Faq

Usually (if there is no underlying medical condition) vomiting indicates that the stomach is rejecting the food because it can’t handle it. Usually, this is when there are any of these factors:

too much food – feed smaller amounts over more meals
too much fat – reduce fat and skin content
too much bone – reduce bone content

pieces swallowed are too large – this is the most common cause because the dog gets over-excited at his new food. As above, hand feed large pieces instead so that they gnaw on it whilst you hold the other end until they relax that this is their new food now.

Also, with dogs that have been fed kibble for many years, their stomach acid is often a little bit weaker, thought to be because carbohydrates don’t need as much acidity to be digested. Try feeding smaller amounts, more often, while they adjust.

A dog that gets both diarrhea and constipation is most likely from too much fat and too much bone – for example a pig’s foot that is both very bony and very fatty, or a duck carcass which is also bony/fatty. Some dogs can tolerate this for occasional meals, yet new to raw dogs and/or dogs with sensitive constitutions can’t, so always feed according to the health of your dog.

When monitoring your dog’s stool, bear the following in mind:

Too much bone = constipation (some dogs can only have 10% bone or less, some as much as 25% – each dog is different)
Too little bone = loose stools
Too much organ = loose stools (introduce organ nice and slowly)
Too much fat/skin too soon = loose stools (build up fat and skin content nice and slowly)

As discussed in the raw feeding guide, the approximate ratios to build up to are 80% muscle meat, fat, sinew / 10% edible bone / 5% liver / 5% other organ). So monitor your dog’s stools until you get the ratios just right for your dog.

It’s quite common actually, especially with older dogs who have only ever known kibble their entire lives. Some don’t like the ‘wet, squidgy’ texture of raw after their hard kibbles. There are several options:

Try a different meat type to start off with.

Sear it very lightly in the pan, not enough to cook it, just enough to give it that cooked smell and texture, then gradually reduce the amount of searing over the course of several days/weeks.

Feed it very slightly frozen/partially thawed and then gradually decrease the ratio of frozen.

Grind it for an interim period, and use gravy etc to flavor, so they get used to the texture of raw yet still with tempting gravy.

Tough love (unpopular with owners, yet unlike a cat, a dog will not starve itself, it will eat what is given eventually).

The options are endless really. Dogs that refuse raw are usually objecting to the texture and strange smell. Some of the tougher meats like mutton can overcome the texture issue, as does searing in the pan etc. Experimentation is the key, to see what works for your dog.

Yes, there can be parasites in raw meat. The parasite issue is something that Vets use as a scare tactic, telling you that your dog is going to die if it eats raw meat because it will get a weird parasite. They neglect to tell you the very low incidence of these parasites in meat reared for the human market; nor do they tell you the most “deadly” of these parasites come from things like infected sheep placentas or stillborn calves. Simple solution, do not feed those things to your dog. If the dog looks like it has parasites, simply get a stool sample or blood sample taken.

Freezing meat can help kill many parasites (such as the parasite present in salmon that CAN cause a deadly disease in dogs; freezing fresh raw salmon, steelhead, trout, and other salmonids for at least 24 hours before feeding effectively disposes of the parasite). As long as one exercises caution in obtaining their meat, parasites are a non-issue.

Worms thrive more on a carbohydrate laden diet than they do on prey-model raw. If you are worried about worms, do a fecal test and if positive your dog can be wormed holistically. Generally speaking, if your dog has a healthy immune system, it can deal with these parasites before they even get a chance to establish themselves. Parasites hate a very healthy host.

Dogs are surprisingly well-equipped to deal with bacteria. Their saliva has antibacterial properties; it contains lysozyme, an enzyme that lyses and destroys harmful bacteria. Their short digestive tract is designed to push through food and bacteria quickly without giving bacteria time to colonize. The extremely acidic environment in the gut is also a good bacteria colonization deterrent. Vets often point to the fact that dogs shed salmonella in their feces (even kibble-fed dogs do this) without showing any ill effects, as proof that the dog is infected with salmonella. In reality, all this proves is that the dog has effectively passed the salmonella through its system with no problems. Yes, the dog can act as a salmonella carrier, yet the solution is simple – do not eat dog feces and wash your hands after picking up after your dog.

Add to this that there has been research done showing that dogs do not carry Salmonella in their saliva or on their skin, not even after eating 100% Salmonella infected raw food! But, when they do eat Salmonella infected food, about one third of them will show a moderate concentration of Salmonella in their feces – yet no clinical signs of being sick.

As vet Dr Tom Lonsdale writes: “I put forth that it is the kibble, not the raw meat, that causes bacterial problems. Kibble in the intestine not only irritates the lining of the bowels but also provides the perfect warm, wet environment with plenty of undigested sugars and starches as food for bacteria. This is why thousands of processed food-fed animals suffer from a condition called Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth, or SIBO. Raw meaty bones, however, create a very inhospitable environment for bacteria, as RMBs are easily digestible and have no carbohydrates, starches, or sugars to feed the bacteria.”

Not if you are creative and make an effort to find suitable sources of food. Wherever possible try to feed ‘second grade’ meat which is meat that is either not approved for human consumption or undesirable (such as some organ meats etc) yet it is approved for animal consumption and would normally go into pet food anyway. It’s a bit more difficult in some poorer countries where many of the parts that are seen as ‘not fit for human consumption’ in the West, are sold for soups etc, however there is still plenty available if you ask local butchers or wholesalers. Also go direct to farms, especially small scale organic farms who may be more approachable and whose waste meats will be of a higher nutritional value. The easiest approach is probably to explain that you ‘Make Your Own Dog Food’. In the UK, some EU countries and USA, there are specialist companies that buy ‘second grade’ meat and bones and sell it to pet raw feeders, either as it is or turned into ready packaged raw meals.

Some meat, often chicken portions (legs, quarters, breasts) can be “enhanced”, which basically means tumbled in phosphates so that it absorbs more water and hence greater saleable weight. Some dogs can tolerate these additives fine; some may get upset digestion/itchy skin from it. Try to avoid these meats wherever possible. These additives are usually listed as E numbers so check labels. Avoid labels that contain any E numbers.

As a general rule, try to avoid storing meat in plastic. If it is bought or thawed in plastic, remove the plastic as soon as you can to allow the meat to breathe. This is in fact also good advice for meat we are going to consume ourselves! Plastic creates unnatural bacteria that a dog’s stomach is not designed to cope with natural bacteria from old meat stored naturally on an open plate or in a glass covered dish for example are absolutely fine for dogs even if it smells ripe to us!

Anything meat or fish based such as cubes of meat, organ or even fish such as baby herring or whitebait – for easy handling cut meat into small strips, then place on a wire mesh tray and place in the oven on the lowest temperature setting and leave it to cook/dry out for several hours until dry, then place in a glass jar. They do not need to be refrigerated – you can put them in your walking coat pocket and keep there for weeks. The dogs love them – they’re crunchy and they keep coming back for more!

The digestive juices of our canines are more than 50% hydrochloric acid. It is very deadly to the bacteria that your dogs ingest. Dog/wolves in the wild are exposed to all kinds of e-coli, salmonella, etc all the time and suffer no ill effects from it. (After all they lick their butts all the time!) A canine in the wild can stumble upon a carcass of a prey animal that has been dead for a week or more and will gladly eat it. I had a Golden Retriever whose favorite treat was a road kill squirrel that had been dead and laying in the hot sunshine for about a week. Whenever she ate one, there was never any side effects from it. Its safe to feed your dogs meat that has gone bad in the refrigerator. Don’t worry about germs when feeding your dog. It’s a non-issue. I have never heard of a dog nor a family member getting sick from feeding your dog raw.