Raw diet for dogs?

[Chicks_N_Horses]

Yes, raw bones are great for dogs. They help their teeth too. Cooked bones, don't do! They change during the cooking process and become brittle and softer to where they can splinter and choke a dog. My MILS little dog choked on a cooked chicken bone she gave him and died.

When God created animals he didn't stick a big Wal-mart or feedstore out there to be able to feed them.

Wild dogs, wolves, and coyotes eat raw prey so why wouldn't it be any different just because a dog is a pet in a yard. I still try and feed my animals as natural as a diet as I can give them.

 

[redhen]

Well..this isnt going to be as easy as i thought! Today i'm boiling down a chicken and decided to give the dogs the innards that come in a little bag inside the bird. Yeah...they (my 2 males) wanted nothing to do with them at all! My female loved it though!

But the boys would not touch their food with that stuff in it! *Wimps!* I tried everything..hand feeding..begging..pleading..

So my female went around to each bowl and ate the chicken innards for them.

And THEN the boys would eat their food. *sigh* Any hints on getting my dogs used to raw?

 

[coberdor]

Be VERY careful about feeding raw meat, especially chicken to your dogs! I agree that many commercial dog foods contain way too many chemicals, but so do non-organic meats from the supermarket!

Take a look at this link. http://home.att.net/~wdcusick/raw.html

Salmonella is a real concern here. Even if your dog doesn't become ill from it, the dog can end up carrying the salmonella around in it's saliva for any person to pick up who pets them or touches the things that have been in contact with dog's mouths.

I would rather see people cook for their dogs using organic materials and be sure to add lots of fruits and vegetables to their cooked food. I have cooked for one of my dogs for 8 years because of chronic pancreatitis. He must have less than 5% fat in his diet. We almost lost him several times and once I switched to cooking for him, he didn't have another pancreatic attack until 3 weeks ago, and that was because I switched his protein in his food from cooked ground turkey to fish. Alot of dogs have problems digesting fish who have pancreatitis. His cooked food I make contains: turkey, barley, oats, rice, fresh ground flax seed, carrots, black beans (cooked and ground), swiss chard(great for calcium), dried tomatoes, and any fresh veggies from the garden in summer. I dry the tomatoes and swiss chard to add in winter. Since I'm an organic gardener, this is easy for me.

I am a Delta Society evaluator and instructor, and the dog mentioned above is my pet partner and has been working in hospitals for 12 years. The hospitals won't allow any dog on raw diets in the hospital because of the possibility of salmonella being contained in their saliva. Once it is in the dog's saliva, it is there for good, like in a lizard.

 

[Redyre Rotties]

I feed 3 Rottweilers, 2 95 lb b.itches and a young active dog who is about 110.

The dog eats about 2.5 lbs per day. The b.itches eat about 1.5 lbs each.

The accepted formula to determine how much meat your dog needs to consume is 2 to 3% of body weight, depending on activity level, age of the dog, and if there is growth to be considered.

Young active or growing dogs need more. Older settled less active dogs need less. Some dogs of the same weight and activity levels will have differing needs as far as amount. I look at my dogs once per week with regard to weight and body condition, and adjust the amount I feed in a week accordingly.

Hot weather dogs need less, cold weather they need more.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT to note that if you are going to feed raw meat, a dog MUST have bone or bone substitute to keep a correct Ca/Ph balance.

Organ meat is also a necessity. I don't use grains on mature dogs, however, b.itches in whelp or lactating, and growing puppies need the extra carbs from grains to do well.

More info here on raw diets:

http://rawfed.com/myths/feedraw.html

http://www.rawlearning.com

 

[redhen]

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Okay..now i'm freaked out!

 

[Redyre Rotties]

With all due respect, I have fed a raw diet including THOUSANDS of pounds of raw chicken, to numerous dogs from 3 weeks of age to 12+ and I have never ever had any issue with Salmonella.

Healthy dogs are not affected by the levels of bacteria normally found in whole raw meat.

GROUND MEATS ARE DIFFERENT, and can harbor bacteria counts higher than dogs can tolerate. Ground meats should be handled carefully, and not fed to dogs if you would not eat it.

Whole pieces of meat, on the other hand, can be really putrid and not harm dogs. My dogs regularly bury pork trotters and dig them up later after they have "baked" to eat them. They love chicken that is so high as to be repulsive to humans.

Dogs are designed to eat raw meat, carrion, and a wide variety of fecal materials from other animals with impunity.

Dogs do not require ANY vegetable or fruit material to be in blooming healthy condition. While these are a good and often very welcome addition to the diet of many dogs, they ARE NOT ESSENTIAL. Meat and bones are the essential parts of the diet.

Dogs DO NOT CARRY SALMONELLA in saliva. My dogs have clean fresh mouths, and they are face lickers, and there has never been a problem in my household, or with any people they visit, EVER, in 15+ years.

I speak from a LARGE base of personal experience feeding dogs raw diets.

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[redhen]

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Redyre, this makes me feel better! Whew!

Thanks!

 

[PeepsInc]

2 pounds of venison burger(or what ever meat scrap's available),1 cup of White rice(cooked), 2 Raw eggs,drop of liver oil. +3 cups of cheap dry food feeds, 2 large dogs & a beagle. This diet was recommended by my vet to extend an old dog's life. It seems to fill there belly's longer,& they get more out of it than commercial dog food(which is mostly grain products). Now that rice went up in price, it's harder to find in 20 lb bags. I dont know if it's cheaper over all, but my dogs look healthier than they did on dry food alone.

 

[Nana2KJS]

It's so good to know that I'm not the only "nut" in town, though most people around here think I've lost it!

We, too, feed raw diets to our dogs. Have tried with the cats but they are soooo persnickety. I mix my own grains for our chickens, too, but we only have 4 so it's not that big a deal.

Our little dogs, 3 poms and 2 chihuahuas, get a portion of a raw ground patty (Nature's Variety) in the morning and either chicken drummies or pork riblets for supper.

Even the ten year old pomeranian that we found at the shelter last year, is thriving on it. Her teeth were NASTY and loose when we got her. Vet had to remove 5 teeth, but the rest are now clean and white and strong again. She is like a new dog, and has no problem eating her raw meaty bones.

Our labrador retriever gets around 2 lbs a day, though I have been giving her less since it's so hot. I cut turkeys up into 1.5-2 lb chunks, or ribs with a chunk of brisket. Sometimes pork spareribs with a chunk of boneless roast. She LOVES tripe when I can get it.

The most difficult part of a raw diet is sourcing it. The satisfaction of knowing you are doing what is best for your animals is well worth the effort.

 

[redhen]

Thanks for all the advice guys! Another question, Chicken wings? I'm assuming that they are not a good choice for giant breed dogs because of choking? Or am i wrong..

I am still nervous about raw chicken and pork..

But i really want to do this..so i'm going to get over that!