When I first learned about home cooking, I read every book I could find, and then, tried every recipe I saw: stews, varying ratios, raw, grain free. I tried it all...tirelessly, so you don't have to! On a Goldilocks style mission, I experienced issues with every method I tried, some too water heavy, some too low calorie...Stews caused the need for more frequent bathroom trips, raw feeding caused dampness (TCM) and digestion issues, no vegetables - caused imbalance in the dog's microbiome, and grain free - left my dogs "starving" all of the time.
So finally, I created my own! My final recipe is the perfect amount of moisture, for optimal hydration, easy to digest and to make, for every dog across the board. I have never met a picky eater that didn't scarf it down. It's the only recipe I've fed my own dogs for the past 16 years and so many others!
But I keep reading that I have to feed raw, is that wrong?
As much as I appreciate the argument that dogs are indeed descendants of wolves (and agree), raw meat sold for human consumption is never going to simulate an animal that was just killed and is still pulsating with blood in the wild. It's a well known fact that dogs are extremely domesticated (50% of them would not know how to survive in the wild!), so feeding them like their ancestors, is relatively outdated thinking. While I'm not completely against it (and yes, we can all have different opinions and still be friends!), and know that some people feel it is what is best for their dogs, I do warn that it needs to be done correctly, and in a balanced way. I find that many advocates of the raw movement have an "it'll never be balanced" approach which is wildly reckless in a time where getting a balanced mineral supplement is as easy as a click of the mouse!
- Raw feeding is dangerous to the humans they share space with. Everything your dog licks, even their poop, has the potential to be contaminated with salmonella and other foodborne illnesses. While studies have shown that dogs are not effected by salmonella (unless possibly already very immune compromised), the salmonella will go in one end and out the other - continuing to live the dream in their poop! Who picks up their poop? Who plays in the yard where they leave it? We do! So, I personally opt out of raw for this reason alone. If you do feed it, just be very cautious , food safety is key and you might not want to snuggle up as close with your furbaby - WHICH IS AWFUL NEWS!
- It's important to note that I have never seen any benefits of raw feeding over gently cooked recipes in any of my case studies, or personal dogs. It is also usually a very labor intensive, time consuming and costly experience that most people burn out on. It reminds me of when I decided to stop eating meat, and went straight to vegan, only to realize that it was really hard to live a regular lifestyle cutting so many ingredients out! I scaled back to pescatarian and have been there ever since. Some people can take on a large task and have better access to obscure ingredients and extra income to spend and the choice is yours. Some things to keep in mind are below.
- Make sure all of your organ meat is Organic: organ meat soaks up all of the pesticides from the feed, the antibiotics fed (if any) to the animal, and the organ I see used the most often, the liver, is what filters out all of the toxic things. So it's extremely important to make sure these are sourced from a reliable and organic resources. Even when making treats!
- Bone meal is high in lead. So most raw feeders get their calcium from ground up bones. FYI if you're buying a product that is fully prepped raw - beware of unground bones as sometimes the manufacturing process doesn't get them all. I've seen numerous posts of chunks of bones. While raw bones are "okay" I prefer to stick to raw beef bones that are sliced, as I've seen dogs get obstructions from other bones, even raw. I don't recommend bone meal for this reason and the only bones I feed are for recreational chewing (with the marrow removed to avoid a fatty overload).
- Eggshell calcium content is unreliable and eggshells are sprayed with propylene glycol, which is toxic to dogs. It's hard for me to justify feeding an ingredient that has been treated with something we are avidly trying to avoid with home cooking! Eggshell quality also greatly depends on the experience in which it was created, hen's health, feeding, etc. The shells, membranes and even the eggs can be nutritionally compromised from farming processes. So unless you have your own, or can get them locally, I don't utilize the eggshells. Also, do opt for "pastured" when possible, and organic/free range at the very least.
- Raw diets lack vegetation. I find that most raw diets have very little, if any, vegetable or fruit quotient. The main issue with this is that is where all of our prebiotics originate from to keep a balanced microbiome (tummy bacteria), not to mention insoluble fiber to keep healthy poops! I always recommend at least 20% fruits and veggies but also stress that dogs do need to have the veggies gently cooked or pulverized since they don't possess the enzymes to digest them fully. Raw veggies will go in one end and out the other! In the wild they would mostly get this part of their diet from the stomachs of the animals they ate, which means they'd be pre-digested!
So in summation, I personally can't consistently execute a raw diet with all of the other things to do in life, and the risk doesn't outweigh any kind of reward. If you are full steam ahead for raw, make sure to heed my warnings and always add a mineral supplement!