[Editor’s note: When Gabe first sent the post about feeding raw to dogs, he didn’t know I fed mine raw. Moreover, the blog post was an example of how authentic this site gets – he wasn’t making an argument so much as walking everyone through his thought process as he explored something new to him. If you’ve read for any length of time, you’ve seen this play out – soap, anyone? He asked for my thoughts, and I sent him this response. We are publishing this as the affirmative case for feeding raw food to dogs (again, unlike the original post, which was an exposition), but be aware, every individual situation is unique, and we all must do our best for our own pets, whatever that may be.]

We start from the basic premise that you use to guide all of your nutrition based decisions – whole, natural foods are better for you and your body than processed foods. Unfortunately, we don’t have the sort of large scale, double blind scientific studies on pet nutrition and health that we do for humans. Quite frankly, there isn’t enough money in it to make it worthwhile for anyone to do them. As suggested on twitter, there is very little in the way of “raw goat stomach” lobbying groups. So, we have to take a step back and do the best we can.

(CAUTION: Science ahead!)

Dogs are descended from wolves. They’re not directly in line with the extant population of gray wolves, but all breeds of dogs can (at least in theory; I don’t suggest sending Fluffy the Chihuahua into the wolf pen at the zoo) interbreed with them. I don’t usually make this argument, because people have confused physiology with behavior and training, but for purposes of nutrition, we start there.

We don’t have absolute evidence on how the wolf was domesticated (current research suggests that the wolf essentially domesticated itself) or when, but the oldest domesticated canines date back about 32,000 years ago. Since then, we’ve produced a lot of changes through selective breeding, but most of the basic physical characteristics of the wolf are intact. In specific, the dentition of dogs is adapted to ripping and tearing flesh, and they lack flattened molars to chew vegetable matter. The jaws of dogs only move up and down, not side to side, because they don’t do a lot of chewing (compare to a cow, who chews cud in a side to side motion for hours). Dogs also lack digestive enzymes in their saliva that humans (and other true omnivores) use to begin breaking down grains and starches. A dog’s stomach is designed to empty quickly; proteins and fats are generally broken down in 3-4 hours. Their digestive tract is significantly shorter than an omnivore because they don’t need to continue to extract nutrients out of plant matter and break down starches.

The dog from 32,000 years ago lived nearly exclusively on a diet of raw meat (horse, musk ox, and reindeer). For tens of thousands of years, dogs subsisted on the scraps from people (organs and offal, meat that humans were unable to eat, etc.) and whatever they could hunt on their own. We don’t start getting into thinking about “dog food” as such until the 18^th century. From there right up until about the 1950s (in this country), dogs still ate what the family could spare from their own meals. In the 1950s, roughly coinciding with convenience meals for humans (think TV dinners), you started to see heavily processed grain based extruded kibbles. This process functions very similar to the fast food (Lisa was dead on with the McDonald’s comp). Off cuts, carcasses, 4-D animals, grains, etc. are processed and cooked down at incredibly high heats, stripping out the vast majority of anything remotely resembling nutrition. Additives, dyes, preservatives, and chemicals are added back in to make it “healthy” and palatable. There are some better kibbles out there, ones that come in grain free varieties, but at their heart, they’re all heavily processed, overly supplemented and about as far away from the original form of food as you can possibly get.

Cooking:

Okay, so that’s the basic science. One more thing that comes up a lot is feeding cooked rather than raw. The vast majority of the time, there’s no argument being made that cooking food is better FOR THE DOG than feeding raw; instead, it’s a question of human health. I’ll get to that, but in terms of benefits to the dog, raw is clearly superior. Applying heat, by definition, changes the proteins, amino acids, and fats. Up to 50% of the vitamins and minerals are lost when cooked. For humans, who get plenty of vitamins and minerals from veggies, fruits, and grains, this isn’t a big deal, but it’s distinctly worse for a carnivore. Dogs didn’t eat cooked food for the first 32,940 years of domestication. Additionally, you cannot feed cooked bones to a dog. Cooked bones dehydrate and then can splinter, leading to potential intestinal perforations. This is why you’ve long been told never to let a dog have chicken bones. Raw bones, on the other hand, are incredibly difficult to splinter.

Bacteria:

Now that those arguments are out of the way, there is the big elephant in the room – bacteria. For me, this is a question of acceptable risk. I believe (as above) that the species appropriate diet for my dog is raw meat and bones. Given this, I am willing to accept a slight increase in risk from food borne pathogens. By inviting an animal into my home, I’ve already brought bacteria into the house. Most household pets carry some strains of salmonella and other bacteria in their digestive systems. A lot of humans do too, along with e. coli and a host of other nasty things, but our immune systems are generally up to the task (and very few people are arguing against having children because of this).

I choose to partake in plenty of behaviours that slightly increase my risk of getting food poisoning or otherwise sick. I prepare my own meat, which means I often have raw poultry in the house. I eat raw, rare and undercooked meats (beef, duck, pork, etc.) and seafoods. I lick the beaters after making baked goods with raw eggs. Feeding raw meat to your dog is really no different. I take proper precautions about handwashing and sanitization in the kitchen and I don’t handle feces without washing my hands.  Most food borne pathogens do not survive in dog saliva, skin or fur. There have been literally zero cases of salmonella or other infection attributed to feeding raw.

Notably, salmonella, listeria, and e coli are significant concerns for kibble fed dogs. The FDA has already issued 7 recalls for popular brands of dog and cat food for salmonella and 1 for listeria this year alone. The plaque buildup from eating kibble additionally provides a good host for salmonella growth, and there have been cases of people getting sick from handling contaminated kibble or dog treats.

Benefits: (WARNING: I’m about to mention dog poop several times in this paragraph. Sorry.)

So why do I think it’s worth it? I have fed several dogs on an entirely raw diet. My current dog has not seen a piece of kibble since she was 10 weeks old and we brought her home. She has no waxy buildup in her ears, her teeth have never been brushed or cleaned but have no plaque buildup. Her coat is thick, full, and shiny. She has no doggy breath and next to no doggy smell. Her stools are nearly odorless, well formed, and small (most people suggest their dog’s output is reduced by 50-70%, since they’re using almost everything they eat). In fact, the grass in her bathroom area tends to grow significantly better than elsewhere in the yard; this ought to be the natural state of things instead of worrying about grass burn. I have no problems controlling her weight, even though Corgis tend to be prone to obesity (this is common sense – what happens to people when they eat a high carb, highly processed, overly sugared diet?). She gets mental stimulation from ripping apart her food and has to really use her neck and jaw muscles.

In short, she gets a ton of benefits from eating a species appropriate diet and it makes my life easier to boot.

How:

Here’s what I do. I feed as many different proteins as I can possibly find, as many organs as I can possibly find, and in ways that are as close to the whole animal as I can get. I usually target 2%-3% of her adult weight (she’s just under 30 lbs, so she gets roughly .5-1 lb per day), but I don’t stress about it. I generally feed about 70% muscle meat, 20% bone, and 10% organ meat (organ meat is going to be anything defined as a secreting organ, I shoot for half liver, half other organs), though I certainly don’t worry about those percentages in every meal. So long as over a week or two she’s getting roughly those amounts, she’s good. The general recommendation is actually 80% muscle meat, 10% bone and 10% organ meat, but I find mine does a little better with slightly more bone. It varies from dog to dog.

A large part of her diet comes from whatever we’re having on any given day. If we’re having chicken, she may get a chicken thigh or leg quarter. The bag of organs that comes with a whole chicken usually goes to her. If I’m trimming up some beef, she gets all the stuff I cut off. I also have a local supplier where I purchase bits not usually sold for humans (green tripe, pancreas, brains, necks and frames, etc.)  She mostly gets grass fed meats, so I don’t worry much about her omega-3s, but I do feed salmon on a regular basis.

Veggies:

The question of whether to feed fruits and vegetables is a fairly hotly debated topic. I don’t think they’re necessary (again, carnivore), but I do feed them occasionally for variety and treats. If we have apples that are starting to turn, she loves them. I dump the scraps from veggies (no onions!) and fruits into the food processor (dogs can’t break down the cell walls of plants, so you have to puree them for any nutritional value) and mix that with some raw eggs (shells and all) from time to time. She loves when I make miso soup, since she gets the kombu and bonito after I strain my dashi.

Getting Started:

If you’re transitioning from kibble to raw, I wouldn’t mix them. Normally, even if you feed contaminated meat, it’s in and out of the dog in 3-4 hours; bacteria don’t have time to multiply and take hold. Grains, however, are not well digested and sit in the gut for a long time. Any bacteria introduced into the system then have time to take hold, so you can create a situation where they can actually get sick from a pathogen they otherwise would not have been susceptible to.

Instead, I would transition as follows. For the first two weeks, pick one protein (something easily digestible, like chicken) and feed nothing but chicken for 1-2 weeks. When they’re doing well (check the stools, they should be firm), add in a second protein (turkey, rabbit, beef, pork, whatever) and watch for another week. Then add in an organ meat (usually liver). Be careful, liver is rich, and if you add in too much at once, you will get diarrhea! Don’t try to feed 2 lbs of liver, instead, add an ounce with their current meal once or twice a week. Continue on introducing new proteins and food sources and giving them time to adjust (although after a couple of months, there probably doesn’t need to be any adjustment period).

Make sure to feed parts that are sized appropriately. You want your dog to need to chew; if they can swallow the food in one gulp, you’re not doing it right. A small dog may do fine on a chicken neck, but your large one may need a quarter or half chicken at once. Feel free to feed whole animals if you can get them. Organs, heads, feathers, fur, scales – all of it can be eaten. Don’t feed the weight bearing bones of large herbivores (so no cow femur, for instance). Those bones are too big and hard.

I use two things to keep an eye on how my dog is doing. The first is the weight check – I feel her lower ribs. If I can feel them without too much pressure, she’s right on target. If I can’t feel them (or can’t without really pushing down), I decrease the food and up the exercise. If I can feel them without any pressure at all, I give her a bit more food. The second is the stool check. If her stools are loose, I know I need to add in some more bone and back off on the organ meat for a bit. If they’re coming out crumbly and white, she’s had too much bone. (Note, however, that they will turn white within a day or so, then disintegrate into a powder. This is normal.)

A side note for cats – cats have much more stringent nutrient requirements (if they don’t get enough taurine, they will die). Feeding them raw can be done, and I do advocate taking a close look at what you’re feeding a cat, since they’re obligate carnivores, but it requires more research and preparation.

Final Notes:

The nice thing about dogs, and part of what made them part of human society, is that they are very adaptable. Your average dog will be okay on any diet you choose to feed. Is it optimal? I’d say no, but we’ve all seen the anecdotes of the guy who lived to 100 on nothing but fast food and cigarettes. Everyone has to choose for themselves what they feed to their pets.

However, we’re all on Kaplifestyle because we feel like optimal nutrition leads to improved health and well-being. We skip the drive-thrus, but also skip the protein shakes, since something being marketed as healthy doesn’t make it so. Instead, we choose whole, real foods in as close to their natural form as we can. There isn’t any reason our choices for our animals should be any different.

Stephanie