Raw feeding... and holidays!

[Lintel]

Having mused with raw feeding for some time today we took the plunge and bought our first "real" batch of raw.
Then it dawned on me. It's frozen....
Pup is going into kennels for one night in May(as a wee trial) as he is going for a week in June. Now clearly one night will not be a problem as it won't need to be frozen but I don't particularly feel comfortable asking the kennel owners to store a weeks worth of raw food in their freezer!! So what do others do?

And a wee photo because we all love photos really!
picture host

 

[CorvusCorax]

I did it (brought the food in a cool box with extensive instructions) but it was a pain in the rear and they didn't feed him enough. I'd go for wet trays or tins when you're away.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Meep! Cuteness!

I bagged up individual meals for my two for a fortnight last time we went away. Fortunately, there’s a big freezer at the kennels and the owner is well into raw feeding her own.

I don’t know what I’d do if she said we couldn’t bring the raw, maybe switch to Wainwright’s trays temporarily? Big dog has those and it’s breakfast for everyone already.

Can you at least ask the kennel owners? A week’s worth of bagged meals is not much.

 

[{97702}]

To be honest nowadays I would expect the kennels to be able to accommodate raw feeding? Obviously check with them first, but a freezer is hardly a large investment for them and raw feeding is not nearly as unusual as it used to be

 

[pippixox]

As long as they have a freezer and probably clear meals (if you mix different meats and bones rather than just complete mince) then it isn’t that hard. Some dogs have allergies or medicine that kennels can deal with.

You can get the complete raw meal trays which are easier, just a bit pricier.

 

[Lintel]

Thanks all! The raw we have been getting now is in 500g packets so he pretty much gets 1 Am and 1 Pm.
What are the wainwrights trays?

 

[CorvusCorax]

It's a brand sold at Pets at Home etc. Any sort of wet food in a tray would suffice. For example I use Naturo (you can get it in Tesco) when travelling to keep the dog hydrated.
I used to feed Natural Instinct minces, which come in an ice cream tub.

 

[dollyanna]

Many kennels have their own freezer or at least fridge, and it is easy enough to just provide a complete mince for the week in individual portions. I would ask them to provide bones if I am away, partly due to hygiene (they mey not want raw bones all over the kennel) but also because I am willing to take the risk on the bones I feed but would not ask someone else to do so.
Failing that I just switch to akela kibble which is excellent or applaws pouches, or both - other wet trays don't suit my dogs but these have never created a problem.

 

[blackcob]

I expect most kennels are raw savvy now. Mine switch to Natures Menu tins or pouches (they do a useful 300g pouch) but I have previously portioned out meals into ziplock bags and sharpied the dog's names and AM/PM on, kennels perfectly happy to dole those out.

 

[dougbthom]

Having mused with raw feeding for some time today we took the plunge and bought our first "real" batch of raw.
Then it dawned on me. It's frozen....
Pup is going into kennels for one night in May(as a wee trial) as he is going for a week in June. Now clearly one night will not be a problem as it won't need to be frozen but I don't particularly feel comfortable asking the kennel owners to store a weeks worth of raw food in their freezer!! So what do others do?

And a wee photo because we all love photos really!
picture host

Good on you for going "raw". We are in Canada and must say that most reputable boarding facilities will look after feeding raw foods and have freezer space for the food. They do understand the MANY benefits of feeding raw (real food) rather than as we call it here (Crap in a bag). Good luck.

 

[MissTyc]

The kennels I use have a massive freezer for raw ... but I have occasionally used a Wainwright tray as above for ease of storage e.g. when going camping for a few days! They make a grain-free tray that we've never had any problems with even in sensitive dog.

 

[maisie06]

Just back from a weeks holiday with the boy, I took forthglade trays to feed instead of his morning portion of raw, no problems at all.