Should I Feed My Dog RAW Meat?

Dr Tom Lonsdale, a veterinarian and author of Raw Meaty Bones , attributed as the first person to speak out about his concerns over commercial pet food, began warning people about the health risks of feeding it, over 10 years ago. He researched it, trialled it, lectured on it, wrote a best-selling book about it and despite a huge movement of pet owners to a raw food diet, the pet industry weren’t quite as receptive…

Pet food is a big business - a very profitable business. Is the pet food you are serving up killing your four-legged friend? (and making your vet rich) read the full story in the Daily Mail here.

The question most frequently asked is “How do i Start feeding my dog raw?”. I feed all of my dogs raw and here are my 5 top tips to getting started:

1: Recognise that dogs (canines) are carnivores. They eat meat but have adapted - as any scavenger will - to eat whatever they can find. I feed mine raw meat and raw bones, normally together. Fro example, a chicken carcass, pig’s leg or lamb ribs. Essentially all the bits we don’t use for human consumption that are normally thrown away (unless you’re into cooking and broths).
2: Raw means raw. Don’t cook anything and remember dogs are carnivores so they don’t need vegetables. Yes, they’ll eat them but they pretty much go straight through so don’t bother feeding them. Bones are great for cleaning teeth and chewing is important to get the saliva rushing around their mouth so give them something they can, literally, get their teeth into. A decent sized turkey wing for a large dog (otherwise they’ll just gulp down a chicken wing with minimal chewing) or rib bones.
3: Cooked bones are more dangerous than raw bones because they splinter. Look into your dog’s mouth at his big, sturdy, sharp teeth. They’re there to rip through muscle, chew on bones and crunch it all up. However, the big, long bones are not particularly good to give to dogs so stick with ribs, necks and small limb bones.
4: Where do you get raw food for dogs? Good question. You need to try a number of different butchers as the price will vary. I have a butcher who gives me most of it for free but when he does charge it’s a gracious £1.50 for a large carrier bag full of chicken carcasses, chicken legs, chicken wings, bits of lamb ribs etc. One butcher I tried wanted £9 for 11 chicken wings! Or if you want it delivered to save the hassle, as I also do, you could try Landywoods Pet Foods who deliver across the UK and it arrives frozen so you can store in your freezer and then simply take out what you need the day before to allow it to defrost. It’s just as convenient as a dry food and fits into your normal routine of sorting your own dinner out.
5: How much raw meat should you feed? The really simple answer to this is that your dog will dictate that. It’ll stop eating when it’s full. If you notice your dog put on weight, don’t feed quite as much. If they lose weight, chuck another couple of wings in. It’s important that you feed raw meat AND bones: too much meat only and your dog will have diarrhoea; too many bones and he’ll be constipated. I also give them a raw egg (shell, too) to help loosen things up. You’ll notice almost immediately that their breath won’t smell, they will poo less and it will be firmer, their behaviour will change for the better and their coats will be healthier.

I’ve fed both commercial and raw diets and I don’t know of anyone who has fed raw and gone back to commercial.

If you don’t know how to feed raw, meaty bones (the best food and medicine for dogs), why pets fed from a tin or packet suffer, why there is an alliance between pet food manufacturers, many veterinarians and animal welfare groups then check out Tom’s website.

There are huge pet health, human health, scientific, economic and environmental benefits to be gained by listening to nature’s teachings. The sooner we share the answers, the sooner we can make a difference for our pets, the community and the wider environment. Let’s get started.

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Posted in Jez's advice on anything dog by admin