Silly raw food question regarding dogs

[watchdogps]

Quote:
Hamburger and rice is NOT a complete diet in any way! It isn't species appropriate, and its lacking in minerals and chewing.

shes on vitamins, glocosamine, omega 3. and this diet. been on it her wwhole life. shes 17 years old. and has vet check ups. funny if its so bad hows she still living. she gets bones and treats during the day. so she has chewing. and she love carrots and gets one of thos a day. she still has all her teeth and there white.

My great grandma chewed snuff and ate fried foods every day of her life. She died at 102 in her sleep with no health problems and no medications. That doesn't mean those choices were the best, they just didn't happen to kill her. I didn't say it wasn't working for your dog, but it isn't a complete diet (although your supplements probably round it out well), and its not ideal for most dogs. Rice is not species appropriate, ground foods are far more likely to be contaminated than whole foods, and a true species appropriate diet doesn't require supplementation.

 

[stephanie1992]

Quote:
shes on vitamins, glocosamine, omega 3. and this diet. been on it her wwhole life. shes 17 years old. and has vet check ups. funny if its so bad hows she still living. she gets bones and treats during the day. so she has chewing. and she love carrots and gets one of thos a day. she still has all her teeth and there white.

My great grandma chewed snuff and ate fried foods every day of her life. She died at 102 in her sleep with no health problems and no medications. That doesn't mean those choices were the best, they just didn't happen to kill her. I didn't say it wasn't working for your dog, but it isn't a complete diet (although your supplements probably round it out well), and its not ideal for most dogs. Rice is not species appropriate, ground foods are far more likely to be contaminated than whole foods, and a true species appropriate diet doesn't require supplementation.

would steak be better than hamburger? and isnt rice in alot of things u can buy for dogs. like lamb and rice can foods? i didnt think it was that bad. found the recipie online when i first got the dog. prob wouldnt hurt to change it tho.

 

[HEChicken]

If you are going to feed rice, I would absolutely switch to brown rice over white. Essentially, with grains, there are 3 "layers": The fibrous outer husk, (bran), the germ, which is the part that contains all of the nutrients, and the inner kernel which contains very little in the way of the nutrition. White rice has both the bran and the germ removed so all that is left is the high-carb kernel - it feels filling but the body turns it instantly it into sugars and gets very little in return. So, if you want to use rice and retain a little of the nutrition, you'll do much better switching to the same quantity of brown rice.

 

[watchdogps]

Quote:
My great grandma chewed snuff and ate fried foods every day of her life. She died at 102 in her sleep with no health problems and no medications. That doesn't mean those choices were the best, they just didn't happen to kill her. I didn't say it wasn't working for your dog, but it isn't a complete diet (although your supplements probably round it out well), and its not ideal for most dogs. Rice is not species appropriate, ground foods are far more likely to be contaminated than whole foods, and a true species appropriate diet doesn't require supplementation.

would steak be better than hamburger? and isnt rice in alot of things u can buy for dogs. like lamb and rice can foods? i didnt think it was that bad. found the recipie online when i first got the dog. prob wouldnt hurt to change it tho.

Yes, it would, although variety would be great too. The more an animal is processed, the more it is exposed to pathogens. Grinding subjects food to several processes, and also creates far more surface area for bacteria to cling to. That's why we her of a lot more recalls of burger than of cuts of meat.
The rice is a binder, which wouldn't be needed if raw bones were included in her diet. She obviously isn't allergic to rice, or have ayeast problem that needs to avoid starch (consider yourself lucky!), so it isn't doing her any harm, but it isn't doing her any good either. There's really no benefit to rice for a dog.
She has all her teeth, so she could get some bone in foods, like wings etc. Don't underestimate her either, my chi could even handle turkey necks and he was only six lbs!

 

[stephanie1992]

Quote:
would steak be better than hamburger? and isnt rice in alot of things u can buy for dogs. like lamb and rice can foods? i didnt think it was that bad. found the recipie online when i first got the dog. prob wouldnt hurt to change it tho.

Yes, it would, although variety would be great too. The more an animal is processed, the more it is exposed to pathogens. Grinding subjects food to several processes, and also creates far more surface area for bacteria to cling to. That's why we her of a lot more recalls of burger than of cuts of meat.
The rice is a binder, which wouldn't be needed if raw bones were included in her diet. She obviously isn't allergic to rice, or have ayeast problem that needs to avoid starch (consider yourself lucky!), so it isn't doing her any harm, but it isn't doing her any good either. There's really no benefit to rice for a dog.
She has all her teeth, so she could get some bone in foods, like wings etc. Don't underestimate her either, my chi could even handle turkey necks and he was only six lbs!

so would it be ok to give her raw chicken with bones? i thought chicken and pork bones are bad. but shes picky and wont touch any dog food and wont eat sertant things. i can switch to brown rice and maybe go to the local butcher and get her cow bones to chew and switch to steak

 

[watchdogps]

Raw bones of any species are digestible. Heavy cow bones can break teeth though, so a small dog like her would be better with chicken bones. Please go read www.rawfed.com they have a fabulous FAQ section