Feeding Raw Dog Food 101

For those dog owners who haven't heard of feeding raw dog food to their pets, here is a quick primer that can give them a quick idea of what to expect. It's a list of points to consider, benefits, and tips for getting started. Remember that this is just a quick-start guide for feeding raw dog food. To learn more about the food, the process, and what it can do for your dog, check out the articles list and the FAQs sheet on this site!

Points to Consider When Feeding Raw Dog Food

Feeding raw dog food means totally excluding all commercial dog foods from your pet's diet. This eliminates your pet's ingestion of processed grains, unnecessary supplements, and food additives which contain chemicals not suited to your dog's digestive tract.
When going into a raw food diet, your preparation procedures for your dog's meals will be different. Sometimes it will take time to prepare your dog's raw food, other times it will be quick and easy.
Consider that when feeding raw dog food, you will need to be extra neat and clean about your preparation of the food and the clean up as well. Raw foods have to be placed on clean counters and containers so as to make sure your dog doesn't ingest any bacteria that's been bred on kitchen surfaces, and the remnants of raw dog food can attract bacteria that is potentially dangerous to humans. However, if you are careful about your preparation, you should have no problems.
Following the previous consideration, feeding raw dog food to your pet will require that you buy different kitchen tools and containers for your dog's foods.
The raw feeding model requires you get a variety of raw foods so as to give your dog well balanced nutrition. This usually means giving your dog human grade dog food, which can be costly.

Benefits of Raw Dog Food

Your dog instantly becomes more energetic and foul smells (i.e. bad breath, fur smells, pungent urine, etc.) goes away or are greatly reduced.
Dog's allergies (if your dog had any) will disappear. This saves you visits to the vet, which saves you money too! (Note: dog allergies are usually due to the grains found in commercial foods.)
Your dog will be cleaner in many ways. First, feeding raw dog food naturally cleans your dog's teeth (this means no more toothbrushes and gum disease!) Second, their digestive tract is cleaner and so their stool is produced less often and it will be firm and chalky, making it easy to pick up and clean up!
Feeding raw dog food to your pet reduces their possibilities of acquiring diseases, including old-dog diseases like arthritis. They live longer too!
Your dog will be able to keep healthy weights naturally when you are feeding raw dog food because their digestion is better, and they will naturally regulate their eating.

Tips for Raw Feeding Beginners

Have a good range of raw meaty bones, preferably whole raw carcasses. Go for whatever is available. Game meats are good too!
Make sure you get your raw meaty bones from reputable sources that raise their livestock organically.
When feeding raw dog food, feed your dog based on their energy requirements, which you should be able to do based one their weight. A good book should give you a method for calculating your dog's raw food.
If you're buying packaged foods (ex. lamb chops), make sure the packages are sealed well, with no tears or holes in it. These tears and holes can be entry points for bacteria. Though your dog has a tough tummy, you want to make sure nothing goes wrong.
Balance your dog's diet of raw meaty bones by feeding raw dog food like fruit and vegetables (in smaller amounts than meat) so that your dog gets a well rounded diet, which is best for its health.

There are plenty of new options and innovations when it comes to feeding raw dog food. One such example is raw dehydrated dog food. Learn more about raw feeding today. It's one of the best things you can do for your dog!