I'm considering the raw food diet and/or other natural diets for the dogs. We feed Canidae right now but i'm really liking the idea of what i've been reading about the raw meat diet. Anyone here do that? Know anyone who does?

Ginny- Does Scott have any input on this?

I'm just now starting to read into this and considering it but it would be nice to talk with someone who does it already.

By Boxzgrl on Sunday, June 22, 2008 - 06:45 pm:

(Ginny- I just did a search and came up on Tunnia's post from November where Scott gave his insight. I know his main advice is to contact the veterinarian but our veterinarian doesn't agree with homemade dog food because he believes most people don't supply their pets with the adequate nutrients they need. Instead of offering me that very advice that I need, he discourages it altogether. Any suggestions from Scott on feeding 100% healthy dogs with no health problems?)

By Kay on Sunday, June 22, 2008 - 07:19 pm:

I considered that diet 5 years ago when we got our Labradoodle - and in fact, prepared a batch. Our veterinarian said that he has seen more malnourished dogs who were low on essential nutrients on this, and always a rise in dogs reacting to contaminents - resulting from some of the same problems that we have with our own produce....salmonella, e coli, etc.

It was incredibly time consuming and messy - and it wasn't doing Titan any favors, so I switched to store-bought. We have a healthy 5 year old dog who thinks he's still a rambunctious puppy.

By Boxzgrl on Sunday, June 22, 2008 - 07:23 pm:

Yeah, it does seem to be time consuming. The dogs are on a great brand right now and have no problems but DH mentioned it to me today and I told him I would do some research and get back with him. I read a lot of the pro's and now i'm researching the con's. I don't know how I feel one way or the other since i've never known a person to make their dogs food, lol. I came from a home where Pedigree was the staple dog food. Yuck!

By Pamt on Sunday, June 22, 2008 - 07:28 pm:

All I am reading are cons. Looks like way too much of a risk of either malnutrition or food poisoning to me. Personally, there's no way I would consider RAW food. Cooked food? Maybe, but our bassets do fine on high quality dog food and cooking for the humans in my family consumes enough of my time. I'm not about to start cooking for our 4-legged family members.

By Ginny~moderator on Sunday, June 22, 2008 - 08:54 pm:

Scott and I have been visiting my granddaughter and her parents all day. I know he definitely disapproves of raw food because of the many risks. I'll ask him to respond to your post tomorrow.

By Scott on Sunday, June 22, 2008 - 09:11 pm:

I'm no fan of raw diets. There's always the issue of food poisoning, namely bacterial infection. But the big question here is, why feed a dog a raw diet?

A lot of people think that dogs are obligate carnivores. Such is not the case. Dogs can metabolize grains and starches, so they're narrow-spectrum omnivores. They don't need a meat-only diet.

A lot of people play the "natural" card and state that wolves eat almost only meat. Yeah, that's true, BUT:

--> Wolves are not dogs. Thousands of years of selective breeding has introduced many significant physiological differences between wolves and dogs.

--> Wolves in the wild typically live less than five years. It's not entirely due to diet, but this should illustrate why it's not the best argument to cite wolves when arguing for a raw diet.

Prepared dog food is waaay cheaper per pound than any raw diet. Prepared dog food is consistent in quality, certified by various regulatory agencies, and known to be suitable for dogs.

Again, I ask: WHY get a dog onto a raw diet?

By Boxzgrl on Sunday, June 22, 2008 - 09:26 pm:

Thank you for the quick response Scott. Initially when I was googling the subject I came up with rave reviews and positive experiences. After a few hours I decided to change my googling to include the con's of the raw diet and came up with a lot of things. Nothing thats a huge issue with me but my main reason were steering clear of bacteria and the risk of parasites when we have such young kids.

I told DH that were safe sticking with Canidae and using baby carrots and freeze dried liver as our treats for the dogs. LOL I'm going to have him sit down later and look at the risks and benefits.

Thank you again.

By Tunnia on Sunday, June 22, 2008 - 10:14 pm:

I fed Indy homecook for several months until I got tired of spending an entire day (and making a huge mess) every couple of weeks making two weeks worth of food. I never did try the raw diet. I do know that Indy thrived on the homecook, but I did research it completely and felt that she was getting what she needed. Canidae is a really good food (I think it is a four star food). There is a lot of info on both the raw diet and homecook in the forums on the website boxerworld.com Good luck!

By Kaye on Sunday, June 22, 2008 - 11:11 pm:

I have no input on the subject, but have to have a little LOL over a working husband who thinks maybe preparing food for the dog might be worth doing! Does he not get that you are pretty busy already? ROFL

By Boxzgrl on Sunday, June 22, 2008 - 11:35 pm:

LOL Kaye. That's why I wanted him to read. I told him if this is something he wanted to do, then HE would have to do it! ;)

By Reds9298 on Sunday, June 22, 2008 - 11:58 pm:

Honestly I've not even heard of a homemade natural diet for dogs, so I'm apparently way out of the loop. We use high quality food and treats as recommended by our vet and we've always had healthy, happy dogs. Ditto Pam - cooking for my family is enough work for me. My dogs have done great on a lifetime of quality foods and there's no reason to do anything different.

Ditto Kaye. I would hope he's asking if the kids get their 'five a day' or how many grains they've had this week.

By Dawnk777 on Monday, June 23, 2008 - 12:34 am:

Several people on my dog board feed their dogs raw and swear by it. Their dogs seem quite healthy. My dog just gets kibble, though. I think that raw looks like a lot of work.

Newfound Naturals
I don't buy the food, because it's expensive, but Jasmine loves the dehydrated turkey hearts and the dried chicken-apple nuggets, for treats.

Dog Food Project

Canidae is a good quality dog food and would get high marks from the people on Dog Addicts!