Dog roll vs raw mince: what's the difference?

“Dog roll” is a Kiwi staple, and a term plenty of New Zealanders search for. It’s worth knowing what’s inside one before you compare it with raw food. Here’s how the three compare, and how raw rolls work day to day.

What’s in a typical dog roll

A traditional dog roll is made by mixing meat with other ingredients and cooking it in a long casing. Check the label on any roll and you’ll often see:

• meat and meat by-products
• a cereal or starch, such as semolina
• sugar, salt or both
• preservatives, so the roll keeps longer

Some rolls don’t need to be refrigerated until they’re opened, which is part of their appeal. Recipes vary a lot between brands, and some newer rolls are grain-free or gently cooked, so the label is the thing to read.

A quick way to read a roll’s label: ingredients are usually listed from most to least by weight, so look at what comes first and how far down the list the meat sits.

What raw mince is

Raw mince for pets is uncooked meat, minced and frozen. Some minces include bone or organ. Ours come in 10 kg cartons cut into blocks, so you thaw only what you need. Our guide to pet mince versus supermarket mince covers the different kinds.

The blocks are about 500 g each, hand cut, in a liner inside a 36 × 27 × 18 cm carton. You take out a block or two at a time and leave the rest frozen.

Raw rolls: the roll shape, raw inside

Our rolls are raw meat in a 1.8 kg roll, frozen, ten rolls to an 18 kg carton, with no fillers or preservatives:

• Tripe Rolls: 100% NZ green tripe
• Lamb & Heart Rolls: lamb and lamb heart
• Chicken & Fish Rolls: chicken and fish

Each roll is raw blended mince in a tube, a bit like a big sausage of wet meat, so it scoops rather than slices. When they sell out, you can leave your email on each product page to be told when they’re back.

Side by side

Using raw rolls

Thaw one roll at a time in the fridge. A 1.8 kg roll is about four days of main meals for a moderately active 20 kg dog, with raw bones making up the other tenth of the day. Once it’s thawed, portion it into meals: keep the next two to three days’ worth in the fridge and refreeze the rest straight away.

Lamb & Heart and Chicken & Fish Rolls work as a main part of the bowl, and Tripe Rolls are usually fed as a topper or alongside other proteins. Rotate them with your dog’s other foods, and add some organ, for example with Balance Mix.

Here’s roughly how far one roll goes as the main meals, at the 2.5% of body weight our feed calculator uses for a moderately active adult dog, with raw bones making up the other tenth of the day:

Raw meat thawed in the fridge can be refrozen, so a roll works for a small dog or a cat too: thaw it, split it into tubs, and move one down to the fridge every couple of days.

Which roll for which dog

All three are the same 1.8 kg size, so you can swap between them in the freezer without changing your routine. Our green tripe guide has amounts for tripe as a topper. See all three in our raw dog rolls range.

Rolls or blocks?

• Rolls suit bigger dogs and homes with more than one dog, who get through a roll in two or three days. Thaw, empty into a container, scoop.
• Blocks of about 500 g suit any size, and they make smaller amounts easy: thaw one or two at a time.
• Both work in the same freezer and the same week. Plenty of owners keep a carton of each and rotate.

Our guide to portioning raw dog food shows how long a whole carton of rolls or blocks lasts by dog size.

Moving from dog roll to raw

If your dog eats dog roll now, the change is straightforward because they already like meat in a roll. Start with one protein, mix a little raw into the usual roll, and build up over one to two weeks. Keep the total amount about the same as you go, so you’re swapping food rather than adding it.

Raw mince or a raw roll is a natural next step from a cooked roll: the same idea, minus the cooking and the fillers.

Roll questions

Can I switch from dog roll to raw?

Yes, the same way as from any other food: a little at a time over one to two weeks. Our guide to switching to raw has a plan.

Is cooked dog roll the same as raw food?

No. Even an all-meat cooked roll has been cooked, and most raw feeders choose raw specifically to keep the food uncooked.

Common questions

Can I cut a raw roll into slices?

Not really. A raw roll is soft mince in a tube, so it doesn’t hold a slice. Thaw it whole and scoop it from a container.

How long does a thawed roll keep?

Two to three days in the fridge, in a sealed container. Freeze what you won’t use in that time.

Are your rolls grain-free?

Yes. Our rolls are raw meat with no fillers, grain or preservatives. Our guide to grain-free raw dog food covers the rest of the range.

Can cats eat your rolls?

Lamb & Heart Rolls are sold for cats as well as dogs. Split a thawed roll into small tubs and freeze most of them.

Do raw rolls need thawing first?

Yes. Move a roll from the freezer to the fridge the day before, and empty it into a container once it’s soft.

What’s uncooked mince for dogs?

The same as raw mince: meat minced and frozen without cooking, such as our 10 kg boxes of blocks.