Switching back and forth from Dry to raw?

[Kittylove5]

Hello, I was having a conversation with a friend of mine if its okay to switch back and forth from Raw foods to dry foods every now and then.

I hear people say that raw food is really good for their health and so are the veggies. I was told that I should consider giving my future dog raw meals and vitamins but the deli can get a bit expensive on certain types of meats that is really good for them.

Since I was looking into getting a small dog I know I don't have give them too much of it and I was told I could freeze the rest of the raw meats but here's another problem that I keep running into..

I've read that a lot of tiny dogs have a chance to lose their teeth and that they should eat hard foods to make their teeth stronger, so is their a way of eating raw foods that can help fight tooth loss or should I just dried dog food?

Is it also okay to place puree veggies into dried food if I cannot use raw foods to make the dried foods tasteful and healthier?

Thanks

[joji732]

If you're feeding raw, the dogs are eating meat AND bone, just as they would do in the wild. The bone serves as the hard chewing the dogs need to keep their teeth healthy. Although I do not feed raw myself, most of the people I know who have say that their dogs' teeth are cleaner on a raw diet than on any kibble.

[Nettle]

I feed raw ful-time and none of my dogs has ever had a speck or stain on their teeth since I started. Most live well into their teens and I don't clean their teeth any other way than by feeding raw meaty bones.

It doesn't suit every dog nor every owner, but in teeth terms it certainly keeps them spotless.

[MaiasMom]

I am not sure I can agree with switching back and forth especially in small dogs. It can lead to digestive problems you don't want to have to clean up. I feed a conbination of kibble and raw foods, mostly veggies and yogurt a couple times a week just to keep things moving well. I fashioned their diet on what they would find in the wild and added to it a bit. They will eat most anything I give them, the hard stalk from brocolli that you would throw away is a favorite of theirs and helps clean back teeth. I don't give corn or grapes or raisins as they can swell in the gut. Baby carrots they would stand on their heads for. I can get a 5 lb bag for cheap at the produce market. They love melon of any kind and Mango makes them slobber. They do love a boneless skinless frozen chicken breast but I don't feed to much of that. Fish, I give them a fish oil cap each day and an extra 1/4 cap of vitimine E over their kibble. I buy tuna in water as a treat, they love the tuna water on food. If I can find cheap salmon in a can, they get that also. They will also eat a dead fish they fine on the bank of the lake, nasty! or if they can't eat it, they roll in it. I don't give grains other than rice. They do like to share a piece of whole grain toast amoung the three of them from time to time and cheese in any form.

[LIRAY]

We have a home made raw, which a friend makes and the dogs that are on the raw, gets chicken, turkey and beef and we can switch around with the diffrent meats and you can not do that with dry kibble, this is the one thing i like about the Raw diet.

my guys are doing great on it and before the raw i feed now, i fed some raw that was from a big company, in one week time we saw a diffrence.

they are doing great on just the Raw diet

Lisa and Ray - LIRAY Kennels[/b]