very quickly. All those raw chicken bones, BTW, just seemed to disappear.

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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on November 14, 2010 at 12:14pm

Thank you for the warning. Franklin will NEVER get chicken necks! He is a good little eater and chews and gnaws his food quite well. Its like he's been doing this all his life :-) I watch him with the bones and the beef ribs he actually doesn't eat the bone and thats why I was leaning more toward drumsticks because he will eat the whole thing. I figure with the rib he is still getting the flossing and scraping benefits because he does gnaw for a long time on them.