Raw green tripe for dogs is one of my favorite ingredients in raw dog food! Or maybe I should say it’s one of my pup’s favorite ingredients.
Wally LOVES his green tripe raw dog food, and so did my pups Missy & Buzz.
That said, here’s what I’ll cover in this blog post:
- What is green tripe?
- Benefits of green tripe for dogs
- Is green or white tripe better for dogs?
- Where to buy raw green tripe
- What about canned green tripe?
- Green tripe treats
- How to feed green tripe
- How much raw green tripe should I feed my dog?
- How long does green tripe last in the fridge?
- What is the disadvantage of green tripe?
Raw Green Tripe for Dogs
Disclaimer: This blog post contains affiliate links. I may earn compensation when you click on the links at no additional cost to you.
What is Green Tripe for Dogs
But what is tripe in the first place?
Well, green tripe is the stomach lining of ruminant animals.
Beef green tripe from cows is probably the best known kind, but there’s also green tripe from bison, goats, sheep and venison.
Which is good news for anyone whose dog doesn’t do well with anything beef!
While it sounds disgusting, green tripe is a real superfood for dogs, and in the next section, we’ll talk about why that is.
Benefits of Green Tripe for Dogs
Raw green tripe is chock full of digestive enzymes because it’s the fermented stomach contents of ruminant animals.
That’s what makes it super valuable for your dog’s gut health. But the gastric juices also help keep your dog’s teeth clean!
Since green tripe is a great source of protein, it’s also rich in amino acids, the building blocks of protein. Amino acids help build and repair body tissue and muscles.
Additionally, green tripe is rich in essential fatty acids which are important for a healthy skin & coat as well as joint health.
But green tripe doesn’t just look good on paper, it’s also pretty irresistible to dogs as far as taste is concerned!
Keeping that in mind, it’s great to entice picky eaters to dig in. You can even hide cuts of raw meat in it your dog doesn’t love.
For example, liver.
Is Green or White Tripe Better for Dogs?
When it comes to green tripe vs white tripe, you only want to feed your dog green tripe.
The white honeycomb kind you can buy at grocery stores has been bleached and is nutritionally void.
So while you can technically feed it, it’s a waste of money!
Where to Buy Raw Green Tripe for Dogs
Since the grocery store is off the table to source green tripe, you either have to buy green tripe from raw dog food retailers or find a hunter, wildlife processor or farmer to get some from.
As far as I’m concerned, raw dog food retailers are the easiest and most convenient source of green tripe for dogs.
So below are the ones I’m aware of in the US who carry green tripe from a variety of animals (beef, lamb, goat).
Raw Paws Pet Food (Indiana)
Here’s what you’ll find at Raw Paws Pet Food’s green tripe section (beef, goat, lamb):
They also carry a complete beef blend mixed with green tripe. This is a great option if you’re looking for a convenient way of adding green tripe to your pup’s ready-to-feed meals.
These are its ingredients:
Beef Round, Beef Meat, Green Beef Tripe, Beef Bone, Beef Heart, Beef Tongue, Beef Liver, Beef Kidney, Beef Spleen, Beef Suet.
Use my affiliate discount code K9Savings for 15% OFF any of Raw Paws Pet Food’s green tripe (or anything else).
I’ve written about Raw Paws Pet Food’s green tripe here.
Raw Feeding Miami (Florida)
Raw Feeding Miami has a green tripe section with the following options (lamb, beef, bison, elk):
- Ground lamb green tripe
- Ground beef green tripe
- Beef green tripe chunks
- Ground bison green tripe
- Ground elk green tripe
Similar to Raw Paws Pet Food, they also carry a beef and green tripe grind that can be fed as-is, but it’s important to note that it features poultry bones (if your pup doesn’t do well with poultry):
Contains ground up beef: meat, heart, liver, kidney, green tripe, poultry bone
Additionally, they also carry a chicken and beef green tripe grind:
Contains ground up whole chickens, chicken hearts, chicken liver, beef green tripe.
Tip: Save 10% on your first order from Raw Feeding Miami with my referral link.
My Pet Carnivore (Indiana)
My Pet Carnivore has the following green tripe for dogs (beef, goat, lamb):
- Ground green beef tripe
- Green beef tripe strips/chunks
- Ground beef green tripe with trachea & gullet
- Ground green goat tripe
- Green lamb tripe (ground)
They also have a ground green beef tripe supermix. Here’s what’s in it:
50% green beef tripe, 40% beef muscle meat/bone/organ, 10% beef trachea & gullet
Hare Today (Pennsylvania)
Hare Today has the following options in their green tripe section (beef, goat):
- Beef green tripe with spleen (strips)
- Ground green tripe with spleen
- Green goat tripe (strips)
They also have a complete beef option that includes green tripe. Here’s what’s in it:
- 73% beef trim
- 9% beef ribs
- 4.5% beef liver
- 4.5% beef kidney
- 3% beef tripe
- 2% beef heart
- 2% beef lung
- 2% beef gullet
BJ’s Raw Pet Food
BJ’s Raw Pet Food carries the following types of green tripe (beef, goat, lamb):
They also carry a complete goat blend that includes goat green tripe. Here’s what’s in it:
Whole Goat, Heart, Bone, Lung, Liver, Spleen, Goat Green Tripe
What About Canned Green Tripe for Dogs?
Besides fresh green tripe, there’s also canned green tripe for dogs.
However, the only kind I’m aware of is Tripett New Zealand Tripe, and it has carrageenan gum on its ingredient list.
I don’t love seeing that ingredient on the labels because according to studies, carrageenan gum can have inflammatory and even carcinogenic effects on animals.
That’s why I personally don’t feed canned green tripe.
Green Tripe Treats for Dogs
In my opinion, a much better alternative to canned green tripe are green tripe treats.
Almost every raw dog food retailer who carries fresh green tripe also has at least one dehydrated or freeze-dried green tripe option.
You can also find green tripe treats on Amazon:
- Vital Essentials Freeze-Dried Dog Treats, Beef Tripe
- Raw Paws Dehydrated Green Lamb Tripe Sticks
- Best Bully Sticks Lamb Green Tripe Chews
How to Feed Green Tripe
You can feed green tripe a few different ways:
(1) Buy premade raw dog food that already has green tripe in it
(2) Add green tripe to your DIY raw dog food meals
(3) Feed dehydrated or freeze-dried green tripe treats as meal toppers or training rewards
How Much Raw Green Tripe Should I Feed My Dog?
You can feed your adult dog roughly 20-30% of their daily raw dog food allowance in green tripe.
In raw feeding, green tripe is classified as muscle meat.
If you follow the 70/10/10/10 raw feeding formula where the 70 stands for 70% muscle meat, green tripe will be in that bucket.
I feed my adult 38lb pup Wally at a 2.5% maintenance percentage, so his daily raw dog food allowance looks something like this:
38/100 – 0.38 x 2.5 = 0.95lb = 15.2oz. Here’s how it breaks down:
- 10.64oz muscle meat (70%, of that 3-4.5oz green tripe)
- 1.52 oz raw meaty bone (10%)
- 1.52oz secreting organs (5% liver, 5% other secreting organs)
- 1.52oz plant matter (10% veggies, fruit, soaked & ground seeds and nuts)
That said, I don’t follow the daily green tripe allowance to a T, and you don’t have to either (unless you want to, of course).
How Often Should I Feed My Dog Green Tripe?
There are some days when I don’t add any green tripe at all and others when I add more or less green tripe than the 3-4.5oz.
I’d drive myself nuts doing super detailed calculations for every single meal, so I opt not to.
As long as you achieve balance over a 7-10 day time frame, your (adult) pup is perfectly fine.
Note that this approach doesn’t work for puppies.
To learn more about percentages in raw feeding, check out my blog post How to Measure Percentages in Raw Feeding.
How Long Does Green Tripe Last in the Fridge?
Like any other cuts of meat, thawed green tripe lasts 4 days in the fridge.
After that, you’d have to (re) freeze to keep it from spoiling.
Can I Mix Green Tripe with Kibble?
And can you feed raw tripe with kibble?
Yes, you can. Remember that it’s an amazing gut health booster for dogs, so you can add it to your dog’s kibble even (or should I say, especially if) they have digestive issues.
If they’re a fussy eater, adding a green tripe topper to kibble can also entice them to eat their dry dog food.
For more information on mixing kibble with raw dog food in general, check out my blog post Can I feed kibble and raw dog food together?
What Is The Disadvantage of Green Tripe?
OK, admittedly, there’s one thing I haven’t touched on yet, so here it goes.
Green tripe is some stinky stuff.
Like really stinky.
Which is actually great news because dogs are into stinky stuff! The smellier something is, the more interested they’re going to be in it.
So anyone who’s the proud pawrent of a fussy eater, remember this when you’re trying to come up with ways to get your pup to eat!
Over the years, I’ve gotten used to the smell so I honestly don’t mind it, especially because I know how incredibly nutritious it is for my pup.
Here’s a tip for anyone who wants to make their own raw dog food and is not crazy about the green tripe smell: only thaw it partially.
When it’s still somewhat frozen, it smells a lot less. It’s also easier to cut that way if you buy it in chunks or strips rather than ground.
Raw Green Tripe for Dogs: Bottom Line
Green tripe is a nutritional powerhouse for dogs!
The nutrient rich lining of ruminants is rich in digestive enzymes, fatty- and amino acids which are important for gut, skin, coat and dental health.
You can feed green tripe raw as part of your dog’s daily raw dog food diet as well as dehydrated or freeze-dried as dog treats or food toppers.
While it’s on the smelly side, green tripe is an important part of a balanced raw dog food diet and can entice picky eaters to eat.
Related Reading:
- How to Make Single-Ingredient Green Tripe Dog Treats
- How to Make Healthy Banana Tripe Dog Treats
- What’s So Great About Fermented Dog Food?
Leave a Reply