Re: Please help - dog with no appetite

A dog's digestive tract is much shorter than a human's and is very acidic. It tends to kill bacteria and most parasites. You shouldn't feed raw pork, though. They cannot contract e-boli or salmonella, either, because of the short digestive tracts. There are a bunch of sites online about the B.A.R.F. diet that give "myths and facts" about raw feeding. In the past I thought it was disgusting, also, but the more you read the more comfortable you will be. I haven't worked up to preparing my own raw food yet -- one step at a time. I do give my dog Humaworm for pets every 4 months. This is not because of the raw food, but my dog and I both do it just as a preventative measure (a lot of birds and neighborhood cats like to congregate in my yard and use part of it as a litter box -- Haley likes to "play" in their litter box area, so I feel better giving the hermal wormer). It seems like a lot of breeders think they know what is best about nutrition, but they usually tend to know what the media and vets push. Granted, this is more knowledge than a lot of people on the street. I know of a good many breeders who push a couple of brands of dog food that vets and the media push as "supreme" brands, but I would never imagine giving them to my dogs --- by-products, too many grains, chemicals, companies do animal testing, etc.

I'm perfectly comfortable with feeding the raw diet now, but I never would have been a few years ago. I recommend just educating yourself on the topic as much as possible. The more you learn, the more comfortable with it you will become. I just know that if it wasn't for the Nature's Variety raw frozen food, I would probably still be fixing something different every couple of days, feeding my dog in the living room, and having to coax her to eat. Now she enjoys her dinner and acts happier and more playful.