I always get asked about Raw diets so I thought I would add my two bits here. Take it or leave it

Wow you opened up a can of worms I am all on board for Raw when people are feeding it with a reason and understanding of nutrition. Most people I see feeding raw do it because it is trendy or they heard it was good or whatever, but they don't understand nutrition. I studied nutrition heavily in college, and I have fed dogs all kinds of things for 20 years and I came away with the conclusion that you just can't duplicate nature closely enough in your own kitchen, and feeding raw has shown no real advantage over a good kibble long term. Remember "In the wild" animals aren’t just eating raw meat and organs etc, they are also eating decomposing carcasses and all kinds of other things you wouldn't dream of bringing in to your home, but it is a necessary part of their overall diet for one reason or another. "Natural Diets" should closely resemble what really occurs in nature, but also consider how many malnourished wild animals they are, by feeding processed diets we are in a sense giving them a more complete diet at every serving, with no fluctuation where in the wild their diets fluctuate dramatically. I really would avoid raw for all the concerns your raised, it just is too complicated and does take over your life, and then you can't ever have any one else care for the dog, and you didn't really gain anything by it. I am always amazed that some dogs that win Westminster for example are fed plain old Purina puppy chow and do great... I recommend picking a good kibble and sticking with it. The biggest risk of raw, is malnutrition ironically, especially in puppies. Vets hate seeing people put puppies on raw diets because they may not see the secondary effects fast enough and correct them. I also hate corn in a diet, it is a cheap filler but we are finally starting to see it go away as it is no longer cheap Also we all dislike corn but you really can't find much supporting research for why. The feed companies argue that dogs eat a lot of grain since the first part of a carcass they eat is the viscera. That is true they do, but not because it is full of grain, it is soft and easy to eat instead of the ripping and tearing associated with muscle tissue, it is very palatable, and easy to get to. The only real proof I ever accepted for dogs being a limited omnivore is that they can masticate (chew) side to side instead of just up and down like carnivores (cats etc). So they are still primarily a carnivore, but a limited omnivore. We all hate corn because it is not very digestible in it's raw form, same as with us. But put it through the GI tract of herbivore animals like pheasants etc. and it is fermented and broken down by bacteria and becomes useable to the dog. Raw corn does not break down well in a dog's system, but recycled corn if you will has bacterial protein associtated with it. Herbivores also don't live much on cellulose, but rather the microbial proteins associated with breaking it down. That is why in the wild grains are a part of a dogs diet is because they are already broken down, and provide fiber. Adding grains and veggies etc to a dogs diet in my opinion don't have much benefit because they are not easy to break down without going through and herbivore first. A good raw diet would be to buy live chickens, feed them for a week or so, and turn them loose in the backyard. Let the dog catch them, kill them and eat them whole, that is a raw diet. Feeding just chicken backs and necks ignores the viscera that is nutritious and palatable. You can also turn out a steer or a lamb and let them dispatch of it in the same way, and continue to gnaw on the carcass as it is softened and made digestible through decomposition. I know it sounds horrid, but that is a real "Natural Diet" and we really are not willing to duplicate that in our lives. There are some great grain free diets like natures variety prairie and instinct formulas. So although kibble seems bland, it truly is much more complete that a typical raw diet.

Hope that opinion helps instead of hinders....

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Steve
Dobes are like potato chips, you really can't have just one...

Even though I have had dobies for some time now I still learn lots about them all the time. I have read alot of stuff on what to feed my dogs. I also read about the raw diet plan for them as well. What you have posted here Steve made it very clear to me. I am no nutrition expert by no means. But I love the out doors and was raised in the country on a small farm type setting. And though we grew all our own food for the most part we still took in vitamin supplements. So all the time I was looking and thinking on this raw diet for my dogs, all I was thinking of is this.... If we ate what came off our land for the most part and had a small calf and hog slaughterd each year for our meat as well as several chickens... then why was my mother so intent on us eating all those vitamin supplements each day. Well your post here hit home with me and makes all the sense from my perspective. So thank you for a great post on this subject, it cleared up this ole dobie lovers mind for sure on the raw diet subject.

It depends on the activity level, and of course your belief about metabolism. Dogs are engineered to process fat and protien into energy, where we use Carbs for the same thing. So if the dog is extremely active like some of our sport dogs, or SAR dogs, they simply can't maintain condition without the extra protien. A dog that is not that active though, either needs smaller portions of a high energy feed, or a normal portion of a a regular feed. The protien that isn't getting used by a dog to build/repair tissue, or to be metabolized into energy needs to be proceeed back out and generally that can take a toll on kidney and liver function. Does that help?

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Steve
Dobes are like potato chips, you really can't have just one...

familydobes, thank you for posting your opinion about feeding raw. i have been contemplating feeding raw but haven't because i'm afraid of what it will cost. you really cleared up the raw diet thing for me. thanks again.

Good to know, I have a few friends that feed raw, I'll pass this on. I may try switching to the nutra food, my dobe has diarrhea so was considering a gastro friendly food.