Raw feeding an 18-month Weimaraner

An 18-month Weimaraner is in that demanding adolescent window — technically past puppyhood but still burning through calories like a furnace, with muscle development that genuinely needs the protein to match. Raw feeding done well can be excellent for a dog like this, but done badly it creates nutritional gaps that cause real harm over time, and the difference is balance and sourcing. To point you in the right direction: roughly how much does your dog weigh right now, have you fed raw before, and are you looking for a complete ready-made option or are you comfortable mixing it yourself?

That's exactly the right instinct for a first-timer, and 32kg for a Weimaraner at 18 months is a solid working weight. For a complete raw you want something that has the right meat-to-bone-to-offal ratios already sorted, so you're not guessing. Before I give you a specific recommendation — is he neutered? And what's his daily activity like, are we talking two hard runs or more of a moderate walk situation?

Perfect, that changes the calorie picture significantly — an intact male Weimaraner with that activity level needs more than the standard 2–2.5% of bodyweight guideline suggests. I'd start him at around 3% of bodyweight, so roughly 960g per day, and watch his condition over two to three weeks rather than assuming it's right immediately. My recommendation is Natures Menu Country Hunter Raw Nuggets — they're a genuinely balanced complete raw in frozen nugget form, which makes portion control easy and removes the anxiety around contamination that puts a lot of people off raw. The chicken or turkey varieties are ideal for an active dog this age: high usable protein, appropriate bone content, and they include fruit and botanicals so it's nutritionally rounded without you needing to add anything. For a 32kg high-activity dog, the 1kg packs work out practical for daily use. Transition over seven to ten days by replacing roughly 25% of his current food each time — his gut needs to adjust even if he's keen to eat the whole bowl from day one.

A few things worth knowing. Stools will change — raw-fed dogs produce smaller, firmer, sometimes chalky droppings and that's normal, not a problem. If they go very loose for more than three or four days during the transition, slow it down rather than pushing through. Watch his topline and hip coverage every couple of weeks with your hands, not just your eyes — Weimaraners can drop condition quickly if the calories aren't quite right, and they can also carry weight deceptively. If he starts looking ribby, bump the daily amount up by 50–100g; if he softens around the flanks, pull it back slightly. Also worth a vet weight check at six weeks in just to have an objective baseline.

Not with Natures Menu Country Hunter — that's the point of a complete raw. Adding fish oil, kelp, or anything else on top of a product that's already nutritionally balanced risks creating imbalances rather than fixing them. The one exception I'd mention for an intact adolescent male doing serious daily exercise is a joint supplement like YuMOVE if you notice any stiffness after hard runs, but that's a joint support decision, not a nutritional gap. Otherwise, trust the complete formulation and let the food do the work.