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
Raw feeding done well can be genuinely excellent — but done badly it creates nutritional gaps that cause real harm over time, and the difference comes down to balance and sourcing. A Dogue de Bordeaux switching from kibble at one year old is actually a great time to make the move — they're past the most critical growth phase. Before I point you toward anything specific: how much does your dog currently weigh, and are you looking for a complete ready-made raw that handles all the nutritional balancing for you, or are you planning to put meals together yourself?
She's about 45kg and I want something ready-made — I don't want to get the balance wrong myself. She's been on a large breed kibble so far and doing well, I just want something cleaner.
inparticular.ai
Good — complete raw is exactly the right call if you're new to this, especially with a breed that size. Getting DIY ratios wrong on a 45kg dog means the errors compound fast. What I'd ask next is whether she has any known sensitivities or a protein she's particularly done well on with the kibble? And is she currently on one meal or two a day?
No known sensitivities, she's been great on chicken-based kibble. Two meals a day.
inparticular.ai
Perfect — chicken tolerance makes this straightforward. For a first-time raw owner with a large dog, I'd point you to Natural Instinct Complete Raw Chicken. It's a properly balanced complete meal — not just mince — with the right meat, bone, and offal ratios already worked out, and it's DEFRA-approved. For a 45kg adult Dogue de Bordeaux you're feeding around 2–2.5% of body weight daily, so roughly 900g to 1.1kg split across two meals. The reason I like this one for your situation specifically is that it mirrors the protein she already knows, so the digestive transition is gentler — loose stools for a few days are normal when switching, but starting on a familiar protein keeps it manageable. You can introduce it gradually over 7–10 days by swapping out a third of her kibble at a time.
That makes sense. Is there anything specific I should watch out for with Dogues on raw? I've heard the breed can be sensitive.
inparticular.ai
They can be. Dogues de Bordeaux are prone to bloat, so the main practical thing is to avoid feeding immediately before or after exercise — leave at least an hour either side. Beyond that, watch stool consistency in the first two weeks: very white and crumbly means too much bone content, very loose means too much offal. Natural Instinct's ratios are solid so you shouldn't hit problems, but it's worth knowing what you're looking for. One more thing worth monitoring with this breed is joint health — they carry a lot of weight. Once she's settled on raw, a fish-based meal rotation like Natural Instinct Complete Raw Salmon once or twice a week adds natural omega-3s that genuinely support joints over time.
Really helpful, thank you. I'll go with the Natural Instinct Complete Chicken to start.
inparticular.ai
Great choice — it's a clean, reliable starting point and one of the better-value complete raws for a dog her size. Order a couple of weeks' worth so you can do the transition without running out mid-way. If she takes to it well after a month, that salmon rotation is worth adding in. Good luck with the switch — Dogues genuinely tend to thrive on raw.
