re: Question for dog owners. Do any of you feed your dog a raw diet?

quote:

---

1. changing their diet in such a dramatic way is going to wreck havoc on their digestive system, it would be like a person eating totally healthy organic food and then eating taco bell for a week straight

---

dog is just a pup. 8 weeks old right now and will be another 2 before I get her. Everything I read mentioned there would be a 4-7 day period where the dogs digestive tract was getting used to the new diet.

quote:

---

2. salmonella (sp?)

---

I wondered about this too. Now, from what I read a dog will digest raw food faster than the time it will take for a parasite to take hold and a dog's stomach has stronger acids than ours. And that the times dogs get something like salmonella is when they are fed raw food shortly after kibble, because the kibble takes longer to digest the raw food behind it is in the stomach for longer.

Again, i'm just sort of thinking out loud here and sharing what I've read. I've found many advocates for it and few opponents

quote:

---

my sister is working on specializing in animal nutrition after vet school this year, i'll ask her and get back in here

---

Would be the best opinion I can get. I'd appreciate it

Practicing veterinarians have an agenda, like it or not. They sell dog food

quote:

---

What kind of dog?

---

Australian Shephard

quote:

---

Not true... re read my post. You said raw food, not just meat.

---

sorry, should have clarified.

Chicken breasts, chicken necks, turkey necks, beef heart, beef liver, eggs occasionally. Mainly what i've read about

Mine gets Happy Dog (oats, barley and veggies) mixed with raw meat. She still shits elk sized turds. I must be doing it wrong.

quote:

---

dog is just a pup. 8 weeks old right now and will be another 2 before I get her. Everything I read mentioned there would be a 4-7 day period where the dogs digestive tract was getting used to the new diet.

---

probably longer, but that's about right

quote:

---

I wondered about this too. Now, from what I read a dog will digest raw food faster than the time it will take for a parasite to take hold and a dog's stomach has stronger acids than ours. And that the times dogs get something like salmonella is when they are fed raw food shortly after kibble, because the kibble takes longer to digest the raw food behind it is in the stomach for longer.

---

wow, that is sort of hearsay, but I posed this question to two of the top gastroenterologist specialist in the country,(one from UTa, then other from NC St.), and they both had sort of the same feeling about it

1. Why switch from whats on the market? Dogs eat healthier food than we do, there is no doubt about that. Why would you feed them raw meat that cost 2-3 times as much?

2. The majority of breeds should not consume raw meat on a daily basis. i.e small/toy breeds and other non-sporting breeds.

again, i'll have to consult with them or others on this

but i was talking to one of my dad's clients yesterday and we we're talking about how the religiously feed their dogs boiled chicken and rice everyday and they do great with it. Is it ideal? No, not at all, but THOSE dogs do great with it.

My maw maw for years used to do the same thing, she use to cook top of the line food for her dogs and she would wonder why they wouldn't eat their purina planned diet food in the morning, she refused to believe that they wouldn't eat the purina food becuase they had a taste for chicken/chicken broth, forget that her son the vet of 25+ years was telling her the contrary, she just wouldn't accept and his dogs became obese because of it.

After she died my aunt adopted the dogs and quit feeding them the chicken and rice. My aunt started freaking out about 4-5 days of them not eating she was freaking out, but as papa Biff put it,"if they are hungry enough, they will eat..", a day later they ate the food and started shedding the pounds. Just like in humans, it's about a proper diet and portion control.