Can I feed kibble and raw dog food together?

written by Barbara Rivers December 30, 2017

Have you ever wondered Can I feed kibble and raw dog food together? I recently had a reader email me and ask my opinion about just that.

Unfortunately, I got a notification from the mail delivery software saying that my email reply couldn’t be delivered, so I decided to turn this topic into a blog post. It’s certainly an interesting topic, so thanks for asking the question, Jesus!

K9sOverCoffee | Reader question about raw and kibble

From “Raw Or Die” To Open-Minded Feeding

I’ll be honest and admit that had Jesus asked me the same question 2 years ago, I would have given him a different reply than today. Back then, I would have been a narrow-minded “raw or die” feeder and said something along the lines of “hell no, it has to be 100% raw”.

I have since then come to the conclusion that adding a little fresh, raw food to a dog’s regular, dry meals is better than no fresh food at all.

So by all means, go ahead and mix kibble and raw if you can’t afford raw by itself.

K9sOverCoffee.com | Can I feed kibble and raw dog food together?

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How To Feed Kibble & Raw Together

There are a few different options for feeding kibble and raw together.

One approach would be to top off your dog’s dry food with some raw dog food.

For example, add some green tripe.

It’s highly nutritious and drool worthy because it’s chock-full of digestive enzymes. I like the kind from Raw Paws Pet Food and Raw Feeding Miami.

Tip: You can save 15% off your Raw Paws Pet Food order with my affiliate discount code K9Savings at checkout. You can also save 15% off your Raw Feeding Miami order with my referral link.

K9sOverCoffee | Beef Green Tripe for Dogs: An Affordable Superfood — Green tripe from Raw Paws Pet Food

K9sOverCoffee.com | Chunked beef green tripe — Green tripe from Raw Feeding Miami

Good to know: Add a tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar to the mix of kibble and raw dog food

Dana Scott, editor-in-chief of Dog’s Naturally Magazine, suggests adding a tablespoon full of organic apple cider vinegar to a mixed meal of kibble and raw for easier digestibility.

However, I will admit that green tripe is some pretty smelly stuff.

Or add some bone broth

Alternatively, add a few spoonfuls of homemade bone broth. It’ll be soothing for your dog’s stomach. It also contains organic apple cider vinegar. Check out my bone broth recipe here.

Try adding a raw egg

Another option is to add a raw egg to your pup’s dry dog food. Eggs contain lots of minerals, vitamins, and omega-3s and are a nutrition powerhouse.

Add sardines

Or, as Steve Brown (founder of Steve’s Real Food) tells pet food blogger Rodney Habib, add some canned sardines:

K9sOverCoffee | Mixing Up Steve's Real Food With Green Tripe From TEFCO

My pups Missy & Buzz LOVE canned sardines by the way. I share some with them several times per week.

K9sOverCoffee.com | Missy & Buzz patiently waiting for their canned sardines — Missy & Buzz patiently waiting for their canned sardines

Feed separate meals of kibble and raw dog food for easier digestibility

You could also feed separate meals of dry and raw dog food. For example, dry for breakfast and raw for dinner, or vice versa.

Since dry and raw dog food digest at different rates, they can cause upset stomachs when fed together.

That’s why this might be a good option for dogs with sensitive stomachs.

Feed raw dog food as meals and treat with kibble

Another way of feeding both options would be to feed raw meals for breakfast and dinner. You can then treat, train, or play with kibble throughout the day.

What I like to do with my pups is play nose games in the yard. I’ll throw a handful of dehydrated dog food on the grass in the backyard and let the pups sniff it out.

I also use dehydrated food when we’re playing inside on crappy days – we especially love our stair games.

For this game, we go upstairs and then I throw a piece of dehydrated food down the stairs. The pups run after it, come back up the stairs, and we repeat this several times. It’s a fab energy burner, a super fun game, and the pups are extremely willing to work for the food reward.

K9sOverCoffee | Dehydrated Dog Food Works Great For Our Indoor Stair Games — Missy & Buzz with their dehydrated “treats”

We’ve been using Alaskan Wild Salmon by Grizzly Superfoods a lot lately. I found it at an independently owned pet retail store not far from us, Naturally Unleashed in Fayetteville.

Whenever I use the dehydrated food in between breakfast and dinner, I feed a few ounces less of the pups’ daily raw dog food allowance. I do that to avoid packing on extra pounds.

A Word On Which Kibble To Feed Along With Raw

There are a gazillion different brands of dry dog food out there. Of course it’s up to everyone’s personal preference and budgets to choose the right one for their pups.

I would suggest not feeding kibble that comes with the artificial preservatives BHA, BHT, TBHQ, & Ethoxyquin. Also, don’t feed the ones with artificial colors like reds, blues, yellows, & caramel color. All of them can cause neurological or cancerous issues. You’ll typically find them in the cheap brands on grocery store shelves and large retail stores like Walmart.

Independently owned pet retail stores typically carry a healthier selection of dry food. If you can afford to, I’d opt for dehydrated or freeze-dried dog food instead of kibble.

That’s because its ingredient list tends to be shorter. You also shouldn’t find harmful synthetic components or cheap fillers like corn and soy on the ingredient list.

I personally have fed Dr. Harvey’s, Sojos, Grandma Lucy’s, Stella & Chewy’s, and Grizzly Superfoods.