dog wont eat raw

I know that this may sound crazy, but we have switched from raw to kibble a few times for various different reasons.  I totally advocate the raw, but sometime kibble has been more benficial.  We are currently feeding kibble right now, but I am sure that we will switch back to the raw again.  Everyone always seems to be on one side of this debate or the other, there seems to be no middle ground.  Well, I am here to tell you that there is a middle ground!  You can go back and forth and in my experience the dogs do not suffer because I switch their diets every once and a while.
 
As for the bones, we use beef marroe bones - uncooked - from a local butcher who makes sure the cuts are safe for the dogs.  We also have black Kongs and Nylabones floating around the house and we have never had a problem with any of them.  A word of caution with regards to raw hides, my girlfriends dog died do to a serious blockage caused by a raw hide that could not be digested.  Just be very careful if you do decide to give raw hides as they are very difficult for dogs to digest!

I see what you are saying CC. 
I just want to make things better!

What is relevant is the fact the diet carried them through eons of time without help from man or medicine.
CC

 
  I agree 100%. When I joined this forum I was against raw feeding but after participating in many discussions and learning from those who feed raw I think as long as an owner does the research to ensure their dog is getting a well balanced raw diet then it's fine; I've learned that dogs can do very well on raw food. If meat is frozen at or below 10 degrees faranheit then parasites such as toxoplasmosis are killed; freezing doesn't kill bacteria and some dogs do get sick but the majority of dogs eating raw food seem to do fine.

I know what you mean CC. If the raw diet wolves ate was inadequite then they would have been extinct long ago,and we wouldnt have any dogs now! A raw diet has seen wild dogs through millions of years,there must be something right about it.Nature doesnt often make mistakes []

we arent talking about wolves.  we arent talking about wild dogs.  we are talking about domesticated dogs, most which are manmade.  these breeds did not come about naturally in the wild.  im not making any claims on raw vs. kibble, but  arguments like this dont make any sense.
 
edited to correct typo.

Yes and no Jaye.  Yep, today's dog does have little resemblence to his ancestors and yes that is because we (collective we) have breed away from many of the traits of the wolf.  But they still are all under the same species catagory, much as we and prehistoric man, while extremely different, still share SOME similar traits and still share the sames species category.

Nature doesnt often make mistakes

 
Yes, it does. Many of Nature's mistakes get elected to office.
 
Ba doomp, tsh! Thankyouverymuch.
 

Ya got that one right Ron!

we arent talking about wolves

You're right jaye ; Although cc is absolutely correct and "nature's raw diet" is the best for wolves I do think that the domestic dog's nutritional needs are a bit different than a wild canids; I'm one of those who support the idea that domestic dogs are omnivores because they share an adaptation of their lower jaw ( coronoid process) with omnivores such as raccoons and bears; wild canids don't have this adaptation. However, I believe that meat should make up a large portion of their diet and if fed a properly balanced raw diet they can do very well as has been proven by those who have been feeding raw for years.

I don't feed raw, home prepared, and specialty commercial products because I think they are necessarily more adapted to a dog's natural needs.  I feed them largely because I'm a control freak.  If my Ben had to survive in the wild, well, he wouldn't, because he'd have to eat whatever presented itself.  Raw and home preparation allows me to be highly selective to benefit him, and my other dogs who are pushed frequently to the limits of physical endurance.

I do think that raw makes sense and most dogs seem to benefit generally.  I know someone with working BCs who just sadly put her oldest dog to sleep after four years on prey model raw.  That dog was in her teens and looked and acted like a juvenile dog until weeks before she died.  My friend is a research biologist and put a lot of thought into making the switch when she did it.  Her dogs look and work awesome!  But she puts a lot of stress on the fact that her dogs eat the whole animal, including parts most suburban dogs don't get access to which contain vital micronutrients.

ORIGINAL: Edie   I know what you mean CC. If the raw diet wolves ate was inadequite then they would have been extinct long ago,and we wouldnt have any dogs now! A raw diet has seen wild dogs through millions of years,there must be something right about it.Nature doesnt often make mistakes [] 

 
Yes Edie, and the same thing crossed my mind about the extinction; good point!