Raw feeding for beginners: the terms explained

Raw feeding comes with its own vocabulary, and it can make a simple idea sound complicated. Here are the terms you’ll come across on raw feeding sites and in Facebook groups, in plain English, with where our products fit.

The two main styles

BARF

Short for “Biologically Appropriate Raw Food”, or “Bones and Raw Food” depending on who you ask. It’s a widely known style of raw feeding: raw muscle meat, raw bone and organ, sometimes with a little fruit or vegetables. Our BARF diet page goes into more detail.

Prey model

Prey model raw (often shortened to PMR) sticks to what a whole prey animal would provide: muscle meat, bone and organ, with no plant foods at all. Most of the day-to-day feeding looks the same as BARF.

The ratios

80/10/10

A common rule of thumb to start with: about 80% muscle meat, 10% raw bone and 10% organ. It’s a guide to aim for over a week, not something to weigh out to the gram at every meal. Our raw dog food calculator plans about 90% of the food as mince or blend and 10% as raw bones; the offal in a mix, or Balance Mix, brings the organ part.

Balancer

A mix you add to plain mince to bring in bone and organ. Balance Mix is ours: one part Balance Mix to two parts of any mince.

The parts of the bowl

Muscle meat

The bulk of the diet. Heart, tongue and cheek are counted as muscle meat, even though they’re sold alongside offal, because they’re muscles.

Organ, or secreting organ

Liver, kidney, spleen and similar organs. Liver is the one most raw feeders make sure is in there. Our guide to liver and organ meat covers how much.

Offal

A looser word for the internal parts of an animal, which can include organs, heart and tripe. When a product says “with offal”, check what’s in it: ours are mostly organs such as liver and kidney, with some heart.

Green tripe

Raw, unbleached cattle stomach. Most raw feeders keep it separate from the organ part and use it as a topper or alongside muscle meat. There’s more in our green tripe guide.

Bones

Raw meaty bones (RMBs)

Raw bones with meat and cartilage still on them, such as brisket or neck bones. These make up the bone part of the diet.

Recreational bones

Big, dense bones given to chew on rather than eat. Many raw feeders skip the heaviest weight-bearing ones. Our guide to which raw bones dogs can eat explains how to choose.

Bone in the mince

We’re asked fairly often whether our mixes have bone in them. Chicken Mince is minced with the bone, and Balance Mix has bone-in chicken mince through it. Our other mixes are meat and offal, so add a raw meaty bone a few times a week.

Other words you’ll see

• Single protein: food made from one animal only, such as our Beef Mince or Goat Mince.
• Novel protein: a meat your dog hasn’t eaten before. See our guide to novel proteins.
• Rotation: changing proteins through the week or month for variety.
• Topper: a small amount of something tasty on top of the usual meal, like tripe or an egg.
• Transition: the week or two of moving from the old food to raw. Our switching guide has a day-by-day plan.

Words about how raw food is sold

Our guide to how to choose a raw dog food puts these terms to work.

Words about amounts

• Percentage of body weight: the usual way raw amounts are given. Most adult dogs eat about 2 to 3% of their body weight a day; our calculator uses 2.5% for a moderately active adult, so a 20 kg dog eats about 500 g.
• Ideal weight: the weight to work from if your dog needs to lose or gain a little, rather than their current weight.
• Body condition score: a hands-on check of ribs, waist and tummy tuck. Our guide to the dog body condition score shows how.
• Puppy amounts: a bigger share of current weight that tapers as they grow. See our puppy feeding guide.

Words about safety and storage

• Thawing: always in the fridge, never on the bench. Thawed food keeps two to three days.
• Refreezing: raw meat thawed in the fridge can be refrozen, which helps with small dogs and cats.
• Freezer burn: dry, pale patches on frozen food. A quality thing, not a safety one.
• Cross-contamination: raw meat juices getting onto other food or surfaces. Keep raw pet food in a sealed container on the bottom shelf, and wash up after meals. Our raw feeding hygiene guide has the routine.

Where to start

You don’t need every term on day one. Pick one protein, add bones and organ once your dog is settled, and aim for roughly 80/10/10 over a week.

Common questions

Is BARF the same as raw feeding?

BARF is one style of raw feeding. Prey model is the other main one. Both use raw meat, bone and organ; BARF sometimes adds a little fruit or vegetables.

What does 80/10/10 mean?

About 80% muscle meat, 10% raw bone and 10% organ, worked out over a week rather than at every meal.

Do I need a balancer?

Only with plain muscle-meat mince. A mix with offal through it already brings organ, and Chicken Mince brings bone.

What’s the difference between offal and organ?

Offal is the butcher’s word for all the insides, heart and tripe included. Organ in raw feeding means the secreting organs, such as liver and kidney. Our guide to liver and organ meat explains how much.

What’s a raw meaty bone?

A raw bone with meat and cartilage on it, such as brisket or neck. Our guide to raw bones has a table of which goes with which food.