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It’s often the case that major pet food recalls create lots of interest in switching over to raw foods.
Still, many dog owners remain skeptical or cautious or just totally unaware of the benefits of going raw!
Despite all the conflicting information on the topic, folks are increasing abandoning dog food for this healthy alternative.
A raw food diet is natural for every species (except perhaps humans).
Your best buddy’s diet can certainly be raw. That is, if you can actually commit to it.
A Raw Food Diet Is Great For Most Dogs (but can be difficult to implement)
Feeding raw vegetables is one thing, but a complete raw food diet is quite another.
The truth is that switching to raw foods (exclusively) may not be a good idea if your dog is already healthy.
The reason?
You really have to stay on top of nutritional needs. And consider that commercial dog foods, the premium brands at least, are much better than decades past.
Are you really up for the challenge of a raw food diet?
If you have doubts then consider just getting a high-quality dog food as the next best option.
Practical Considerations
Nowadays most people lead busy lives.
A raw food diet takes considerable prep time. You’ll lose the convenience of commercial dog foods.
Is your intent is to make a big difference in your dog’s life?
Taking the raw food plunge may be worth it. You just need to be knowledgeable and go about it the right way.
The BARF Diet Plan
With the Biologically Appropriate Raw Food (BARF) plan you’ll be incorporating various raw meats and evaluating the results.
Basically, it involves preparing uncooked muscle and organs too.
Another aspect to this diet is raw bones (a controversy in its own right). Veggies, yogurt and cottage cheese can also be added.
And here’s the deal:
Extra enzymes are absorbed, those that commercial dog food cannot provide. It makes sense, but you can actually take it further!
The Prey Model Plan
Another way to feed raw foods is with the Prey Model.
It takes into account that your dog is related to wild wolfs. The philosophy views your furry friend as a carnivorous beast.
Your dog will be gnawing on and tearing apart unprepared meat muscle.
They’ll consume edible bones and organs. We’re talking whole carcasses, like in the wilderness!
Watch this tell-it-like-it-is video!
One benefit to this raw food approach is improved dental health.
In comparison to others, the Prey Model is hands-off. It requires less work.
Nutritional Balancing Act
The problem with raw foods is that your dog may not always get a balanced diet.
Deficiencies are common unless you know what you’re doing.
You have people on both sides of the debate. Each claim their pet’s have shiner coats, more energy, etc.
So who is right?
Commercial dog foods and raw food diets can both keep dogs happy and healthy.
They’re all valid diet plans. It’s just that conventional canine chow is easier.
The Bottom Line
You can feed your dog raw foods, but switching over requires a big commitment.
There are many health benefits (and a few downsides) to going raw. It’s something to seriously consider if the dog is prone to allergies.
Your best course of action is to consult with a veterinary nutritionist first.
Raw food is natural and thus healthy for both humans and dogs. That is why we both eat at least a decent amount of raw food every day. My dog eats raw vegetables and raw beef and I eat raw fruit. This way we both get what is natural for us. Though, I will admit, I also eat cooked foods like potatoes and cooked beans and my dog also gets processed food.
I currently cook food for my dogs fresh daily, but our dog trainer is a fervent advocate of the raw based diet. My feeling is that what I cook for them seems to be complete. My go-to recipe is ground lamb with sweet potatoes and oatmeal, then stirring in BARF complete. Also, a supplement of kelp, eggshells and brewer’s yeast.
Both dogs seem to be thriving. They had awful digestion problems before. I really don’t like the idea of raw meat juices on the floor. They’re messy eaters, whatever is in the bowl. It just seems like a health hazard, and I’m concerned for my small children inadvertently picking up raw meat and/or bone.
Is the raw diet so superior? Is it worth the raw juice/blood/bone fragments? I want to give the best for my dogs, but don’t want to put others at risk. Any advice?
I use a washable mat under my dog’s bowl. It’s easy to lift and clean after meal times. But she doesn’t miss a morsel.
I was best friends with a feisty Min-Pin. Throughout the next 6+ years we did everything together and I fed him the best dog food I could readily get. Then he was not himself and became ill very quickly.
A while ago he died. My vet said that, based upon his history and symptoms, he likely died from melamine poisoning in his dog food. That particular spate of poisoning revealed, among many other things, the fact that the same ingredients found in cheap supermarket dog food are also found in so called good dog food.
As a lawyer I know that the maximum liability a company can face for killing your dog is the fair market value and the law deems them mere chattel. Only a fool would believe that no company would risk a cheap alternative to make more profit if the liability exposure was less than the additional profit.
From that day forward, I have never given my dog anything that wasn’t made and sold for human consumption. It’s not fool proof, but way better odds in my opinion.
Even human food is becoming less reliable.
Easier is not necessarily good. Processed food is not good for any being, us or our pets!
We feed raw and our dogs are beautifully healthy. No ‘formulated’ kibble can possibly compare, it lacks enzymes, phytonutrients and plant sterols – all which aid digestion and prevent things like cancer.
Kibble is a lazy person’s solution to dog food and the equivalent of us living on a meal replacement shake and saying it is formulated to contain everything we need. It might be but do you honestly think that would beat a whole food fresh diet?
I work in the raw pet food industry and I am sorely distressed by how poorly informed most vets are and how they do not support raw feeding. If they did though, they’d more than likely be put out of business, so it really is all economics!
Many of us loving, well-intentioned, caregivers do the best we can on what we know and can afford. Up here in Alberta, Canada it is extremely expensive to feed totally raw.