FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions About Raw Food

 

Why should I feed a raw diet?

A raw diet provides a range of benefits that commercial dog diets can never hope to even closely match.
These benefits include:

    • No doggy odour
    • Naturally cleans teeth – no need for toothbrushes, de-scaling jobs, or gum disease
    • The time it takes for a dog to chew a raw meaty bone gives their stomach adequate time to get the acids moving
    • Much less stool produced – and they are firm, and turn chalky after a couple of days
    • Decreased or non-existent vet bills (your dogs are healthier!)
    • Less cost for dog food – commercial dog foods are ludicrously expensive
    • Mirrors what a dog would be getting in the wild – and certainly even the modern day dog has a digestive tract exactly the same as a wolf
    • Puppies develop at a more appropriate rate – and quick growth spurts are avoided. A GOOD breeder will want to stop fast growth in any pup.
    • The ripping and chewing involved in eating raw meaty bones develops the jaw, neck, and shoulder muscles of the dog. Commercial dog foods will never assist in this important muscle development.

But what about bacteria on raw meat?

Happy Dogs Raw Food is laboratory tested to be sure it is free of salmonella and E. coli bacteria. We have tested negative every single time!

How do I switch my dog to raw food?

Switching ‘cold turkey’ is best in our experience. This may result in some loose stool for a day and then everything firms up nicely. If you are concerned about switching you could add one or both of the following things; a couple of spoonfuls of plain canned pumpkin- found in the baking aisle at the grocery store, or probiotic powder capsules (the active bacterium found in yogurt) found at any pharmacy.

What sort of benefits have people who switched from kibble to raw food reported?
People who have switched their dogs to a raw diet have found the following:

  • Dogs who were previously un-energetic, and sluggish become completely new dogs once the raw diet feeding begins
  • Allergies their dogs previously had on commercial foods, disappear once they start with the raw diet
  • Arthritis has significantly reduced or disappeared in some dogs switched to raw
  • Better weight control
  • No more doggy odour!
  • Their dogs are living longer on a raw diet than what their other dogs previously had survived on commercial dog foods
  • That their bitches managed their pregnancies better
  • Better weight and survival figures in puppies

How much raw food do I give my dog?

Visit our “How much to Feed” Page HERE

That doesn’t look like a lot of food to give my dog, why?

Happy Dogs Raw food has no grains so you are feeding your dog a smaller amount. Grains are a filler in kibble foods, and when you take out the unneeded extras in the food, there’s less food total! Also, if you think of kibble like cookies, you have the cookie dough, which expands when cooked. Since you don’t cook raw food you are feeding the condensed, uncooked (or batter) form of the food. If you would like to offer your dog more food, consider adding in healthy vegetables instead of treats. Most dogs like plain canned pumpkin (unspiced), apples, carrots, cooked sweet potato and green beans. Adding in veggies (optional) is a great way to add food without adding fat!

What about bones?

Bones are excellent to give your dog! Not only do they provide enjoyment and entertainment, but bones are full of nutrition as well. ALL RAW bones are safe for dogs to ingest, even chicken bones. Raw chicken bones are flexible and dogs can crunch them up and digest them easily; their bodies digest bone so well that it turns bones into white powder! Only cooked bones are stiff and can splinter potentially causing harm to your dog. Whole raw chicken bones and pieces are completely safe to feed your dog.

My dog is a picky eater – What do I do?

Many dogs who seem to be picky eaters on kibble completely change their tune on raw food! Many of our customers are thrilled to discover their dog not only has an appetite but cannot wait to dig into their raw food at mealtimes! However, some dogs do remain a bit picky, and in those cases, since we cannot offer refunds for picky eaters, we recommend inquiring if there are any free samples available at the location you wish to purchase from or purchasing 1lb or 9lb packages to try different blends out before purchasing larger quantities. Many dogs enjoy changing up the blends every once in a while so you can always change up the blends you purchase each time, or you can simply purchase a few pounds of a different blend and swap a square or two out of their normal blend so they’re eating something a little different during mealtimes!

Can my cat eat the raw food too?

Yes! However, cats need higher levels of taurine in their diet, as they are natural obligavores (meaning they MUST eat meat), so you want to stick to our poultry blends as they are naturally higher in taurine. Both our Chicken Complete Nutrition and Turkey Complete Nutrition have also been developed to be nutritional complete for cats too!

Why does some of my food has frost on it ?

Our food is flash frozen at -25 degrees. Normal freezers in your home will be not get anywhere near that cold. Exposed to those freezers over a number of weeks causes some of the moisture content in the food to refreeze at the higher temperature, which causes frost to appear on the outside of the food. This usually occurs after 30 days or so, but can depend on how frequently you are opening the freezer and the box of food (as the warm air coming into the freezer may also cause frost to form.

The presence of the frost does NOT affect the quality or taste of our food! You can either feed as is frozen, or thaw the food and the frost will disappear anyways. If you do not like the presence of the frost, please only purchase the food in quantities that your dog will go through in under 3-4 weeks.

 

Didn’t Answer Your Question? Contact us! 

E-mail: happydogsraw@gmail.com