I used to feed my doggy poison. :D

[ReadingIndigo]

I just wanna pop in and say something: I was reading Reader's Digest (I'll try to find it if I haven't thrown it away already), and it said that a raw diet is a health hazard. The dog eats raw meat, licks someone, and they might get a foodborne illness. I'm not sure how plausible this is, but that's what I read. I just thought I would ask what you guys though about it.

[Cardinal]

I just wanna pop in and say something: I was reading Reader's Digest (I'll try to find it if I haven't thrown it away already), and it said that a raw diet is a health hazard. The dog eats raw meat, licks someone, and they might get a foodborne illness. I'm not sure how plausible this is, but that's what I read. I just thought I would ask what you guys though about it.

It would be very very very difficult. A dog has a natural anti-bacterial build right into their saliva. =) Besides, kibble-fed dogs also shed salmanilla in large qualities, but people very rarely, if ever, even get sick from that.

[HeartOfCoal]

@Link- Oops, sorry, that's not what I meant about the chicken bones. Ah, I'm so flustered I keep forgetting to be specific. I meant we don't feed bird bones raw because of their size, especially chicken bones. Now, my dad told me (and I realize that's not going off much, but I trust him) that due to the size, it's easier for the dogs to choke on. Bigger dogs more so than little dogs, but if you look at the size of a chicken bone, it's much smaller than, say, a lamb bone. That's what I meant. Again, my apologies, I forgot to add that.

You might have had different experiences, but my dad said he's had several dogs who have choked (one died) on eating chicken bones. (The dogs caught the chickens themselves, it wasn't my dad's doing.) If a dog catches a sparrow, obviously the bones aren't an issue because they're tiny. I could swallow the bones whole. However I worry about bigger dogs, and even little ones, eating bird bones, due to their lack of size.

But it seems we've both had different experiences, so I guess to each his own :D

[IAmLink]

Coal-Ah, now that makes more sense ^^
I thought you had meant that chicken bones were a hazard because you thought that they would splinter. However, since we are talking about size, yes, you do have to be careful with chicken bones with larger dogs because of the tendancy for them to swallow it whole. Normally though, if you can't feed chicken bones for that reason, you can always try turkey bones because they are bigger :3

Indigo-Yes I read that to. It's just another common myth about the raw diet. And as Cardinal said, there's plenty of possible salmonilla just in normal dog kibble, in some cases perhaps even more possible to find it in dog kibble. Even if a dog did have it on their tounge, it would be very difficult for it to then exchange to another person, even by licking. And even if you were wary about that kind of thing anyways, all you'd have to do is to remember to not let your dog lick anyone for say...an hour after they ate, just in case :3

[sandeyes13]

Uh, as a note that I learned fairly recently-- did you know that feeding raw can also kill your dog? Sadly, according to out vets, apparently dogs have lost their resistance to bacteria found in raw food (that their wild counterparts still have) which means your dog can quite easily contract salmonella (among other things) from raw food and die.

Our local vets almost lost it when we told them the puppy we had brought home had come from a kennel where they only feed raw, and we ended up weaning her almost immediately from the raw food diet (onto Acana). As well, it is also important to keep in mind that like humans, dogs can have touchy stomachs, as such a food that one dog can eat quite happily, might give your other dog the runs (as Acana does with our boxers), so finding a balance is important.

Not to mention, some meats are toxic to dogs. Turkey, for example. The tryptophan (sp?) in turkey-- yanno, the same part of it that makes humans sleepy-- can shut down your dogs liver and kidneys-- I've known a few dogs who have died because of turkey.

Just a friendly fact tidbit for the day!

[Toru]

I won't even touch on raw. Way too charged of a topic for me.

However I'd just like to comment that tryptophan is an essential amino acid and is not toxic to dogs. All types of meat contain tryptophan to some degree, and even some plants contain it. Chicken and fish actually contain similar levels of tryptophan as turkey, pork has the potential to contain even more, and elk contains some of the highest levels.
Turkey, like many things, becomes a problem when you feed a lot of the off-cuts such as fat and skin to your dog. Gorging on lots of fat can induce pancreatitis.

[Cardinal]

Uh, as a note that I learned fairly recently-- did you know that feeding raw can also kill your dog? Sadly, according to out vets, apparently dogs have lost their resistance to bacteria found in raw food (that their wild counterparts still have) which means your dog can quite easily contract salmonella (among other things) from raw food and die.

Our local vets almost lost it when we told them the puppy we had brought home had come from a kennel where they only feed raw, and we ended up weaning her almost immediately from the raw food diet (onto Acana). As well, it is also important to keep in mind that like humans, dogs can have touchy stomachs, as such a food that one dog can eat quite happily, might give your other dog the runs (as Acana does with our boxers), so finding a balance is important.

Not to mention, some meats are toxic to dogs. Turkey, for example. The tryptophan (sp?) in turkey-- yanno, the same part of it that makes humans sleepy-- can shut down your dogs liver and kidneys-- I've known a few dogs who have died because of turkey.

Just a friendly fact tidbit for the day!

A raw diet is perfectly fine for dogs. Kibble fed dogs shed salmonella often as well. Many dog foods have recalls for salmonella, normally for the humans health and not the dog. A dog has a natural anti-bacterial built right into their spit as their first stage of protection against nasties. Secondly they have highly acidic guts to kill off more bacteria and nasties. Thirdly a dog has a very short digestive tract meant to move meat through quickly so the nasties never have time to sit and cause damage. This stuff hasn't changed. Of course, if a dog is immune-compromised a sickness can set in.

Tryptophan is an essential amino acid and is not toxic to dogs. Turkey is a good alternative for dogs allergic to other protein sources. If your dog gets sick after eating turkey, it's not because of the tryptophan.

The only thing I found against turkey is cooked turkey and how fatty the skin is, can mess with the pancreas. Many many many dog foods use turkey.

[Imzadi83]

My late dog could not eat turkey, it caused blood in her stools. We were told by our vet that many dogs have a problem with turkey and they get a lot of calls over Thanksgiving because of that. I don't recall if he said why some dogs have a problem with it. We had given her cooked turky but no skin. Any new food should be introduced slowly of couse anyway.

[IAmLink]

Uh, as a note that I learned fairly recently-- did you know that feeding raw can also kill your dog? Sadly, according to out vets, apparently dogs have lost their resistance to bacteria found in raw food (that their wild counterparts still have) which means your dog can quite easily contract salmonella (among other things) from raw food and die.

Our local vets almost lost it when we told them the puppy we had brought home had come from a kennel where they only feed raw, and we ended up weaning her almost immediately from the raw food diet (onto Acana). As well, it is also important to keep in mind that like humans, dogs can have touchy stomachs, as such a food that one dog can eat quite happily, might give your other dog the runs (as Acana does with our boxers), so finding a balance is important.

Not to mention, some meats are toxic to dogs. Turkey, for example. The tryptophan (sp?) in turkey-- yanno, the same part of it that makes humans sleepy-- can shut down your dogs liver and kidneys-- I've known a few dogs who have died because of turkey.

Just a friendly fact tidbit for the day!

As Cardinal said, feeding raw is perfectly fine for dogs. Some people would argue that it is even the best kind of diet out there for them. Vets are always going to try and say that a raw diet is going to kill your dog, because they would rather push the brands that companies pay them to push and/or sell. Unless a vet is a holistic or nutritionist vet, they don't know much at all about dog nutrition.

I've done a great deal of research on this subject, and I know for a fact that I'm doing the best for my dog by feeding her a raw diet. I've been feeding for more than nine months, and the changes in her from when she was still on kibble are just amazing. She's never been healthier.

[flutelover124]

Is nutro natral choice good thats what i feed my dog
I feed my other dog science diet
are those quality foods