I am considering moving all my 3 dogs - Beagle,Springer and Cocker - over to a raw diet as the more I read the more I feel this is an appropriate way. But, I have no experience of this feeding method and, if you start reading up on the web, its really easy to get confused as to what to feed and how.

Those of you that already feed raw - what suggestions do you have?

Should I consider buying in food such as Natural Instinct or should I make my own?

All 3 dogs are currently on kibble as follows:-

Beagle (2 1/2 yrs old) Royal Canin Weight Management. We have had issues with his weight and I am keen to ensure a balanced weigh maintenance diet that also satisfies his appetite.

Springer (20 months old) Burns Chicken and Brown Rice. She is a nice weight but due to be spayed soon as I want to make sure she keeps her waistline after the op. She does have a tendency to running tummy sometimes.

Cocker (20 weeks old) Burns Mini Bites. No issues at all except the usual constant hunger :-) Want to get the right diet for him to ensure healty growth.

I have the time to make my own but, as we own a second home in Cornwall, don't want to be transporting food up and down the M5 or have to have 2 freezers full of food.

Open to all comments on this subject but just a bit confused at present.

For convience I use Natural Instinct to wean the pups, but then move them on to what  I call proper raw around five weeks of age. With the type of  raw I feed  the older dogs apart from the veg mix there is no making up, it is just pieces of raw meat and bone. whatever I can buy is portioned into carrier bags frozen and as needed put into a fridge to defrost, it is then just cut up and given to the dogs as required.

I simply  weight whatever amounts I am giving to each dog, it varies according to the dog. I have trained the dogs, four of them to go into the big bed in the kitchen, put out each dogs bowl in it's area and give a release cue, the dogs then go to their own bowls.

On getting the diet right  ........................I rely on buying as many different types of raw as I can lay my hands on.

As for a second home, you could find another source for the raw in Cornwall, wherever there are humans there are butchers preferably wholesale butchers, and wherever there are butchers there is raw dog food.

Thank you for this info. I think I'll approach my local butcher to see what he has on offer. Would you suggest that I start with something simple like chicken wings?

Chicken is the meat of choice to start off with, I am going to suggest whole chicken. Our local Tesco are doing a special on whole chicken 4 for £12 pick out the biggest ones and that's less than £2 a kilo, I bought 8 for the dog freezer last week, all you need is a good pair of poultry shears to cut them up. Turkey was also on offer but sold out. I suggest after chicken think of moving on to whole lamb breast, a wholesale butcher should have them in 10kg boxes price varies from 50p to £1.50 a kg depending on if they have a lot they can't shift. Bookers are doing frozen pilchards for £3 a kg you can sometimes get them cheaper in the other supermarkets.