The downside is that your dog might not want to go back to eating kibble.
Seriously, there really is NO downside. I have been feeding raw (meat and bones) to my dogs for over 15 years. In that time I have fed over 2 TONS (that's 4 THOUSAND POUNDS) of raw meat with (and without) bones to my dogs. Never had one get sick from eating it, never had bones puncture their insides either.
What I have had are German Shepherd that shed very little, Chinese Cresteds with great skin (a serious problem in the breed), a Cocker Spaniel that NEVER had ear problems and so on.
I think it's misleading to say there's NO downside to raw feeding. There are risks you need to be aware of before you start throwing raw meat to your dog. You definitely need to do your homework.
I think she's talking no downside to a proper raw diet. Yeah, you can certainly muck up your dog if you don't do your due diligence, but what are the downsides to a properly fed raw diet?
I'm all for feeding raw and my dog loves it. I'm just saying there are still risks involved even with a properly balanced diet. Choking, obstruction, perforation, parasites etc. To me the benefits outweigh the risks (especially considering there's also risks in feeding kibble) but still, one should be aware.
I'm all for feeding raw and my dog loves it. I'm just saying there are still risks involved even with a properly balanced diet. Choking, obstruction, perforation, parasites etc.
Again, I've been feeding raw for over 15 years and in that time I've fed over 2 TONS of raw meat with bones to over a dozen dogs of my own and many foster dogs. I've fed raw to my pregnant bitches, my puppies are weaned to raw and the very old and sick Husky I adopted years ago was switched right to raw and thrived.
Choking - once (my Corgi mix tried to inhale a turkey neck)
Obstruction - Never
Perforation - Never
Parasites - Never
An unbalanced diet can cause problems but there is little risk in a proper raw diet.
Raw meat will not make a dog aggressive but it COULD cause them to become possessive.
Think of it this way. I give you $5 and then I decide I'm going to fight you to get it back. How much of an effort are you going to put into keeping me away from that $5?? Now what if I give you $50,000 and try to take it away? You would probably put up a BIG fight to protect that, wouldn't you?
To dogs that have been fed kibble all their lives, raw meat can seem like that $50,000. They might try to guard it - something known a food aggression. It is a problem that can easily be fixed with proper training.
This is an old picture but one I always bring out when people ask this question. This was my boy Remi, eating his chicken leg quarter next to a baby chicken I was raising, who was eating his chicken food!
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