Help help help! Wanna raw dog!

[RawDrop]

I have been trying to sell my partner on a raw food diet for our sweetheart we just got, Willow.

I have been doing some research on online, and there is so much information that argues the advantages and disadvantages. I need some good solid examples of dogs that are much healthier on a raw food diet, compared to the icky chemical filled standard foods.

I know that there are some pics on here of before and afters, does anyone have more?

The other thing, our dog has excema (sp?). From what I understand it is supposed to be standard for the breed. (Staffy) Could this be something that is caused by the standard food? I have never heard of wild dogs that have skin issues.

Also, does anyone have recipes for dog treats? Maybe dehydrating meat for a jerky treat?

[littleindiangirl]

The other thing, our dog has excema (sp?). From what I understand it is supposed to be standard for the breed. (Staffy) Could this be something that is caused by the standard food? I have never heard of wild dogs that have skin issues.

On that note, how much does anyone really know about the condition of wild dogs? Animals in the wild have a lot of crap to deal with. Parasites, disease, hunger and loss of habitat being the most common. African wild dogs will often eat the very old, sick or injured pack mates, leaving the strongest specimens to survive.

That being said, wild animals do have to deal with many issues. I bet you can find scientific articles highlighting the diseases and parasites any wild dog is most likely to encounter. You just have to do a bit of research at places like PubMed.

Nature is not compassionate and only the strongest or most cunning survive.

As to her skin problems, what has your Vet said about it?

[RawDrop]

Just got her yesterday. Haven't had a chance to get her to a vet yet.

[Halo_effect]

As far as skin problems, I don't know about eczema, but our one dog had pretty bad hot spots when we brought her home from the shelter. They didn't clear up on kibble (we fed Eagle Pack Holistic) or anything else that we tried. Within a week of starting raw they cleared up and we haven't had problems since. Of course, that's just our experience. We've noticed a lot of other changes in them too, softer coat, less shedding (woohoo!) fresh breath, and they don't emit that "dog" smell anymore. Also no anal gland issues (eww) because the poop naturally takes care of them.

When I first said I wanted to start raw with the dogs, my husband was VERY against it ("they'll choke on bones!" and all this other stuff you can find articles about on the internet) and I wound up convincing him to let me try it for two weeks, and if at the end of two weeks he STILL thought it was a bad idea, then we'd stop.

And here's an informative website you may want to have your partner check out. There's a really good FAQ on there.
http://www.rawlearning.com/

[LorenaAZ]

My husband and I are very analytical. I'm usually the one with the "let's try this, it makes sense!" attitude, so I always have to ease him into things. Books by reputable authors work for him. Perhaps giving your husband some books would help too. Dr. Pictarin's is a good book, as is Give Your Dog a Bone by Ian Billinghurst, and also Kymythy Schutlze's Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats (this one is short and sweet).

I had fed my dogs raw for years, and once my husband and I moved in, I really wanted to feed his dog raw as well. She suffered from room clearing toxic weapon gas -- unbelievable the odors coming out of that dog's behind when she was on kibble. Thank goodness hubby agreed and now we have a non-smelly dog and a much better smelling yard (raw poops are nice).

[Shuu]

http://rawfed.com/myths/index.html