Many of you will be aware that I am a big proponent of feeding Dogs raw meaty bones. Today we have a guest post from Ben on the subject of feeding Dogs meat and bones. I am not saying I agree with all he says, but it will be interesting to hear what you think about this subject.
Many people and wonderful dog owners question everyday whether it is okay to feed your dog meat or not. So we are going to address this little issue head on and let you know what is good, what is bad and what your dog will love. There are pros and cons for each argument so lets jump right in.
Is it okay to feed your dog meat?
The short answer is yes, although it can be a little more complicated than that. Meat is generally not bad for your dog. A dog’s stomach can easily digest meat and in fact it is a great source of vitamins for them. Where you may run into trouble is when you feed your dog meat right off the dinner table.
Humans use spices and all sorts of extras to make their meat taste better. Some of these extra additions may not sit well with your dog, so be sure you are not adding anything harmful to your meat if you plan on dishing it right onto the floor for your dog. You will also want to be careful with the amount of meat you feed your dog, too much meat can mean too much gas build up, which when it comes from a dog, smells worse than rotten eggs.
Is raw meat okay?
Yes raw meat in some cases is actually better for your dog. Now you want to be careful because uncooked chicken can be the cause of salmonella, but raw beef is a wonderful thing.
When you cook meat you actually lose a lot of the vitamins that raw meat contains, and for a dog these can be an important part of their diet. Dogs, or dog relatives in nature are all meat eaters. Coyotes, foxes, Wolves and others all eat meat so feeding your dog the right meat really has little risk.
What should I avoid if I feed my dog meat?
Like I said before uncooked chicken can be dangerous even for humans, so it is best not to let your dog eat it. Even chicken bones are dangerous to a dog’s health as the bones can splinter and get stuck in their throats. Any meat that has extra things like spices added on is best to avoid. Most dogs can handle spices just fine, but there are some that have the potential to upset your dogs stomach or make them sick.
What do dogs like best?
Typically the best is beef, and if you really want to give your dog a treat give them some beef on a bone. They will dig into that like a 7 year old who awoke to their favorite toy on Christmas morning.
Everyone knows how much dogs love bones and if you add the sweet savory flavor of the meat to it before they get down to the bone they will think they have died and gone to doggy heaven.
What if my dog gets sick eating meat?
If meat is not apart of your dogs diet and you want it to be then ease into it. Do not just throw a huge chunk of meat to your dog and say enjoy. Just small amounts to start is the best.
If you notice your dog getting sick then simply stop feeding them meat, if the sickness stops you will know, if it does not stop take them to the vet.
About the author – Ben has three dogs of his own and knows that feeding them beef can become quite expensive. Some ways we save money is by using a 1800petmeds coupon code for all our pet medications. The money we save from these coupons we spend on our doggy treats and meat.
Regardless of how much dogs evolved to eat everything, they anatomy is still carnivorous. In other words, they are supposed to eat meat.
The better dog good products have animal protein (meat, poultry or fish) as a source of protein. There is a reason for that. Plant protein is incomplete (doesn’t have all the animo acids needed) and it is harder to digest.
I don’t think the question is whether dogs should eat meat; the question is about the form, amount and balance with other nutrients. Even dog cannot live on meat alone.
I agree about the spices and other ingredients people use when they cook their meat. We cook our meat just natural, so we could share off our plates as a treat.
Otherwise I use meat as an ingredient in a balance home-cooked dog food recipe.
Many dogs do great on raw diets, we opted for cooked. Still using meat though.
There ARE some risks with raw meats, particularly poultry, and yes, it can lead to a bacterial infection.
I read that the bacteria resides on the surface of the meat only and read techniques such as rubbing the meat with apple cider vinegar to kill the bacteria. Of course this doesn’t work for ground meat.
Creamy, a Toy Poodle of mine, really enjoys meat given to her when we’re eating as a family. It’ll never take a second or too when she knows we’re gonna give her some meat, so yeah dogs do like meat. But I agree that not all though, I think it depends on the dog. Since some may be viable to be fed meat but some may not. If one notices something wrong the moment you start feeding your dog meat, that’s the time that your dog isn’t viable to be meat-fed.
I also agree that raw meat is still the best, since I’ve read it from a different article before. But all in all, I find the information you provided more informative. Looking forward to more of these posts!
Unless you’re really dedicated to preparing all of your dog’s food yourself and are doing all the research to ensure you get everything they need in their diet, anything you give him that’s considered “people” food is only going to be a treat and should be done in moderation IMO.
We give our dogs raw chicken necks every week!
We started one of our dogs on a raw diet when we discovered that he had severe food allergies. He lived for 10 years with us eating only a raw diet (sadly, he passed away last year).
Since that time, I am a big fan of raw. Although my current dogs do not eat a totally raw diet, I do give them raw meat and other foods. They love them and they are good for them. They regularly get raw meat bones as a treat – keeps their teeth in good shape and spend a good many enjoyable hours gnawing on the bones.
That is really good information. I was always a bit confused about what to feed my dog. In my younger years I was around certain people who thought that dogs can just eat dinner scraps, but then I have gone through the time that dogs will get a taste for living animals (rabbit, chicken, etc) if they get the taste in thier mouth for it.. I have resorted to only giving my dog dry dog food, maybe moistened with broth from time to time and an egg.
Feeding dogs (and cats! it’s even worse for cats) cooked food is a DISASTER for their health. Period. They need to eat raw flesh, organs, and bones in order to thrive! That we accept that our pets deteriorate and develop horrible diseases as they age (cancer, diabetes, hyperthyroidism, organ failure, etc.) is RIDICULOUS! Wild animals that eat the diets they evolved to eat do NOT develop disease! Humans, included! But we over-indulge in neolithic foods we never evolved to process like grains….but that is a whole nother story. Quit feeding your animals kibble—-all the starch required to form the kibbles is destroying your pets’ GI tracts! And forget canned food: they all contain thickening agents, namely carrageenan, which is used in research in INDUCE STOMACH ULCERS! WHAT! WHY is that an ingredient in pet food???? Nearly all human & veterinary medicine could be ELIMINATED FOREVER if we all just ate & fed our pets what we all evolved to eat.
What a lot of rubbish ! To say raw chicken bones are not suitable for humans so best not to feed it to our dogs is complete ignorance. Of course feeding dogs raw meat is absolutely fine especially chicken carcases which my Shepherds have eaten for past 30 years and all the better for it. However, there is a right and wrong way to introduce and feed your dog on a raw diet as the idea is to emulate as much as possible what they would eat in the wild. This includes raw chicken (bones are absolutely fine provided they are not cooked) hare, rabbit, offal, veg (raw but scalded first with hot water to move cellulose which dogs cannot absorb). Fasting one day per week for adult dogs is also essential. I would be more than happy to answer any queries about this.
Wow, I didn’t realize what a heated topic this was. We got our dog second hand and the previous owner was feeding him (a giant schnauzer) only raw meat. We already had two dogs and adding him made three. I couldn’t see the feasabilty of going raw at this point in our lives. I’ve learned alot by reading this blogs.
I think feeding my dog raw meat or bones is O.k. but just once a week so that it doesn’t become a habit. It is so hard to keep it up more than that also I don’t think its a good idea to do it more often.
If raw meat was readily affordable in my area. I would feed raw meat above all else. I’ve fed raw before and you can see a big difference in the dogs. Less stool, less odor, more active, healthy shinier coats, and more muscle.
Dogs are supposed to live on a diet based on meat. That’s not to say that it’s the only thing they should eat – their stomachs can also handle partially digestive vegetables or fruit pulp, but no starch.
The salmonella warning is untrue though. Dogs are carnivorous and have a short digestive tract. Humans, on the other hand, have a medium-length digestive tract. The shortness of the digestive tract means that dogs aren’t harmed by salmonella.
A dog’s stomach can handle meat that has been lying in the dirt for a while, so salmonella poses no real threat. Obviously you shouldn’t feed your dog rotten meat, but as long as it’s fresh or freshly thawed, raw chicken meat is perfectly fine.
My dogs eat raw chicken meals every day and they are very, very healthy. The problem comes in when a dog is allergic to cooked chicken. This happens quite frequently… and I think the reason is quite obvious: I don’t think a lot of wolves eat cooked chicken (or any cooked food).
Raw meat is the easiest and cheapest way to have a healthy, happy dog who can’t wait for the food bowl to be put down.
Basic things to know about your pet’s meal
Gone are the days when pet meals were a simple decision. Shockingly, back in the day it was almost considered news to hear someone had purchased any form of food for their pets. Pets were fed the leftovers of the family meals and nothing else. Ofcourse that was until scientific studies showed that feeding scraps to pets was not only harmful to their health but also it didn’t provide all the nutrients that they needed. Nowadays, it is essential to know the pet meals that are best suited for your pet.
I’ve read that certain spices are really toxic to dogs. I can’t remember which, is it nutmeg that can be dangerous for them? As for the neolithic grains for humans comment, I thought creatures with long intestines were supposed to be herbivores, whereas carnivores had short intestines?
#14: “…thought creatures with long intestines were supposed to be herbivores, whereas carnivores had short intestines?”
That’s true 🙂
I’d love to be able to feed my dogs raw, but how in the heck can you people afford to do that?
Dogs are primarily meat-eaters and their digestive system is designed to process and metabolize meat as a source of essential amino acids.
More and more dog owners have started giving their dogs raw meat in an effort to mimic their diet in the wild. However, there are several factors that should be taken into consideration in order to ensure that our pets are safe from hazards linked to pathogens and toxins which may be found in raw meat.
Our dog loves meat but we are careful how much he eats and also make sure the meat isn’t seasoned. Never had a problem with feeding our dog any kind of meat
to the person who posted:
“We give our dogs raw chicken necks every week!”
You never have problems with bones especially chicken bones? We had an incident with a chicken bone and thought we were going to have to take our dog to the Vet, but he ended up getting part of the bone down and threw up the rest. This being said, we never give our dogs chicken bones
We feed our dogs meat all of the time and never had an issue with it. We only give them raw meat that hasn’t been seasoned.. who would give their dog seasoned meat anyways?!
The guy who said “We give our dogs raw chicken necks every week!” You can’t be serious? You aren’t worried about bones?
Jonny, the only bones that are really a danger are the thing ones in the thighs.
Here is the deal on dogs,
Dogs are opportunist omnivores, they can eat all manner of things, heck, they even snap flies out of the air.
Table scraps are great for a dog if you are eating healthy food. Diet coke and waffles are not good for you or your dog.
Most people today have diets that are so horrid that they are fat and unhealthy so if they feed there dogs scrap it will make their dog unhealthy too.
If you just feed your dog only raw lean beef he would be lacking in fat and vitamins & minerals and would start eating grass for supplementation.
Humans just need more fiber and antiscorbics.
As a habit, we try not to feed our dogs table scraps very often. However, from time to time we will give them a little bit. Like one of the posters mentioned above, if you are already eating unhealthy food its obviously going to be worse for your dog than healthy foods would.
we have fed all our dogs raw diets for over 35 years. We have daschunds, boxers, a basset and akbash dogs. We also farm livestock and have many friends who hunt and fish. During the winters are dogs are fed almost exclusely on frozen fish, and during the other months there is a constant supply of meat from hunters who give us their scraps as well as calves, horses, goats or pigs that die. We butcher our aging stock as well just for the dogs. We never vet our dogs and have never had one die before the age of 16…in fact, we just said good-bye to our oldest daschie who was 4 days shy of his 20th birthday.