Raw food Diet vs dry food?

Raw.

Purina is really bad anyway.

Personal experiences? My dogs have been fed nearly every 5 star kibble out there - Taste of the Wild, Before Grains, Blue Buffalo Wilderness, etc. I began feeding Raw Meaty Bones (RMB) last year, and within MINUTES of chowing down, their teeth were pearly white! I began looking into different raw diets; Prey Model Raw (PMR), BARF, even Prey Model BARF and pre-made. I decided to go with Prey Model Raw, and I have seen fantastic results. I have a 4 year old mutt that, prior to being fed raw, her teeth were disgusting, brown almost, and her breath always smelt like..crap, most literally. Now, her teeth are pearly white, and she no longer has that bad 'dog breath'! Her poop is no longer the size of a horses, they are a manageable size and within a few days are even like rocks (from bone matter) and I can easily pick them up by hand and put them in the garbage. Sure, it seems disgusting because you feed kibble and your dog probably has enormous, stinky poops. Not my dogs, I can go out and pick it up as if it was nothing.

The BEST raw diet (Prey Model Raw) consists of meat, bones, organs, and offal. The basic ratio in the order I listed them is 80:10:5:5.

80% Meat

10% Bones

5% Organs (Especially liver!)

5% Offal

(Offal is leftover parts of animals after slaughter, like heads, hooves, feet, etc.)

Start out with something simple, like chicken. Give a wing, drumstick, thigh, whatever. Start giving other meats, like turkey. Then you can start giving liver, kidney, hooves, whatever you can find.

If you choose to feed PMR, then whole carcasses are important. Feeding whole chicken, turkeys, even some rabbits and deer if you're lucky enough to get them. However, if you find quality meats on sale, but they're ground, get them and feed them frozen. Last night, my dogs got frozen ground bison and beef liver. Tonight, they are getting chicken drumsticks + thighs, a LITTLE bit of pumpkin (Helps with digestion) and their favorite chew toy - pig hooves!

Here's a raw food calculator to help you determine how much to feed: http://www.raw4dogs.com/calculate.htm

Good luck! :)

Raw food, by far. And just about ANY diet is better than Purina- find a new trainer quick if that's the best education yours has! Purina is garbage. I wouldn't feed it to a pet rat.

There are lots of options for raw feeding, type it into Google and read through all the information there is. There are pre-made raw diets that can be a good starting point for first time raw feeders, you can find them in most areas now.

I've been feeding raw for years, I have 2 Papillons and a GSD puppy, the GSD was raised entirely on raw and is a beautiful healthy dog with a shiny coat, and never gets the runs, or gas, or any of the other nasty side effects of kibble feeding.

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This is by Cesar the dog whisperer "One type of food espoused by some well-meaning pet lovers is biologically available raw food (BARF). The idea of this approach is that raw food is closer to what a dog would eat in the wild. Unfortunately, dogs in the wild do not live very long, which, to me, is a flaw in their logic, but I try to consider all viewpoints on issues this important. From research as it stands now, there is no real evidence that there are any health benefits to eating raw meat. If, however, you do want to try it, make sure you do your research and do it the right way. With extreme choices such as raw food, there is no such thing as “I do mostly raw food”. Even proponents of the diet will tell you that there are risks if you don’t do it exactly right. In addition to finding organic food sources, you must balance the food with vegetables and other sources of micronutrients to meet all of your dog’s nutritional needs. Changing an adult dog to BARF too quickly can cause pancreatitis, so follow your vet's instructions."

So there we go obsessives there is scientifically no advantage and you can harm your dog by feeding it raw! An 80/20 kibble is best which contains the fruit and veg that wild dogs also eat and isn't in raw meat!

Many people believe that incorporation at least some raw food into a dog's diet is a good idea, considering that they are still essentially carnivorous animals and need a raw, meat based regime. You can go about this several ways. For example, you can mix dry dog food with meat and bone bits to obtain a nutritious meal.

If you plan on making your own raw food, you will need to find an organic meat supplier. Try chopping or mincing the meat and adding in a few ground vegetables as well, for vitamins and minerals. Avoid feeding your dog fat meats, or meats that are high in toxins (pork, sheep, duck). Stick to chicken and veal for the most part. Note that you can add egg in as well, its great for dogs.

In my source box, i added a link to an article that goes a bit into switching your dog to raw foods, it might help you out.

To start out with, dry cat food was created for human convenience, and is the worst choice for your cat. Cats have a low thirst drive, being desert animals, and will often get dehydrated or have kidney problems if kept on an exclusively dry diet. It can cause blockages and UTIs quite frequently. Adding water to dry food speeds the growth of bacteria and can make a cat sick. Personally, I stay away from dry food unless I have no other choice (ie going out of town for a day or two). If you must feed dry food, stick to a grain/filler free food like Wellness, Innova, etc. Also, don't believe rumors about dry being "good for their teeth". A cats teeth are designed to rip and tear, not chew. The dry food also breaks up in their mouth too quickly, and doesn't stay on the teeth long enough to have any effect whatsoever. Canned food is the most common choice for most cat households. Cats like it, it gives them the necessary moisture that they otherwise wouldn't get, and its typically low in fillers. A good wet food will be a great choice for your cat, as most families don't have the time, patience, or cash flow to be able to feed a raw diet. Look for a canned food that has meat as the first few ingredients, and no corn, wheat, or soy. Also, no by-products, or "animal digest" type ingredients. The key to a raw diet is "balance". Raw is actually the best and most healthy choice for your cat, but if you don't order the food, and decide to make it yourself, you MUST do your research. A cat needs a balance of meat, bone, organ, and blood to get all the nutrients that they would get from a regular food. Can you remember the last time you saw a lion starting up a fire to cook its gazelle? Or the last time your cat tossed its freshly killed bird on a george forman grill? Me neither ;) Its natural for a cat to eat raw, but again, its not for everyone. Personally, I feed my cats an exclusively canned diet (Merrick's, Innova, and Blue Buffalo) and supplement it with raw chicken a few times a week. Both of my cats are healthy, happy, and because of their healthy diet, they barely shed, and are as playful and content as they have ever been. I hope this clears some stuff up. I would be VERY wary of a vet who is not a fan of a raw diet, its not for everyone like I said, but its still the healthiest choice out there. Edit: Just wanted to add, back when I used to feed dry food, one of my cats had chronic urinary tract infections. Since switching to canned/raw, I have had not a single solitary problem. My vet recommended the diet I am on now, and its a life saver for me.

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If you go over to YahooGroups and type in 'raw feeding dogs' you'll find the lists where you can talk directly to owners who do raw feeding. They'll tell you the pros and cons of doing a raw diet that's nutritionally balanced with all the nutrients and vitamins.

A raw diet is exponentially better, in my opinion, and according to the copious research I've done. A raw diet mimics a dog's natural diet, it lacks the fillers and byproducts of commercial dog food, and you have complete control over what your dog eats.

I used to feed my dogs a high quality grain-free kibble, Taste of the Wild, and I thought it was just fine. I became interested in raw, and after a lot of research, I jumped right in. Over the last year, I have been amazed at the benefits: my dogs are leaner, sleeker, shinier, more alert, more active. They love mealtimes, and their teeth are amazingly healthy and white. One of my dogs used to suffer from food allergies, and they've completely disappeared.

I feed my dogs muscle meat in the mornings, and meat on the bone in the evenings. I also feed them organ meat once a week, and a few fruits and veggies occasionally. It's best to mix up their diet as much as possible, so you can use beef, chicken, turkey, some fish, rabbit, lamb, pork, whatever. Most raw fed dogs don't need any supplements at all.

The raw diet is extremely cheap and easy, once you get the hang of it. I buy a bunch of stuff once a month, weigh it out on a little kitchen scale, and put it in baggies, which I toss in the freezer in a big tupperware bucket. Every night, I take out the next day's baggies, and leave them in the fridge overnight to defrost. Super easy.

The only hassle I've faced with the raw diet is the clean-up. One of my dogs is a very messy eater, and he leaves bloody scraps on the kitchen floor when he gnaws on bones. So, I have to run the mop over the floor after his evening meals... which is a very small price to pay for his health and happiness!

A few excellent books: Raw Meaty Bones Work Wonders by Tom Lonsdale, Raw and Natural Nutrition for Dogs by Lew Olson, Switching to Raw by Susan Johnson.

Good luck! I haven't tried the raw diet with a puppy, but I know quite a few people who have. :)

Add: I forgot to say, I highly recommend doing a "real" raw diet, rather than buying those commercial pre-made raw diets. With the commercial diets, you lose the benefit of being able to totally control what your dog eats, and there are no whole bones. Plus, they're insanely expensive. I know people who use them because they're afraid they're not getting the "balance" right... but if you do a raw diet the right way, you'll be fine. Your dog's diet, like humans' diet, doesn't have to be "balanced" every single day; it balances out over the weeks.

Add 2 (sorry!): Vets aren't the best source for nutrition info, surprisingly. They're trained in medical care, not in feeding and nutrition. Most vets only take a few hours of classes about nutrition, in fact.

Our former vet was against the raw diet, but ultimately admitted that she knew very little about it. (She also was the one who told me how little most vets are trained in nutrition.) After seeing the benefits of the raw diet in my dogs, she is now a believer in raw. Before starting a raw diet, I brought my dogs to a vet who specializes in nutrition, and both he and his wife (his partner, also a vet) were hugely in favor of the raw diet. That's how they feed their own dogs and cats.

120 Raw Diet Food Recipes - http://go.stayeatingraw.com/?dgbS