Raw Feeding: Complete guide to a happy & healthy dog

For dog owners looking to give their pets the best nutrition, feeding raw meals is gaining popularity. This article will look into why you should consider feeding a raw diet. We'll cover the history of raw feeding, its science-backed benefits, and how to safely switch to it.

Key Takeaways

• Raw dog food diets provide a more natural and nutrient-dense source of nutrition.
• Feeding raw dog food may lead to improved digestion, healthier skin and coat, and enhanced overall health.
• Transitioning to a raw diet requires a gradual approach and careful sourcing of high-quality ingredients.
• Safety considerations, such as handling and storage, must be addressed when feeding raw meat to dogs.
• Consulting with a veterinarian or a canine nutrition expert can help ensure a smooth and successful transition.

Understanding the Raw Food Diet for Dogs

You might have heard about the raw dog food diet. It's a way of feeding your pet biologically appropriate food, including whole, unprocessed foods like meat, organs, bones, and vegetables.

When people start feeding a raw diet they see benefits such as improved digestion, healthier skin and coat, and increased energy levels. Now, more and more pet owners and experts are trying this diet for their dogs.

What is a raw food diet?

This diet for dogs includes meat, organs, raw bones, and fresh produce. These foods are not cooked and don't have any additives or preservatives. The idea is to provide a more biologically appropriate diet than dry dog food.

Each dog is different and you may need to try different species of meat to find which are best for your dog.

Some people add vegetables for additional nutrition, but a dog’s teeth and digestive system weren't designed to digest vegetables. Chopping vegetables into small pieces and/or lightly cooking could make them more digestible.

Why should I feed my dog a raw food diet?

Dogs are carnivores that evolved eating raw meat-based diets. Pet food manufacturers use heat processing which often affects the nutrients and enzymes. They try to add back what they destroyed, but synthetic isn't always as good as natural ingredients.

As an example, cats developed health problems and died when fed commercial food. Researchers discovered taurine is essential for cats. Although taurine is abundant in raw meat, it wasn't considered an essential ingredient until recently.

It’s only in the last 80 years or so that people started feeding dogs commercial foods. It's not a coincidence that dogs started developing cancer, heart disease, and allergies – just like people who eat processed foods.

Won’t raw meat make my dog sick?

Dogs and their ancestors ate a raw food diet for thousands of years. It's after they were domesticated and began eating commercial dog food that health issues increased.

For example, in 2007, hundreds of pets died of kidney failure after eating kibble contaminated with melamine and cyanuric acid. Melamine is a compound used to make Formica, plastic dinnerware, insulation, cleaning products, and dry erase boards. The contamination was traced to companies in China that make animal feed. These companies reportedly added the chemicals to "give the false appearance of a higher level of protein."

Shouldn't I cook the meat?

No, and there are several reasons not to cook it. First, dogs evolved to eat raw meat. Second, cooking causes bones to become brittle and dangerous. Never feed cooked bones to your dog. Third, cooking will destroy enzymes and anti-oxidants essential to your dog’s health.

In the 1930s, Francis Pottenger M.D. did an experiment with cats. He fed one group of cats a raw diet and a different group a cooked diet. The cats eating the cooked diet developed problems such as tooth loss, deformities, behavioral problems, paralysis, heart lesions, and arthritis. Mother cats had more miscarriages and some died giving birth.

Fortunately when they were later fed a raw food diet, many were restored to health.

What are the health benefits for dogs?

Raw diets help with digestion and skin health, making it a top choice for dog owners.

Raw meat is easier for dogs to digest. This means better nutrient use and less waste. You'll notice firmer poop and fewer tummy troubles.

A raw diet is good for a dog's skin and coat because it's full of nutrients that make skin and fur healthy.

Feeding dogs raw meat can also lower health risks by avoiding harmful additives in store-bought food. This supports a strong immune system and overall health.

The benefits of a raw diet are clear. Whether you want better digestion, a healthier coat, or a stronger immune system, a balanced raw diet can be the answer.

Tips for Transitioning to Raw Pet Food

The key is to do it slowly and carefully. This helps your dog's stomach get used to the new food. It makes sure they can live well on a diet that's meant for their natural eating habits.

How much food your dog needs depends on their size and other factors.

But before changing your dog's diet, talk to your vet about switching to raw food.

How do I make sure my dog gets a complete and balanced diet?

By feeding a varied diet based on raw, meaty bones you will achieve a balance over time.

Except for the raw part, that's pretty much how we eat.

Because chicken is widely available and fairly inexpensive, many people feed mostly chicken. However you should feed as wide a variety of foods as your dog will eat (and your wallet can handle). For example:

•  chicken backs, necks and quarters,
•  rabbit parts,
•  turkey necks,
•  pork necks,
•  beef,
•  eggs (whole, including the shell).

My friends have also given me goat, fish, deer, elk, and buffalo.

I have several Labs so I often buy in bulk at a restaurant supply business. Sometimes their stock varies, but I usually buy ground turkey, chicken quarters, and beef heart. That's about 60-80 pounds of meat.

When I have puppies I'll usually start them on gruel which is kibble soaked in about 50/50 goat's milk and water. Then they'll graduate to ground up chicken wings, and finally to intact wings. When you watch them snatch the wings you'll realize how high they value raw meat.

Again, if you feed anything with bones it must not be cooked.

And I also feed fruit and vegetables, but they're not a big part of my dogs' diet. For things they like - apples, avocado, carrots, celery (but not bananas, for some reason) - I chop into bite-size pieces. Other things like spinach and cauliflower get chopped up in the grinder and mixed with ground meat.

Can’t my dog choke on a bone?

Yes, dogs can (and have) choked on many things including bones, kibble, tennis balls, sticks, and socks. Dogs can also break their teeth on bones. Therefore you should feed raw bones of a manageable size, including poultry, rabbits, and non-weight bearing bones of larger animals.

Make sure the pieces are large enough so that your dog has to tear and chew rather than gulping. Gulping can cause choking. One of my dogs tried to swallow a chicken quarter whole. From then on he got to chew on the thigh while I held the end of the drumstick.

If you're worried about feeding bones you can still get some benefits of a raw diet by feeding ground meat. Although that's fine for an occasional meal, your dog also needs the additional nutrients found in bones. You can add ground up bones or bone meal to balance nutrition. Check with your veterinarian for advice.

Another option is buying a raw diet, ground and specially prepared for dogs. You can find these in pet stores and some grocery stores. However there are two downsides: less knowledge about the ingredients and the cost.

Can you give me some recipes?

You don't really need any recipes, as such, just remember to provide a varied diet. Don't worry about calculating the exact amount of protein and carbohydrates or vitamins and minerals. You don't do that for what you eat, do you?

Feeding your dog a healthy diet isn't difficult. Give raw, meaty bones ("RMB") as the main course. Add some heart or liver, plus a little boneless meat, and maybe some mashed up vegetables.

You can also add some eggs (including the raw shell), some fish (whole, if possible), and perhaps some yogurt (with active cultures).

When you're first starting out, plan a week's menu with nine meals of RMBs, two meals of muscle meat, and three veggie meals. That's if you feed twice a day.

If you look in the 'fridge and there are only packages of muscle meat when you're supposed to be feeding an RMB, don't worry. Give an extra meal of RMBs and relax. Your dog won't care. Just remember you're striving for balance over time.

Also be sure to feed a variety of meats, not just different parts of a chicken. Try turkey, lamb, pork, rabbit, fish, goat, beef, deer, and any other meat that might be available in your area.

Transitioning to Raw Pet Food

It's best to start simply: one type of RMB for the first week or two. Don't add any supplements or try different RMBs for awhile. It might take a little time to adjust to this new food.

Some dogs do best on a cold turkey switch rather than half-kibble and half-raw, others may need to be eased into the new diet.

Remember to keep it bland in the beginning. You might start with chicken or turkey and feed wings, necks or backs for the first few days. Some dogs may take a little while to adjust, and you may see some diarrhea. If so, you can try adding some canned pumpkin (not the pie filling) or increase the percentage of bone.

You may also see a little vomiting. Sometimes it's bits of bone that he couldn't digest, other times it's a yellow foam that means his stomach is empty. Raw meat usually digests faster than kibble, so you may need to feed more often.

In the beginning, you might add some yogurt with active cultures or some digestive enzymes to help his digestive system. I use Dynamite's DynaPro. It's a pre- and probiotic and only takes a few drops to a small squirt.

As your dog adjusts, add another type of RMB (not just a different body part, but a different species). Feed just those two meats for several days or more until your dog seems comfortable with his new diet.

Then gradually try different foods. See what your dog likes. Some love fish, some hate it. Some love veggies, some won't touch it.

Wait to add richer foods like liver, heart or eggs until your dog is handling the basic raw diet.

How much should I feed my dog?

As a starting point dogs should eat about two to three percent of their ideal adult weight.

First you need to find out how much he weighs. Drop in at your vet's office if he's too big for your home scale. Then multiply by two percent and by three percent. For a 70 pound Labrador, that would be about 1.5-2 pounds of food.

Depending his activity level and body score (too fat/too thin), you may need to adjust the amount you feed.

Puppies should also receive about 2 to 3 percent - not of their current weight, but rather of the ideal adult weight.

And don't worry about giving your dog the same exact amount every day. Just keep the amount close to the two to three percent of his weight. Bump it up a bit if he starts looking thin or cut back a little if he's getting pudgy.

To supplement or not?

A varied diet of raw meaty bones with a little organ meat and occasional muscle meat will provide all the nutrition an average dog needs.

However some people feel that meat from commercially-raised animals may not have the same amount of nutrients as meat from wild animals. To balance it out they supplement with salmon or fish-body oil. These oils contain high amounts of Omega-3s that may be deficient in the commercially-raised animals.

Also some dogs, particularly dogs with health issues, may have greater requirements for certain nutrients. If your dog is older or has a health condition, you should check with your veterinarian.

Are There Risks Feeding Raw Meat?

Feeding your dog raw food can be good for their health, but you need to know the risks. Raw meat can carry harmful germs like salmonella or listeria. These could make your dog, you, and your family sick.

To avoid problems, choose high-quality suppliers and handle the food carefully. Wash your hands and surfaces before and after touching raw meat.

For many years pork has been cooked well-done to kill a parasite that might or might not be in the meat. According to WebMD, "Eating raw or undercooked pork can also result in trichinosis, an infection of parasitic roundworms called Trichinella. While trichinosis symptoms are usually mild, they can become serious — even fatal — especially in older adults."

However, according to the CDC, "... meat contaminated with the Trichinella larvae comes from meat-eating animals such as bear, wild boar, or walrus." They go on to say it "is a rare disease in the United States, with only about 15 confirmed cases per year."

A preventative measure is freezing pork for 20 days at 5°F (-15°C) to kill any worms. Make sure the pork is less than six inches thick.

Pregnant dogs and puppies need special care. Talk to your vet before giving them raw food. They can tell you what's best for their health.

By being careful you can give your dog the benefits of raw food. This way, you keep your dog healthy and safe.

Conclusion

The raw food diet for dogs is a great choice for their health. A raw meat-based diet has many benefits, such as better digestion and skin health.

Choosing a balanced raw diet for dogs is key. Make sure your pet gets balanced and nutritious meals by feeding raw meat, raw eggs, and other quality ingredients.

Deciding to feed your dog raw is up to you, but the perks are clear. With research and planning, you can give your dog a diet that meets their needs to support health and long life.