anyone here doing this ? we have been feeding our German shepherd raw for about a year and a half and its been amazing for her. we started due to allergies and the cost of premium processed dog food was already so high we made the jump into raw. her weight is perfect according to the breeder and vet, energy couldn't be higher, poops are tiny, teeth are nice and clean, and her coat is soft and shiny as well as her shedding has decreased by about 80%.

there are basically 2 schools of thought, prey model which is just animal and nothing else and b.a.r.f. ( biologicaly appropriate raw food ) meat and veggies/ supplements. its pretty easy to figure out proportions of meat, fat, bone. at first they are super annoyed as they don't feel as full since all the fillers are gone but they will adjust in a few weeks.

I make a mix of beef and pork muscle, liver, heart, green tripe,trachea, bone, tongue, carrots, spinach, apples, and greens, and phytoplankton. we also mix in fish once a week or so as well as adding lamb, or game scraps from friends. we don't do chicken as she is allergic.

Is this raw as in uncooked? Because that's a sure way to give your dog parasites that will make their way to you, i think.

Though i have boiled deer remnants for my German shepherd and she just loved it!

Raw ground beef from costco thats first frozen and then thawed. Once a week if we are feeling priviledged, taste of the wild is normal food. Actually got stool tested for parasites the other day which came back negative. Dogs are animals, I've never seen them light a fire and cook to 160.

And just like when you and I eat junk, and we shit it all out you can tell as the body didn't take it.

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http://www.wazzuor.com/

We used this buying "club" when we lived in Puget sound. really helped keep the cost down to a more manageable level.

Our dogs did great on it, but when we moved and couldn't get the bulk discount, we couldn't really justify the price anymore.

I wouldn't worry about raw ground beef from a reputable source like Costco.
They do in house monitoring and testing for e-choli, etc.
Recall and lawsuits just cost too much, almost bankrupted Jack in the Box.
I knew people who wouldn't eat there 10 years later.

RAW???!?

I ALWAYS cook my pets before ea....




Wait...



Never mind.












Side note: Black bean chicken at the local chinese restaurant. MMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmm

thank you , i just signed up. hope to add some new proteins to her diet. the one place i get green tripe from has beaver whole beaver tails ! and they are expensive too.

Pretty sure that coyotes and wolves eat raw all the time - and some people suggest that they are dogs...
I can guarantee you, coyotes do quite well on raw chicken, turkey and goose (the little fuckers!)

Never had an issue giving our dog all kinds of "stuff" from butchering goats...

I still cannot fathom why a predator would be expected to thrive on corn, rice, or other veggies...

Wild canines have been reported as having a parasite infection rate of 30-60%, depending on location. As a predator, they are the final host and parasites typically affect them by draining nutrition.

Humans would become an intermediate host when they come in contact with their poop. Effects are much worse from larva migrans, echinococcosis, and parasite-induced behavioral changes.

So heah, i wouldn't feed my dog junk food, bud i would cook the meat i give them.

Ok, I'll semi-concede.
Though, I suspect most predators in the sample weren't the healthiest out there (they got caught/killed)

Also, we knew where our goat (chicken, goose, etc) came from...

And contact with their poop has only been recommended by a slim few. A very slim few.

But you probably won't ever convince me that carnivores do well on veggies...

Cheers!

I've been feeding my dogs raw food since about 2007. The stomach of a dog has a much lower pH than the stomach's of humans. Raw food is great for them.
I feed my dog 1 tablespoon of raw food with every meal along with 1/3 cup of kibble. Just getting a little bit of raw food with every meal is enough to keep your dog much healthier. A dog on a quality diet will have very compact and easy to clean up poop. That's the best benefit Imo.

From time to time I see people on some local social media buy/sell/trade groups asking if people have any freezer burnt meat they are looking to toss. That is one way to keep costs down for their dog's raw food. I don't know if that is the healthiest route, or if it even makes a difference. Interesting thought though.

If you're mostly looking to increase protein levels (and not necessarily go raw), there are some good high-protein foods available in kibble form. Several of the recipes from Orijen are high in protein, I'm sure there are others of similar quality out there. Be warned that Orijen's parent company is in talks to be bought out by Nestle, so they may not be a good option for long.