Dingo diets are very specific — Australian dingoes eat a diet of lean meat, bones and organs, with minimal fat and carbohydrates. Feeding the wrong food can lead to significant health problems and shorten your dingo’s lifespan. According to Dingo Den Animal Rescue, providing the right nutrition to your dingo can extend their life from 7-8 years to as long as 20 years.
Why am I writing about dingo diets?
We have two adopted dingoes, Rusty and Jalba. Both were orphaned in remote Western Australia and have been with our family for almost three years. We love them very much and it’s important we get their nutrition right so they can live long, healthy lives.
So while I’m writing this article for somewhat selfish reasons, I hope other dingo guardians will benefit. Feel free to comment below — let us know who you are and what you feed your Australian dingo.
Where have I sourced this information about dingo diets?
Compared to domestic dogs, it’s hard to find information about dingo diets. Information in this dingo diet series has been sourced from:
- Canine Ascension — Gabriele Joy is a wild canid nutritionist who specialises in dingo nutrition. Gabriele Joy formulates diets and meal plans for wild canid species living in zoos, parks and sanctuaries, with a special focus on Australian dingoes. She’s also a dingo guardian, with three dingo hybrids including Uluru, Allira, Tori and Renn the kelpie. Most of the information in this three-part series has been sourced from Gabriele’s Canine Ascension content and Gabriele has generously given her time to review this series. I’m immensely grateful for Gabriele’s expertise and her generosity in sharing this information.
- Dingo Den Animal Rescue — Dingo Den rescues, rehomes and rehabilitates dingoes from their base in Penrith, New South Wales.
- WA Dingo Association
- Saving Animals from Euthanasia (SAFE) — We adopted our dingoes from SAFE Carnarvon who work tirelessly to rescue, rehome and rehabilitate wild and domestic animals, including dingoes.
I’ve yet to come across formal research and books about feeding adopted dingoes, so I’ve also crowdsourced information from fellow dingo guardians and other dingo rescue organisations. If you have a book you recommend, let me know!
Has anyone verified the accuracy of this article?
Yes! Gabriele from Canine Ascension has read and reviewed this article — a big thank you to Gabriele — your support is very much appreciated.
An important note
This article is about feeding your adopted dingo — this article is not about feeding wild dingoes. Never feed a wild dingo. If you see a dingo who looks hungry or is injured or possibly orphaned, please call your local wildlife rescue. Members of the public should not approach, take, or feed wild dingoes.
Table of contents
This article is part of a three part series. Click on a link below to find what you’re looking for.
Part 1:
- Dingo diets: the short story
- Dingo diets: the long story
- How to enhance your dingo’s diet
- More information about feeding your dingo
Dingo diets: The short story
If you’ve just adopted a dingo and need to know the basics of what to feed them, this section is for you. This is a guide for the short term only.
- Feed your dingoes in separate spaces
- Focus on raw, lean protein
- Avoid high fat meat and starchy carbohydrates
- Feed an adult dingo:
- once a day
- approximately 500 grams of raw, lean protein (kangaroo, or chicken if there is no lean meat available)
- Feed a dingo puppy:
- 2-3 times a day
- raw, lean protein
- Visit Canine Ascension’s post for information on quantities and benefits of a raw diet for dingo puppies. ***I highly recommend viewing Canine Ascension’s post, which I have also embedded into the comments section of this article.***
Dingo diets: The long story
Dingoes, like domestic dogs, are canines — however, dingoes are not dogs. Whatever you feed your kelpie or your golden, cannot necessarily be fed to your adopted dingo.
Dingoes must eat a high protein diet, low in fat and starchy carbohydrates. Canine Ascension states that dingoes cannot metabolise saturated or monounsaturated fats effectively, nor can they digest starchy carbohydrates such as flour, rice, potato, pumpkin, sweet potato and food that contains these ingredients, such as most commercial dog foods: “Dingoes fed high fat, high carb diets have half the life expectancy of a dingo fed a species-appropriate diet. They will also be more prone to bouts of pancreatitis and liver complications.”
The benefits of feeding dingoes raw food
Feeding your dingo a raw meat diet will keep them happy today and help them live a longer, healthier life. They’ll have more energy and stamina, improved cognitive and motor skills and will be less likely to develop allergies, arthritis, cancer, kidney disease, and cardiovascular issues.
Your dingo’s coat will thrive, as well as their skin, nails and teeth. Canine Ascension also states that canines who are fed a primarily raw diet will produce less stool and will drink less water, since a raw diet is primarily 70% moisture while a dry-only diet is only 12% moisture. (Less poop patrol for you!)
Dingoes are naturally lean animals and focusing on a raw diet will help maintain a healthy weight.
Important considerations when feeding your adopted dingo:
- Feed primarily raw meat, not cooked
- Focus on protein and avoid fat and starchy carbohydrates
- Rotate options so your dingo has a varied diet
- Feed holistically, including meat, fur, feathers, head, feet and bones
- Understand where your dingo is from, for example, coastal dingoes are more likely to enjoy fish
- Consider following the Prey Model Raw (PMR) ratio of 80/10/10, as recommended by Canine Ascension and Dingo Den Animal Rescue. This ratio translates to 80% muscle meat, 10% digestible bones, 5% liver and 5% other organs.
- See this article for more detail, including which bones you must avoid.
Dingo Diet: What dingoes can eat daily
Each day, your dingo’s daily diet should be 80% lean meat, such as:
- Kangaroo
- Emu
- Rabbit
- Venison
- Goat
- Turkey
- Camel (not from desert regions)
Consider adding:
- liver (5% of total daily intake), and
- organs (5% of total daily intake).
The other 10% are bones, which are likely included in the lean meat above.
Note: Mince is okay but Canine Ascension states that intact muscle meats are a better option, “Mincing meat damages some amino acids, especially tryptophan which helps regulate behaviour (tryptophan deficiency is linked with aggressive and anxious behaviour). Feeding intact muscle meats ensures your dingo is getting the amino acids required for optimal health.”
Dingo Diet: What dingoes can eat a few times a week
In addition to the lean meat above, consider adding or rotating any of the following:
- Lean beef
- Chicken
- Turkey
- Fish (1-4 times a week)
- Mussels (1-2 per meal, 3-4 times a week)
> See Dingo Diet Part 2 for more information about fish and mussels.
Dingo Diet: What to avoid
Avoid high fat cuts of meat and high fat meat such as:
- Lamb
- Pork
Avoid starchy carbohydrates:
- Carbohydrate-heavy vegetables (e.g. potato, sweet potato, pumpkin, corn)
- Grains (e.g. flour, rice)
Dingoes cannot process starchy carbohydrates. See this article for important information about kibble.
Dingo Diet: Do not feed the following to your dingo
- Live animals
- Cooked bones
- Weight bearing bones from large animals
It’s also important to avoid rendered meats and fats (the base of dry dog food).
Source: Canine Ascension and Dingo Den Animal Rescue.
How to enhance your dingo’s diet
Consider adding small amounts of the following, on occasion:
1. Eggs
- Dingoes can eat eggs from chickens, ducks and geese
- It’s okay to feed your dingo the eggshell
- Give your dingo 1-2 eggs about twice a week
- Don’t give eggs too often due to the fat content
- Canine Ascension recommends avoiding duck and goose eggs if your dingo is susceptible to pancreatitis or fatty liver
- Find more info about eggs at Dingo Den Animal Rescue.
2. Pureed, steamed or fermented low-GI vegetables such as leafy greens
- Avoid starchy carbohydrate vegetables such as potato, sweet potato, pumpkin, corn
- Opt for greens such as celery, cucumber, spinach, broccoli, bok choy, cabbage, kale and asparagus
- Canine Ascension states that dingoes “don’t have the jaw structure, teeth or intestinal tract to break down whole vegetables”, so it’s important to prepare your dingo’s vegies
- Puree, lightly steam or ferment (see Dingo Diet Part 2 for more info)
- Canine Ascension notes that cruciferous vegies should be avoided if your dingo has thyroid or kidney issues.
3. Berries
- Dingoes can eat 4-8 berries, a few times a week — if they like them!
- Choose fresh, frozen or pureed berries
- Do not feed dried berries (sugar content is higher)
- Consider blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, cranberries, mulberries
- Goji berries can be fed very sparingly
- Do not feed your dingo cherries, juniper berries, holly berries, mistletoe berries, baneberries.
4. Kibble
- A raw meat diet is ideal however kibble can be fed to your dingo in limited quantities
- Choose a kibble that is high protein, low fat and low in starchy carbohydrates
- Please read FAQs about dingo diets for important information about kibble.
5. Grass
- Dingoes consume wild grass as part of their natural diet.
6. Bone broth
- Consider making your own bone broth
- Serve in liquid form or as gelatin
- If using gelatin, use 100% gelatin only, with no sweeteners, colours or flavours.
7. Seaweed
- Consider organic seaweed powders or flakes (kelp or dulse)
- Avoid wakame and kombu
- Be careful how much seaweed you serve your dingo. It’s important to read this post before giving your dingo seaweed.
- Choose products which have been tested for heavy metals
- Seaweed contains iodine and trace minerals which help maintain a healthy coat and prevent plaque.
8. Kefir
- Kefir is fermented milk. Canine Ascension recommends using goat’s milk
- It’s a good source of probiotics
- Make your own kefir
- Make your own cottage cheese.
9. Mussels
- 1-2 per meal, 3-4 times a week
- See Dingo Diets Part 2 for important information about preparing mussels for your dingo.
10. Supplements
- Consider adding supplements to your dingo’s diet, under the guidance of an expert.
- Supplements include Australian cricket powder, Antinol, MSM powder, Immunol, astaxanthin, blue spirulina and vitamin C. Most of these are specific to certain health issues or wild-born orphans. General supplements required more frequently are Vitamin E, manganese, magnesium, iodine, zinc.
- For more information visit Perfectly Rawsome. Please note Perfectly Rawsome is a nutrition resource for domestic dogs and not all recommendations will be dingo-friendly.
Next in this series is “Dingo diet: 10 frequently asked questions about dingo diets.“
Adopting a dingo is no small feat, it can be very overwhelming at the start, so I hope this guide is helpful for you and your dingo. Big thanks to Gabriele at Canine Ascension for sharing her valuable knowledge.
More information about feeding your dingo
Canine Ascension offers excellent guides to feeding Australian dingoes. Many of the links have been included above.
More dingo guides by Canine Ascension:
- Transitioning to a raw diet
- Feeding dingo hybrids
- Managing diarrhoea in dingoes
- Tori’s diet (dingo hybrid)
- Dingo Christmas pudding recipe
- Halloween brains
- Stuffed chicken frames
Canine Ascension’s seasonal dingo feeding guides:
- Spring
- Start decreasing the amount of food you serve
- Adult dingoes might refuse food
- Support skin and coat shedding (kangaroo, fish, eggs, oysters, liver, soaked and pureed sunflower seeds, dingo-friendly oils)
- Summer
- Dingoes might eat less in summer
- Decrease greens, add fruit occasionally
- Provide more electrolytes in hot weather (seaweed, pureed celery, cucumber, pure coconut water, bone broth, natural/Greek yoghurt from goat’s milk, digestible bones, mussels, fruit)
- Autumn
- Increase meal size
- Food refusal may happen
- Add more fish and greens to support new coat growth
- Winter
- Feed more food (but not more liver)
- Consider warming meals with warm bone broth, turmeric gravy, dingo friendly herbal tea or thaw their food to room temperature
- More oily fish for tropical dingoes
- More pureed leafy greens
- Less fruit
- For alpine dingoes, slightly increase fats (up to 12% of diet)
Canine Ascension’s guide to puzzle toys:
Puzzle toys can be a great way to engage your dingo, tire them out and provide mental stimulation — this is also known as canine enrichment. These are particularly useful when it’s raining or when you need to keep your dingoes busy, such as dawn and dusk, or when the aeroplanes are flying overhead!
- Serve fresh or frozen (some toys should not be frozen)
- To prevent injury, never fill the safety hole when freezing enrichment toys
- Avoid leaving your dingo unsupervised with enrichment toys
- Check enrichment toys regularly for wear and tear
Choosing puzzle toys:
Dingoes have a very strong bite force, which means you need to look for strong, durable enrichment toys.
- What to look for and the Magnum by SodaPup
- Starmark Everlasting Tetraflex and treatballs
- West Paw Tux Zogoflex or Toppl
- Kong Extreme Large or XL
- Kong Quest Wishbone
- AussieDog
- Rover Pet Products Lifesaver and Gear
- JW Penguin
- SodaPup LifeSaver, Turkey, Dice, Coffee Cup
Puzzle toys fillers
Here’s a great list of fillers for your dingo’s enrichment toy.
- Poultry Puzzle Stuffer recipe
- Sardines and more
- Flavoured ice
- Mixed recipes
- Examples of fillers:
- Sardines
- Mussels
- Tripe
- Bone broth
- Green lipped mussels
- Octopus
- Shark cartilage sprinkles
- Raw turkey or chicken
- Nori sheets (shredded)
- Goat mince
- Eggs (raw or cooked)
- Fermented cottage cheese (AKA quark)
- Sunflower seeds (soaked, rinsed, pureed)
- Dried training treats listed above
>>> Next in this series is “Dingo diet: 10 frequently asked questions about dingo diets”.
NOTE: This article is general in nature and is for information purposes only. It is not a substitute for specific qualified advice that considers your or your dingo’s specific circumstances.
I just adopted a puppy that looks a lot like a dingo anyway I can tell for sure what he is?
Hi Holly! We requested DNA testing kits from Dr Kylie Cairns, who is researching Australian dingoes. You can get in touch with her to see if she is still doing DNA testing. Here is her website https://www.kyliecairns.com/.
If you’re not in Australia, I’m not sure how you would find out which breed your puppy is, but it wouldn’t be an Australian dingo. USA has Carolina dogs, which are known as American dingoes — they look a little like Australian dingoes but Australian dingoes are genetically distinct from American dingoes. Hope that helps!
Melody
Hi Melody. Thank you for taking the time to write up about dingoes diets ect. I have recently adopted a pup whose mother was killed on the Eyre Hwy near Caiguna. Your article has been a life saver. I knew dingoes were different having had basenjis previously so know I’m in for a challenging though rewarding time.
Hi Vanessa! I hope that all goes well with your dingo pup! It’s really something special to see our dingoes feeling safe in our home, no doubt yours will settle in soon. So glad you have found the dingo diet articles useful, glad to have been of service. Feel free to get in touch anytime, I’d love to hear how you and your dingo pup are going. – Melody
Hi Melody,
I’m adopting a dingo puppy in a fortnight’s time. The sanctuary that bred them will only be keeping the litter until the pups are 8 weeks old.
I know that for domestic dogs that this is quite a bit younger than is recommended. Is this the same for dingoes?
Are there any special nutritional requirements for dingo pups compared to dogs?
How do they tolerate milk supplements (supermarket puppy milk, DiVetelact, Wombaroo, etc)?
How should I introduce a more mature diet? At what age can they handle eggs?
Can you recommend any other information?
Hi Crystal!
Are you in Australia? Feel free to drop me a message using my contact form.
It seems unusual that a sanctuary would breed dingoes for the public in Australia? I know Dingo Discovery breeds dingoes but only for zoos and wildlife parks. Were the dingo pups surrendered (not bred at the sanctuary)?
The sanctuary should provide you with information about what to feed them, I don’t have experience with dingo pups – Jalba was 5 months old when he came into our home so by then he was eating mostly raw meat (eggs, chicken, roo etc). He was having a small breakfast and then his main meal at lunch, whereas now they only eat at lunch and any extra food is for enrichment purposes.
Definitely ask about milk – generally speaking, milk contains carbohydrates, which dingoes don’t tolerate well.
Let me know how you go with your pups and finding the info that you need!
This guide from Canine Ascension will also be useful.
Melody
Hi Melody,
Thanks for your reply.
Sorry for the delayed response. I’ve been having tech issues and I could not locate your website. Also, the link you sent me to the Canine Ascension would not work, but thank you for your efforts.
Found out after buying my pup that the breeder called her business a sanctuary, but she is just a breeder. She was not very helpful in explaining how to look after the pups. I ended up getting two pups, after the breeder said another buyer had fallen through. Both pups were extremely shy to begin with. I suspect the breeder did not interact with them at all. After spending every waking minute in a small pen with them for the first month, hand feeding them both, and researching dingoes extensively, then letting them into our main property on leashes, one of them is now going brilliantly, very engaged, desire to be petted and interact with all members of the household (although shy of visitors), and gradually learning recall. The other pup is very slow going. While he likes to be near me, he does not like to be touched. He does not like my husband at all, and detests strangers. He is very wary & skittish. He will rarely even go near our very gentle older dog, even when she is playing with the other pup.
We suspect maybe the pup was bullied by the other pups in the litter, or perhaps the breeder has done something to scare him.
The pups are now seven months old. They were confident eating raw chicken whole drumsticks (even as pups they decimated the bones), and roo mince from the day we got them at eight weeks old. We found that feeding them one egg per dog every second day to be good for them. Any more than that & they would get diarrhoea, any less & they get constipated.
I tried them on kefir, which they loved, but it did not agree with them. I also boiled up some green leafy veg with beef broth & mixed with good quality beef mince, which they also really liked.
Now they are on whole cuts of meat, including bones, fur & skin, plus liver, kidneys, hearts & brains. I also give them treats of dried offal & pet jerky (100% pure with no additives). They weren’t too interested in the goats horns or dried fish, but they do love dried beef ears.
So far we have tried taking them for walks, but they hate to leave our property (a bit over an acre).
They certainly have very individual personalities, with the girl being confident & curious, playful & loves digging holes; the boy is reserved, aloof, lazy, loves water (the girl enjoys water, but the boy LOVES water).
We have been giving them age appropriate toys, from untreated cardboard tunnels to run through when they were younger, to a Kong ball now they are older (which we haven’t had a huge amount of success with, because as soon as it stops moving, they have lost interest. They love to hunt penny lizards & they pretend to chase the magpies. They have been getting taunted by the rabbits sneaking into our yard, and give chase, but so far the bunnies have been giving them the slip.
It’s been a huge learning experience for me. I still wish I could get the boy to engage more, but I’m just trying to be consistent & patient.
I’m interested to know how you got Jalba to engage, seeing as how he was adopted when he was a bit older.
Many thanks for the help your web page has provided.
Crystal
Hi Crystal!
Sorry for the late reply. I’m sorry to hear the breeder didn’t provide much information about how to care for your dingo pups, that’s quite disappointing given they have unique needs.
Sounds like they’re having a great time trying new foods – ours are not as keen on raw organs but they enjoy dried liver treats (100% as you mentioned).
About walks — you might be able to find a good trainer that can help with that – try and find a trainer who has experience with dingoes or dogs with a high prey drive. We generally don’t walk ours in suburban areas — ours don’t enjoy loud/sudden noises, even rubbish bins, trucks etc. Have you been bringing high value treats on your walks? That might help. Boiled, shredded chicken is easy to carry on a walk.
They are lucky dingoes to have an acre to play on!
Rusty was two when we adopted him, Jalba was 5 months old. Rusty settled in quite quickly and Jalba followed his lead.
In terms of bonding/engaging… we all take turns feeding them, and sometimes feed them by hand. We all take turns walking them, or playing with them. We all greet Rusty and Jalba when we arrive home from anywhere, they absolutely love when we arrive back home. In terms of how physical affection – they both love belly rubs and pats (from us) but I think it was at least two years before we could kiss them. They started leaning on our legs quite early, I guess that’s low risk for them since they can always move away quickly. We were holding and picking up Rusty quite early but I think Jalba took a little while to get used to it. We only pick them up occasionally so they are familiar with how it feels, so we can pick them up in emergencies etc.
Rusty doesn’t seem to like hugs but Jalba does, Rusty loves goodnight pats but Jalba is 50/50 – sometimes he loves a sleep pat but other times he doesn’t. I should mention that patting a resting animal is generally not advised. Rusty uses physical touch for communication (more than Jalba), he’s quite good at it, actually, makes me laugh.
Both of ours are not fans of strangers — Rusty hides and Jalba is quite curious and cautious but won’t let any strangers pat him. There are only a few “outsiders” who they’re comfortable with… but all dingoes are different!
Engaging with dingoes really needs to be on their terms, I’m sure over time you’ll continue to all become more familiar and more comfortable with each other.
Let me know how you go!
Melody
Ziwi peak and air dried prime 100? What do you think?
Any easy commercial diet
Mine doesn’t seem to like mussels and seems fussy.
It’s been a difficult food journey- only recently realised mine is a dingo. But I certainly understood quickly about the carbs. Flatulence and food refusal is a dead giveaway.
Hi Naomi!
The easiest commercial diet for dingoes is a raw meat diet, such as chicken from your supermarket and kangaroo from your local pet store or pet food supplier and then supplemented with other items such as canned (and rinsed) sardines or mackerel. We usually buy our kangaroo meat in 1kg bags, about 10kg at a time. We freeze most of it and take individual bags out of the freezer and into the fridge to defrost.
Some dingo guardians have dedicated fridges and freezers and are able to buy and prep in bulk.
Ziwi Peak is great! It’s one of the few brands in local pet stores that are actually dingo-friendly. I’ve spent way too much time checking labels only to find that most dried dog food contains ingredients that dingoes can’t tolerate but Ziwi is one that we buy a few times a year. The Ziwi Peak Air Dried Chicken and Beef have green mussels – having these dried might be more enjoyable for your dingo than fresh mussels?
Sometimes we also buy the canned Ziwi wet food to add variety to their Kongs and Likimats. Ziwi has quite a few products which we haven’t tried yet. The only downside with Ziwi is that it’s quite expensive compared to dried dog food, but dried dog food isn’t really the best option for dingoes anyway. We only use the Air Dried products in small quantities so it tends to last us a long time.
Air Dried Prime 100…. I haven’t looked at all of them, or done the calculations but looking at the Kangaroo & Pumpkin one – this one was pumpkin, carrots and apple, which are all carbohydrates. Other types have rice or sweet potato, which are also carbohydrates. We haven’t tried this brand’s dry food before but we have tried the wet food when a trainer suggested it, and let’s just say we haven’t bought it since. Raw meat is the way to go for dingoes. Let me know how you go.
Thank you for your article. What a blessing! We have a genetic anomaly, aka Unkoso the misfit Red Healer. It took nearly a year to understand that he is a Dingo. We live in the US,and little is known about them,especially feeding. Unkoso is 13 and in good health, but we are concerned about his diet. While you address the what and how, I’ve not seen, as yet, about how much. (Maybe I just missed it.) Please keep your keep your info coming. Vets treat Koso like an odd dog, so any information in that area would be most helpful.
Hi Linda!
Unkoso is such a unique name – do you pronounce it “oon-koh-so”? I’ve heard of American Dingoes AKA Carolina Dogs, but I’m not familiar with what they eat. With Australian dingoes, Canine Ascension recommends 2-3% of a dingo’s ideal adult weight and then adjusting from there. I’ve included this in the 3rd article about dingo diets dingo diet series.
Adult Australian dingoes can weigh anything from 13kg to about 23kg. Rusty was about 20kg at his last vet visit, so we feed them about 500g of raw protein a day, plus they get an extra treat like a Likimat. We’re quite mindful about how much we feed our dingoes — when they’re full, Australian dingoes tend to hide the extra food for later. They dig a hole and bury it with their nose. With two dingoes, this can cause resource guarding, so they’re never allowed to keep leftovers…. but if for some reason Rusty is still hungry later, he’s pretty vocal about it. I think this has only happened twice and he was easily pleased with an egg.