My Road to Raw
I started feeding my dog a raw diet in 2013. At the time I was living in Malawi there was exactly one brand of dog food in the stores. Even with my limited knowledge of canine nutrition, I knew that it was not a quality food and I didn’t feel great about feeding it to my still growing teenage dog. So with the help of our breeder who lived in South Africa, we imported a higher quality kibble via a courier. It worked, but it wasn’t the most convenient system.
I also noticed that my dog, Samson, had goopy watery eyes all the time. His poop was often runny and he had chronic ear issues. With a little research I was pretty sure these problems were related to the food he was eating. Because of where I lived, it wasn’t realistic to try out different kibbles and see if we could find one he did well on, so the internet led me to raw feeding. As I poked around online, I was surprised to learn about all the benefits of a raw diet and it started making a lot of sense. Suddenly it seemed a little strange to pour some brown pellets into a bowl, which is how I fed my dogs my whole life.
After learning the basic principles of raw feeding and doing some math, I went to the store and got some meat. I can recall being so scared the first time I handed him a chicken leg – what if he choked or got sick? Samson actually needed some help to figure out how to eat the chicken leg (my husband coached him LOL), but soon was a chicken leg chomping pro. Over a few weeks I added in some beef, goat and pork, as well as organs. And he never choked or got sick.
In fact, all of his chronic health issues disappeared. No more gunky eyes. No more itchy, red ears. And his poop was finally normal.
Vegetarian Hangups
I should note that I am a longtime vegetarian, and though I have several reasons, my main motivation for not eating meat is that I really don’t like it. I don’t want to taste it, smell it or look at it. So even though I felt that raw was the way to go and my dog desperately needed a diet change, my squeamishness around meat was a bit of a sticking point for actually switching over. There were no commercial raw companies, no co-ops with nicely packaged tubes of ground meat. This would be a full-on DIY endeavor. Ultimately, I decided not to let my own choice of eating ethics get in the way of feeding my dog a species-appropriate diet, but there was definitely gagging. A lot of gagging. Especially when it came time to introduce kidney. Now I’m 6 years in and I no longer gag. Even for tripe, which I’ve discovered is much worse than kidney. So, if you’re like me and get grossed out, with time it becomes a lot easier.
Raw Feeding Upgrades
I’ve since moved back to the United States and even with plenty of high quality kibbles and commercial raw brands available, I’ve pretty much stuck with the DIY method I used in Malawi. There have been some improvements to my system though, which make things easier for my vegetarian self. And really, these are things that any raw feeder needs.
Gloves
I can’t believe I used to handle raw meat with my own BARE HANDS. It wasn’t so much concern about bacteria, as I did wash my hands very well afterwards, but just having to touch it was so off-putting for me. I didn’t have access to gloves when I started raw feeding, but now I wear rubber gloves that go up to my elbows whenever I handle meat.
Deep Freezer
The addition of a large chest freezer in my garage makes it so I don’t have to look at, think about and shop for meat nearly as much as before. The meat no longer takes up space in my kitchen freezer and I don’t have to see that container of frozen pork lung when I reach for my frozen blueberries. It also allows me to stock up on meat at the store, especially if there’s a good sale, so I don’t have to go out and buy meat as often. Shopping for meat usually means sorting through leaky meat juice-covered packages (I always wear a plastic produce bag over my hands, #protip) and there seems to always be a faint, but detectable meaty smell in the butcher section. So the less time I have to spend there, the better. Even if you’re not averse toward meat, the deep freezer can save you time and money.
A Really Good Knife
Remember that meat smell I was just talking about? Turns out it’s not nearly as bad when the meat is frozen. Once I got a big, sharp serrated knife, it became quite a bit easier to slice through frozen meat. Some things, like liver, are also easier to cut if they’re at least somewhat frozen, but I prefer to cut everything when it’s at least partially frozen, so my knife was a good addition.
The good thing is that if you find raw feeding intimidating – because you’re vegetarian, you don’t have time, you hate math – there are some good pre-packaged options out there. One of my main motivations for sticking with homemade raw is that it saves me money, as my dogs are big and eat a lot of food. But other options are certainly worth looking into, and can help ease you into the raw feeding routine.
So there you have it. That’s how I stumbled into raw feeding and then got hooked even though I’m a strict vegetarian. Never thought I’d be be in the checkout line pushing a cart piled high with meat, but alas, the things we do for our dogs.
