Food Pet Die For

Huh.

I probably don't know what I'm talking about, but I reckon that if dogs were as susceptible to bacteria in food as we are, they wouldn't take such delight in eating rotting meat, feces, vomit and carcases that have been sitting around for days, rained on and are generally unrecognisable. I've seen dogs eat all sorts of vile things and never get sick from it beyond throwing it up if it doesn't agree with them immediately. Not real convinced that they don't have a stomach of cast iron like I've always suspected. The only thing that's ever made my dog seriously ill is commercial dog food, actually. Go figure.

I guess people come to their own decisions. It doesn't bother me especially if people want to avoid raw food for whatever reason. What does make me annoyed, though, is people jumping on their bandwagon of choice, preaching what they believe in, but never really giving convincing evidence of why they think it's the best for dogs. It's very hard to find reliable information for that exact reason. Not to say I expect every individual to write a scientifically sound paper on why they believe they're feeding the right thing, just that if you're going to offer advice on a large scale in the capacity of an experienced specialist, you ought to present some very sound reasons for why your 'research' has brought you to these conclusions. I like to see a decent reference list, dammit!

" Dogs and cats have been domesticated for thousands of years. They have eaten file residue of man's diet, which, since the inception of fire, has been cooked. In the past 15 years, a number of purported natural diets for dogs and cats have grown in popularity. Although the Biologically Appropriate Raw Food (BARF) diet is cited most often, many variations exist. Basically, the diet is composed of raw meat, bones, vegetables and, sometimes, grains.
How safe are these diets? In 1995, I began researching them and sought opinions from veterinarians, breeders and people who had, or were, feeding this diet to their animals. I also consulted research studies. What I found convinced me that I wouldn't be feeding a raw diet to any of my pets."

I find it funny that people assume since dogs had domesticated themselves thousands of years ago that they ate only the left overs from human fire cooked meals[]

In reality dogs domesticated themselves to be a scavenger off humans.  In most countries and way back in the old days dogs were considered no better than Rats.  People avoided them as they carried disease, they ate the remains of rotting human flesh which really disgusted people of the old day.  They ate the left over fish guts, gutted animals and what ever they could scrounge.  They weren't always sitting by a campfire with their human friends eating the cooked left overs.  There were of course societies that valued some dogs as hunting companions, but, that came long after dogs had domesticated themseleves.

There are still domestic feral dogs all over the world.  Raymond Coppinger (biologist and Stephen Budiansky) are the first biologists to ever actually study dogs in their natural habitate.  In many countries dogs are still regarded as Rats, disease ridden horrible animals...and in some villages religion teaches them to stay far away from dogs..if a dog happened to get in your house your house is unclean.  These dogs are older than any of our current purebred dogs, and the forefather of some purebred dogs.  They still scavenge and eat some very "questionable" items.

I for one love feeding raw for all the natural enzymes and natural vitamins that are not destroyed in the heating process.  My dogs do very well on Raw, but, I also know that there are some purebred dogs due to over breeding, inbreeding etc that just don't have the immune systems or natural health of their mongrel forefathers.  So, for some purebred dogs they will do better on cooked or kibble/canned diets.[]   So therefore I don't preach about the wonders of raw meat etc to anyone...if someone asks I say my dogs do well on it..but, it's not for all dogs.  Dogs did not naturally evolve to not be able to tolerate raw meats etc...it's basically through artificial selection and purebred breeding that we are creating unhealthy animals that can't tolerate much and suffer from sooo many problems from allergies, genetic disease etc.  This is just a conclusion I've come to from watching from the side lines of all my show/breeder friends, working at a Vet clinic, grooming facility that my sister owns & the boarding kennel I work at...also the books I've read which to me make a ton of sense.[]   I meet many dogs, owners etc, I hear their troubles, I seen what works for most dogs...I've seen what doesn't work for some dogs.  I am a great observer and through this have made proper choice for my dogs.[]

  I didn't mean to upset people or start a debate; I just thought some would find it interesting that the same person who wrote the book this thread is about is also opposed to raw feeding interesting.  Also, I agree with Kelly; why should it matter to dog food companies in the U.S. which country had proven menadione to be toxic? Unless the study that led to that conclusion is flawed, it should be removed from all dog food.

jessies_mom, I wasn't starting a debate[]  I was just giving my opinion. 

jessies_mom, I wasn't starting a debate I was just giving my opinion.

 
 I think you expressed your opinion beautifully and I agree with you about the enzymes and micronutrients available in raw food.