Dog owners: do any of you feed raw?

[sundial]

The question about the benefits of raw feeding does indeed spark heated debates. I have friend that feed their dogs the BARF diet and swear by it. I once fostered a dog that was on a raw diet.

Although dogs are not prone to some health issues eating raw, people are and even though I have fed them out in the backyard, in my opinion it sets up the potential for problems like E coli.

Personally, I have fed my dogs home cooked foods and saw similar benefits--reduction in skin problems, a shiny coat, less tartar, and increase of energy. I think the preservatives and less than quality ingredients in some dry kibble seems to increase some health problems. I also believe it's not a coincidence that cancer is increasing in dogs due to the fact that kibble contains byproducts of poultry and cattle which are fed questionable feed.

This is just my personal observation and every owner will have to consider the pros and cons of raw feeding.

[eclectic]

Tulip

I just perused the thread very quickly so if your question was answered I missed it.

re poultry bones

I am by no means an expert and this may be folklore passed on generation to generation but I was always told not to give poultry bones to dogs because they splinter and can get caught too easily in their throat and digestive track.

BUT on the other hand when my dog is a bored, naughty, mad at us, for leaving her too long girl and gets into the trash - she has been known to eat poultry bones and has been no worse for wear because of it. I just don't intentionally give them to her. She is a large midsize dog

Someone mentioned earlier that they grind them - I would think that would take care of all the problems

Onto the other discussion Raw vs dry

IMHO I think raw would be more natural and better. I would think if they were started on that since being a puppy they wouldn't have trouble - I think switching them over would be more difficult

I on the other hand feed my dog very inexpensive dry (OK I am a bad mom )
She has eaten the same dog food since we got her in the middle of her puppy stage. She is now 12 going on 13. She had cancer when she was 7 but after having surgery she has been cancer free for over 5 years. She is just now starting to get cataracts. We thought she was going deaf but have since learned she has very selective hearing.

She is an "over the fence" breed

All our purebreds never lived past 11 - definately something to be said for mutts!

[hayleymajayley]

I had only heard a little about raw food diets for dogs before. This is very interesting! I just got my first dog 3 weeks ago, she's now 12 weeks old. We'd been feeding her Kirkland Signature food, because that's what the breeder reccommended and hey it's SO CHEAP!!!! But then she developed crystals in her urine because she's not metabalizing it well. She's currently on a special wet food, but I'm not sure what to put her on when we go back to regular food. We are crazy busy right now so I doubt we could fit grinding up chickens into the schedule, and funds are tight so I don't want to do anything crazy expensive. Any good not too pricey natural foods out there?

[Biciclista]

You're in western washington. Go to a good pet food store (not petsmart) and ask.

[Norse]

Having not tried raw yet, other than giving the cats an occasional few pieces of raw fish or chicken, I can't speak for it but I am curious. However, I have observed that our 8 year old dog has never looked better since switching her to a home-cooked diet. For treats, she gets raw carrots. To satisfy her urge to chew, she has big nylabone.