Myths of Raw Feeding BUSTED!

The most common responses I get when I tell someone I feed my dog a Prey Model Raw diet are:

1) Aren't you worried about Salmonella? 2) Bones are bad 3) Raw meat/Blood makes them mean As silly as this sounds, it seems this is a majority of what pet owners think so I'm here to set the record straight!

Salmonella:

I don't really know where this thought came from (oh wait, I do.. Kibble companies) where if you give your dog raw meat, he will contract Salmonella. A dog's gut already has multiple bacteria in it, and Salmonella is one of them. Your dog cannot contract an infection of Salmonella because it is a part of him. Salmonella is 100% preventable when handling meat if you just use common sense. a. Wash your hands before and after handling meat. b. Wash anywhere meat touched after you're done. I use a 50/50 mix of White Vinegar and Water and paper towels. Did you know that you are more likely to contact Salmonella bacteria from a bag of kibble than you are raw meat? Why? Because kibble, though completely unrecognizable, does have some amount of meat in it and therefore, you should take the same precautions as you do with raw meat. How many people do you know use dog kibble as treats for their dog and wash their hands after? Probably no one. How many of you wash your hands after scooping a cup into your dog's bowl? Probably no one. Get a load of this: How many of you leave your kibble out for a prolonged period of time where young children could possibly play with it? You can look up the countless recalls of major and minor kibble companies that were directly related to Salmonella. As long as you practice normal hygiene, the risk of you or your family getting Salmonella is not any greater if you feed your dog raw than if you eat meat with your family.

Bones:

When someone says "Bones are bad" they usually are referring to the horror stories they hear about dogs choking on bones, or bones being brittle and splintering. These components are only true with cooked bones. Raw bones are very soft and weak (I can cut a whole chicken in half with a pair of Dollar Tree scissors). They are a huge part of a carnivore's diet. The marrow in bones seems to have endless nutritional benefits. Without bones, a raw diet is meaningless and even detrimental to a carnivore's health. There are some bones though, that are not meant to be eaten and those are dense recreational bones. Knuckle bones for example, or bones of larger prey, can be given to a dog to use his teeth to rip and tear, but he should be supervised and when the meat is stripped from the bone, removed from the dog and thrown out. The possible side effects of letting a dog chew too harshly or for a prolonged period of time on one of these dense bones is breaking of teeth.

Blood Thirsty:

Now these comments have to be straight out of Kujo. In absolutely no way, shape or form, is anything that you give your dog going to turn him into a blood thirsty killer. He may look more "wild" while he's eating, but that doesn't mean that he is leaving your house and going out to hunt down your neighbors when he's finished. There are cases where, because a dog may not be used to having such a high value item in his possession, he may seem more protective of his meal, BUT this does not mean that the raw meat has turned him this way: This instinct/behavior must have been a part of him beforehand whether he showed it or not. Usually the longer this dog is on raw and he realizes he gets this amazing goodness every meal time, the possession guarding subsides (though exercising a "trade" through meal time should be established in case of any emergencies). I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you had about feeding your dog a species appropriate diet, and as always if you have any questions you can ask me any time! K9SavvyGirl

#education #advice #k9savvygirl #diet #rawfood #help #supplements #dog