I get asked about raw feeding more than almost any other diet question, usually from an owner who’s just watched a video of a glossy-coated dog crunching through a raw chicken quarter and wondered if that’s what’s missing from their own dachshund’s bowl. It’s a fair question. Raw feeding has a devoted following, real potential upsides, and just as real risks — and for a breed built the way ours is, with a long spine and a tendency toward extra weight, those risks deserve more attention than they usually get in general raw-feeding guides written for dogs twice our size.
So let’s go through it properly: what a raw diet actually is, why owners consider it, where it can genuinely help, where it can genuinely hurt a dachshund specifically, and how to do it safely if you decide it’s right for your dog.
What Counts as a “Raw Diet,” Exactly?
“Raw feeding” covers a few different approaches, and they’re not interchangeable:
- Commercial complete raw — pre-made raw food (fresh, frozen, or freeze-dried) formulated by a manufacturer to meet AAFCO complete-and-balanced nutrient standards, the same bar commercial kibble has to clear.
- BARF (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food) — a home-prepared mix of raw muscle meat, organ meat, raw meaty bones, and typically some vegetables or fruit, following a published ratio.
- Prey model raw — home-prepared, meant to mimic a whole prey animal’s composition (roughly muscle meat, bone, and organ in set proportions), usually with no plant matter at all.
Those three options carry very different risk profiles, and that distinction matters more than almost anything else in this article. A nutritionally complete commercial raw diet and a home-mixed BARF diet assembled from a blog post are not the same level of risk, even though both get called “raw.”
Why Owners Consider It
The appeal isn’t imaginary. Owners who switch to a well-formulated raw diet often report a shinier coat, smaller and less odorous stools, fresher breath, and a dog that seems more satisfied after meals. Some of that has a real physiological basis — raw diets tend to be higher in protein and moisture and lower in the fillers that bulk out some lower-quality kibbles, and chewing raw meaty bones can genuinely help with plaque compared to a diet of soft food alone.
What raw feeding is not is a proven fix for specific health conditions. I want to be upfront about that, because dachshund owners researching diet are often doing it because of a back, joint, or weight concern, and no responsible source should tell you raw food will resolve IVDD risk, arthritis, or an existing weight problem on its own. Diet plays a supporting role in all of those — mainly through weight control — but it’s one piece, not a cure.
The Real Risks for a Long-Backed, Small Dog
This is the section most general raw-feeding guides skip, because they’re not written with a dachshund’s body in mind.
Weight creep is a bigger deal for us than for most breeds. Every extra pound on a dachshund’s frame adds meaningful strain to a spine that’s already working at a mechanical disadvantage. Raw diets are calorie-dense, and it’s easy to overfeed when you’re eyeballing portions of meat and bone instead of scooping a measured cup of kibble. If you go raw, you need to weigh food, not estimate it.
Bone hazards scale down badly. A raw meaty bone that’s an appropriate size and density for a Labrador can be a genuine choking or tooth-fracture risk for a dog in the 10–32 lb range most dachshunds fall into. Weight-bearing bones from large animals (think beef knuckle or femur sections) are generally too hard for a small dog’s teeth regardless of body size — that risk isn’t dachshund-specific, but it’s worth repeating because it gets glossed over in raw communities built around bigger dogs.
Nutritional imbalance hits a small dog’s body faster. A home-mixed raw diet that’s calcium-light or vitamin-A-heavy causes a dog real harm over months, and a smaller dog has less margin for error than a 70 lb dog eating the same mistake-prone recipe. This is the single biggest reason veterinary nutritionists push back on DIY raw: most online “complete” BARF ratios haven’t been lab-tested against AAFCO standards, they’re just assumed to be balanced.
Bacterial contamination risk is a household issue, not just a dog issue. Raw meat can carry Salmonella, Listeria, and E. coli. A healthy adult dog’s digestive system handles this better than ours does, but the risk to people in the house — especially kids, seniors, or anyone immunocompromised — from cross-contaminated counters, bowls, and dog kisses is real and well documented by the FDA and CDC.
Commercial Raw vs. Homemade: Which Is Actually Safer
If the benefits appeal to you but the risks above gave you pause, there’s a middle path worth knowing about: commercially manufactured raw diets that are formulated and tested to meet AAFCO complete-and-balanced standards, the same way a quality kibble or canned food is. You get the texture, moisture content, and (often) the dental benefits of raw feeding without gambling on whether your dog’s calcium-to-phosphorus ratio is correct.
When comparing options, look for a statement on the packaging that the food is “formulated to meet AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles” for the correct life stage — not just “natural” or “biologically appropriate,” which are marketing terms with no regulatory meaning. If a raw brand can’t or won’t tell you that, treat it the way you’d treat an unbalanced homemade recipe.
Homemade raw can absolutely work, but it should be built with a veterinary nutritionist, not a forum thread — and re-checked periodically, since a growing puppy’s needs and a senior dog’s needs aren’t the same recipe.
How to Transition Safely
However you source the food, don’t switch overnight — a dachshund’s digestive system (prone enough to upset as it is) needs time to adjust to a completely different food structure.
- Start slow. Replace about 25% of the current meal with raw for 2–3 days, watching stool quality and energy.
- Increase gradually. Move to 50/50 for another few days, then 75/25, then fully raw over roughly two weeks total — slower if you see loose stools, vomiting, or a picky dog refusing the new texture.
- Keep meals consistent in timing. Raw-fed dogs tend to do best on a predictable schedule rather than free feeding, partly for food-safety reasons (raw shouldn’t sit out) and partly because it makes weight management easier to track.
- Weigh your dog every 2 weeks during the transition and monthly after that. Catching a slow upward trend early is far easier to correct than catching it after six months.
If your dachshund has a diagnosed back condition, is recovering from a spinal episode, is a young puppy, is pregnant or nursing, or is otherwise medically fragile, loop your vet in before changing anything — some of those situations call for a very specific, tightly controlled diet that a generic raw transition plan isn’t built for.
Getting Portions Right
Most raw feeding guidelines start from 2–3% of your dog’s ideal (not current) body weight per day in total food, split across two meals, then adjust up or down based on body condition over the following weeks. For a 20 lb dachshund at a healthy weight, that’s roughly 6.4–9.6 ounces of food daily — but “ideal weight,” not the number on the scale right now, is the number that matters if your dog needs to lose a pound or two. Our feeding chart by age and weight is built around commercial food math, but the same ideal-weight principle applies directly to raw portions, and it’s worth reading alongside this if you’re not sure what your dog’s target weight should be.
Because carrying extra weight is directly tied to spinal strain in this breed, I’d also point you to our full guide on keeping a dachshund’s back healthy if weight management is part of why you’re considering a diet change in the first place — portion control matters more than the specific diet format you choose.
Food Safety in Your Kitchen
A few habits make raw feeding meaningfully safer for everyone in the house, not just the dog:
- Thaw frozen raw food in the refrigerator, never on the counter.
- Use a dedicated cutting board and utensils for raw dog food, washed separately from your own food prep tools.
- Wash your dog’s bowl after every meal with hot, soapy water — raw food shouldn’t sit in a bowl for hours the way dry kibble can.
- Wipe down feeding-area counters and floors with a pet-safe disinfectant after meals.
- Wash your hands after handling raw food or your dog’s bowl, and keep raw meals away from young children’s reach.
When Raw Isn’t the Right Choice
Raw feeding isn’t the best fit for every dachshund or every household. I’d think twice (or at minimum, talk to your vet first) if any of the following apply: your dog has a compromised immune system, is currently recovering from surgery or an IVDD episode, is very young or very senior with other health complications, or if anyone in your household is immunocompromised, pregnant, very young, or elderly and would be exposed to raw-food handling. None of these make raw feeding impossible, but they raise the stakes enough that it shouldn’t be a decision made from a YouTube video alone.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a raw diet better than kibble for dachshunds?
Not inherently. “Better” depends entirely on whether the specific diet — raw or kibble — is complete, balanced, and fed in the right portion for your dog’s ideal weight. A high-quality, AAFCO-complete kibble fed correctly will outperform a poorly balanced homemade raw diet every time.
Can I mix raw food with kibble?
Yes, many owners do a mixed approach successfully. The main thing to watch is that you’re not accidentally doubling up on calories — treat it as one daily calorie budget split between two food types, not two full meals’ worth of food.
What raw meaty bones are safe for a dachshund’s size?
Smaller, softer bones from poultry (raw chicken necks, wings) are generally more appropriate for a dachshund’s jaw size and tooth strength than large weight-bearing bones from cattle or bison, which are too hard for a small dog regardless of the “raw bones are safe, cooked bones aren’t” rule being generally true. Always supervise bone-chewing.
How long does it take to see results after switching to raw?
Coat and stool changes are often noticeable within 3–4 weeks. Weight changes should be tracked over months, not weeks — resist the urge to judge the diet’s success or failure too quickly in either direction.
My Take
I’m not anti-raw and I’m not pushing it either — my job is to help you make this decision with the actual tradeoffs in front of you, specific to a dachshund’s body, not a generic dog’s. If you want the potential benefits without the DIY nutritional guesswork, a commercially formulated complete raw diet is the lower-risk way to try it. If you’re set on homemade, build the recipe with a veterinary nutritionist and re-check it periodically. And whichever way you go, the scale and the measuring cup matter more to your dog’s back than the word “raw” on the label ever will.
