Raw meat?

I've been told by two different people that raw mince would beef up a Staffy's muscles and that raw meat makes a dog aggressive. Any views on these opinions please.

btw, does a raw diet encourage scavenging? Thanks.

From what I have read and my experiences:

- A raw diet will better tone your dogs body if you were looking for a more muscular shape. Bane was pretty scrawny as a pup when on biscuits but when we switched, his muscles became a lot more defined and he looked healthier, he didn't necessarily get more muscular just looked more defined. At 4 years old your staff should have filled out to his natural size and shape. If you are looking to make him more muscular, I would imagine the only way would be to train and condition him with things like weight pulling and other appropriate exercises.

- Haha the amount of times I have heard that raw meat makes a dog aggressive. We have a friend who also has a staff and as soon as he heard we switched Bane to a raw diet, he laughed that we would wake up one day with him trying to eat us! All dogs have a prey drive, some more than others. By feeding raw meat for dinner you won't turn them into bloodthirsty monsters. If they try to chase and kill things like chickens, livestock, cats even etc. this is down to their natural instincts, not what you feed for dinner.

- As for scavenging, I never noticed a difference in Bane's behaviour around food before or after feeding raw. He was taught not to beg for food or pinch food off our plates and never has done. But if we were walking down the road and there was a pizza on the floor, I'm sure like most other dogs he would try to eat it!

I hope it helps! I'm not an expert, but have been feeding my dog raw for almost a year now so have a little experience

Totally agree with Emma's comments. I too have been feeding Zeus raw for about a year now, he hasn't gained more muscle/weight but he is more defined. I believe some of it's down to raw and the rest of it is down to exercising him and playing alot of tug of war with him.

Another thing worth mentioning with raw is the health benefits, Zeus was on dry food for the first year/year and a half of his life and he forever had problems, eventually he was diagnosed with Colitis and had regular flare ups. He also had an insane amount of allergic reactions. As soon as I moved him onto raw.. no sign of Colitis (touchwood), no flare ups, significantly reduced allergic reactions and I could finally control his weight and he looks much healthier. So it's not all as bad as people say.

Regarding raw making a dog aggressive, I think that's a load of codswallop. Hasn't changed Zeus's behaviour at all.

Thanks guys an interesting subject. These things were said to me when Stanley was very young, he's 24.5kg and on a diet, although i can't begrudge him a bit of crimbo turkey. Mind you he can out run me on a bicycle when he wants to. He always knows when dinner's about ready and will almost run through doors to get there.

It certainly gets people talking and it's always interesting to hear what others have to say about it/have been told about it!

Aw gotta have a bit of turkey on Christmas Tempted to get Bane a turkey drumstick!

btw i meant me on the bicylce not Stan.

i feed raw and no it does not make them aggressive at all infact a raw feed dog is calmer and more responsive due to the high nutritional diet they are getting, no sugar no grains or cereals or additives. If you want to feed raw pleas look into it as it needs to be introduced properly with what to start with and how much to give etc. I would never go back to commercial foods again and im a vegetarian diy raw feeder lol

mreed7773 wrote:i feed raw and no it does not make them aggressive at all infact a raw feed dog is calmer and more responsive due to the high nutritional diet they are getting, no sugar no grains or cereals or additives. If you want to feed raw pleas look into it as it needs to be introduced properly with what to start with and how much to give etc. I would never go back to commercial foods again and im a vegetarian diy raw feeder lol

I think we are doing something wrong then because Bane isn't any more responsive than before
Just out of interest how do you make up your meals being a DIY feeder? Is always nice to try and find something a bit different to do for Bane!

haha maybe Bane is just full of fun ...I buy in frozen from 2 suppliers DAF and Landywoods . I do pay postage but I like the meat they provide.
I get mixtures of chicken, duck, lamb, pork, beef, pheasant, venison, turkey, salmon and off course Tripe (lamb and beef) ..minces ( bone and boneless ) and meat chunks chunks and hearts and bone and i buy mackerel and sardines in from tescos . I also give egg, liver and offal, chicken feet and stuffed hooves, pigs ears, trachea stuffed as a meals / treats

I have a freezer and small fridges in the shed just for Tia where i prepare three days at a time to thaw in the fridge in bowels i brought from the poundshop.

I use the 80/10/10 diet and weight guides on this link http://www.raw2paw.co.uk/how-much-to-feed/4558120367

it was hard at first esp as im a veggie !!! but I joined a group on Facebook and its been a great help with lots of documents and files to help along the way, 7 months down the line its very simple for me now and even the kids can do her meals..

mreed7773 wrote:

it was hard at first esp as im a veggie !!!

I know what you mean about the veggie bit! I feed my dogs stuff that sometimes I find hard to look at, but they love it and it's good for them, so I'm brave!

Chell sounds just like how it goes in this house!! DAF topped up with tesco offal and fish Will have to take a look at Landywoods! I've heard from a couple of people on here that they use them!

I can't believe you do all that while being a veggie What a lucky Tia!