5 Things You Need Before Raw Feeding Your Dog

It can be a really scary thought to start feeding your dog raw. And it's even scarier to make the meals yourself. How are the meals prepared? What do you need to do to begin? 

Most pet parents have the same thoughts and feelings when starting to feed raw, so hopefully, in this article, you’ll learn what things you need to start so you’ll be prepared once you begin. 

1. A designated meal prepping area

When you start feeding a homemade raw diet it won’t be as easy as just pouring kibble anymore. You’ll need a designated area to prepare meals. The reason for this is food hygiene and safety. Even though raw meat is good for pets, it still has the potential to make humans sick.

Because we are using raw meats the chance for cross-contamination onto human food items is quite high. This can make people very sick. It’s important to have a special area just for preparing meals. We use a fold-out table and try to prep outside as often as possible.  

2. Storage containers

If you are meal prepping for a week or more, you're going to need some containers to store each meal in. This way you can put them in the freezer and pull them out the night before to thaw for the next day so it's easy to feed. There are lots of different types of containers that you can choose from:

Plastic: Many to choose from and different sizes and shapes can crack and warp over time.
Pyrex or glass: Stronger and easier to clean but they are expensive and don’t have lots of sizes

Silicone bags: Also handy and take up the least space but they are difficult to wash. 

You just have to find the best one for your situation and all have their pros and cons.

3. Poultry sheers

Raw feeding involves a lot of cutting. A sharp knife is an essential item to have to start DIY raw feeding, but that's not all you need. You’ll often find yourself having to cut raw meaty bones and doing this isn’t easy with a knife.

One thing people like to use is a meat cleaver, this can easily chip through bones if you slam it down hard enough. But if you want to cut through the joints or even through small bones, poultry sheers will be your best bet. Their shape helps cut through small bones with ease. 

4. Freezer space

An extremely important part about raw feeding your dog a DIY raw diet, homemade or not, is having the freezer space to store your pet's food.

When feeding commercial raw pet food it may not be as crucial to have so much freeze space because it's conveniently stored in portioned-out bags or containers. If you are feeding a DIY raw diet, it's not uncommon to have a bunch of parts left over from previous prepping. 

And on top of this, you tend to want to hoard as many interesting cuts as you can find. So this calls for a lot of freeze space. If you can get a chest freezer just for your pet's food that is ideal.