Is the raw dog food diet better than dog kibble?

I have a 8yr old chocolate lab. He's overweight by probally 2 pounds and has bad yeast infections in both of his ears.He plays ball and walks outside for about 20 mins a day. We put medicine in his ears about twice a week and have even tried feeding him yogurt but nothing helps. I heard that the raw food diet is more natural for the dogs and will solve all his problems in time...fact or fiction?Is the raw dog food diet better than dog kibble?
I think so, as it's what dogs were MEANT to eat.



Raw feeding won't solve *all* his problems, but it will greatly help with many %26amp; I'm guessing it will help with the yeast infections.



I started my dog on a raw diet when he was 8 years old, too. He did just fine %26amp; is now 10 years old, still on the raw diet, and THRIVING. His coat is excellent, too. http://rawfeedingtips.yolasite.com/



Starred for my raw feeding contacts, hopefully they can answer you too.Is the raw dog food diet better than dog kibble?
FACT: raw is always better than processed or cooked, even for us.

the problem might not be dry vs. raw, though. If you look in the ingredients of the dog food you are feeding your lab, you'll probably see corn or corn meal in the top five ingredients. Corn is just a filler and is empty carbs. Corn is not digestable and will only lead to your dog being hungrier and gain more weight. The best thing for your dog might be a vet's diet or a more meat and rice or barley based food. Try to get a food with no corn in it. If you can afford it, try Science Diet or BilJac and feed him only what it says to. your dog will be healthier and become a healthier weight. If neither of those types of foods is reasonable, just try two cups of Diamond Dog Food twice a day (the Chicken and Rice, Beef Meal and Rice, or Lamb Meal and Rice) They will have a stripe down the side that says Naturals, don't buy the others offered because the contain corn. Hope this helped.
Only a rare handful of dogs cannot tolerate a raw diet. My adult Great Dane is one of those dogs. Most dogs benefit immensely from it. I'd love to do raw, but I have four dogs and I'll admit, it's a lot of work and for dogs my size it would be incredibly expensive, because I only do organic meat and poultry in my home. That and I have one dog that cannot tolerate such a diet.Is the raw dog food diet better than dog kibble?
Raw food is great. Everyone is pretty much right. Every living creature does better on raw food. It only makes sense because we are the only species that don't eat a 100% raw food diet. Though it's not a cure-all as you may be hoping, it's at least natural food which will provide your dog with better nutrition as well as make him more regular. Since it is more expensive, I usually feed my dogs half kibble and half raw organic meat.



Just remember to transition from cooked to raw slowly because, just like humans, if you put someone that's on an all-cooked diet on an all-raw diet overnight, they will definitely explode on the toilet :)



On a sidenote...



I'm appalled when I go to a vet's office where there is literature provided by science diet trying to convince consumers (and vets) how soy and corn are good for our dogs. When I went to that vet, they asked me what I was feeding my dogs and I told them, and they told me that raw food is dangerous and that they need to be on the science diet. I switched vets :) My current vet agrees that a raw food diet is more nutritionally sound than the kibble.



Though this might not be the answer to your dog's yeast infection problems, it definitely won't hurt and I think you'll notice a positive difference in your dog after feeding him raw for a while.



Good luck.



-DrewBuddy
A "lab" is place where medical tests are conducted. I presume your pet is a Labrador.

And you have an adult Lab that is ONLY 2 lbs over weight??? Unfortunately the International Standard of the Labrador was invented by the British, and so doesn't include a weight range.



Almost ANYTHING is better for dogs than is kibble! In the first group below, click the Links =%26gt; Feeding buttons then work through the research reports about Bloat. If you can do arithmetic you will discover that the period in which bloat escalated matches the 35 years in which kibbles went from virtually-unknown to virtually-universal.

I have no evidence yet, but I suspect that the rise in allergies is also linked to the rise in use of kibbles instead of species-suitable food.



But there is no need to go to all the finicky measuring %26amp; counting of percentages that addicts of the BARF or RAW diets waste time on.



Canids evolved with a digestive system PERFECTLY suited to raw animal proteins - birds, eggs, fish (but not those needles, please), insects, mammals, reptiles - whether fresh-killed or as carrion.

And during the millennia of domestication, those that couldn't survive on cooked table scraps (but no baked/roasted bones, please) died, just as dogs that can't thrive on kibbles are dying nowadays.



So feed whatever meat is cheap (preferably on-the-bone, like rabbits), add your cooked table scraps at least a couple of times a week, and "Don't worry, be happy..."

Kangaroo has the reputation of being the best meat for dogs, pig the worst, but I've not bothered checking whether that is true or just yet another old wives' tale. Mine have mainly lamb's briskets, but have also had beef, bull's pestle-bases, goat, pulverised chook, shark, freezer-burnt sheep, venison throats.



However, you MUST clear up the yeast infection in his coat and especially in his ears - and although a kibble-diet contributes to causing that infection, a meat diet will NOT cure it.



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"In GSDs" as of 1967Is the raw dog food diet better than dog kibble?
raw food may not give him all the nutrients and vitamins he needs. I know kibble is healthier for dogs' teeth. not sure about the yeast infections, sorry. i'll try to look it up



the main cause of yeast infections in dogs are grain-based foods and drugs, chemicals and poisons.

raw meat and bone diets are good for yeast infections and give him supplements to boost his immune system. you could also try to avoid dog food that has lots of grain and potato in them.



it may also help to switch to a high quality dog food like blue buffalo since it doesnt contain any ingredients that caus allergies in dogs.