Does anyone here feed their dog a raw food diet. We just got a 9 week old Great Pyrenees last week and the breeder encouraged us to feed him a mostly raw food diet including meat with supplements. This is what she fed him up until the day we got him and i have been trying but it is alot of work imo. Does anyone else do this?

hey steph :) that'll be one big ol' pup you guys got ~ sweet!!

we fed one of our dogs a raw diet before we moved back here..we bought a hug amnt. of ground turkey & made it in to balls mixed w/ kale (or any other greens) & garlic. she would get 1 ball a day & a few 2-3 raw chicken pieces daily. she LOVED it & really did thrive on it.

we'd make 2 weeks of turkey balls & freeze them.

Thanks Nic,
yep, he sure is one big pup lol.

We actually did that with our first dog for a couple of years. He had had salivary gland cancer, was operated on twice, had a course of radiation, and it STILL came back. At that point the vet hospital could only recommend chemotherapy, and even with that they only gave him 6 months to live.

We decided not to put him through chemo and instead sought out a holistic vet. We started making his dogfood from scratch and adding a bunch of supplements aimed at fighting his cancer. The tumor started shrinking, then disappeared. He lived about five or six years after that! When we got our Great Dane puppy, he was on the same homemade diet too and thrived. After I got pregnant, though, we went to a high-quality dry food and just added in raw stuff now and then. I just didn't have the time anymore to make it from scratch. We used raw meat (hamburger, whatever), cooked grains (brown rice, oatmeal, for instance), and a variety of veggies (kale, carrots, broccoli, etc). They loved it!

Good luck on whatevever you decide to do!

I believe a raw diet is optimal for dogs (and cats). However it is expensive and takes some prep. I was able to get a prepared frozen diet through a local breeder for a discount. Something to consider if you go that route. There are several excellent quality prepared diets out there and plenty of books if you want to read up on it. Or google BARF (bones and raw food). You can also learn alot through support groups. I found plenty through yahoogroups.

There are downsides and risks too. Despite the BARF claims that their type of recommended bones do not cause problems, I have seen plenty to dispute that. Plenty. Same with the overgrowth of bacteria from raw meat, it's simply not the same as wild organic game. And add in the risks if you don't have the correct balance of proteins, vitamins, etc.? It can be a lot of work, costly, and if not done right, imo, very risky. JMO from seeing people try it and seeing their pets at the clinic.