4 Facts About Raw Dog Food Diets

October 2, 2017

4 Facts About Raw Dog Food Diets

All About Dog Food

I feed my dog a diet of grain-free kibble and its canned version which contains a variety of vegetables. However, the other day I thought to myself, what if one day my dog was suddenly able to talk and began demanding that I feed her something different. What would she ask for? Well, my dog would probably ask for a hamburger with lettuce, tomatoes, and ketchup with a side of heavy whipping cream. But if she were also gifted with the skills of a dog food scientist, and understood that certain foods would be more beneficial to her body, she would probably ask for something else. 

What about you? What would your kiddo prefer to nosh on when hunger pangs hit?

Well, all we can do is guess when it comes to their wants, but we can supply what they need much easier. One of the things that seem to be at the top of the list of nutritional heroes, is the raw dog food diet. You can buy it freeze-dried, frozen in kibble form, or you can make it from scratch.

There is a lot of information out there about feeding your kiddos a raw food diet. Here are some facts to help with the transition from a cooked food diet to a raw one.

#1. Benefits: 

Nutrients are in the purest form and all of the ingredients are fresh.

• Shinier coats

• Healthier skin

• Cleaner teeth

• Higher energy levels

• Smaller stools

#2. What's in it?

• Muscle meat, often still on the bone

• Bones, either whole or ground

• Organ meats such as livers and kidneys

• Raw eggs

• Vegetables like broccoli, spinach, and celery

• Apples or other fruit

• Some dairy, such as yogurt

#3. Controversy:

• Threats to human and dog health from bacteria in raw meat

• An unbalanced diet that may damage the health of dogs if given for an extended period

• Potential for whole bones to choke an animal, break teeth or cause an internal puncture

#4. Safety:

Use stainless steel bowls and utensils, and wash them with hot soapy water after each use.

“Wash your “hands with soap and water for 20 seconds before and after handling raw food.” (Video Instructions)

Run “cutting boards and utensils through the dishwasher or wash them in hot soapy water after each use.”

Keep “countertops clean and free of bacteria by wiping them down with a disposable disinfectant wipe.”

NOTE: If one of the chores your human kiddos have is to feed the dog, please supervise to verify they’re practicing the sanitary best practices.

Sources:

Pets WebMD

Raw Food and Co. 

Our top 10 Dog Foods Part 1

When it comes to feeding your furry kiddos, you probably have a pet food brand or two that you stick with. However, you might be in search of a new brand of food if you just got a new pet, or simply want to change up your pup's dinner recipe a little. So we decided to make it easier on you by seeking out recommendations online.

Our plan was to search for a great list of quality pet foods, find it, add it to this post, then proudly admire our good deed. However, while scouring the web in search of a list of America's best dog food, we discovered something we didn't expect. We found that there are several lists of (we're talking tons) "The Best Pet Foods" all over the internet. They have been created by many different companies, as well as individual veterinarian bloggers who know their way around pet food ingredients. So we decided to choose a "Best Pet Foods" list, then explore what each brand themselves, as well as, their customers are saying about their well loved foods. There are so many that we will need to feature the other lists in later blog posts. But for now, here is the featured list for this post.

10 of Our Favorite Dog Food Brands from reviews.com

If you are a pet parent searching for a specific kind of food for your furry kiddo, know that we added each company's unique benefit claim to the list below, to make your search easier.

1. Orijen (Biologically appropriate)

2. ACANA (Biologically appropriate)

3. Eagle Pack (No fillers or artificial preservatives)

4. Fromm (First to create a complete dog meal in kibble form in 1949)

5. Nature's Logic (Whole food recipes)

6. Stella & Chewy's (Raw food recipes)

7. Wysong (holistic recipes)

8. Pinnacle (Grain free recipes)

9. Primal (Raw food recipes)

10. Hi-Tek Naturals (Careful ingredient sourcing)

Next, we visited each brand's website and listed information we thought would help you decided whether this brand was the right one for you and your furry family. We featured three facts for each brand that they listed on their webpages.

1. Number of brand categories of food

2. Number of varieties offered

3. The company's unique benefit claim, or Unique Selling Proposition (USP).

To let you in on what customers thought of their products, we also added links to their customer reviews. 

Read Part II