* I also update my blog regularly with more info about the Raw Diet – check out these recent posts:
- Raw Diet FAQ’s
- Possum! & How to feed the raw diet
- How to Shop for the Raw Diet
- Chicken Feet – natural source of glucosamine & chondroitin supplements
- Bones for cleaning doggie teeth
- to see other posts which mention my Raw Diet, click on the “Raw Diet” topic link in my sidebar
I eat the Raw Diet (sometimes known as the ’BARF’ diet) – this is the closest thing to the natural diet that we dogs would like to eat.
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It is really good for us because we can clean our teeth when we chew on the raw meaty bones and so we don’t get red, sore bleeding gums and a horrible thing called “periodontitis” which can make bacteria go into our blood and then make us really sick.
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My raw diet also doesn’t have things called “chemicals” to make the food a funny colour or keep it smelling nice for a long time. Also, it is mostly meat and bones and some fat and skin, which is what us dogs are designed to eat – not biscuits and grain, which makes some of us have funny tummies (they say it is called “intolerance”) – and then we get itchy skins or funny problems with allergies.
Some humans are scared to feed their pets the raw diet because they worry about the bacteria in the raw meat but actually, us dogs have a different kind of tummy because we are “carnivores” and we can eat a lot of yucky stuff without bacteria bothering us ‘coz our tummies have a lot of acidic juices inside. Anyway, we’re always licking our bums and stuff – so we’re always eating lots of bacteria already! 
They also worry about us dogs choking on the bones. Yeah, I guess we can – but we can choke on a lot of other things too (like rawhide chews – or even kibble!) and as long as the bones are raw (NEVER cooked!) and either quite soft (eg. raw chicken) or big enough so that we can’t swallow them whole but need to chew and break them down (eg. lamb brisket) then they’re pretty safe to give us. And they really help us keep our teeth clean – plus make us happy because all dogs get a “chewy feeling” sometimes and then we feel really grumpy if we can’t chew something! And bones are the most natural thing for us to chew!
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Some humans are also scared because everybody always says that dog food must come in special bags and look like biscuits and be made by special humans, to make sure that it is good enough for us. But actually, the raw diet for us is just like the way humans feed themselves and their own baby humans – they just eat a mixture of natural, healthy foods and over time, they get a nice, balanced, nutritious diet.
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My vet says I have really beautiful, clean white teeth and no smelly breath - everybody is always saying that I have a lovely, glossy coat. In fact, people are always stopping my humans in the street and telling them that I’m in “really good condition”! I think that means that I look really nice
I just know that I feel really good and I really love my Raw Diet – I get lots of different kinds of raw meaty bones every day, so that I get good variety and balance – like chicken carcass, lamb brisket, pork hock, beef brisket. Once a week, I also get some raw offal (liver/kidney/heart) and fresh fish (whole pilchards!) and other times, I get some vegetables/ripe fruit, raw eggs, honey and any other healthy things which are leftover from my humans’ meals.
I’m always looking forward to my meals – mm-mmmm!
Waiting for permission to eat!
Lemon is on the Raw Diet too – although she is much more fussy and she always only wants to eat her favourites (like chicken liver or fish or sheep heart) – so when she gets the meals she doesn’t like as much (eg. chicken necks), she leaves it and waits to see if she can get something better at the next meal…this drives my humans mad!
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But they are very tough with her and they make sure she has a mixture of everything, even the things she doesn’t like as much, because that way she gets a balanced diet. My human, Hsin-Yi, found a really good website to help people who want to swap their cats onto the Raw Diet: www.rawfedcats.org
(By the way, Hsin-Yi says people always think it will cost a lot of money paper to feed the raw diet but although it is a bit more expensive than supermarket dog food, it is similar or even less than the premium dry kibble.)
For more information, including how much to feed, see also my latest post: “Possum! & How to feed the raw diet”
If you’re thinking of switching to raw, the best thing you can do is to get some books written by the vets who pioneered Raw Feeding – these books will give more detailed information and diet guides and menus and recipes, etc.
They are -
by Dr Ian Billinghurst:
by Dr Tom Lonsdale:
Also, check out these sites for some great information from vets specialising in raw feeding:
Raw Essentials http://www.rawessentials.co.nz/
Raw Meaty Bones http://www.rawmeatybones.com/
Hi Honey! We are Great Danes too and we also are on a raw diet! We love all the bones and meat and yummy squishy things that we get to eat every day. We feel really healthy too and our teeth are white and clean all the time!
We have our own blog and people often ask about our raw diet, would it be ok if our Mum linked to this page? She thinks it’s a really good explanation of how good eating raw for dogs and cats is! Would love to hear from you.
Love and licks, Kaya and Luna xxxooo
We don’t eat raw diet becoz we don’t take it too well. But we eat a little bit of everything! A little bit of kibbles, a little bit of home cooked food, a little bit of rubbish, a little bit of trans fats, once in a while raw meat & bones – everything! Just like what Mahatma Gandhi said, “Moderation in everything.” Eating too much of one thing is not good. We are declared the healthiest too. Chloe just donated blood to a friend who had tick fever. She & other ten dogs were tested but she was chosen in the end coz she had the healthiest red blood cells, good liver, kidney & everything else! So see! Eating a little bit of everything is better. We did get to eat raw chicken necks once but that caused us to have explosive diarrhea the next day. Wooh!
Butt wiggles,
Solid Gold Dancer
My parents are keen to start me on a raw diet too. Your blog is really useful in giving my mummy some ideas! Thanks heaps!
Hey Honey,
We are on raw diet too for almost a year now and mum never looked back! Raw diet is the best!
Wags,
Cocoa and Barley
I’ve been reading alot about raw diets, and since Kenai has pancreatic insufficiency, grains do not sit well in his tum. But he can’t seem to handle even little bits of raw meat without bad poo and reflux.
Poor boy, he had digestive troubles: absorbs way too much calcium which causes his legs to hurt, and doesn’t absorb enough protien so he goes on streaks of muscle loss. We’re trying to get him healthy again, my “little” love.
If you know of any good ideas for switching him to raw without barfing or messy leave behinds, I’d love to hear more!
Loving your site so far, and looking forward to reading more. I love your freestyle videos, also. Great accomplishment for both of you.
My blue dane, Savage, is also raw-fed and has been since a few weeks old. Less health problems, no doggie smell or bad breath, clean teeth, less waste, beautiful coat; compared to some commercially fed doggies I’ve seen. The benefits are enormous.
You are a realy beautiful girl!
We are happy! One dog (and cat) more who get the one and only right food!
My great dane loves also goat’s milk!
Greatings from Austria!
(Sorry about my mistaken english)
Hello Honey. I am so happy that i found you and your human. My human is scared because I am his first GD. And the breeder has told him to fed me with Royal Canin Giant Food. So he ran to the store and got me 2 huge bags of the RCGF.
Can he mixed the biscuits with raw food now? So he can get me started on raw food?
Thanx
PS: Your family pictures are lovely.
Dakota and my human JackieO
Honey, I’m so glad to see that you are fed a raw diet! Winnie has been eating raw for about 2 years now and we will never go back to that nasty kibble stuff
)
Hey Honey- I have been meaning to read more about how to do this. I read up on it awhile ago (before I had Moose) and thought I remembered reading that it is best as an all or nothing thing so that you should not mix raw diet and kibble. I always wonder about this though but still cook meat before I give it to Moose (as an occasional treat or when we run out of kibble) and feel very silly for doing it. I like the idea of the raw diet and am certain it is best but unfortunately I travel fairly often for work and don’t think a dogsitter would be willing (or trusted) to do it right and don’t want to subject him to tummy aches from the changes back and forth. If Moose had trouble on kibble I would be more motivated but he was eating cheap kibble in rescue and had no problems (beautiful coat and teeth and no itchies or ear trouble- we are lucky!) with that even! I still switched him to grain free kibble at least as a compromise. I will have to look into transition issues and see if it would work if I have to switch back and forth! Poor Moose has a single mom so spends time with dogsitters more than I would like!
Moose + Dana
Hooray for raw feasting! My folks can go on and on about the changes they saw in us once they switched us over. They could even write a whole blog about it.
Wait a second…
Hi Honey,
I too switched to raw this year. Tho I haven’t gone out and made it as various as your diet, i am still learning how to buy and store/freeze it so it is easier to prepare. For now my Siberian and Formosan Moutain Dog/GSD mix get a little Honest Kitchen mixed in with raw beef or chicken. and they get a raw bone once or twice per week. My sibe’s teeth were covered in tarter when I adopted her a year ago. They are now almost pearly white! They love their diet. Unfortunately, it’s hard for me to find good training treats that don’t have wheat/grains in them. The treats i find are very expensive so I have to put on a thinking cap real soon and find a better what to continue our marker training.
BTW: I came over from Dughallmor. I have 2 dogs. One EASY to train but very fearful and anxious (my GSD/Formosan) who was a rescue at 1.5 years old … I’ve had him 1.5 years now. But he’s super smart and learns fast. And the other a “hard to train” dog… a siberian husky, also rescued and had for 1.5 years. The sibe is ALSO a Therapy dog! I wouldn’t say she’s “hard” to train… but she is “different” in terms of training. I always have to put on my thinking cap to teach her new things. But boy does she LOVE training. And she always gets called on in school to demo her perfect recalls and downs while moving. She knows plenty of tricks, including sit pretty, rollover and is learning to “bow.” Who says sibes can’t be trained?
sir:
Hello Honey. this is Naren from India, i have a male Neapolitan Mastiff of 15 months, it is very thin. Iam feeding cooked chicken, lamb and dry foods but it is not eating. so can i feed raw diet at this age, or it will become aggressive. In India temperature will be 40 deg celcius, so it will cause any skin disease? please give your sugestion, waiting for your reply….
by,
Naren.
Hi Honey!
I have a 3 month old pink nosed harl dane named Milo he’s also on a raw meat diet and it’s the best thing I’ve done for a pet. When I got him at 6 weeks old he was so skinny now hes filling out great and has a beautiful soft coat and lots of extra skin to grow into! Thank you for showing us how well you are clicker trained I’m teaching Milo and he’s picking it up fast. He’s already clicker trained on commands come, sit, speak and hush! Thanks Honey!
I’ve loved reading all about Honey and have learnt a lot. Gemma starts her raw food diet tomorrow so we are keen to see how she responds to it. She is a short haired JRT and has a luxating patella which slowed her up a bit this week. We are hoping the new diet might help with her joints. Thanks for all the sharing.
Our male Great Dane, Odin, developed a rash and his ears got puffy and red and scabby. We took him to the vet, and she said it was probably a food allergy. So we started feeding him raw and now his rash is gone!
I know you probably get a lot of comments like this, but just wanted to let you know that I really appreciate the work you have put into the blog. I was wondering if I could put a link on my blog because I am sure my followers would love to read it. Let me know.
I’ve been looking a raw feeding site before and I found out ur site. thanks you for your additional inputs to
me. Your aticle also is very neccessery reference for us.Thanks
Raw Feeding