This is a specific conversation about Raw dog food — what to know before you start — ask about yours and get one honest answer for your exact situation.
inparticular.ai
Skin breakouts after switching to lamb raw is a classic sign of a protein sensitivity — and it's actually useful information, because it tells you exactly what to avoid rather than leaving you guessing. Raw feeding done well can be excellent for a ten-year-old dog, but done badly it creates nutritional gaps that cause real harm over time, and the difference is balance and sourcing. Before I point you toward something, can you tell me a bit more — is your Weimaraner male or female, roughly what weight, and have you noticed the breakouts clearing since you stopped the lamb, or is the skin still irritated?
She's a female, about 28kg. We stopped the lamb about three weeks ago and her skin is calming down but still not fully clear. She's been on a basic dry food in the meantime but I'd really like to get her back onto raw — she does much better on it overall.
inparticular.ai
That three-week timeline makes sense — lamb sensitivity reactions can linger a little in the skin even after you remove the trigger. The fact that she improves on raw overall is a good sign that the diet suits her, it's just that specific protein that's the problem. At ten, Weimaraners can also be prone to joint stiffness, so a well-balanced complete raw that includes good fat ratios is genuinely worth thinking about here, not just the protein source. Has she ever eaten kangaroo, venison, or crocodile — anything outside the standard chicken, beef, lamb range?
No, we've only ever done chicken and lamb. Chicken seemed fine actually. I'd just assumed lamb would be similar.
inparticular.ai
Chicken and lamb share very little in terms of protein structure, so it's not unusual at all to tolerate one and react to the other. The good news is that gives you solid ground to work from — chicken is fine, lamb is out, and you now want a novel protein she's never encountered so her immune system has no prior sensitisation to it. For a 28kg older dog with a confirmed lamb sensitivity, I'd go with Nutriment Kangaroo Complete Raw Dog Food. It's a properly balanced complete raw — not a mixer — with kangaroo as the sole meat protein, which is about as novel as it gets for a UK dog. It contains natural green-lipped mussel too, which is genuinely useful for joint support in a dog her age. The 500g rolls make it easy to portion and introduce gradually, which matters here because you want to confirm she tolerates it before committing to bulk.
That sounds really good actually. How would I reintroduce raw after three weeks on dry food — do I just swap straight over?
inparticular.ai
Don't go straight over — her gut bacteria will have shifted back toward processing kibble and an abrupt switch can cause loose stools even if the food itself suits her perfectly. I'd do four to five days of transition: start with about 20% raw and 80% of her current dry, and shift the ratio daily until you're fully on raw by day five. Feed the meals separately rather than mixing them in the same bowl if you can, as raw and kibble digest at different speeds. Once she's fully transitioned, her daily amount for raw at 28kg should be around 420–560g depending on her activity level — lean toward the lower end given her age and slower metabolism.
Perfect, that's really helpful. I'll order the Nutriment Kangaroo and start the transition next week.
inparticular.ai
Good plan. Give it a full four weeks before you judge it — skin responses in particular take time to resolve and stabilise once the offending protein is genuinely gone. If her coat and skin are looking good at that point, you'll have found your baseline. If you ever want to add variety later, venison or duck would be the logical next proteins to try — but get her settled on the kangaroo first.
