Nov 042009
I am interested in feeding my beagle pup a raw, homemade diet consisting of lean meats, veggies and egg – a different combination each day, with maximum nutritional value.
Is any one else a fan of feeding their dogs a raw diet?
If so, what meal that you make does your dog love?
Would you say that a raw diet is healthier than a quality dry dog food diet?
Thank you.
PS – Proper answers will get a thumbs up!! 
November 4th, 2009 at 6:49 am
I am a fan of Raw (prey model) diet. Barf (sounds like what you are interested in) is not bad either. Either way, it’s defiantly a step in the best direction for your pets. As you are taking out a lot of fillers and things that animals are allergic to(or can cause allergies). Plus I feel safer feeding the same things I eat. As human grade food is better supervised and recalls happen much faster and efficiently.
Now, we feed an assortment (organic when possible) of chicken, beef, pork, lamb, fish, mice, g. pigs, chicks (chickens…), and organ matter. No veggies, or at least, not intentionally fed (easier with cats then it is with dogs).
It’s defiantly worth researching as it will save you money in the long run (reduced vet bills if done right). Oh and don’t forget the pearly white teeth they will get!!
For more reading check the links.
November 4th, 2009 at 10:11 am
i have no bad opinions of either. Ive heard of raw diets being given to pets with certain allergies or dietary indescretions and it worked awesome. However, if you are making the diet yourself, and it is not a pre-manufactured raw diet, i would just ensure you have done the proper amount of research regarding the specific nutritional needs for dogs. They have very specific requirements and it is very hard to ensure that you are giving the proper balance of nutrients. FYI- there are very good raw diets sold at places such as Pet Food Express. My cat was on them at one time.
November 4th, 2009 at 11:02 am
I feed my dog ray diet prey-model. It’s healthier then processed kibble. It’s what nature intended for dogs to eat. Feed human grade meats unlike dog kibble where it’s left overs of animal parts not used.
My dog loves beef liver, beef hearts, beef, lamb, pork, chicken.http://www.dogster.com/forums/Raw_Food_D…
November 4th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
I’m not a fan of the raw diet because most people don’t come up with a diet that meets all the nutritional needs of a dog.
Raw lean meat that you pick up at the grocery store is much different than what a dog would eat in the wild. For one, its just raw lean meat-none of the bone or organ meat a dog would typically consume. Second, its coming from factory farming conditions where contamination of meat is scary high-which is why cooking it thoroughly is so essential for human health. Dogs do have shorter intestinal tracts, but can still get sick from e.coli and salmonella.
In order to do the raw diet the proper way, you need to feed your dog a more varied diet than supplied by the meat section at safeway. I’ve met a few people who buy whole rabbits for thier dogs and emphasize the whole prey, but very few of the RAW fans do this.
I think its much healthier for a dog to be fed a super premium dog food as a base and have their meals supplemented with homecooked food.
November 4th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
I feel that done properly, a raw diet can be very beneficial. I do not, however, feel that most people are able to provide a raw diet that is balanced and healthy.
As a vet tech, I usually put it to people like this:
There are three requirements that I feel must be met to ensure that you are doing more good than harm by feeding raw-
#1 Time-It takes a fair amount of time every week to go grocery shopping, measuring mixing, and daily preparation to feed raw. If you do not see yourself having this time available every week long term, then this is not the diet for you.
#2 Expense-Feeding faw hamburger and chicken wings does not constitute a healthy raw diet. Many people who do it properly spend a great deal of money at the grocery stores and online ordering suppliments to come up with a well-balanced diet. If you can afford a signifigant expense on a regular basis, then ok.
#3 Necessity-My third and final criteria is need. Is there a particular reason your pet would benefit from a raw diet that it wouldn’t get from a high-quality manufactured diet? Skin and coat issues, GI problems, etc…If there is no reason to feed raw, why go to all the time and expense?
Also, recently there have been some problems with the dog food recalls. Just try to remember that this can happen at times, even to the best of the manufacturers. And there are many more cases of food poisoning from raw or undercooked foods each year then there are illnesses from manufactured diets.
If you meet all these criteria and have the desire to do so, then research away and give it a try.
Personally, I feed my dogs Science Diet, and all have lived long, healthy lives.
Good luck with whichever you decide!
November 5th, 2009 at 1:40 am
Love the raw diet for my standard poodles, and they love it! Here’s an excellent site showing some great pictures of the meals and a chart for feeding a raw diet.http://www.geocities.com/summerwindstand…
November 5th, 2009 at 5:33 am
I feed raw and I love it. I don’t really prepare a meal. I just throw an asortment of different raw meats into a bowl. It really is not that hard if you do the research.
November 5th, 2009 at 6:29 am
You need to be so careful that you give them a PROPER BALANCE!
The good thing about pre-packaged food is that they KNOW what dogs need and manipulate their formulas to make sure that they get the MINIMUM of the important stuff and also make sure they don’t get too much of everything as well…
Humans have a hard enough time trying to feed OURSELVES the proper balance of everything… The average person isn’t equiped to give your dog what they need.
You can guess…
You can use recipes out of books…
But are you sure that you know enough to keep your dog healthy?
If you do give your dog homemade food… ALTERNATE IT WITH REGULAR DOG FOOD!
If you don’t you might end up hurting your dog in the long run.
Cats are EASY to feed from scratch… Cat food is 95% meat… If you just give your cat meat, you are providing them with the balanced diet they need…
But dogs are Omnivores.
Wild dogs know their bodies enough to eat a rather balanced diet on their own but DOMESTICATED DOGS are WAY too dependent on people and no longer have the ability to know what they need!
A raw food diet is a hard thing to mix at home.
Leave the nutrition to the professionals.
Remember… Animal food is monitored… PET food doubly so… It is designed to
BUY A HIGH QUALITY FOOD!
November 5th, 2009 at 11:17 am
I feed a raw diet to my dogs and cats.. I mostly just do a whole prey model diet though rather then adding any veggies..
A healthy raw diet will include meat, bone and organ in proportions similar to what would’ve been found in nature..
Here’s a good article on feeding a whole prey model diet versus the B.A.R.F diet.. http://rawfed.com/myths/preymodel.html
I’ve really liked what it’s done for my dogs and cats. I probably noticed the biggest difference though with the cats. I had a couple that had frequent lower urinary tract issues that went away as soon as we switched to raw. Probably the biggest positive with my dogs has been that they all were pretty chubby on dry food and are back to normal weights on raw. I also haven’t had anyone with a bladder infection this year, which can probably be attributed to the higher moisture in the raw. Their breath also doesn’t smell anywhere near as bad..