# Ridiculous wives tales you've heard about the RAW diet



## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

In the past few months I have been working on building a RAW food business. Some of the calls and discussions I have with potential customers has truly left me speechless. It has made me wonder how many misconceptions and wives tales people believe about feeding a RAW diet to their dog/s. 

I will start with my most recent conversation of which the person attempted to educate me. 

1. You cannot feed a raw diet to dogs that will be bred. Why? Once they smell blood and eat raw meat, they will eat all their puppies. I explained my dogs parents are raw fed, was told Gus is a rarity and I am very lucky, I just need to be sure to never breed him.

2. My Staffordshire/Lab rare breed registered dog has the ability to lock half his jaw and will not chew the bone due to the incredible power of his jaw. It will injure him so he will end up swallowing whole chicken carcass without chewing. 

3. Do you have a soy raw meat diet, we are a Vegan household.

Now I didn't laugh at these people, I was taken back for sure and needed a few minutes to gather my thoughts before responding. These people really believed these things to be true, might still.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

"A raw diet does not provide the adequate nutrition a dog needs."

Well, my dad just took his six month old puppy to have her rabies shot.

He told the vet what he is feeding her, and the vet sold him vitamins.

Needless to say, he is returning them this morning. 

His vet is my vet, and I guess I'm going to have to email him the information for Feedsentials. I admit I got slightly annoyed that my dad got talked into purchasing those things.


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

I'm still learning and recently joined a few Facebook pages to learn more, wow I've seen some REALLY wacky things out there :crazy: Honestly it's a good thing I did my research beforehand and have some really awesome coaches because the wackadoodles out there can be overwhelming

My biggest pet peeve, do NOT cook the bones! No it will not make them safer!!! Just because you've been doing it for 10+ years doesn't make it right and count your lucky stars you haven't killed your dog :headbang:


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

Yes oh my cooked bones. The rare breed dog continues to get sick from eating cooked chicken bones. I worry my pleas to stop landed on deaf ears.


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## Kahrg4 (Dec 19, 2012)

"They'll get worms." 
Yes this has the possibility, but made me question what quality of raw was being fed that it would have worms in it?


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

Feeding your dog RAW will increase their prey drive. They'll kill and devour anything that moves, from mice to people.


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## Springbrz (Aug 13, 2013)

1. Raw eggs will give your dog salmonella.

2. Feeding Raw is dangerous around children, elderly, immune compromised because if your dog licks them it will make those people sick by giving them salmonella or e-coli from the uncooked meat. Ok, there could be risk if the raw isn't handled properly and prep/eating areas aren't cleaned properly. The same as it would be preparing your own meat before cooking. BUT...can someone show me a proven case of a raw fed dog giving a human salmonella/e-coli from licking them. If you can I will accept the argument.

3. You can't feed your dog raw bones. They will die from that. 

4. Raw feeding is just a fad that makes no sense. 

I have heard all of these.


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## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

1) I've definitely been told that feeding raw will instill bloodlust in my dog.

2) Feeding raw will cause them to revert to their wild state and affect their obedience. 

3) You need to cook meat to release the important nutrients in it.

4) Dogs can't digest meat because they haven't eaten raw meat for thousands of years since man domesticated them. (I had to laugh at that one. Someone has never looked into the basic history of dog food.)

5) Raw bones will slice through their stomach and kill them.

6) Feeding more "special" food than your own will make the dog think it is the alpha and it will challenge you and try to put you in a lower place.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

The shards from bones will perforate a dog's intestines.


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## BARBIElovesSAILOR (Aug 11, 2014)

My mom's vet for her italian greyhound told her the grain free and raw diets were just a fad, trendy, and that regular dog food is fine.


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## Debanneball (Aug 28, 2014)

My parents were the ones that told me about bones perforating their stomachs!  So, I never fed bones to any of my dogs. Since joining this forum, reading a lot, I have now given two bones to Fritz..a soup bone and a knuckle bone. Lo and behold..he is still alive!


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## Montu (Oct 9, 2012)

My mom told me my dogs shed so much cause they are fed raw...

yeah okay ...try feeding them crap and see what happens


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Debanneball said:


> My parents were the ones that told me about bones perforating their stomachs!  So, I never fed bones to any of my dogs. Since joining this forum, reading a lot, I have now given two bones to Fritz..a soup bone and a knuckle bone. Lo and behold..he is still alive!


Give that poor dog a turkey neck.:wub:


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

my former vet said my dogs brains could be eaten by worms after ingesting raw meat.


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## bob_barker (Dec 31, 2013)

Once I told my vet that my dogs were raw fed him and all the technicians wouldn't handle me dogs without gloves because they could get salmonella from the dogs. The also turned the boys files into "red files" stating that when they come in the room they are in is to completely sterilized after we leave. 
(Should be common practice for any animal going into a clinic) 

Needless to say I'm not at that vet anymore.


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## ugavet2012 (Apr 15, 2010)

onyx'girl said:


> my former vet said my dogs brains could be eaten by worms after ingesting raw meat.


This is technically true 
The worms that invade your brain - CNN.com

Pork meat that is
Your vet was actually smart for remembering that.


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

ugavet2012 said:


> This is technically true
> The worms that invade your brain - CNN.com
> 
> Pork meat that is
> Your vet was actually smart for remembering that.


Proper freezing techniques for domesticated pork looks after Trichinella Spiralis. The more difficult form of Trichinella found in wild boar and more commonly bear meat, is the one that is resistant to freezing. Horse meat was a problem in France and somewhere else at one time.

Domestic pigs in Canada that enter the food market are tested, Trichinella has become a rare occurrence and not something I worry about. 2007-2011 there were NO cases of Trichinella reported in Ontario. That is the most recent study my family physician could find for me.

It's a common scare tactic used to deter people from raw feeding IMO.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Saphire said:


> Proper freezing techniques for domesticated pork looks after Trichinella Spiralis. The more difficult form of Trichinella found in wild boar and more commonly bear meat, is the one that is resistant to freezing. Horse meat was a problem in France and somewhere else at one time.
> 
> Domestic pigs in Canada that enter the food market are tested, Trichinella has become a rare occurrence and not something I worry about. 2007-2011 there were NO cases of Trichinella reported in Ontario. That is the most recent study my family physician could find for me.
> 
> It's a common scare tactic used to deter people from raw feeding IMO.


thats what I said to my former vet, then said good bye to that practice. She went in the back room and started telling the staff how irresponsible I was feeding a raw diet. Completely unprofessional and rude. This was in 2007, during all the dog food recalls


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

onyx'girl said:


> thats what I said to my former vet, then said good bye to that practice. She went in the back room and started telling the staff how irresponsible I was feeding a raw diet. Completely unprofessional and rude.


Unfortunately alot of vets don't understand the raw diet therefore won't endorse it. My vet went one step further, told me I was going to kill my entire family by feeding raw. I think for this reason alone, Holistic vets are gaining alot of clientele as more pet owners educate themselves and become proactive by trying a healthier approach. I believe we are entering an era where less is more.


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## ugavet2012 (Apr 15, 2010)

Saphire said:


> Proper freezing techniques for domesticated pork looks after Trichinella Spiralis. The more difficult form of Trichinella found in wild boar and more commonly bear meat, is the one that is resistant to freezing. Horse meat was a problem in France and somewhere else at one time.
> 
> Domestic pigs in Canada that enter the food market are tested, Trichinella has become a rare occurrence and not something I worry about. 2007-2011 there were NO cases of Trichinella reported in Ontario. That is the most recent study my family physician could find for me.
> 
> It's a common scare tactic used to deter people from raw feeding IMO.


I'm aware of all that, and I don't live in Canada. Just saying that it is actually true and NOT a myth (since that's what the thread is about) and shouldn't come across as that vet being crazy. I would guess there are people who leave my appointments thinking I am talking crazy too but fortunetly vets do occasionally know what they are talking about 
I have nothing against raw diets, if a client seemed educated and said they fed that I wouldn't care. I just don't feed it which is my own personal decision.


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

ugavet2012 said:


> I'm aware of all that, and I don't live in Canada. Just saying that it is actually true and NOT a myth (since that's what the thread is about) and shouldn't come across as that vet being crazy. I would guess there are people who leave my appointments thinking I am talking crazy too but fortunetly vets do occasionally know what they are talking about
> I have nothing against raw diets, if a client seemed educated and said they fed that I wouldn't care. I just don't feed it which is my own personal decision.


That wasn't meant as a knock towards you. I was elaborating on something that was a problem at one time but for most people, no longer is. It's kinda like saying nobody should eat beef because there was a problem with mad cow disease. 

It is something I looked into and tried to educate myself about before feeding it to my dog.

I'm currently looking for a new vet, it's really not easy to find one more open to raw food and less vaccines.


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## BARBIElovesSAILOR (Aug 11, 2014)

So just out of curiosity, ARE there any downsides to feeding a raw diet?


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

Sure there are.....freezer space would be one that comes to mind. More time to plan and execute to make sure diet is balanced.


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## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

BARBIElovesSAILOR said:


> So just out of curiosity, ARE there any downsides to feeding a raw diet?


Yeah, there's good and bad with anything.

Some dogs just don't do as well on it as they do on other foods. Not super common, but I've seen it happen. It's definitely not as convenient as kibble or canned. You often can't just go to the store and pick up everything you need. Ingredients are often gathered in spurts from several sources. Raw takes more thought and more work and you have a higher chance of having something missing in the dog's diet which is why you have blood panels done. And it can still be risky. A bone is not likely to hurt your dog, but if you give them an inappropriately sized one or you let them chew up a bone that has dried out and become brittle, it can still pose a danger.


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## David Winners (Apr 30, 2012)

Time is the biggest downside. It takes much more time and preparation to feed raw than to just scoop some kibble out of a bag.

I dedicate about a day a month to meal prep, plus the time I spend gathering food from hunters and local sources. Add in processing time for carcasses and I spend quite a bit of time feeding my dogs.

On the up side, I really don't pay much to feed my dogs grass fed, hormone free wild game.


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## Kodakp (Feb 22, 2015)

" She doesn't recommend it because it leaves the dogs open for parasites found in the meat. She noted that you would have to get more vaccines. "(Huh) She once in a while it's ok but not a regular diet. High Pro Plan is what she gives her Shepard's .. This is what our vet told my husband. I really haven't found one vet that promotes raw. Luckily I am doing my own research and sticking with raw for now Koda loves it!


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

One of the vets from our clinic had to be politically correct for their practice and told me, "Whatever you are feeding her, continue doing it because she looks great". She is fed raw and that vet knows it and evidently supports it without telling me directly.
Deja is the picture of health and no vet can deny that feeding raw is the best thing for her vs. the Science Diet and Pro Plan they promote.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

wolfy dog said:


> One of the vets from our clinic ...told me, "Whatever you are feeding her, continue doing it because she looks great". She is fed raw and that vet knows it and evidently supports it without telling me directly..


This is similar to what I was told.
"He looks great, his coat is fantastic, I have never seen a coat like that on a German Shepherd. So I can't tell you not to feed what you are feeding."


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

ugavet2012 said:


> Just saying that it is actually true and NOT a myth (since that's what the thread is about) and shouldn't come across as that vet being crazy. I would guess there are people who leave my appointments thinking I am talking crazy too but fortunetly vets do occasionally know what they are talking about .


From your link:
"Just 300 infections of the Spirometra tapeworm were recorded between 1953 and 2013, but they're thought to be more common in parts of Asia. The rural nature of more affected populations means numbers are widely unknown and very little is known about the worms."


Can you please explain how rare worms in some of the pork in rural Asia have anything to do with feeding dogs raw in the USA and Canada?



How would this justify a blanket statement made by a vet that all raw would cause the dog's brains to be eaten by worms?


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## wyominggrandma (Jan 2, 2011)

I like the comments about Raw not being balanced and complete food (like kibble)because it is not perfectly measured out daily for every ingredient. 
News flash, if a dog doesn't eat the kibble exactly each day as shown on the bag, then the dogs diet on kibble would not be balanced either.
I don't know one person who eats a complete and balanced meal day after day. One day you might eat veggies and meat, another day fruit and meat, or cereal, etc. But overall a person eats balanced meals over the course of a few days.
Same as raw fed dogs. When I fed raw, they always got meat, veggies,fruit and usually oatmeal or rice. Each day was a different amount of the "extras", some days more veggies, one day more fruit, deer meat, chicken, elk , beef, etc. They got vitamins, bone meal, etc depending on what exactly I was feeding that day. So, overall they had a balanced food over the course of a week, but maybe more or less on each day.
Folks who don't understand the concept of Raw and how to feed it, really have no clue how healthy it is for the dogs. Of course, the best part of feeding raw was the dried poop that basically just blew away after a day or so. Small stools, clean white teeth, beautiful coats and just plain healthy. What more could one ask for.


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