Raw Diet vs Commercial Dog food

[1nstinct]

im in the same boat as your sister lol going to school to become a vet, i am a vet tech tho. as for raw i did do a research paper on it while first year in tech school. there are main advantages to feeding a raw diet, better nutrition, real vitamins, you can prepare it your self. but then agin those can be bad sides also, unless you grown the cows/bulls, chickens and everything else your self you have no idea what they are eating. and if buying from a store sometimes they are injected with steroids to get more meat out of they animal. plus you do not know what type of living conditions they are being kept in. but same goes for store bought. i feed my animals store bought, so does my gf who is also a vet tech, but i do not feed the store bought that most people buy(pedigree,purina,beniful) i buy food that i know that are safe that i have talked to representative of the company about there food. my cat is on taste of the wild(he's allergic to carbs) but compared to other no carb cat food that was the one i felt best about when i read the ingredients and reviews (that close vet friends and family member have told me) and my dog eats blue for the same reasons. but what comes down to mostly is cost i believe, a bag of dog food can cost you $35 a month, where as if you make your own it cost time and money(and depends on the food market prices). this topic has been going on for a very long time.
It comes down the the person's dog, if you have the time and money to feed RAW(also known as the BARF diet) and you feel your dog will do better on that type of diet, do it. but if you feel that a good quality store bought(there is plenty of them) is a better fitting for your circumstances then do that. its comes down to personal preference and what you believe is a better diet for your dog.
just remember diet goes so far, you also have to think about pre disposed diseases(ask the breeder if they have been screened for them or if they run in the family's pedigree)
my grandpa black lab has been eating wet canned pedigree 2X a day and is 14 years old. my pit/boxer mix that passed away(a year ago this sat) was on a strict dry good quality store bought. and he got lymphoma.

sorry for the long post, but remember either way you will be happy and your dog will be too

Tom