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Questions
Can dogs eat hare? Yes. Properly sourced wild hare can be fed as part of a raw diet, and because hare is uncommon in mainstream dog foods, it may also be a genuinely novel protein for many New Zealand dogs.
There are a couple of important distinctions, though.
Hare is not the same animal as rabbit, and a whole-hare raw product containing meat, bone and organs is very different nutritionally from boneless meat, a treat or a mixed-protein food.
This guide explains how hare fits into raw feeding, when it can genuinely be considered a novel protein, the difference between hare and rabbit, and what to consider when feeding wild hare safely.
Looking for the food? Shop our Wild Hare Raw Dog Food – Whole Prey or browse our Wild & Novel Protein collection.
Yes.
Hare provides animal protein along with naturally occurring nutrients from the tissues included in the food.
How hare fits into your dog's diet depends on which parts of the animal are included.
Our Wild Hare Raw Dog Food is made from 100% wild hare, including:
muscle meat;
edible bone; and
organs.
It is minced and cut into convenient bite-sized pieces, giving raw feeders a single-animal-species food containing several parts of the animal rather than just boneless muscle meat.
That does not mean every hare product on the market is the same.
Always check the full ingredient list rather than relying on the word “hare” on the front of the packet.
It can be.
A novel protein is simply a protein that is new to your individual dog.
There is no universal list of novel proteins.
For a dog that has spent years eating chicken, beef and lamb, hare may genuinely be unfamiliar.
For a dog that regularly eats hare mince or hare treats, it obviously isn't novel anymore.
This is particularly important if you are investigating a suspected food reaction.
Think about everything your dog has previously eaten, including:
everyday food;
treats;
chews;
mixed-protein foods;
table scraps;
supplements; and
flavoured medications.
For a wider look at less-common proteins including hare, rabbit, possum, goat, venison, kangaroo and horse, read our Novel Proteins for Dogs NZ Guide.
No.
Hares and rabbits are related, but they are different animals.
For everyday feeding variety, that distinction may not seem particularly important.
But if you are keeping an accurate protein history for your dog — particularly during a veterinarian-guided elimination diet — it makes sense to record them separately.
There is another practical difference when comparing individual raw foods.
Our Wild Hare Raw Dog Food is a single-animal-species product containing wild hare meat, bone and organs.
Other rabbit or hare products may contain additional animal species or be made from only one part of the animal.
So a customer wanting a tightly controlled single-species option should always read the full ingredient list rather than assuming hare and rabbit products perform the same role.
Not automatically.
You will sometimes see hare and other unusual meats described as “hypoallergenic”.
The more accurate way to think about it is:
Hare may be useful as a novel protein if your dog has never eaten it before.
No animal protein can be guaranteed not to cause a reaction in every dog.
Veterinary investigation of suspected food allergy generally involves a properly controlled elimination diet using carefully selected novel or hydrolysed proteins, followed by controlled reintroduction.
Treats, chews, table food and flavoured supplements or medicines can interfere with that process.
The Merck Veterinary Manual provides further information about food allergies and elimination diets.
If your dog has persistent itching, recurring ear problems or ongoing digestive symptoms, speak with your veterinarian rather than repeatedly swapping proteins.
Hare provides animal protein together with naturally occurring nutrients from the tissues included.
A whole-hare product can contain nutrients supplied by several parts of the animal.
Muscle meat provides animal protein along with naturally occurring vitamins and minerals.
Bone contributes minerals including calcium and phosphorus.
Organs are nutrient-dense tissues containing vitamins and minerals in different concentrations from ordinary muscle meat.
The exact nutritional composition will vary according to the animal, season, tissues included and finished product.
That is why broad statements such as “hare is high in omega-3” or “hare reduces inflammation” should not automatically be applied to every hare dog food.
Where detailed nutritional analysis is available, use the information for the actual product being fed.
Our hare product contains one animal species but several components of that animal:
hare meat;
hare bone; and
hare organs.
That makes it different from a boneless meat product.
It is also useful to understand the difference between three terms that can easily become confused.
A product containing only one listed ingredient, such as boneless hare meat.
All animal ingredients come from the same species.
A product containing hare meat, hare bone and hare organs can therefore be single species even though it contains several different tissues.
This is a nutritional description of a finished diet designed to provide required nutrients for its stated life stage.
A food being whole-animal, single-species or based around a particular meat-to-bone-to-organ ratio does not automatically mean it provides every nutrient every dog requires.
The whole diet still matters.
Not necessarily.
An 80:10:10 raw food is produced around an approximate target of:
80% meat;
10% bone; and
10% organ.
A whole-animal product instead reflects the tissues included from the animal.
Those concepts can overlap, but they are not exactly the same thing.
Our Wild Hare Raw Dog Food contains whole wild hare including meat, bone and organ.
We would not describe every portion as a precisely measured 80:10:10 ratio unless the product had specifically been produced to that ratio.
It is a small distinction, but it gives dog owners a much clearer picture of what they are actually feeding.
Yes.
Wild hare comes from animals living and feeding in the wild rather than animals raised commercially.
For the dog owner, however, the important questions remain practical:
Where was it sourced?
How was it harvested?
How quickly was it chilled or frozen?
Where was it processed?
Does the product contain only hare?
Are meat, bone and organs included?
How should it be stored and handled?
New Zealand has specific requirements covering hunted animals entering the pet-food supply chain.
MPI's current Operational Code for Petfood Processing covers hunted animals including rabbits, hares, wallabies, possums, goats and deer. It includes controls relating to sourcing, processing and potential exposure to poisons used for pest control.
You can view MPI's current pet-food documents here:
That traceability is one reason commercially processed wild pet food is very different from simply feeding an animal found in the wild.
We would not recommend feeding an untraceable wild carcass simply because it appears fresh.
With an unknown carcass you may not know:
where the animal has been;
whether poison-control activity has taken place nearby;
how long the animal has been dead;
how it has been handled;
whether deterioration has begun; or
whether it has been exposed to contamination.
New Zealand's hunted-animal controls specifically address sourcing and the potential for exposure to pest-control poisons.
A controlled commercial supply chain gives you considerably more traceability around those issues.
Our whole-hare product contains minced edible bone, rather than requiring your dog to tackle a large intact bone.
Ground or minced bone and whole raw bones are different feeding experiences.
When feeding whole bones, size and hardness matter.
Bones should be appropriate for your dog's:
size;
dental condition;
chewing style; and
previous experience with raw bones.
Dogs should always be supervised.
Never feed cooked bones.
Cooking changes the structure of bone and can make it more brittle and prone to splintering.
Raw bones are not completely risk-free either. Tooth damage, choking and gastrointestinal obstruction are possible, particularly when an inappropriate bone is chosen.
For more practical guidance on meat, bone, organs and meal planning, read our Raw Dog Feeding Guide NZ.
Some dogs may tolerate hare very well, but we would not describe hare itself as a treatment for digestive problems.
There are many potential causes of vomiting, diarrhoea, gas and other gastrointestinal symptoms.
A dog might appear to do better after changing proteins because:
the previous food contained an ingredient that did not suit them;
the new recipe contains fewer ingredients;
the fat level changed;
feeding quantities changed; or
something else in the diet changed at the same time.
If digestive symptoms are persistent or significant, seek veterinary advice rather than relying on a particular meat to solve the problem.
If your otherwise healthy dog already eats raw food, keep the introduction simple.
Start with a modest amount of hare.
Avoid introducing several new foods on the same day.
Increase the amount gradually if appetite and stools remain normal.
Monitor your dog's comfort and body condition.
Stop and seek veterinary advice if concerning or persistent symptoms develop.
If your veterinarian is using hare as part of a controlled elimination diet, follow their plan instead.
A normal food transition and a diagnostic diet trial are two different things.
For healthy adult dogs, many raw feeders use around 2–3% of ideal body weight per day as a starting estimate.
That is not a universal prescription.
Feeding requirements vary according to:
body size;
age;
activity;
body condition;
metabolism;
neuter status; and
the energy density of the food.
Use our Raw Dog Food Feeding Calculator NZ for a practical starting point, then adjust according to the dog in front of you.
Growing puppies need particular attention to overall nutrient and mineral balance and should not simply be treated as small adult dogs.
Hare can be included as an ingredient in an appropriately planned puppy diet.
The bigger issue is whether the whole diet is suitable for growth.
Puppies have specific requirements for energy, calcium, phosphorus and other essential nutrients.
The fact that a raw food contains meat, bone and organs does not by itself prove that it supplies every nutrient at the correct level for a growing puppy.
If you are building a puppy diet yourself, use an appropriately formulated feeding plan or seek suitable professional advice.
Hare can form part of a regular raw-feeding routine.
But the more useful question is:
Does the complete diet provide appropriate nutrition over time?
Feeding one animal species every day does not automatically make a diet deficient, and rotating several proteins does not automatically make a diet balanced.
Look at the entire feeding programme rather than simply counting protein varieties.
Our Raw Dog Feeding Guide NZ explains the wider approach to building a raw diet.
Hare treats can provide another way of including the same animal species in your dog's diet.
But treats and chews are extras, not complete meals.
They should be accounted for within your dog's overall food intake.
If you are carrying out a strict veterinarian-guided elimination diet, check whether treats are permitted before adding them — even if they appear to use the same protein as the main food.
Raw hare should be handled like other raw animal products.
Good practice includes:
keeping frozen food frozen until required;
thawing it in the refrigerator;
storing raw pet food separately from ready-to-eat human food;
washing your hands after handling it;
washing bowls and utensils after feeding;
cleaning preparation surfaces thoroughly; and
avoiding leaving raw food sitting somewhere warm for long periods.
New Zealand Food Safety has reviewed the microbiological risks associated with raw meat pet food, including the potential presence of microorganisms capable of causing illness in animals or people.
You can read the full report here:
https://www.mpi.govt.nz/dmsdocument/70305/direct
Extra care may be appropriate in households containing young children, pregnant people, elderly people or people with reduced immunity.
There is no universally “best” novel protein.
Start with your individual dog.
Useful when you want a less-commonly fed, single-animal-species food containing meat, bone and organ.
Another distinctly New Zealand wild protein, with different feeding formats available.
Read our Possum for Dogs NZ Guide.
A versatile wild protein available in several different formats, including mince, boneless meat, bone and organs.
Read our Goat for Dogs NZ Guide.
The right choice depends on:
what your dog has eaten before;
whether you need single-species feeding;
the format required;
the rest of the diet; and
any veterinary requirements.
For a wider comparison, see our Novel Proteins for Dogs NZ Guide.
Properly sourced, stored and handled hare can form part of a raw diet.
The product format and the overall diet still matter.
It can be if your dog has not eaten hare before.
Novel protein describes the dog's previous food exposure, not simply how unusual the animal sounds.
Hare and rabbit are different animal species.
If you are keeping an accurate food history — particularly for a veterinary elimination diet — record them separately.
No animal protein can be guaranteed to be hypoallergenic.
Hare may be genuinely novel for some dogs, which is why it may sometimes be considered within veterinarian-guided elimination diets.
Our Wild Hare Raw Dog Food contains whole wild hare, including meat, edible bone and organs, minced into convenient pieces.
Wild hare is often regarded as a relatively lean meat, but the fat content of an individual pet food can vary according to the animal and the tissues included.
Use product-specific nutritional information when dietary fat is particularly important for your dog.
Hare can be fed regularly where it forms part of a nutritionally appropriate overall diet.
The nutritional adequacy of the complete feeding programme matters more than simply how often one protein appears.
Yes, hare can be an ingredient in an appropriately formulated puppy diet.
The entire diet still needs to provide the nutrients required for growth.
Yes. Our Wild Hare Raw Pet Food is suitable for dogs and cats as part of an appropriate raw feeding programme.
Our Wild Hare Raw Dog Food is made from one animal species and contains whole wild hare, including meat, bone and organ, minced into convenient bite-sized pieces.
Browse Wild & Novel Protein Dog Food
Read our Novel Proteins for Dogs NZ Guide
Read our Possum for Dogs NZ Guide
Read our Goat for Dogs NZ Guide
Read our Raw Dog Feeding Guide NZ
Use our Raw Dog Food Feeding Calculator
If your dog has a diagnosed medical condition, is growing, pregnant or lactating, or you are investigating a suspected food allergy, seek individual advice from your veterinarian or an appropriately qualified animal-nutrition professional.
Ministry for Primary Industries — Documents for pet food, animal feed and nutritional supplements
https://www.mpi.govt.nz/animals/pet-food-animal-feed-nutritional-supplements/documents-for-pet-food-animal-feed-and-nutritional-supplements
Ministry for Primary Industries — Operational Code: Petfood Processing
https://www.mpi.govt.nz/dmsdocument/23965/direct
New Zealand Food Safety — Microbiological Safety and Suitability of Raw Meat Petfood
https://www.mpi.govt.nz/dmsdocument/70305/direct
Merck Veterinary Manual — Cutaneous Food Allergy in Animals
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/integumentary-system/food-allergy/cutaneous-food-allergy-in-animals
Can dogs eat horse meat? Our NZ guide covers horse meat for dogs, novel proteins, lean boneless raw meat, nutrition, feeding amounts, dietary balance and safe raw feeding.
Can dogs eat goat? Our NZ guide explains wild goat for dogs, novel proteins, raw goat mince, boneless meat, bones and organs, plus practical feeding, sourcing and safety advice.
Can dogs eat possum? This guide to possum for dogs in NZ covers raw possum dog food, novel proteins, possum mince, bone-in chunks, nutrition, sourcing and safe raw feeding. Learn how New Zealand wild possum can fit into a varied raw diet and what to consider before feeding it to your dog.
