What's the best way to safely feed my dogs a balanced raw food diet?

Raw feeding is a very good option for many dogs, as long as done properly. hygiene and freshness of the ingredients are the key to this diet, it is important to get the raw meals from a good supplier, you will usually need a dedicated freezer to store the food. it is also very important to take the food out of the freezer not too long before giving it to your dog as it can go bad quite quickly when left outside.

The only difference really is ease of preparation and use. The homemade is going to be essentially healthier because it's fresh, not frozen. Freezing can destroy some of the vitamins/nutrients. If you want to make a homemade diet I suggest you use the BalanceIT website. https://secure.balanceit.com/ They will tell you how to prepare the diet based on what ingredients you are wanting to use and then will also tell you how to balance the diet using their supplements. This website was created by a veterinary nutritionist and would be the only way I would consider feeding a homemade diet. Hope this helps.

No, meat is not a balanced diet. Even raw meat is not balanced. Balancing a home made diet is difficult and is not recommended unless you work with a veterinary nutritionist. When online, home made recipes where tested, 97% were found to be unbalanced and lacking in 1 or more essential nutrients. Unless you plan on working with a nutritionist, I recommend to feed a normal commercial diet that is AAFCO certified. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

I would consult a veterinary nutritionist, but I don't know that there are any where you are located. Another good option is the website balanceit.com. They will help you formulate balanced recipes and I believe there is a free option as well.

Hello, Veterinarians generally do not recommend feeding raw diets. Raw diets are associated with serious food borne illness (food poisoning) and the nutritional imbalances are associated with heart and bone disease. I would not recommend feeding any raw meat or bones to any pet, at any time, due to risk of illness. If you would like to feed a home cooked diet, I would recommend using the website balance.it which is formulated by veterinary nutritionists at the University of California-Davis. This website can direct you on making a homemade diet that is safe and nutritionally complete for Molly. If you're looking to purchase any complete diet, I recommend feeding one that is formulated to AAFCO requirements for canine nutrition. These requirements are based off of evidence based canine nutritional studies and the diets are regularly tested to ensure they are meeting every essential dietary need. Most popular brands are formulated like this- Purina, Iams, Royal Canin, Hill's, for example. I hope this is helpful! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

If you want to cook for your dogs, the diet MUST be balanced correctly. The best way to do this is to have a recipe formulated through BalanceIt.com and purchase their supplements to use in order to balance the diet out with all the vitamins/minerals needed for your specific pet. I suggest you refer to their website. ( https://secure.balanceit.com/recipegenerator_ver4/index.php?rotator=EZ )

Hello. By homely, do you mean a homemade diet? If so, it is very difficult to prepare a diet that has all the vitamins, minerals, amino acids & proper balance of protein, carbohydrates & fats that meets a dogs nutritional needs. Royal Canin is an excellent food, so I would really try to maintain this. If you truly want to do a homemade diet, then I encourage you to visit this site that will help you to develop a nutritionally sound diet plan. Thanks for using PetCoach. https://securebalanceit.com/