Raw feeding success stories

I'm making a website about why I feed raw. I am asked frequently about what diet my dogs are on and a lot of people are interested in it, so I figured I'd make a website about it to direct them to.

I'm planning on putting up a "success story" section. So I'd love for anyone who feeds raw to post what it has done for their dogs (even if it's very faint changes). You can include a picture of your dog(s) if you'd like, but it's not necessary. :) Before and after pictures are even better ;)

I don't care what your feeding style is so long as it is raw. Half raw/half kibble dogs are also welcome :) ;)

Any other ideas for what to put on the website are also welcome. I'll post the link here when I'm finished :D

Well, my dogs weren't fed Raw very long, but Roxy had horrible horrible breath, and very plaque-y teeth. After just barely one week of being on Raw, her breath became much fresher, she was more bouncy, and her teeth looked alot better. :)

Kai constantly gained weight on kibble. It didn't matter what kind or how much I reduced it. Whether it was Chicken Soup, Eukanuba (ew), Innova, Evo, California Natural.. he gained weight on all of them. It wasn't until I switched him to raw that I noticed his weight stopped creeping up. Raw feeding has also kept his teeth pearly white,got rid of the doggy breath, and made his already glossy coat even glossier.

When we adopted Kaedyn, his teeth were extremely dirty and required professional cleaning. After that I switched him to raw. The bones kept his teeth sparkling clean. He's 8-9 years old but has the energy of a young dog.

Shadow is the biggest success story, on by the time she was 4 years old she could hardly stand up the vet called it premature aging, basicly she was a 4 year old dog acting like a 13 year old dog, we were told to consider putting her down, that she would not live to see her 5th birthday. also since she had been spayed she threw up every day, purina one was the only food she could eat, with it she only threw up once a day. instead we switched to Raw, a few months ago shadow saw her 10th birthday, not only did she pass the vets estimated lifespan she doubled it, and at 10 years old she runs and plays like a puppy, you would never guess that 6 years earlier she could not even stand up, now the only pain she shows is in her paws and only because her paws got crushed by a rocking chair a few years ago and her nails are now twisted. and cant forget that she has not thrown up since the switch.

Happy is the reason we switched, she was sick throughout almost her entire puppyhood, finally after some reasarch we made the switch, and so long problems, Happy is now 6 and has not been sick since the switch, infact her immune system is suddenly so strong that when every single dog around her got kennel cough she was the only one who did not get sick, Happy also has the highest pain tollerence I have ever seen, she breaks wood with her hip, yanks her nail out and upside down and not so much as a yelp, she just keeps on going as if nothing ever happened.

Ripley, amazing differnce, when we brought him home from the shelter he was just gonna be a pet, he was fat and lazy, he had no muscle and a dull coat. 2 DAYS after the switch he suddenly bacme a muscle machine, he was ripling in muscle, no fat, beautiful coat, and the energy to rival my border collies, pet? ya right! Ripley has his FMCH(thats 15,000 points) in Flyball, as a 5.0 second height dog, he does pulling alongside Misty(pulling 150lbs) and he somehow knows Agility..cuz ya know we never taught him lol

Misty, Misty has been on raw since a pup, and is clear, she is dripping in muscle, with a smooth sleek gleaming black coat, never been sick a day in her life..no not true she got kennel cough once which lasted about a day lol, and she has energy to spare, with her gleaming coat and rippling muscles most people refer to her as "that gorgous dog"

Thanks guys, these are wonderful!

Tommy is the one whose change has amazed me the most. Both of them have the "usual" things of softer coats, better teeth, small poops with no real odor, better breath etc.

Before, Tommy was gradually getting overweight, and less active. He seemed to get stiff and sore after he laid down for awhile after running. Some of this was probably due to thyroid disease that got diagnosed, however even after he got on medication he was slow to lose weight though his activity went up a bit more.

Tommy's coat had had a tendency to be oily and he had a body odor. He also tended to be rather.. gassy :o. He had two sebborheic cysts, one on his neck/chin area and one on his hip.

After the "switch" (I feed about 30-40% Innova EVO and 60-70% raw currently), I immediately noticed his coat started filling out lusher than it ever has been. It has a soft fluffy texture, not the old oily one. He has no body odor, the gassiness stopped, and finally, a couple weeks ago while grooming him, I discovered the two seborrheic cysts are gone :eek: I can't feel the one on his neck area at all, whatsoever, and the one on his hip just feels like a little bump where it was.

He is now leaping to catch frisbees and balls and I still can't get over how gorgeous his coat has become. I will have to try to see if I can find a good before and after picture that gives it justice :)

I recently changed my dogs over to about 70% raw and 30% kibble (EVO). Cracker is dong great, soft haircoat, great teeth, no more anal gland problems. Ginger, however, is my miracle. After only three weeks on raw she has gone from being nearly crippled with arthritis to running, playing with cracker, using both hind legs to climb the stairs like an normal dog, rather than hopping one at a time, she even JUMPED onto a bed! The dog has never jumped since the day I brought her home at 2-1/2, she is now almost 6, in September. Her breath could have stopped a train, she had a lot of dander, she would get bald patches, alopecia, every winter, and she limped horribly, sometimes three legged lame. She has also started losing weight, which I could never do before, because she couldn't take walks and she was already only only 2 measured cups of food a day and no treats. She has so far lost about 5 pounds, needs to lose probably another 5, but she is like a whole new dog. Her breath does not smell, her teeth are clean, she walks stiffly but not painfully, and I can forsee nothing but improvement. Her hair coat is soft as silk, her dander is gone and she has a brightness to her eyes I haven't seen before. I used to worry if she'd make it one more year, now I don't worry so much about that. I think she has lots of good happy HEALTHY years left.

These are great! I'm glad it's working so well for you two.

Bumping this up for anyone who didn't see it before. Anyone else wanna share a story?

I want to share my story. :)

I have to say we have seen the most improvement with Diamond. Her teeth were pretty nasty looking before the raw, they are turning nice and white again. Also she has a lot much more energy and stamina. I swear she acts like a young dog again. She can keep up with Ebony, that’s saying a lot because Ebony has never ending energy. My husband is totally amazed with Diamond's improvement. He though I was a little "nuts" when I brought up the raw thing with him. Diamond has made him a believer in the raw diet.

All my girls were a little overweight before the raw. Honestly, Diamond was a lot overweight. They all have slimed down a lot they look so much better. Their fur is looking good also. Ebony is starting to get quite the shinny coat so is Jada. None of them have bad breath anymore. I haven't even been feeding them raw for all that long and I've seen a big difference in all of them. I cant wait to see how they are in a years time. I'm still feeding them kibble in the mornings. I feed them Timberwolf, its really good quality kibble. I may go totally raw here in the near future. I really wish I had thought to take pictures of Diamond's teeth before the raw.

*edit to add*

I dont know how I forgot this one. They poop much less its much easier cleaning up the yard now also, its a lot smaller.

I haven't noticed too much of a difference because even when I was feeding kibble they would still get raw at least a few times a week. Now counting back to the days before I fed raw at all, thats a different story.

Raustyk had so many health problems on kibble, which some went awaywhen she was a couple certain brands of kibble but since on raw, even when fed part time she has had NO outbreaks of her past problems including but not limited to UTI's, ear infections, unexplained rash, anal gland impactions, bad breath, excessive eye gunk. Her mobility has improved drastically.

Nanook has always had some sort of raw food, my dad used to be a butcher (was too scared to try it with Raustyk when I first got her). But since being back on all raw his breath has improved. It is kind of hard to tell with him now as he has so many health problems and he's old. His tumors have not grown any, his cataracts have not gotten any worse, his mobility hasn't gotten any worse. To me those have to be benifits of the raw, as all of those problems were getting worse on kibble.

Kaige, he's so young but his hair is even softer than it was when on kibble.

Indy, her teeth have improved a lot, her weight is great, her skin & coat is beautiful.

Before Visa switched to raw, she was always itchy. She was constantly chewing herself to pieces. When I blowdried her I would find little raised sores. I thought she was just allergic to everything. When I started to take kibble-fed dogs for sleepovers on the weekends, however, I realised that they itched ten times worse then she did, and their owners swore that their dogs didn't itch any more than normal. So I realised that the unhealthy state of dogs these days is the "norm," and the norm was not up to my standards. I became tired of switching from kibble to kibble, trying to find somethiong that wouldn't make her itch. Often times she would be fine and then she would start itching again a couple of weeks later. If it didn't make her itch, it would give her diahrrea, or she wouldn't touch it. She once went two weeks straight without touching her food. It wasn't that she was picky -- the food wasn't good for her, and she knew it. Eventually she got to the point of being 10 pounds underweight and her ribs and hipbones stuck out under her fur. I finally got a freezer and switched to raw. Her skin became alot less dry and dandruffy and she stopped itching so much. Her coat became fuller, her energy levels increased dramatically, her behaviour changed to the point of her being controllable at agility class. Her anxiety levels decreased and the negative effects of her going into drive decreased. She became more focused. Before her switch to raw she would wake me up at three every morning, panting and pacing. After the switch she slept soundly. She had smaller, alot firmer poops, and she peed more (good for the urinary tract). She gained alot of weight she needed. Now that she has been on raw so long, she can actually eat kibble and not have loose stools -- the raw has completely "cured" her digestive upsets.

She was not healthy before the switch, and the sad thing is, I see dogs like her old self everyday that her owners say are perfectly healthy. To anyone else, she may have been deemed normal. I've had dogs like her in the past. She just glows now. I will never switch back. All of my dogs will be fed raw, especially those who are pregnant. I feel that it's very important for Visa to eat raw during pregnancy. Her breeder has fed two dogs raw during pregnancy and she says that both litters were the best puppies she's had. They were alot bigger, their ears and eyes opened earlier, they started walking earlier, ad thir motor development was better. She said their temperments were also alot better, and I believe it --- her litter between Jake and Annie was the best tempered litter she's ever had, I love those dogs.

I actually had another Belgian breeder approach me and give me heck for breeding a dog that did badly on kibble, right after telling me that her dogs did horribly on raw, in fact, she said, they almost died. What's the difference? Every dog will do badly on some food, some are just better than others. Raw is what works for me and my dog, and raw is what I'm sticking to.

I've only had Jasper a few weeks, but I can tell you that I believe the switch to raw helped him kick kennel cough in a mere four days. He's leaner looking, gaining muscle rapidly, his fur is starting to look glossier, and his teeth cleaner. I'm so happy I decided to make the switch.

These are awesome! :D Thanks guys!