Anyone else feed an all RAW diet?

really? I have seen a LOT of kibble fed dogs with teeth that bad.

I like this pic of Shadow, the pic was taken when shadow was just about 9 years old, 4 years on kibble and 4 years on raw

I was looking at this pic, and it struck me how white her teeth are for her age lol
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...s/96bab6a2.jpg

and look at Happys teeth..she has the dirtiest teeth out of all my dogs because she wont do any recriational chewing whatsoever, she wont even eat her dinner if she cant break the bone with one bite.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...y/6e63c389.jpg

it was funny, we are so used to how much the rest of the dogs teeth sparkle, that we look at happys and go.."I wonder if something is wrong with her teeth?" so we take her to the vet and the vet goes "WOW these are some of the best teeth I have seen" lol

I do hope to feed raw someday when I have the freezer for it and the finances to do it right. For now mine are on Innova EVO but they also get lots of chews, (bones and bully sticks) and "extras" like eggs, cheese, fresh meat at times, etc. and I brush their teeth regularly, so they look very good, though I have no doubt they'd be even whiter and stronger if they had been fed raw since the beginning.


This is the best pic I have that shows Tasha's teefers. She is 7.



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...tashateeth.jpg

By the way, I appreciate all the info in this thread! :)

I'm pretty sure it's an ex-racer thing. Many retired racers are supposedly genetically predisposed to bad teeth and, hence, bad breath. I know one 4 year old ex-racer whose teeth look like they've been around since dinosaurs walked the earth LOL. Even though she's on a kibble diet, she receives annual cleanings, frequent chews (it was her owner who introduced me to bully sticks and greenies), daily add-ins and supplements (her owner also shows dogs so she likes to supplement all her dogs), and frequent tooth brushing. Still, her owner claims her breath is still rather rancid and they just doesn't look her age. I can honestly attest, however, that raw bones do work wonders for dogs. Giselle came to me with moderate plaque that could be relatively easy to remove with a tooth brush. I stopped brushing due to laziness and tossed her a rec bone every now and then. After a couple weeks on raw bones, her pearly whites shone through and there is NO sign of plaque whatsoever.

(K9Soul, Tasha's teeth are perfect! I wish Lucky's looked like that!)

I REALLY appreciate this thread too! Especially Sarah and Sophie going into so much detail about everything. I will be switching to raw in about a month for Gonzo and the new pup, and we've decided on a pre-made raw diet to start off with rec bones. We're about to order Steve's Real Food, after talking to Kathy (Corgi breeder).

I do have concerns about wearing and cracking on the teeth... Gonzo did crack his rear molar on a knuckle bone (it was semi-frozen) and I don't want him to crack it to the root at all. I've also seen young raw-fed dogs with very worn down teeth, they're white, but super worn. I was wondering if any of you BARF/RAW-ers have any tips to prevent this? :)

Star has AWFUL teeth. :( :( :( I need to get her some recreational bones, they're really bad. Unfortunately, the vet my parents take her to is not concerned with her bad teeth at all.

Good news! My Mom went to our local Whole Foods Market and got a 3# bag of Steve's Real Food, Turkey, and Gonzo got to try a couple nuggets and he loved it! :) I guess I have to go refresh my memory about transitioning from kibble to raw...

Does a raw diet help with weight gain? I have a pitty too that I can't get to gain weight. She did fill out pretty good but we got a new dog and now she stays pretty skinny. I have been feeding her can food now to help but it is not. Also she gets pretty bored with food but I have her on chicken soup and I like it for the price and food, so I don't want to keep changing her food to keep her happy because I can't aford better food but I don't want to give her what petstores sell. Is it a lot more to feed raw? I have 3 about 50 pounds each dogs.

beyond_me, I think raw would work really well for a dog that needs to keep weight on. :) Or a dog that needs to lose weight. Because you can really accurately measure the caloric value in meats that you feed, and she really would love eating it. In even great kibbles, the calories and ratio of grains/meats/etc totally varies from one bag to the next. I've heard of a meal you can feed to dogs to add weight... I forgot what they're called, but I think they mainly consist of a ball of hamburger meat, egg, and other stuff. Some one else might be able to help you with that.

Thank you. I think I am going to start checking this raw stuff out.

My 1/2 dog (Diesel) eats that. He's not a chubby dog... that's for sure. But it works.

I just switched the Shelties back to premade raw. I'm going to start buying bulk from a supplier soon so I can add in my own veggies and supplements. Kai was THRILLED to be eating raw again! :D

Aww..you guys make me wanna switch my dogs to raw! Totally absolutely no way mom is going to agree to that. Roxy really needs to go on Raw, especially if it would help with weight gain.They both have pretty perfect teeth though, but ah..Raw sounds really great!

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Originally Posted by Roxyluvsme13

Aww..you guys make me wanna switch my dogs to raw! Totally absolutely no way mom is going to agree to that. Roxy really needs to go on Raw, especially if it would help with weight gain.They both have pretty perfect teeth though, but ah..Raw sounds really great!

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What's Roxy eating now? When we adopted Kaedyn, he was at a disgusting weight. We started feeding him a puppy formula instead of adult because of the extra calories. It worked really well (too well actually.. LOL).

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Originally Posted by binka_nugget

What's Roxy eating now? When we adopted Kaedyn, he was at a disgusting weight. We started feeding him a puppy formula instead of adult because of the extra calories. It worked really well (too well actually.. LOL).

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A generic brand of Kibbles and Bits and Alpo...
We put her on more food though, because she wasnt eating enough, and she looked like we had starved her, but of course we didnt.
But at this exact moment her dry is Dog Chow, because it was on sale. :rolleyes:

RAW feeder here! I do a prey-model diet because it is what is natural. The majority of premade diets (and alot of homemade diets) have too much bone. Rabbits are only 10% bone --- a chicken thigh alone is 15% bone. Alot of premade and homemade diets also have too much vegetable. In the wild, dogs do not eat alot of vegetable matter. Only the stomach contents of the smaller animals are consumed -- the larger animals' stomach contents are shaken out and are not eaten. The taste is bitter, wolves do not like it. So I only feed veggies every couple of days, and not very much. I feed several different kinds of meat and organs. I do not feed vitamin supplements, as I feel they are not needed.

I feel that people make RAW more complicated than it really is. I just think about what happens in the wild and take it from there. I don't measure or weigh. I just feed more or less depending on what Visa's weight looks like. I don't do percentages or things like that. I just make the meal mostly meat, with organs and some bone, and sometimes vegetable or fruit matter. It doesn't matter if the meal isn't nutritionally balanced -- as long as there is variety in every meal, there will be enough nutrition.

Since being on a raw diet, Visa has gained weight, her breath doesn't smell, her coat is shinier, she has more energy, her behaviour has improved, she is more relaxed in stressful situations, she sleeps better, etc. Her teeth haven't improved much, but she doesn't do alot of recreational chewing. I love RAW, I'll do it forever.

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Originally Posted by bckrazy

beyond_me, I think raw would work really well for a dog that needs to keep weight on. :) Or a dog that needs to lose weight. Because you can really accurately measure the caloric value in meats that you feed, and she really would love eating it. In even great kibbles, the calories and ratio of grains/meats/etc totally varies from one bag to the next. I've heard of a meal you can feed to dogs to add weight... I forgot what they're called, but I think they mainly consist of a ball of hamburger meat, egg, and other stuff. Some one else might be able to help you with that.

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I think you're talking about Satin Balls :)
http://www.njboxers.com/satin-balls-recipe.htm

I know a lot of conformation people who use satin balls when they're traveling on shows because it can provide a temporary fatty diet to keep their dogs weight and coat healthy.

Roxyluvsme13, I really recommend you either feed Roxy more (how many cups of Dog Chow are you feeding right now?), go to the vet to rule out medical problems, and/or start supplementing her diet with meat. Skip the veggies, fruits, bread, and all that other junk. What Roxy needs to fatten her up is fat and protein. Dogs are quasiomnivores, and, as such, they usually thrive on a higher than normal protein/fat diet. Since Satin Balls are nice simple way to supplement Roxy's diet, you can continue to feed Dog Chow and add a couple of these balls to her daily portion.

Bckrazy, they sell Steve's Real Food at Whole Food Markets??? I had no clue!! I have to check this out!

YES! And they're actually priced reasonably... I think, like, $2.50/lb, which is what Evo costs.

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Originally Posted by Giselle

I think you're talking about Satin Balls :)
http://www.njboxers.com/satin-balls-recipe.htm

Roxyluvsme13, I really recommend you either feed Roxy more (how many cups of Dog Chow are you feeding right now?), go to the vet to rule out medical problems, and/or start supplementing her diet with meat. Skip the veggies, fruits, bread, and all that other junk. What Roxy needs to fatten her up is fat and protein. Dogs are quasiomnivores, and, as such, they usually thrive on a higher than normal protein/fat diet. Since Satin Balls are nice simple way to supplement Roxy's diet, you can continue to feed Dog Chow and add a couple of these balls to her daily portion.

Bckrazy, they sell Steve's Real Food at Whole Food Markets??? I had no clue!! I have to check this out!

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She gets 2 in the morning, and 2 in the evening + Alpo in the evening..what are Satin balls?

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Originally Posted by Roxyluvsme13

She gets 2 in the morning, and 2 in the evening + Alpo in the evening..what are Satin balls?

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It explains what Satin Balls are in the link Giselle posted... :D

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Originally Posted by Crazy-Cat-Lover

It explains what Satin Balls are in the link Giselle posted... :D

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I didnt notice it till after I posted :p:o
Like my mom would buy hamburger for the dog...:(

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Originally Posted by Roxyluvsme13

I didnt notice it till after I posted :p:o
Like my mom would buy hamburger for the dog...:(

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You could always buy her some ground beef, it is fairly inexpensive if you buy the regular and not the lean variety.

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Originally Posted by Crazy-Cat-Lover

You could always buy her some ground beef, it is fairly inexpensive if you buy the regular and not the lean variety.

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Every ground beef no matter what Kind I've ever seen was like really expensive. It's like $5 a pound.

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Originally Posted by Roxyluvsme13

Every ground beef no matter what Kind I've ever seen was like really expensive. It's like $5 a pound.

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Wow! Where I live, regular ground beef is under $1.00/pound. I can buy a HUGE package of it for under $8.00.

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Originally Posted by Crazy-Cat-Lover

Wow! Where I live, regular ground beef is under $1.00/pound. I can buy a HUGE package of it for under $8.00.

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It's really expensive, like a huge roll is $20+

Ahh! I have to check our local Whole Foods Market out now! Is it in the freezer section or...?

Roxyluvsme13, have you checked out a local Walmart or anything? It's odd that hamburger/ground beef would be that expensive. Are you *positive* that it costs 5$ per pound? It sounds more like filet mignon than regular ol' ground beef, LOL. At our Safeway, we can buy a medium package of ground beef for 1-3$ which would suffice to make at least 20 Satin Balls. If you think about it, that's 9$ to make 60 Satin Balls which could last you about a month. That's pretty inexpensive :)

Yep, it's in the freezer section! You could just call and they'll tell you :)

Roxyluvsme, you need to tell your Mom that Roxy NEEDS a better food. Dog chow is probably going right through her, it has very little nutritional value. Imagine if you could only eat a limited amount of cheap corn flakes, and being an athlete or living in extremely sever temperatures - you would NOTTT be healthy. Seriously, tell her that Roxy just won't keep healthy weight on if she is bought discount kibble and living outside. Try to at least bump it up to Purina One, which at least has some meat protein in it, and add either good quality canned food or satin balls. Tell her that animal control can and will be called by concerned neighbors if she doesn't put weight on - and, you need to explain to her that such a poor quality food is actually costing you MORE than a better quality kibble would! You're probably feeding her 3x more Dog Chow than she would need to be healthy on a higher quality kibble with more calories/protein/nutrients. You could save up spare change and buy a few lbs of ground beef to add to her diet! My Dad just bought some, and I checked and it costs $3.99 for a large package... about $0.50/lb, and this is California!

wow this is a long thread.......
i feel daisy jo IAMs puppy food.....is that good? I hope...she sure likes it

Well I probably overexaggerated on the ground beef price, but it really isn't cheap anywhere. a Small package is about $5..which isnt alot of ground beef. I have $10 right now, but it's going to Seb's new tank...so I dunno. We're sorta low on money because of income tax, but I'll see if I can do anything to get her a better dog food.

I already tried the whole "If we buy a better dog food, it actually saves us money!" Thing. My mom said she wasn't going to pay $30 a bag for dog food(it was Nutro, that I wanted to put her on) Since we have started feeding her more though, she is gaining weight...UGH I hate my mother sometimes.

I feed my two labs Flint River kibble with broth and some lean chicken thrown in. They love it and are doing extremely well. I've dropped their feeding back to once a day (mornings) and my picky eater is doing so much better with this schedule. I have the Flint River on auto ship and the shipping is free and since they don't eat as much of it as the store bought brands it is actually costing me less. I am a very happy camper with my dog's feeding situation. :)

I'm surprised nobody has brought this up since so many people are being educated by this thread. Processed meats are worse than kibble. None of that plastic wrapped stuff on the grocer's shelf. That's pumped full of chemicals that are unhealthy for people and shorten our lifespans and the same goes with dogs and cats. I try not to eat processed meats myself. I am in no way ready to switch to raw until I find out which bacteria can be transmitted to dogs. I also hope all you raw feeders do a lot of cleaning of anything the meat touches. I prefer the utility diet of cooked meat and raw veggies, eggs, and such. You can give a balance of nutrients with a cooked meat diet too.

That was something I was wondering. Now-a-days meat has so many chemicals in it. But also wouldn't raw veggies and friut unless you know that they are organic? But then it is even more to feed raw. I was just thinken that either way they are still getting bad stuff right??? Also I know that salmonella that gets us sick doesn't bother dogs or cat, but they can transmit. That is why I am a little worried about giving raw meat to my dogs. Our boxer knows how to get you when you aren't ready. I would hate to get sick from a kiss. :p

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Originally Posted by labmomma

I feed my two labs Flint River kibble with broth and some lean chicken thrown in. They love it and are doing extremely well. I've dropped their feeding back to once a day (mornings) and my picky eater is doing so much better with this schedule. I have the Flint River on auto ship and the shipping is free and since they don't eat as much of it as the store bought brands it is actually costing me less. I am a very happy camper with my dog's feeding situation. :)

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I just checked out the web site and it looks great. I have been looking for a food that would be good with dogs with allergies. I'm not sure if they have food allergies but I would still like to help as much as possible. Also my dogs are pitt's and boxers so they are very sensitive to everything!!! :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by IRescue452

I'm surprised nobody has brought this up since so many people are being educated by this thread. Processed meats are worse than kibble. None of that plastic wrapped stuff on the grocer's shelf. That's pumped full of chemicals that are unhealthy for people and shorten our lifespans and the same goes with dogs and cats. I try not to eat processed meats myself. I am in no way ready to switch to raw until I find out which bacteria can be transmitted to dogs. I also hope all you raw feeders do a lot of cleaning of anything the meat touches. I prefer the utility diet of cooked meat and raw veggies, eggs, and such. You can give a balance of nutrients with a cooked meat diet too.

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The stuff RAW people feed is not processed -- processed meats are the aame thing as processed cheese, or Spam. It's the fake version of the real stuff. Processed meat isn't really meat -- it contains high amounts of sodium and preservatives. The stuff you are talking about it just inorganic meat, which isn't nearly as bad as kibble -- most kibble doesn't only use inorganic meat, but diseased and rotten meat as well. I'm not picky about the kind of meat I buy -- I try to buy as organic as possible, but it is far too expensive to rely on organic foods altogether. I am certainly NOT careful about washing everything that meat touches. I believe that in order to stay resistant to bacteria, your body has to build a resistance to it by being around it as much as possible. I'm not careful about washing my hands and counters after handling raw meat, never have been, and I have yet to get sick. My friend who is absolutely paranoid about bacteria and washes and Lysols the heck out of things became very ill after she first started cooking meat in foods class in highschool. As long as you know what you're doing, none of the bacteria in raw meat will harm your dog. If you mix kibble and raw meat together, there is a much higher chance that the bacteria will affect your dog because the kibble is harder to digest and takes hours longer -- it can hold back the raw meat. Raw meat alone is easily digested and passed through the body quickly enough that the bacteria doesn't harm the dog. There are exceptions of course, some dogs with genetic digestive problems and such may not have the right enzymes in order to digest certain things, such as raw meat. This is mostly because some dogs have been thriving on kibble so long that they continue to bear puppies that have digestive problems and can ONLY eat kibble. Dogs with pancreatitis are a good example of that. The majority of them can only eat kibble or their pancreatitis will act up if fed anything else.

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Originally Posted by wolfsoul

I believe that in order to stay resistant to bacteria, your body has to build a resistance to it by being around it as much as possible.

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ITA. We don't switch our dogs over to an all RAW diet until they are 6 months old. We feel it's best for them to build up an immunity towards bacteria by eating kibble for 6 months.

Wolfsoul has explained it much better than I could ;)

really? we switch pupps to raw as soon an humanly possable, its MUCH better for their growth, if I compare moth my BCs one who grew up on kibble and one who was started on raw at 7 weeks the builds are very differnt, and its not hereditary, there is not one single dog in Happys entire pedigree that has a structure that even remotly resembles hers. Misty is smaller, better filled out, better muscled and had an overall better growth rate. Happy was not switched till around 6 months, she is tall, lanky, and if I shaved her she would pass for a greyhound lol she grew in huge sprurts, about 3 inches a week lol

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Originally Posted by IRescue452

That's pumped full of chemicals that are unhealthy for people and shorten our lifespans and the same goes with dogs and cats.

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True.. but I don't think most kibbles would have the best quality of meats either.

I try to feed organic as often as I can though.. the warehouse I work for lets us take home free food every day.. and it's all organic. :D I don't bother eating the food I take home, but the dogs get it LOL. They eat better than I do.

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Originally Posted by beyond_me

Also I know that salmonella that gets us sick doesn't bother dogs or cat, but they can transmit.

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Actually this is not true --- You are MUCH more likely to get salmonella from a dog that eats kibble. A dog's saliva contains an enzyme that destroys bacteria, and because a raw-fed dog does not have plaque, there is no place for bacteria to inhabit. A kibble-fed dog, however, usually has alot of plaque -- all of that is bacteria. You will notice that kibble-fed dogs generally have bad breath. That is the bacteria. Raw-fed dogs do not have bad breath, because bacteria can not thrive in their mouths.

This has been a realy interesting read :D. I feed raw also (Tinny gets some working dog dry food chucked in to keep her weight up). I am at work at the moment so cannot go into details, but will post photos and info later when i get home (After i go dog food shopping lol).

I fed my RB boy, Bruno, a raw diet, starting a couple years before he passed, and, it was amazing the difference it made in his coat, teeth, breath, eyes, bones, muscles, joints, poop, energy, everything. I put Finn on it as soon as I got him in my care. :) He grew at a slow pace, and, is now about 85 pounds. He was less than 50 pounds when I got to South Carolina last April, and, was already about 14 months old. I like that he grew slowly, I think it's better for them all around. He doesn't stink at all, doesn't have bad breath ever. Even after he plays in the mud, if he swims in the lake to rinse off, he has virtually no odor. I clean his ears out because he tends to stick his head completely into the mud and totally under water, but, as far as his coat and skin, it's ideal, and, I rarely bathe him. I'm all for the raw diet, definitely. And, as faddish as it may seem, there are many people that have been feeding raw for years and years. And, they all had large breeds that were living to be 20 years and up. It's pretty amazing stuff, I think. ;) Great thread, too.

Ok i have only just gotton time to go into details now, gotta love the Easter break :D.

My guys have been fed RAW on and off for the ast couple of years, when on RAW they are active, dont smell, their skin is clear etc. Clover used to suffer from some stiffnes in her hips on cold mornings and also would get hot spots often in the warm weather. They have been on RAW agian for a good 12 months + and there is no way i would switch back to processed food again. Clover moves alot easier these days and is a physcho at Flyball lol, as for the hot spots she has not had one for years.

Tinny has loved moving in with us as she was raised on kibble and the odd bone, when she came to us she was thin and her coat was extremly dry and dull, now it is gorgeous and soft. She goes nuts at dinner time now and gets excited about their RMBs (Rec bones).

Elvis is just a pig and will eat anything, but he was also raised on a commercial puppy kibble and chicken mince/ necks. He is now eating all RAW and looks great, ok well a little overweight at the moment ;) but that is coming off.

Feeding RAW is better for me aswell because it is alot cheaper to buy, and the extra work putting their dinner together at night does not bother me because atleast i know what they are eating. I picked up 2 large packets of lamb necks from the supermarket for $1 each last night, and a packet of Ox heart for $2.

Dinner last night though was a chunk of lamb (Spine & ribs) and that was their dinner, easier than pouring kibble into a bowl. Ok i will stop rambling now and find some before and after photos.