Raw dog food

[airedale]

So, I've been learning lately about how enzymes are really important in our health and longevity (both human and canine), and have been trying to incorporate more raw food in my own life and in that of my loved ones...Anyone have any good raw food recipes for their canine friends? Has it been successful?...I've also heard that there are some good raw dog food companies out there? Anything that people have had success with? Did you have trouble with your dog's GI while adjusting to the raw food? Do you include bone meal as well?

I'd love to know people's experiences, so thanks for your help.

airedale

[Big Dog]

Did you have trouble with your dog's GI while adjusting to the raw food? Do you include bone meal as well?

I'd love to know people's experiences, so thanks for your help.

airedale

I tried Ansel on the frozen raw food Dick Van Patten endorses... perhaps two bags worth. Ansel sure seemed to like it. It also seemed to agree with his stomach. I was a bit concerned about food safety with the raw food bag in the freezer with my food... but nothing bad happend.

If I had a dedicated freezer I would have stuck with it longer. The other pain was the time required in advance to thaw his meals. But I think it was a healthy choice to be sure.

[gottalovethatdobe]

I used raw dog food for a little while and unfortunately my dogs ended up with a bacterial infection in their intestines. so i am not the biggest fan of it however i do think it is okay... however our domestic dogs arent made for raw food.  Back in the day when dogs werent domesticated yes their systems were mad e for it. however nowadays dogs arent made for digesting raw food.... JMO

[Big Dog]

ouch - sorry to hear about that experience - for you and your dogs. that sure is one of the issues with raw food.

[gottalovethatdobe]

yes it is and i just like to let people know not all people will have the same experience as i did but man i am still suffereing 8 weeks later with nonstop diarrhea... unfortunately it is horrible

[Big Dog]

yes it is and i just like to let people know not all people will have the same experience as i did but man i am still suffereing 8 weeks later with nonstop diarrhea... unfortunately it is horrible

DISCLAIMER - THIS IS NOT VET ADVICE: Have you tried giving them acidophilus or other probiotics?

I had Ansel on that twice per day (he loved them). I just bought it at Trader Joes - do you have those were you live?

If his tummy really was off (not from raw food, that was a short lived experiment), I'd give him the probiotic called "Primal Defense" from a company called Garden of Life. They are made for people and organic, I think (that could be wrong).

Not cheap, I found them online and at the Vitamin Shoppe. They sure seemed to help him. I'd speak to your vet before trying any of the above.

[gottalovethatdobe]

my vet knows nothing to help get rid of this diarrhea they are metronidazole and it doesnt help so we are still trying to help but i will ask my vet about it

[K9 Obedience]

I am following this discussion on feeding dogs raw food with interest. I see that one forum member believes that as todays dog is a "domesticated animal," their systems are no longer designed to digest raw food. I would like to understand the reasoning behind this deduction. Perhaps the forum member could explain more, for I would like to know the differances between the dogs digestive system back in the early days of evolution and now?

dog lover 

[Big Dog]

hi, we have not heard from our friend "gottalovethatdobe" in a while i'm sorry to say, but i'm guessing her view, and i don't speak for her of course, is that in the same way we (humans) have bred some social traits in and out, perhaps some of the tummy traits have gone the same way.

both my gut (!) and experience with raw food teaches me to conclude this is not true today - Ansel did fine on it during my brief test - but i was concerned about food safety issues as it was a frozen commercial product and required storage in my food freezer - if i had a dedicated freezer for food or i took the time and effort to "make" raw food - some of those issues would go away.

my 2 cents.

[K9 Obedience]

It was after researching just what goes into commercial dried dog food, that I changed to feeding my dogs as naturally as possible. The dogs often suffered with bad stomaches, wind, itchy skin and poor coat condition. I tried all the well known, (and very expensive) brands of dried complete dog food. I couldn't understand why the bags of dog food varied in quality from one month to the next. I was told by a sales rep for one of the well known brands that this is down to what is being processed at any given time. I never knew that when my bag of food said 26% chicken, it could mean, chicken beaks, feet, feathers and so on. When the label informed me of the, "cereal" content of the food, my mind pictured fields of wheat or barley. The illusion was shattered when I was informed that the cereal content is made up of the dust and scrappings, left overs and sweepings off the floors of huge granieries. I did my own research and the findings schocked me. Now the dogs are fed on raw meat, road kills, rabbits scrounged from a farmer and whatever I can beg from the butcher. The dogs have thrived, with coats that gleam, no smelly breath, no vomiting, and no bowel problems. Toss them a dead rabbit and it is devoured, fur, bones, innards and all. The GSD will even lick the grass clean to remove any last scraps. We do not realise that by feeding our dogs food which looks or sounds appealing to us humans, they are missing out on vital nutrients. No wild creature would skin and clean it's kill before eatring it. The fur and the bones aid the dogs digestive system and they never get the runs. Actually it is quite the opposite for I have found that by feeding them as natural as possible, their stools are smaller and they do not have to eliminate as often. I admit that in todays hectic pace of life, it is easier to feed the commercial products, which is exactly why the manufacturers make their products sound so appealing. I do sometimes have to resort to the dried food, but I try and keep this to a minimum rather than the norm.  One thing I have found with the frozen blocks of food is that they do have to be throughly defrosted. If they are still even the slightest bit icy or even if very cold, it does give the dogs the runs. I don't know why, as two of my dogs are extremely partial to a, "Mr Whippy" ice cream, which never upsets their bowels, yet raw food that is a bit too cold does. One very old gentleman, who had been a gamekeeper all his life, told me to always think of, "Mother Nature" when it came to animals. This has proved to be sound advice, both in the feeding and in the training of my dogs.

dog lover   

[Kelley]

Hi K9

I've been considering this too as I believe it really does have a big influence on your dogs health.

Just something I've read in a few forums is that you need to include a 'balanced diet' of 60% meat to 40% veg, do you do this with your dogs or do they just have varied raw meat?

thanks for your help.....again 
Kelley

[K9 Obedience]

Carnivorus animals such as the dog have a unique digestive system in that the digestive tract is simple and short in length. Raw meat/flesh decays quickly and if the digestive system was longer the decay would be absorbed into the bloodstream. Evolution from the wolf has retained the short digestive tract in the domestic dog to cause rapid expulsion (food moving through the system to the bowel) The wolf/dog's stomach produces 10 times more hydrochloric acid than non-carniverous animals which enables them to digest bones and other raw material.
To suggest that the domestic dog has evolved from the wolf to such an extent that it can no longer either digest or benefit from the nutritional uptake of raw food is ludicrous. The dog's digestive system has remained unchanged throughout evolution and the domestic dog digests its food in exactly the same way as the wolf. It is true that the food source has changed and has become more a "people" food in as far as commercial dog food is sold to appeal to a human's idea of food and not the dog's. Words are used to describe the food such as, succulent, moist, thick gravy, fresh fish and spring lamb which are designed to make our mouths water but means nothing to the dog! Feed the domestic dog commercial food and its stomach does not have to work to digest it. This does not mean that the stomach is unable to digest anything other than commercially prepared food.
So close is the similarities between the wolf and the domestic dog that they vary by as little as 24%. Both have the same teeth, designed for tearing, chewing and crunching. Their digestion of food does not begin in the mouth as in humans. They both have a strong reverse action in the digestive system that enables them to regurgite food that is too large or unsuitable. If throughout the evolution period the domestic dog has retained all these features to this very day then WHY should raw meat/food be no longer suitable for the dog?
Not only has the digestive system remained unchanged. Think of canine behaviour and how we can still relate it to the wolf's behaviour. Also the domestic dog has changed little in its sexual cycle than the wild wolf. Males of both species become more sexually active in late winter and early spring. Without human intervention, this is when most matings would take place. In fact the relationship between the wolf and the domestic dog has changed so very little that the dog can and does mate with wild wolves or coyotes and can produce fertile offspring!
The subject of feeding a dog raw food/bones will always be a controversal subject. The feeding of bones in itself can provoke an arguement:
"Bones have no nutritional value"
"Bones wear away the teeth"
"Bones pierce the stomach and intestines"
The fact is some bones may do that, especially cooked bones which should never be fed to dogs. This does not mean that all bones are bad for dogs! Just try giving your dog a fresh, juicy knuckle bone and watch an ecstatic look appear on his face as he moves the bone around, holds it between its paws and gnaws on it with great pleasure.
Finally do you really believe that the domestic dog has changed internally so much in the last 100-150 years? What would your great grandparents have said if you told them raw food was bad for your dog?
The evolution of the dog has taken place over 20,000 years or so. Are we to believe that in the last hundred years the domestic dog has suddenly changed to such an extent that it can no longer digest raw food? Logically this does not make any sense.

    "If a dog's prayers were answered, Bones would rain from the sky"   Turkish Proverb.

Dog Lover.