[lara2913]

My three yorkies are on a raw diet and I can honestly say they have never looked healthier than they are on this diet. I also think they get alot on enjoyment out of having different foods every day of the week.

I think alot of people have a knee jerk reaction to a raw diet, thinking that its gross because they would not like to eat it personally. However as much as we all think of our dogs as babies at the end of the day they are canines and as canines they have very different nutritional requirements to us. Dogs bodies were made to rip, tear and crunch up raw meat and bones just like their ancestors did years ago.

Before switching to raw its very important to do your research, the most important thing is to get the right balance between the different foods.

Ideally you want them to be eating about 60% raw meaty bones, these are small edible bones covered in meat such as chicken wings, lamb chops, chicken drumsticks, turkey's necks (chopped up for the little guys) etc. They won't get stuck in their throats because they crunch them up before eating them however if you are really worried then you can give the rmb a bash with a hammer so that the bone is crushed before you even give it to them.

Then about 30% of their diet should be muscle meat, this is meat without the bone such as breast meat or ground meat.

Then about 5% offal (organ meat) such as liver, lidney etc

Finally although this is widely debated most people like to do 5% fruit, veg, live yogurt (this is very important) and raw eggs.

Large, hard bones such as beef bones are classed as recreational bones and are fine for dogs to chew on but aren't classed as part of the diet as they should not be consumed.

You don't feed all of these things at every meal however because the aim is to balance their diet over time, so for example you may try to get all the ratios correct over a period of a week.

When feeding raw there is a very small risk of neosporum caninum however this risk can be eliminated if you freeze the meat for a minimum of 48 hours prior to feeding.

It is however important to remember that just like our own diets what suits one dog may not suit another and you can tweak the diet to suit your own dog.


(p.s I want to make it clear that i'm not preaching the raw diet but I thought my input may help people who are considering it as an option for their dog)