Does anyone here feed their animals RAW food??? (Chase: for sale, to buy)

[DreamChasers8]

Sioxcia, I never claimed to be an expert! However I am aware of the funding and education that goes into the Veterinary colleges and a little thing also called "job security". I have nothing against any Vets, heck I use to want to be one, but got married had kids and decided on a different path instead. I am currently studying to be a Veterinary Technologist. I can assure you that only the basics are covered regarding nutrition unless one specializes in animal nutrition. I did not learn about that thru little known blogs or chats but from Vets I have talked with, worked for and shadowed under over the years. In other words straight from the horses mouth.

And it doesn't take a genius to understand that canines/felines are carnivores (not omnivores) and should be fed as such, which includes raw meat. I would love to know where you got your facts about the domestic dog not having the same digestive enzymes as the wild wolf when digestive levels and enzymes can change depending on what is consumed, a nice little defense mechanism we are all built with.
Yes my dogs are healthy and beautiful, but as I stated before I know of numerous dogs who suffered seriously due to all of the **** put in commercial dog food such as grains (which they cannot digest) and made complete turn arounds from being fed properly (raw meat). Salmonella and E-coli don't affect dogs like they affect us. E-coli is present in feces and last I checked dogs lick their own ass and have no ill affect from doing so.

Like I said before I am not here to argue, I am here looking for local raw meat and bone sources from other Alaskan's who also feed their dogs raw.

You clearly don't so thanks for your huge amount of help.

[Grannysroost]

Here is another question...Does feeding raw lead to the dog developing more of the hunting instincts of the wolf? I had a rescue mal that would take off any chance she could and go 'hunting' for our mal puppy. After a few months she took down one of our goats who went running through the yard blatting...man-guy shot in the air to get her off the goat and she took off and never came back. We had small children visiting quite often and what if that would have been one of them running? Then when one looks at the behavior of wolves and hunting in packs, and you have more than one dog, what can happen if they are not contained somehow to prevent this. There have been multiple dog attacks with dogs in packs, as Sioux was talking about confronting on her walks in Angoon, that are literally quite frightening. I also had an incident a few years back when taking mine out to do his thing, had a couple of dogs come out of nowhere from around my garage (in town) and come after mine who thankfully I had on a leash and pulled behind me as yelling at them, with him doing his darndest to get in front of me to protect me, and backed him to the door. Also, household pets have attacked babies or small children who could have been crying or screaming? All dogs can develop pack behavior, I am questioning if the feeding raw could somehow contribute to this...

[DreamChasers8]

Deb, I would hate to think that bad animal behaviour was related to canine's eating Raw meat. I seriously doubt it, as I have Giant Mals here with my 6 children (3 of which are 6 and under). I believe behaviour issues stem from how they are brought up and what they are exposed to from a young age. You said that one was a rescue Mal so who knows what had happened in his life before you rescued him (kudos to you by the way).
Malamutes are absolutely "prey driven" animals which is why we warn everyone about slow exposure to smaller animals unless they are raised with smaller animals from birth (like ours). But then again it's up to the indivisual dog too. One of our Mals will definitly eat my chickens if given the chance as well as our cat. The other Mal has let the cat slap her in the face and she has been in my coop and behaved like the perfect Mal she is

[mal_flisk]

I keep telling you guys, that I am the only perfect Mal I know! I don't bite, rarely bark, and gave up chasing chicks, foxes and mere babes back when I was a pup. I have, however, been known to howl at the moon and at a bad call by a ref when watching football. I only drool over lasagne, and occasionally over high end electronics (leads to shorts in the power circuits though).

[karibear]

Originally Posted by Grannysroost

Here is another question...Does feeding raw lead to the dog developing more of the hunting instincts of the wolf? I had a rescue mal that would take off any chance she could and go 'hunting' for our mal puppy. After a few months she took down one of our goats who went running through the yard blatting...man-guy shot in the air to get her off the goat and she took off and never came back. We had small children visiting quite often and what if that would have been one of them running? Then when one looks at the behavior of wolves and hunting in packs, and you have more than one dog, what can happen if they are not contained somehow to prevent this. There have been multiple dog attacks with dogs in packs, as Sioux was talking about confronting on her walks in Angoon, that are literally quite frightening. I also had an incident a few years back when taking mine out to do his thing, had a couple of dogs come out of nowhere from around my garage (in town) and come after mine who thankfully I had on a leash and pulled behind me as yelling at them, with him doing his darndest to get in front of me to protect me, and backed him to the door. Also, household pets have attacked babies or small children who could have been crying or screaming? All dogs can develop pack behavior, I am questioning if the feeding raw could somehow contribute to this...

Diet shouldn't make any difference at all. It sounds like your rescue had both a screw loose and a high prey drive, an unfortunate combination. The Arctic breeds, mals, siberians, etc, tend to be happier as pack animals and get along fine as long as there isn't a b*tch in heat. That's mostly because for a very long time, the ones who didn't get along or were nasty to people tended to be culled and removed from the gene pool. One other possibility is that your rescue might have had a percentage of wolf in it, wolf hybrids have gotten all too common, and too many people think they are just like dogs. They aren't - some are a lot more doggy than others, but their instincts are a lot closer to the surface.

Having said all that, one of our last siberian pups was a horror - from the very beginning, he would attack his litter mates, and the only thing that kept him from going after the adults was that they very quickly tuned him up. We tried to civilize him, then planned to have him put down, but unfortunately, he was an absolutely gorgeous pup and someone stole him and left on the ferry with him. It still makes me shudder, thinking about what kind of damage he may have done along the way.

[DreamChasers8]

Originally Posted by mal_flisk

I keep telling you guys, that I am the only perfect Mal I know! I don't bite, rarely bark, and gave up chasing chicks, foxes and mere babes back when I was a pup. I have, however, been known to howl at the moon and at a bad call by a ref when watching football. I only drool over lasagne, and occasionally over high end electronics (leads to shorts in the power circuits though).

Too cute Mal...too cute

[DreamChasers8]

Originally Posted by karibear

Diet shouldn't make any difference at all. It sounds like your rescue had both a screw loose and a high prey drive, an unfortunate combination. The Arctic breeds, mals, siberians, etc, tend to be happier as pack animals and get along fine as long as there isn't a b*tch in heat. That's mostly because for a very long time, the ones who didn't get along or were nasty to people tended to be culled and removed from the gene pool. One other possibility is that your rescue might have had a percentage of wolf in it, wolf hybrids have gotten all too common, and too many people think they are just like dogs. They aren't - some are a lot more doggy than others, but their instincts are a lot closer to the surface.

Having said all that, one of our last siberian pups was a horror - from the very beginning, he would attack his litter mates, and the only thing that kept him from going after the adults was that they very quickly tuned him up. We tried to civilize him, then planned to have him put down, but unfortunately, he was an absolutely gorgeous pup and someone stole him and left on the ferry with him. It still makes me shudder, thinking about what kind of damage he may have done along the way.

I agree with you there. I can't believe someone stole him . I hope there isn't alot of that going on up here, one of my hubby's biggest concerns. But then again they bark like mad anytime anyone comes around and we also check. They warned us about the bears, some moose and even the reindeer across the way that got out the other day.
I wonder what happened to him or to anyone else because of him.

[Grannysroost]

I would keep an eye on them..., the pup we had grew into a 140-lb brute, but so passive, he would get in the car with anyone, though doubt they would have fit...my female would bark at anything she didn't know, so am assuming it was someone she recognized, as the nite 'Bear' was stolen, not a peep from her. Man-guy came home and asked where the dog was...needless to say gone, unhooked from his chain, so it definitely happens and someone got a great dog

[DreamChasers8]

I think I remember you telling me about that before and who might have taken him...nothing worse than a thief.
The pups are getting so big and personalities are really starting to show thru on a few.
I'm gonna ball when Sophie leaves us to give live with akvarmit & crossfire

[Grannysroost]

Originally Posted by DreamChasers8

I think I remember you telling me about that before and who might have taken him...nothing worse than a thief.
The pups are getting so big and personalities are really starting to show thru on a few.
I'm gonna ball when Sophie leaves us to give live with akvarmit & crossfire

The good thing is she will be close and you can see her...it will get harder before she leaves as you care for them more, when time to start weaning them, taking them out to potty, giving them a bath...all the baby things you do before sending them off...