10 Best topper ideas for your dog's Wild and Free meal
Our new Wild and Free range is designed to make DIY raw feeding easier! To create a complete and balanced meal, we recommend using Wild and Free for 90% of your dog’s daily nutritional needs and adding 10% plant matter of your choice.
You can also use our Wild and Free rolls as a base for any DIY raw feeding meals, with endless options for toppers, including our favourite ideas listed below! If you are adding food other than plant matter, subtract this from the portion of our Wild and Free rolls.
We recommend finely mincing fruits and vegetables to unlock their goodness as our pets lack the digestive enzymes to break down plants and access their nutrition. Mincing these ingredients allows our pets to benefit from the nutritional and antioxidant properties of these highly nutritive and beneficial ingredients.
Here’s some of our favourite meal toppers for homemade dog food!
1. Fruits: Apple, Green Banana, Blueberries, Raspberries, Strawberries, Watermelon
Fruit is a great way to make up the 10% plant matter for our Wild and Free rolls ensuring it becomes a complete and balanced meal. Some of our favourite additions are:
Apples for a great source of fibre, potassium, vitamin C, vitamin A, and antioxidants, green banana for potassium and vitamin C, watermelon for additional hydration as well as fibre, potassium, vitamin A and C! Dogs should not eat watermelon skin or rind, and it is best to avoid feeding them the black seeds.
Blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, raspberries and strawberries, are also great options! Berries provide amazing antioxidants to your pup which promote healthy growth and development (1).
2. Vegetables: Broccoli, Capsicum, Carrot, Celery, Cucumber, Green Beans, Pumpkin, Sweet Potato and more!
Veggies are another great option and will aid in making up your plant matter, a lot of these are added into Big Dog recipes for their nutrients and support to you pups healthy growth and development.
Broccoli is a great source of fibre and capsicum is a great aid in supporting your dog’s immune system (2).
You can find more information on the ingredients we use here.
3. Bones
Raw bone is a great source of glucosamine, chondroitin, phosphorus, calcium and bone marrow which all support healthy bones and teeth, as well as healthy growth and development. Calcium is also incredibly beneficial in maintaining and sustaining healthy muscle function and bolsters heart health.
Bones are a great dental aid, the chewing and grinding works to clean your dog’s teeth by removing the plaque build-up. They’re also a great tool for enrichment, brain focus and stress relief: a bone also provides them with something to focus their attention on, aside from chewing your shoes!
You can read more about the benefits of bone, the importance of feeding them raw and how to find the right bone for your pet here: Can bones be fed to your pet.
Adding Bones to Wild and Free:
Our Wild and Free rolls already contain crushed bone, which provides all the health benefits listed above, however you can still add bones to this meal. We recommend only adding bones occasionally, and removing excess fat from any bones you do feed. One way to tell is by their poops. If you find they are constipated or producing white poop, this could indicate that they are eating too much calcium (excess bones) in their diet. Find out what your dog’s poo means here.
Chicken feet and necks are a great and easy addition for dental health, turkey and beef bones are also great options, avoid weight-bearing bones which may cause harm.
4. Yoghurt, Kefir, and Milk
These are all great sources of probiotics, which can aid in your pup’s gut health and digestion. They’re also a great treat to freeze and add as a topper!
We recommend only using plain varieties or flavours of these products, as added sugar and artificial flavours may cause stomach upsets. You may find that goat milk is easier for your dog to digest than cow’s milk, so if you do notice changes in your dog’s poo after feeding them dairy, see if goat milk-based products work better (3).
5. Bone Broth and Liquids
Adding liquids to your dog’s diet is a great way to enhance their appetite and hydration, improve their digestive and gut health and can help fight inflammation! It can also be a great way to rehydrate meal additions such as freeze-dried products or soften foods like kibble to make digestion easier for your pet (4).
Bone broth is packed with nutrients that help support your pup’s immune and digestive system, promote healthy joints and is a great addition to help maintain a healthy coat!
We recommend looking for bone broths specifically designed for pets and to avoid any bone broths that contain onion, or you can make your own (4)!
Coconut water is a good source of nutrients such as vitamin C, iron, and calcium, as well as electrolytes. Unsweetened and unflavoured coconut water is recommended. Avoid giving your dog coconut water while they’re on prescription medication or antibiotics (5).
Or you can really shake things up with one of our favourites: Norm’s Freakshakes, these are a great powdered mix of goodies for your pup that you can mix with water for a colourful and flavourful addition to their Wild and Free bowl!
These are not substitutes for water.
6. Egg
Raw eggs are a great topper: chicken, duck and quail eggs all have amazing nutritional benefits for pets! Chicken eggs are a great source of vitamin A and E, selenium, iron, protein, folate, fatty acids and more! Egg whites offer high quality protein, potassium and amino acids and the yolk provides antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, healthy fats and protein! (6)
Crushed eggshells provide a great source of calcium, supporting healthy teeth and bones. Some dogs will love the crunch, but it may come down to your pup’s personal preference on taste and texture for the shell, so you can try finely grinding it up and sprinkling it over their meal if they aren’t eating it.
The eggshell membrane is also an amazing joint support as it contains glucosamine, elastin and collagen and has been studied for its effects in reducing arthritis in pets.
Adding Egg to Wild and Free
On average, chicken eggs are around 50-70 grams. So, when adding a chicken egg to our Wild and Free roll, we recommend taking this gram amount from the recommended Wild and Free meat portion, while still balancing their meal with plant matter.
For example: A 10kg adult dog requires 310 grams of food per day, with 90% of the Wild and Free roll meat making up 279 grams. If feeding a 70-gram egg, take this from the 279 grams, leaving you with 209 grams of Wild and Free meat, and 31 grams of plant matter.
As a simple breakdown:
• 209 grams of Wild and Free meat
• 70-gram egg
• 31 grams of plant matter
*We recommend only feeding egg occasionally, do not feed more than 1 egg per day
7. Supplements and Probiotics
Probiotics are a great addition to any meal, providing your dog with great nutrients to support their gut health and digestion. Our Big Dog Probiotics range or other supplements can be added to any meal, including Wild and Free.
Looking for supplements to start with? We’re big fans of Shy Tiger’s Oral Supplement and Antinol’s Joint, Skin and Coat Supplement.
8. Fish - Sardines, Salmon, Mackerel, Herring, Trout, Smelt and Anchovies
These are all great additions to your dog’s meal, oily fish is packed with omega-3 fatty acids, which are great for reducing inflammation, reducing joint pain and swelling and supporting a health skin and coat! The antioxidants in these fish are also shown to improve brain function (7).
If you’re using tinned fish, ones stored in spring water are best, avoid vegetable oil.
Using Fish with Wild and Free
Fish would be considered part of your dog’s meat portion, if you’re adding these to Wild and Free, remove the grams of fish from the Wild and Free serving.
9. Other Meat and Animal Products
Adding additional raw meat or other animal products is a great option! Wild and Free is designed to make homemade raw feeding easier, providing you with the base of meat, offal and bone, however you can always add offcuts or extra meat, just substitute the gram amount from your Wild and Free portion.
Additional meat or other animal products can also be a great enrichment opportunity for your pup! Our community are big fans of feeding meals in cows’ and pigs’ ears as an enrichment bowl. Other options include adding bully sticks, feet or heads (8).
This can also be a great opportunity to add fur into your pet’s diet, with amazing benefits including improved digestion and dental health (8).
10. Treats, Homemade Toppers and Enrichment Products
DIY raw feeding is a great opportunity to get creative with your pet’s meal, by making homemade toppers or filling a slow feeder, the options are endless!
Mixing our probiotic with canned or pureed pumpkin or yoghurt then freezing, makes an amazing topper with great health benefits, as well as being a boredom buster. You can also add dog friendly jerky or meal enhancements and toppers like bee pollen. If you’re getting super creative, you can add dog safe flowers, sprinkles or cookies!
You can check out some of our favourite brands for ideas on other toppers to add to your meals: Biggies Raw Pantry, Pet Botanica and Lulu’s Kitchen!
If you’re looking for other ideas, join our Facebook family to find some inspiration or you can check out some of our favourite DIY raw feeders here:
Echo.and.inyx, roo.and.daisy and chefsanddogs!
If you have any questions on how to use our Wild and Free rolls, check out our product pages for a breakdown on feeding or reach out to our team here.
If you make a Wild and Free bowl, send us your pics on Facebook or tag us on Instagram @bigdogpetfoods!
Sources
- Perfectly Rawsome (2023). Fruits. Retrieved 11th June 2024.
- Henriques, J (2022). 11 Benefits Of Vegetables For Dogs. Retrieved 4th June 2024.
- Grewel, G (2022). Is Yogurt Good For Dogs? Retrieved 4th June 2024.
- Levy, J (2018). Bone Broth for Dogs & Other Pets: Top 5 Benefits & How to Make Your Own. Retrieved 11th June 2024.
- Rover Staff (2024). Can My Dog Drink Coconut Water? Retrieved 4th June 2024.
- Houston, Dr D. Eggcellent Nutrition Advice. Retrieved 4th June 2024.
- CDK9 Raw (2023). How to Start Incorporating Raw Fish in Your Dog's Diet. Retrieved 4th June 2024.
- Perfectly Rawsome (2023). Gross Bits, Off-cuts, & Whole Prey. Retrieved 11th June 2024.