What do you think of raw diets for dogs?

Question

I have a 5 yr old German Shepherd with a very sensitive stomach. She's had diarrhea on and off since I got her 3 months ago. I read a natural foods magazine about raw diets and it sounded great, so I started by giving her one pound of a high quality raw ground beef, and she had horrible diarrhea for days. That scared me from going raw and now I don't know what to do (keep her on dry food or ?) If you feed your dog raw, has it actually lengthened their life span?

Answer 1

Dogs don't live in the wild anymore!!!! A domesticated animal should always have its food cooked. You hear about tainted beef all the time and chicken raw is a NO NO! They can get very sick and die! Few vets and Holistic condones this. The risk is not worth it.

TRY this instead.......Get a box of Minute Rice that cooks in 5 minutes....actually, 1 cup water, 1 cup of rice ...mix together in small pot until comes to a boil, shut of flame, cover and wait 5 minutes.....That's the rice part...now comes the Chicken part which is very digestable for dog.

You can purchase however many chicken legs you want to cook with the skin on and bring to a boil, skim off surface of water of scum as it accumulates until clear, and simmer for a couple of hours. Do not put anything in water other than the Chicken. No salt....No can of chicken broth.When Chicken is cool, drain and refrigerate. REMOVE SKIN FROM CHICKEN ... DO NOT GIVE TO DOG. BEFORE FEEDING DOG, BE CAREFUL TO SEPARATE BONES FROM MEAT FROM LEG AND SEPARATE BEFORE MIXING CHICKEN, RICE, AND VEGGIE. BE CARE TO THROW AWAY SPLINTER BONE ALONG LEG, KNOB AT TOP OF LEG...ONLY CHICKEN MEAT! I just wanted to be thorough.

Until his diarrhea and upset stomach settles down, do not add vegetables. When he is okay, and he will be on this diet, you can boil, sweet potatoes or regular potatoes, carrots, (peas may make him gassy)....but only add one at a time. If you use rice, no potatoes.

There is medication for diarrhea.....but in a pinch, Pepto Bismol, 1 tablespoon, (you can squirt it in his mouth with a syringe, 2xaday. But your vet should be able to know!

Please try this. P.S. NO Treats. Cracker would be okay.

I know this will help.

Lauren

Answer 2

Check out B-Naturals (google search for it). There are recipes in the newsletters. Lew Olson (owner of the company) also has a raw feeding book available. She's a great resource! There are also raw feeding groups on Yahoo Groups - do a search and see if you can find on in your state. Yes, you can get the necessary stuff at a grocery store but I will tell you from experience that it can be expensive. Also, check out the pages for BRAVO dog food - they have great information on their raw diets. I have a 65 pound rottweiler that eats a raw diet (Bravo) and I have to supplement the food with a digestive enzyme, fish oil and pro-biotics. I spend approximately $100 per month feeding one dog, NOT including the supplements - that is ONLY for the Bravo raw dog food. Bravo can be costly - it is a finely ground mix of muscle meat, organ meat, bones and some veggies - I pay about $20 for a 10 pound roll, or chub, of food - which lasts me 6 1/2 days. Pros - you know exactly what you are feeding your dog, your dog will be much healthier (but should still regularly see the vet) Cons - it can be expensive, some dogs won't touch raw food, can be a pain in the butt to store and prepare the food (I have a freezer that specifically contains dog food!), can sometimes be hard to find a retailer for prepared foods (which is what I recommend for newbies).

Answer 3

A raw diet, if fed correctly, will lengthen your dogs life and it will be healthier overall. The "trick" with feeding a raw diet is balance to ensure that the dog gets all of required minerals and vitamins. As stated previously, introduce any new diet slowly, so as to avoid stomach upsets as you now have. There is plenty of information on the web in respect of raw diets. I suggest you research it thoroughly and make up your own mind.

And according to Lauren C, who states "If other people give their dogs raw meat, then I say they've been lucky. It's just not right."
I have had 4 GSD's in my 25 years of dog ownership and I have ALWAYS fed them GOOD QUALITY raw chicken and other raw meats. So according to her, I must be one of the luckiest people in the world as all of my dogs have been very healthy and have lived longer than the breed average. Maybe I should take out a lottery ticket.

Answer 4

well if your going to do raw, do it right, hamburger by itself is not going to help her stomach... Look up the BARF diet online and print out recipes. You need to research it and understand a dogs nutritional needs before you just give them hamburger. There are also some great frozen raw diets you can buy prepackaged. I feed a high quality kibble which eliminates most of the reasoning for feeding raw anyway. It doesnt have the harmful dyes or additives, is grain free (most kibbles are mostly grains, grains are not nutritionally appropriate for canines, they are also the most common reasons for allergys in dogs) , it doesnt have all the nasty preservatives and will actually go bad if its on the shelf too long and is vacuum sealed instead of putting in preservatives. I would look into a better quality food before going raw.

Anything 4 star or above is ok to feed, I feed Solid Gold Barking at the Moon a 6 star food. I love it.
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/

IF she's still having diarrhea give her a spoonful of canned pumpkin with her food, it should help calm it down. Also you can try some boiled chicken with rice to calm her stomach until you decide what your going to feed.

Answer 5

The diarrhea was actually normal, for two reasons. First you gave her way to much meat, you also need bones in a raw diet. Second she needs time to adjust from eating kibble, this will also cause diarrhea for a few days.

Give it ago again, but this time use something like chicken leg quarters, uncooked, making sure she chews thoroughly. You can help her learn how to chew by holding the leg for her. (Yes most dogs don't know how to actually chew food because kibble is easily swallowed whole.)

Feed the quarters for a week, then introduce an organ such as liver. Liver is very nutrient rich, feed to much and it can cause diarrhea, but it is also a very important part of a raw diet.

After your dog adjusts to that you can add in another meat source, such as turkey, lamb, beef, whatever. Repeat this until your dog can eat a variety of meats. Then rotate them. Variety is anothe important key to a raw diet.

The benefits of raw can be remarkable. Some are seen within a few days, others take a few weeks to see, remember the dogs body needs to get rid of all the remnants of eating kibble that are left in its body and that can take a few weeks.

At the very least feed your dog a high quality kibble such as Innova, Canidae, Solid Gold or Wellnes to name a few.

Answer 6

I don't feed a raw diet, but I do give the dogs raw meat now and then.. You should have started out slow.. A sudden diet of raw hamburger like that, is going to give her diarrhea.. Like anything else you would change like that, do it slowly and gradually.

Answer 7

I fed raw for awhile, but my dogs hated organ meats. No matter what I did to the organs to get them to eat the sweet breads they would just stare at it, and towards the end all they wanted was fish. So, I had to switch back to dog food. Also, I moved, and was not able to get the variety of meat they needed, but all they wanted was fish, so it would not of mattered what meat I got my hands on. However, for dogs who will eat organ meats and have a good variety in their diet it is the best IMO.

Answer 8

I have fed every dog I have owned on a raw diet. I had a dog about the size of your GS that lived to almost 20.

Answer 9

There's more to a raw diet than just giving meat. A dog that's fed only muscle meat will end up malnourished. They need organ and bone as well. You will have to do some research to make sure your dog is getting the right amounts of the right things.

Here's a good place to start your research: http://www.dogster.com/forums/Raw_Food_Diet/thread/431875
.

Answer 10

Whenever you change a dog/cat/birds/ diet you must do it slowly,or they will get sick.Take her to a vet ,who can diagnose and prescribe the proper diet,as well as the proper way to do it.My Dog had Allergies,and I used the Raw Diet,but that is a Special Diet you buy from a Vet supply,NOT raw meat!