Raw Diet vs Commercial Dog food

[RichsBallPythons]

I feed Taste of the Wild.

[Jazi]

Before I moved out we had a GSD that was allergic to lamb which is in about 90% of all commercial dog foods. Rather than pay a ridiculous amount of money for EVO or Taste of the Wild (or worse, Orijen, all of which are good brands but absolutely expensive), my mom worked out a deal with the hunters in the family and they carved up a deer or two for us per year to feed to her. When we lost her (bloat) and got a Chow mix several months later, we just kept feeding the raw venison.

Now, they do all the preparing for us (they feed their dogs the same + whole carcasses of the small prey they catch like rabbits) and we go over there to pick it up whenever they tell us they have enough. If we start to run low before they call, my parents buy a small bag of Taste of the Wild (which is kibble that's mostly venison) and start to mix it with the meat so that if she has to pop down to kibble for a bit then her stomach won't be upset. That hasn't happened too recently though, not since she got out of her growing stages.

The pit mix that one of my sister's own gets "dog stew", which is more or less raw unseasoned beef/turkey/chicken, ground bone, little bit of rice, and occasionally some leftovers if they have meat as a main ingredient. Chi mix and GSD/GSP are fed One Beyond, which is medium-ish quality food.


All of the dogs that were switched to the meat diets had a very noticeable improvement in their overall health. The GSD's coat got extremely sleek and shiny and when she was suffering the aftereffects of bloat and developed pancreatitus (from the bloat, awful condition :c ), even though we knew she was dying on the inside, she still looked very much like a healthy dog until the very end. The pit mix has a significant improvement in both her weight (without exercising she dropped from 80lbs to 60lbs, could be around 45-50 for a healthy weight) and her skin allergies.

The Chow mix has severe hip dysplasia and still runs around, jumps, and plays like a normal dog. She needs a hip replacement but doesn't look or act it. Her coat is soft and shiny and the vet is impressed with her overall state of health considering her hips are so bad and she's got a lot of genetic health issues on top of that.

Never underestimate the power of a natural diet on your animal I will never forget the improvement I saw in my cat when I switched her to a mix of EVO and Taste of the Wild (both high quality kibble for dogs too), and if I wasn't living on a college parttimer's budget I would be feeding her raw (she rejected the venison, the brat). A lot of people say that their dogs "do just fine" on the crap brands, but I have not heard one person who switched their animals over to raw or even just a good brand properly and was displeased with the results or surprised at how much healthier their animals were just from the better food.

[SentinelSerpents]

I fed a prey-model based raw diet for a couple of years until I went back to school. My dogs did well with it. I didn't see any amazing improvements in them or anything, but I had been feeding a very expensive and high quality dog food prior also. One thing to consider is that it takes a lot more prep work to be balanced and can get pricey if shipping is involved. I ended up going back to kibble just because I didn't have the time or space anymore to order and thaw in advance/mix ingredients/separate dogs for feeding somewhere easy to clean, etc. I offered raw meaty bones, organ meats, and specialty items like raw green tripe. I didn't just feed cow though- I would give them rabbit, chicken, beef, lamb, fish, etc. and still think that variety is very important for this kind of nutrition.

If I was rich, I would have purchased most of my dog's food from here:

http://www.aplaceforpaws.com/shop/in...bdf5a6e6192538

I would place orders when I could afford it and their stuff smelled and looked so fresh and incredible.

I will probably go back to feeding raw again in the future when I am out of school. One thing that I can say for sure is that my dogs loved, loved, loved it. Their teeth also stayed much cleaner than they ever did on kibble.

Lauren

[ballpythonluvr]

I started a thread on this in the dog forum quite a while ago. If you search for it you may find it. There is a lot of good info in that thread. I only wish I could afford to put my dog on a raw diet. Since I cannot do that, I feed my dog Taste Of The Wild High Prairie Formula. Her coat and allergies have greatly improved since being on this food.

[Mike41793]

Before i throw in my two cents: Aaron youre gunna get a husky and you live in Florida? That dogs gunna go outside and play for like 30 seconds then be panting to death in the shade lol. By no means am i telling you what to do, you know that, but im just wondering if you have given any thought to that?
As far as the dog food. I grew up with a german shepherd. Shes gunna be 13 in may. She was fed purina her whole life. She has really bad allergies and we found that seems to work best for her. Shes always gotten "human food" supplemented into her meals. Ive never tried giving her raw meat. But shes gotten cooked meat alot and shes been a really healthy dog (aside from her allergies which cant really be controlled). I would definetly love to try giving her raw food but a drastic change this late in her life would be too much for her i think. I'll have to keep this in mind when i get a dog of my own

[aldebono]

We do a little of both. They eat Blue Buffalo regularly but I try to give them raw twice a week. I would like to do raw at every dinner, but have been slacking recently. Ive read the kibble takes longer to digest or just sits in the gut longer than raw, so that's why we give it after they have taken their pre dinner poops.
Ours have never gotten an upset stomach from going from kibble to raw, kibble to raw, or different organs. The crumbly "bone" poop is a super easy clean up compared to kibble.
The bones keep their teeth super clean! No dog breath for a raw dog!

I did a ton of my own research before feeding raw and then asked a few vets in my area what they thought. What I got was surprising. "NO! You will give them pancreatitis!" Even though one said "The most common case we see with dogs with pancreatitis are eating Beneful."
I am obviously not asking the right vets and it just goes to show that vets are not always 100% right.

As far as the dog food. I grew up with a german shepherd. Shes gunna be 13 in may. She was fed purina her whole life. She has really bad allergies and we found that seems to work best for her. Shes always gotten "human food" supplemented into her meals. Ive never tried giving her raw meat. But shes gotten cooked meat alot and shes been a really healthy dog (aside from her allergies which cant really be controlled). I would definitely love to try giving her raw food but a drastic change this late in her life would be too much for her i think. I'll have to keep this in mind when i get a dog of my own

Was she checked what she is allergic to? Our GSD was allergic to Dust mites, Mold, and Fleas. And we lived in Florida.
Ever think the allergies were from the food? I have found many dogs that were seemingly allergic to CORN and WHEAT! Check your dog food label and try to get one without. Dogs that are constantly itchy, have a bad or funny smell, or balding patches of fur IME are allergic to the food they are eating.

[Skiploder]

We have a 15 year old staffordshire bull terrier that has been fed high quality kibble for his entire life. The last 4 years he has been on a grain free kibble. Before that we had a tibetan mastiff that lived 14 years on kibble - not a bad run for a 135lb animal.

We initially started our new patterdale terrier on a raw diet - as our vet is an advocate. However, doing raw right is not as easy as some people make it out to be. Your sources have to be good, you need to have the proper proportions of different types of meat (RMBs, tissue, organs, etc.) and in the end, I found it no cheaper and much more of a headache than feeding a grain free kibble.

After speaking ot the vet, and feeling that we got an unbiased view from someone who has a specialty in canine nutrition, I think that most people will not see a difference between a high quality kibble and a raw diet. Our staffie bull and our old tibetan mastiff were from lines free from inbreeding, solid stock and were exercised their entire lives.

In the end, diet is just one facet of your dog's health. A genetically sound animal fed a nutritionally balanced diet coupled with proper mental and physical exercise will result in a happy healthy dog that will live a long time.

A raw diet will not address a lack of exercise and will not undo the genetic issues caused by inbreeding or selectively breeding animals for looks at the expense of health.

Before anyone claims any diet as a panacea for an animal with health issues, go to Youtube and watch Pedigree Dogs Exposed.

[Jazi]

Was she checked what she is allergic to? Our GSD was allergic to Dust mites, Mold, and Fleas. And we lived in Florida.
Ever think the allergies were from the food? I have found many dogs that were seemingly allergic to CORN and WHEAT! Check your dog food label and try to get one without. Dogs that are constantly itchy, have a bad or funny smell, or balding patches of fur IME are allergic to the food they are eating.

x2 One of our GSDs turned out to be allergic to lamb, the Chow mix is allergic to corn, wheat, and wheat. Food allergies are becoming more and more common in dogs.

[The Serpent Merchant]

Before i throw in my two cents: Aaron youre gunna get a husky and you live in Florida? That dogs gunna go outside and play for like 30 seconds then be panting to death in the shade lol. By no means am i telling you what to do, you know that, but im just wondering if you have given any thought to that?

I have considered this. I have a good friend who breeds them here in Florida, and she has shown me what steps she takes to deal with the summer heat. It can be done if you are careful and know what you are doing.

It is a legitimate concern, but I feel that I can make it work.

[The Serpent Merchant]

Thanks for all the input guys