Raw Diets for dogs Question?

RAW bones are perfectly okay to feed your dog; they are soft and flexible. Cooked bones however can splinter and hurt your dog. Please read:

http://rawfed.com/myths/ground.html

There are 2 schools of thought about this.The first advocates a natural and raw diet is healthier anf the other is whatever you think best.There are 2 books l know of if you really are interested One is called Give a dog a bone by a man called Billinghurst and the other is managing animals dogs cats and horses by a lady called Levy from Israel.When people decide on the raw diet it means they never give canned or dry food at all it is a no no!.The raw diet people allow all kinds of meaty bones uncooked of course,raw mince whether lamb or pork or beed and even some go to the extrene of giving some offel not a lot but some.They believe that the dog should be fed natural food like a wolf and they also include vegetables in the diet as well.As for myself l give raw beef mince mixed,iwith a good brand of dry food one night,another night they may get raw chicken wings and raw chicken necks (*and no they never get caught in their throat)these are full of calcium which dogs need esp pups.Another night l might give them a loaf which is cooked with veg and you slice it,this is a commercial food.Amother they may get a sort of stew of cooked beef,veg,pasta or rice.So you see some people feed dogs differently.l have many dogs as am a breeder and vet nurse and hate with a passion canned food as what you thik is in it is not it is rubbish but l make an exception when l have pups and they start to eat they get a varied diet that includes puppy canned food kust in case they go to a home that do a mix of my diet and canned food.l am not knoking antyone"s prefeerence of diet for their dogs but feel they need juicy meaty bones as it helps clean their teeth and is full of calcium as a result l never have to brush their teeth.Hopefully l have shown you the difference one is completey natural and the other is whatever.By the way you NEVER give dogs cooked bones as they will splinter and you may end up with a blockage and a dead dog so avoid cooked chicken bones or lamb chop bones etc.

I have been feeding my dogs raw (1/2 their diet) for years. Yes RAW bones are fine. If they are cooked they develop hair line fractures and it weakens the over all structure of the bone. When it breaks it forms sharp jagged spikes that can puncture the digestive tract. Raw bones will be ground and be digested. Bones are great in a dog's diet as they add calcium and plasma to the dog's diet. Plasma is the liquid between the cells in blood. It has many valuable minerals in it that dogs need to live. This is the major thing missing in kibble.

As far as raw food goes, always get your meat (and bones) from a butcher or specialty pet store. Natural food stores and farmers markets work well too. The meat you get from the grocery store is handled to be cooked so they have a higher amount of bacteria they let pass. If you are go int to to feed beef than you can get it from anywhere.

My dogs enjoy a beef or bison rib bone twice a week and a chunk of femur (marrow bone) every-other week.

Bones will also help to clean their teeth!

Yes raw chickens are way less of a hazard than cooked bones. I feed raw and feed chicken to my dog bones and all. I always supervise feeding time so that I'm there in just in case anything ever did happen even though I've never even heard of a dog choking on raw chicken with the bones in.

A half chicken weighing 2.5 lbs is enough to feed a 100 lb. dog for an entire day. My 75 lb. dog gets 1/5 of a 4 lb. chicken per day and 6 oz. ground red meat. Plus she gets supplements like salmon oil, vitamin E, kelp powder, and alfalfa powder.

Here is a sample menu: http://leerburg.com/diet2.htm

Cooked bones are a major hazard, they are brittle and splinter easily. Uncooked bone is an important part of a raw diet. My two dogs get raw chicken with the bone nearly every day. Legs, thighs, etc...they crunch right through them. ;)

Raw diet does not mean that you never give kibble. I give kibble, raw, and healthy scraps. I use common sense.

Raw bones are safe, and necessary. Even small raw rabbit and chicken bones with the meat are safe for the majority of dogs because they are soft and break easily, but do not splinter.

Cooked bones are unsafe and they splinter.

Raw food contains enzymes necessary for the digestion and food and good health of the dog.

VETS ARE THE LAST PEOPLE TO LISTEN TO FOR CANINE NUTRITIONAL ADVICE.

They get commision for reccommending Hills, Royal Canin, etc. All you need to do is look at the label to see its nothing but by-products and filler.

Vets get very few seminars on nutrition. And the seminars they do get are from the pet food companies themselves! Its a joke! Don't take my word for it, please, look it up.

Dogs should be fed raw meat, with some grated carrot, and cooked potato as an example.

Heres an example of a good diet plan -

*Breakfast*

Raw mince meat or liver or tripe.

*Brunch*

Porrige made on water or good quality kibble with an egg

*Lunch*

Raw chicken/rabbit/mince with grated carrot. Teaspoon of codliver oil.

*Dinner*

Boiled potato with a raw egg.

Also a big raw bone for the day to chew on.

Adult dogs can be given whole chicken legs (raw bones are safe) or whole raw rabbits.

They can be given a little crushed egg shell along with the egg you want also.

Big raw cow bones are a must. Even pig ribs are good, my dog devours them in half an hour.

Dogs should not be fed solely on a dry or wet commercial food. Steer clear of Peedigree, Hills, or Royal Canin, or anything cheaper than that.

Learn to read ingredients labels.

DOGS NEED RAW FOOD. They are canines, not children. They can handle bacteria. They eat it in the wild. Raw meat has never ever caused a problem for any of my dogs, or anyone elses dogs that I know.

How do you explain generations of working dogs being fed on hunted meat and diet plans similar to the above for years and years and showing absolutely ZERO health problems??? I can put you in touch with people if you don't believe me.

How do explain generations of dogs (esp. in the US) being fed on the commercial crap you suggest and having chronic ear infections, allergies, hip dysplasia, obesity, etc???

Raw food makes sense.

I have 3 dogs. I give them raw meet for their dinner but i do give them raw beef bones to chew on. Cooked bones splinter. So that's why I would give them raw. Once they get to small I take them away so they don't choke. Raw meet is healthier for dogs then dry food. Almost every dry dog food mix has grain and veggies in it. Dogs are related to wolves and do you see wolves eating grain and veggies? No they are not meant to eat those kinds of things. A dogs natural diet is meat. Personally I buy frozen meet and i take it out of the freezer to let it thaw for when its time to eat. I hope that helps!

They are - and just because some people recommend it, and say it's all natural, it doesn't make it safe to do.

Dogs can not only have their intestines ripped up by ingesting the bones of a chicken, but they can also contract the nasty GI tract diseases that everyone warns you against when you handle raw meat. So can you.

The people who are into raw diets seem to be able to forget about that very quickly, but the germs still exist from the guts of the chickens, and you truly don't want to be near that, or feed it to your dog.

ANY bone in a chicken is hazardous to a dog, whether or not it is cooked or raw. Cooked chicken is fine, but raw diets defy all scientific evidence of infectious disease, and every veterinarian I know (which includes a lot of them) cringes when anyone starts talking about feeding their dogs raw meat.

You have instincts for a reason - listen to them.