Novel protein dog food: goat, horse, venison and alpaca

A novel protein is a meat your dog hasn’t eaten before. Most dog food is built on a handful of meats, so for most New Zealand dogs that means something other than chicken, beef, lamb or fish: goat, horse, venison or alpaca, for example. Owners use them to add variety, or to feed a dog that needs to avoid the common proteins.

What counts as “novel”

There’s no fixed list. A protein is novel for your dog if they haven’t eaten it before. Chicken, beef and lamb are in most commercial dog food, so for most dogs anything outside those three is new.

Watch for hidden sources. Green tripe comes from adult cattle, so it counts as beef. Veal comes from young cattle, so we treat it as beef. Our shop filter lists veal on its own, so tick Veal as well as Beef. A lot of dog foods and treats also contain chicken even when it isn’t the main meat.

A quick way to work out what’s novel for your dog: write down every food, treat and chew they’ve had in the last year or so, and the meats in each. Anything not on that list is new to them.

The novel proteins we sell

Goat

Goat Mince is 100% NZ goat, and Goat Bones give you a raw bone from the same animal. Goat sometimes sells out. If it’s out of stock, leave your email on the product page and we’ll let you know when it’s back.

Horse, goat, venison and alpaca together

Wild Mix combines horse, goat, venison and alpaca, with offal. It contains no beef, chicken, lamb or fish, and no tripe. Alpaca is uncommon in pet food.

Horse with beef

Active Dog Mix and Breeders Mix both contain horse alongside beef. They’re a good way to bring horse into the bowl for a dog that already eats beef.

Goat mince, goat bones and Wild Mix are together on our raw goat dog food page.

Venison for dogs

Venison is deer meat, and in New Zealand it’s farmed as well as hunted. For most dogs it’s a new red meat, which is why people often ask about it when they’re moving away from beef and chicken.

Our venison comes in Wild Mix, where it’s in every batch alongside horse, goat, alpaca and offal. We don’t sell venison on its own or venison bones. For a beef-free bone to go with Wild Mix, Goat Bones do the job, and our guide to which raw bones dogs can eat explains how to match a bone to the food. Our guide to horse meat for dogs covers the other main meat in the mix.

Building a diet without beef or chicken

If your dog needs to stay away from both, keep the whole diet on proteins they can have:

• Muscle meat and organ: Wild Mix, which already includes offal, or Goat Mince with some Wild Mix mixed through for the offal
• Bone: Goat Bones a few times a week

Balance Mix is one for the chicken and beef eaters. It has chicken mince in it for the bone, and it contains green tripe, which counts as beef. The allergen filter in our shop greys out anything that contains the proteins you tick.

Here’s what that looks like for a 20 kg dog, using the 2.5% of body weight a day our feed calculator uses for a moderately active adult dog:

At that rate a 10 kg box of Wild Mix lasts a 20 kg dog about three weeks, and a 10 kg carton of Goat Bones goes a lot further. Lamb & Heart Rolls are another option with no beef or chicken, for a dog that already eats lamb.

Introducing a new protein

Go slowly, even if your dog is already raw fed. Mix a little of the new protein in with what they eat now and increase it over a week or so. Change one thing at a time, so if something doesn’t agree with your dog you know what it was. Our guide on switching to raw uses the same approach.

In practice that’s about a quarter new protein for a couple of days, then half, then three quarters, and all new by the end of the week if your dog is doing well. If stools go loose, hold at the current mix for a few days before going on.

Our guide to beef allergy in dogs explains how vets run an elimination diet, and our guide to raw food for dogs with allergies covers choosing food by protein.

Rotating proteins for variety

Plenty of owners rotate through several meats across the week or month simply for variety. Once your dog is settled on raw, adding goat or Wild Mix to the rotation is easy.

One common pattern is a “main” protein most days, with a novel one two or three days a week. Another is a box at a time: a carton of one product, then a carton of another. Both work, as long as each new meat goes in slowly the first time. Fish is a change of protein too; our guide to raw fish for dogs covers how to add it.

Common questions

Is goat good for dogs?

Goat is a lean red meat and a common choice for owners who want to avoid beef or chicken. Like any protein, introduce it gradually.

Are novel proteins more expensive?

Usually a little. Goat Mince and Wild Mix cost a bit more per kilo than our chicken or beef. The calculator works out how much your dog needs and how many cartons to order.

Is venison a novel protein for dogs?

For most New Zealand dogs, yes. Few dog foods use it, so a dog that has eaten mostly chicken, beef and lamb has usually never had it.

Is lamb a novel protein?

Usually not in New Zealand, because lamb turns up in a lot of dog food here. If your dog has never had it, it’s new to them.

Can I feed goat meat to my dog?

Yes. Our Goat Mince is 100% NZ goat, and Goat Bones give you a bone from the same animal.

Can dogs eat alpaca?

Yes. Alpaca is a red meat, fed raw the same way as any other. It’s in every batch of Wild Mix.

Can cats have novel proteins too?

Yes. Goat Mince and Lamb & Heart Rolls are both sold for cats as well as dogs. Our guide to feeding cats raw meat has the amounts.

How long should I stick with one new protein?

Give each new meat a week or two on its own before you bring in the next. That way, if something doesn’t suit your dog, you know which one it was.