[Maab]

Hi, I have been telling family and friends that since my dog is on raw chicken quarters' diet she is doing great. But, they are ALL telling me how dangerous is.... I am taking chances.... Soon or later.... Even chicken's raw bones get stuck in their track.... Blah blah blah... Not to mention what the vet.

Sorry, I don't want to sound like a whiner, but there are times when it doesnt feel comfortable.
Did ever happen any serious accidents with raw chicken bones, that you know?

 

[RawFedDogs]

Those are things that every newbie thinks about. We all worried some in the beginning. My dogs have been eating raw for over 7 years without one incident. I know literally 100's of people who feed raw and am on several discussion boards with thousands of members. I have heard of 2 incidents of dogs having problems with bones. There have probably been more incidents than that of dogs choking on kibble. Dogs also choke on balls, sticks, squeek toys, processed pig ears, rawhides and literally hundreds of other things. Almost never on bones in a meal.

You will hear all kinds of horror stories like "i have a friend, who's coworker's brother's neighbor's best friend's uncle's next door neighbor had a dog choke on a bone one time." You will probably never hear someone say, "MY dog choked on a bone and had so and so happen."

I did know a lady on a message board one time say her dog swallowed a chicken drumstick whole. The lady panicked and rushed the dog to the emergency vet's office. The vet x-rayed the dog and saw a chicken drumstick in the dog's stomach. He charged her $2,000 for surgery to remove it. I told her later that of course there was a drumstick in the dogs stomach. Where else did she expect it to go after he swallowed it. If they had left it alone for a few hours it would have digested and never heard from again.

I have seen several people on boards say their dog swallowed a big bone and what should they do. The advice is don't do anything, it will take care of itself. I have never heard of physical problems associated with things like this. The people never see any evidence the bone was swallowed.

Dogs have been eating meat, bones, and organs for millions of years. Their bodies have evolved to handle them very efficiently. They know instinctively how to do it. Find something more important to worry about like him getting run over by a car, or attacked by a larger dog, or getting hit by lightening or having a tree fall on him.

Worrying about a dog choking on bones is like worrying about a cow choking on grass. :smile:

 

[Kristofski]

You know, trying to tell someone that it is safe and healthy for your dog to eat raw meat with bones... is like a vegetarian trying to tell people that it is safe and healthy to be so. (I know, cause Im vegetarian and deal with ridicule and negativity all the time) All it shows, is their ignorance. Next time someone says anything to you, tell them to do the research "themselves" put in the countless hours on researching it that YOU did, and THEN come back and tell you the same thing. See how that goes LOL. Remember, you are providing your dog with the best quality of life there is, and some people get all "against" you, when they feel that the love of their own dogs may be doubted, because "they" don't feed raw.

 

[oakley]

I believe it is a hard concept for many to process. Its not an everyday thing for most people- a dog eating raw meat and bones, this seems strange to many in our society. Im going into this expecting people to have a negative reaction. Imprepared for ridicule from friends, family, and my vet. Im also prepared to defend myself a bit.. but mostly- I think I'll just let it slide right off my shoulders and ignore it.

If you choose to do RMB, I think you need to be prepared for people to freak out a little at first.

 

[Maab]

What bothered me the most was that smurky smile on the vet's face while telling me that... "Yea, the wolf thing on the Internet!?... Wolfs are not like domestic dogs..." and then went over trying to convince me that next time we'll try iams prescription food if antibiotics won't work.

Certainly, I am not going to go back to kibbles. The dog couldnt gain wheight when she was supposed to, actually loosing it. And I was tired of picking up all that mud and wet poop. And pay all those vet's bills. Obviousily the dog was not getting the nutrients from kibbles.
I am so amaized now that in only three weeks of raw that boney look is gone already and I don't need to carry tons of bags and paper to clean up the sidewalks after my dog.

I appreciate you people trying to help newbes like me. Probably I wasn't psychologically prepared to 'outsiders reactions. just need to be told more then once to get throught phase-one.
The results speak loud and clear however.
Thanks a lot.

 

[RawFedDogs]

What bothered me the most was that smurky smile on the vet's face while telling me that... "Yea, the wolf thing on the Internet!?... Wolfs are not like domestic dogs..." and then went over trying to convince me that next time we'll try iams prescription food if antibiotics won't work.

Hehe, I love to see statements from vets like this one gave. The question I then ask them is, "what are the physiological and GI differences?" Other than saying a wolf's mouth and teeth are a little larger, there is no other difference. The teeth are the same teeth, just a little larger. I then ask, "what are the physiological charateristics of a dog that make him an omnivore?" Again, there are none. Dogs have the dentation, jaw structure, short digestive tract and digestive enzymes of a carnivore and none of the characteristics of an omnivore.

 

[whiteleo]

I have this issue as well with family and friends. My brothers fiance has several dogs, and my brother always thought I was crazy feeding a PMR diet, until they heard from someone important it was good for their dogs. They tried it, but couldn't follow through. But during that time, PMR was the best, now they are back to kibble, and once again I'm the crazy one.

Some very good friends just got a golden retriever puppy after 20 yrs of no dog ownership. They know I feed a PMR diet and have never said a bad thing against it. Lora asked me some questions about feeding and I told her just to make sure that she fed her a grainfree diet because goldens are known for allergies, somehow she brought up the fact I feed a PMR for my dogs because of the allergy issue and she said to me..............WELL BELLA COULD NEVER EAT A RAW DIET BECAUSE SHE DOESN'T HAVE THE JAWS LIKE YOUR DOGS DO. end of story.

 

[oakley]

I have this issue as well with family and friends. My brothers fiance has several dogs, and my brother always thought I was crazy feeding a PMR diet.

Heres a good way to think of it...
I wouldn't feed my horses meat. So why would I feed my dog grains? :tongue:

 

[whiteleo]

That's a good one Oakley because they also have horses, what a perfect concept............................................................................................................

 

[DaneMama]

If your vet has issue with a prey model raw diet, then tell them to just deal with it. Dogs are a sub-species of the wolf. They are so common in biological characteristics that they can interbreed with domesticated dogs...we have the product of one such breeding. Omnivores are so different from carnivores that they cannot interbreed.

Vets that actually agree with the raw diet are very few and far between. Putting up with their skepticism is just one of the down sides to it. On the flipside, I think that its important to have a good relationship with your vet. You should feel very comfortable going to them for help. They should know you and your animals well...which is important in an emergency situation.

Just think about it...if all of us raw feeders went to our vets and showed them how healthy our dogs are, maybe they would get a clue and jump on board. My boss and vet has shown interest and very little skepticism about all of my animals being on the diet. I think that she has a more open mind than most and really does know her stuff.