Mom is refusing to belive me about raw.

[GreyhoundGirl]

Is your girl a Greyhound??? I've seen your siggy countless times but never made the connection. She looks unusual in her markings.

Is your dog happy and generally healthy - as far as you and her vet can tell???

Then I would not really worry about the food she is eating. It seems to be nutritious and keeping her well. I know there are a lot of RAW Advocates here on site, but I am not sure that it has been generally "concluded" that nothing else works!

It reminds me of Human diet debates in a way. Some people are Vegetarians "and say that everything else is poisoning your system and BAD for you". Yet many meat eaters live into their 90's - just like Vegetarians. Some people eat only poultry and NO RED MEAT. Now poultry is gonna give you the Bird Flu. I say follow your best instincts and watch your dog's health... just as you would your own. If you see any signs of declining health, then consider changing her diet - adding to or taking away things.

Actually, her markings are VERY common. I have seen many pics in greyhound books thgat look EXACTLY like her. Here are some random adoptable greyhounds that looks just like her: http://www.gracanada.com/Images/gra_jun16_06/churl.jpg
http://www.gracanada.com/Images/gra_jun16_06/scram.jpg
http://www.gracanada.com/Images/gra_apr30_06/jayjay.jpg
http://www.gracanada.com/Images/gra_jun16_06/derri.jpg

And she is quite healthy, has lots of energy and appetite. ( except for the lump on her side, which still hasn't done anything )

Although her " loads" haven't been as healthy while on Iams.

[Kfamr]

It's not like anyone here is threatening someone if they don't feed raw. Nor does anyone look down on someone for feeding kibble. I've never seen anyone say dog food is bad. I've never seen anyone say that there aren't risks to feeding raw, however they ARE very, very slim. I believe being fed kibble there are higher risks involved.

Often times people ask what type of dog food they should feed their dogs. Raw food IS dog food, therefore people mention it and suggest it. It has worked wonders for many dog owners here, myself included.

There are times where someone has had a health problem with their dog's where a change in diet may help. Raw is often mentioned because many believe it to be the best we can provide for our dogs, again, myself include.


I for one am quite sick of false information being spread about raw and so-called "high quality" dog foods. There is not a bowl dog food out there that will reach the nutritional value of a bowl of raw food - wether your dog enjoys it or not.



As for the OP, stick in there.
When you become financially supportive of yourself and your dog, look into it. Until then, research, research, research!!

[Lady's Human]

I've never seen anyone say dog food is bad

followed by....

I for one am quite sick of false information being spread about raw and so-called "high quality" dog foods. There is not a bowl dog food out there that will reach the nutritional value of a bowl of raw food - wether your dog enjoys it or not.

Nuff said.

or

For one, Iams is not a high quality dog food. Have you seen the crap in it?

Or from a thread asking about a good kibble....

Why not feed her raw , its like people food and better for her.

Raw is like a religion. Not suported by science, but it's impossible to convince the true believers that there's another way.

[CagneyDog]

I for one am quite sick of false information being spread about raw and so-called "high quality" dog foods. There is not a bowl dog food out there that will reach the nutritional value of a bowl of raw food - wether your dog enjoys it or not

Perhaps you just don't understand raw vs. kibble. She did not say that Kibble was bad, she said that it would not reach the nutritional value of raw. This is a fact.

For one, Iams is not a high quality dog food. Have you seen the crap in it?

This is also a fact. Iams is not good dog food. She never said, all dog foods are crap?

I'm a little confused and I think you're reading in to this too much.

Not suported by science, but it's impossible to convince the true believers that there's another way.

The funny thing is that most of the true believers started, switched, and saw the great changes.

[Kfamr]

You aren't proving anything here. Not one time have I said kibble is bad, neither were any of those statement implying that. Maybe you comprehend them different than intended.

Yes, Iams is not a quality kibble. Will a dog live off of it? Of course! And I'll live off of McDonalds.

You keep saying raw is a religion, therefor dry dog kibble is a religion too. I do not need anyone's scientific opinion to see the improvement in my animal's health.

[micki76]

There is not a bowl dog food out there that will reach the nutritional value of a bowl of raw food - wether your dog enjoys it or not.

Just as there's no processed human food that's better than fresh veggies, meat, etc. Fresh food is always better than any processed food IMO. And no, I don't feed raw; I just don't have the time at this point in my life. My dogs and myself eat a lot of processed food and we do fine. Would we all be healthier if we only ate fresh food? Well, olf course.

[shais_mom]

WW

I've switched Keegan to raw for about 10 days now. I am surprised at the difference in her stool. Some of the reasons I switched is that I read that dogs that are overweight might lose weight on raw, dogs that are underweight might gain weight on raw, and pain from arthritis might be relieved.
These are not direct quotes. And I added the words "might be" so that someone won't come and bite me in the butt. Keegan has hip dysplasia and arthritis so I was willing to try anything to help relieve her pain. It isn't a cure-all and I understand that but if it MIGHT help her - I felt obligated to try it.

[dragondawg]

I'm trying to get my mother to belive me about the gains of feeding raw. I have tried to get her to belive you countless people out there, but she keeps going on and on and on about how the best thing you can feed a dog is Iams. I found a lot of websites and threads and such, but she just won't belive me. She says things like "all these people say that they are vets and such, but for all you know they are all a bunch of wierd-os" " dogs can't live on chicken and eggs " " chicken has salmonella "

As an ex-Microbiologist I guess I qualify as one of those bonifide wierdos. Why don't you pick your favorite top 3 reasons to feed raw from lot of websites and threads and such and I'll refute em?

I'll tell ya the first thoughts I have when visiting one of the Raw sites:

1. This will be religion not science.

2. Are they selling anything connected with Raw food, or readily have links on the front page to those who do sell (e.g. receive payments for clinks on the links)? In another words do they have economic gain to make?

3. How long will it take for them to attack the medical or commercial dog food establishment, with distortions?

4. How long will it take before they dig up half truths and present it as fact with no scientific journal citations? This is rapidly followed by personal testimonials as though that justifies the claims?

There is no benefit of feeding raw over a high quality commercial dog food. If you wish to feed your dog a balanced raw diet then that is a choice being made by you. It is a human decision based on human perceptions about food. Night after night when my dogs finish their Propet dry dog food in 20-30 secs for one dog, and about 1.5 minutes for the other I do not worry too much about them liking the taste. When I ask them if they want to eat the female lets out a woo woo woo, while the male runs into the kitchen and stands by his bowl. I interpret that as a positive sign that they enjoy their food. When they come upstairs after they are done eating and proceed to come over to me for pets wagging their tails, I do not suffer any guilt for having fed them that nasty commercial dry dog food. I'll side with your mommy-person. Iams or some other high quality dog food will do just fine.

[Roxyluvsme13]

For one, Iams is not a high quality dog food. Have you seen the crap in it? Haven't countless raw feeders argued with you before? I have seen benefits from feeding Raw, and if I had the chance I would go back to it.

[cali]

There is no benefit of feeding raw over a high quality commercial dog food

tell that one to Shadow, now 10 years old after being on her deathbed at 4 years old, vets said she would notlive to be 5, she could not even stand up, rather then put her down like reccomened we switched to raw, she is currently 10 years old and showing zero signs of arthritus, her intestinal problems caused by her spay also vannished. every one of my dogs has benifited greatly from the switch. I have alos heard many people talk like you then when they ran out of ideas they tried raw and their tune changed real fast.

[Vela]

tell that one to Shadow, now 10 years old after being on her deathbed at 4 years old, vets said she would notlive to be 5, she could not even stand up, rather then put her down like reccomened we switched to raw, she is currently 10 years old and showing zero signs of arthritus, her intestinal problems caused by her spay also vannished. every one of my dogs has benifited greatly from the switch. I have alos heard many people talk like you then when they ran out of ideas they tried raw and their tune changed real fast.

I agree, raw has done wonders for my crippled dog, she's like a whole new dog. My "perfectly healthy" dog, who had no apparent health issues, also has more energy, better stools, better haircoat.

There is no benefit of feeding raw over a high quality commercial dog food. If you wish to feed your dog a balanced raw diet then that is a choice being made by you. It is a human decision based on human perceptions about food. Night after night when my dogs finish their Propet dry dog food in 20-30 secs for one dog, and about 1.5 minutes for the other I do not worry too much about them liking the taste. When I ask them if they want to eat the female lets out a woo woo woo, while the male runs into the kitchen and stands by his bowl. I interpret that as a positive sign that they enjoy their food. When they come upstairs after they are done eating and proceed to come over to me for pets wagging their tails, I do not suffer any guilt for having fed them that nasty commercial dry dog food. I'll side with your mommy-person. Iams or some other high quality dog food will do just fine.

In actuality, KIBBLE is what is perceived by humans to be dog food, if you were to put both down, most dogs would choose the meat, at least once they realized they could eat it. PEOPLE make kibble and people are the ones who decided it was the best food for dogs. So saying raw is human's perception of what a dog should eat makes no sense to say, since kibble is also a perception of what humans think a dog should eat. I don't care if someone feeds raw or not, but don't bash it just because you choose not to feed it. Nothing makes you right more than anyone else. PERSONALLY my dogs do much better on raw and the health problems they DID have, while being fed a high quality dog food, Chicken Soup and Canidae, have virtualy disappeared. If you don't want to feed it fine then don't, but that doesn't make it wrong to do and many many many dogs get nothing but great benefits from it. You can try to dispute my dog's health to me all day, but I'm the one who lives with them, so I see for myself and your "refutations" about raw feeding mean nothing to me.

[Glacier]

PERSONALLY my dogs do much better on raw and the health problems they DID have, while being fed a high quality dog food.

Really, isn't that what matters? It works for your dogs! We all need to do what works best for our own dogs, our lifestyle and our budget. I feed my dogs a half raw-half kibble diet. Last night they ate moose, tonight I feel lazy and they are getting kibble, a good quality kibble, but just kibble! I get told all the time that mixing them is simply terrible for any dog, but every musher I know feeds the same kind of diet and my dogs are all generally in dang good health. They have shiny coats, bright eyes, enough energy to pull a sled for 1000's of kilometres a year, ect, ect.

I have a dog who was starved by her first owner. Kayleigh weighs 108 pounds now, which is perfect for her. She was below 70 pounds when I got her. It's taken years to undo the damage her first owner did to her in other ways. She will never forget being hungry. Five years after I adopted her, she still hides food in her doghouse, just in case I suddenly forget to feed her one night! She lives alone because she'd kill another dog who got too close to her bone or anything else she thinks might be edible. Since I got Kayleigh, I find it difficult to care too much about what other people feed their dogs...Just feed them...feed them the best quality food that you can find, afford and that fits in with the rest of your lifestyle!

[dragondawg]

I agree, raw has done wonders for my crippled dog, she's like a whole new dog. My "perfectly healthy" dog, who had no apparent health issues, also has more energy, better stools, better haircoat.




PEOPLE make kibble and people are the ones who decided it was the best food for dogs. So saying raw is human's perception of what a dog should eat makes no sense to say, since kibble is also a perception of what humans think a dog should eat. I don't care if someone feeds raw or not, but don't bash it just because you choose not to feed it. Nothing makes you right more than anyone else. PERSONALLY my dogs do much better on raw and the health problems they DID have, while being fed a high quality dog food, Chicken Soup and Canidae, have virtualy disappeared. If you don't want to feed it fine then don't, but that doesn't make it wrong to do and many many many dogs get nothing but great benefits from it. You can try to dispute my dog's health to me all day, but I'm the one who lives with them, so I see for myself and your "refutations" about raw feeding mean nothing to me.

In actuality, KIBBLE is what is perceived by humans to be dog food, if you were to put both down, most dogs would choose the meat, at least once they realized they could eat it.

One could also put down a half rotting dead Possum next to their evil commercial dog food, and the chances are they would dive into the Possum without hesitation. In fact they would probably even forsake the raw chicken for something smelly. After all wolves scavenge for carion, the argument goes that centuries of wolves makes it ok for our dogs. I'm not sure if carion would be all that healthy for dogs, but at least by your logic it would be- after all it's the smell and taste that matters. Dogs will always eat what instinctly they know is best for them?

I don't care if someone feeds raw or not, but don't bash it just because you choose not to feed it.

Any time someone says that raw is superior to commercial dog food, then that is a bash towards those of us who choose commercial. And as I just pointed out in another post one is even labeled as crazy, and for feeding bad dog food. But of course commercial dog food owners deserve such bashing - don't they? It's just terrible what we feed our dogs.

Nothing makes you right more than anyone else.

Outside of knowledge- nothing.

Your dog(s) are having less health problems on raw since they got away from their food allergy. Mine have never had health problems on commercial dog food. So goes the testimonials.

It's one thing to post the myriads of "what did I feed my dog today". It's another to present misconceptions as fact.

[Suki Wingy]

For one, Iams is not a high quality dog food. Have you seen the crap in it?

Have you seen the crap that results from eating it? One of my main reasons to switch Niño's food.

[JenBKR]

Ever since I started feeding Nutro to my pets, their health, skin, and coats have improved a great deal. I am so glad I found PT, because I never knew how to read pet food labels, I just figured that a more expensive food would be better. I was feeding Bil-Jac - which is more expensive and not as good in quality compared to Nutro.