Most conventional veterinarians will discourage you from feeding your dog raw or fresh food. The main reason veterinarians do not advocate for raw-feeding dogs is a lack of knowledge. Vet students must learn to treat and care for at least nine species, so nutrition is not a priority. And the minimal nutrition instruction that the students receive is based on the use of commercial pet food. 

Most veterinary schools in the United States are sponsored by pet food companies that offer veterinary students free or discounted pet food throughout their training. The basic nutrition book for small animal courses is the Small Animal Clinical Nutrition, written by the Mark Morris Institute, a subsidiary of Colgate-Palmolive, the maker of Hill's Scientific and Prescription Diets. 

The main reasons traditional veterinarians will argue against fresh whole foods are:

Holistic methods were not taught in veterinary school

Lack of awareness about the science behind fresh feeding

Adding fresh foods or feeding a completely fresh, raw diet will cause nutritional imbalances

The Truth Behind the Arguments Against Feeding Real Food

Let's counter the most commonly heard reasons to avoid feeding fresh, real food to dogs.

Veterinarians will tell you you must feed complete and balanced  food per AAFCO guidelines. But what does that mean? 

If labeled "complete," the food must have all the nutrients AAFCO considers "necessary" for a dog's health. The term "balanced" refers to the presence of nutrients in AAFCO-approved quantities. However, investigations into many popular dog food brands with complete and balanced claims have revealed that many products fail to contain all recommended nutrients.

AAFCO and NRC Have Completed Dog Food Trials 

The National Research Council (NRC) and the Association of American Feed Control Officials  (AAFCO) are key players overseeing dog food. However, dog food trials are the responsibility of the dog food manufacturers! 

The guidelines put forth by AAFCO are based on the recommendations of the NRC, which are based on the review of scientific studies using dogs fed commercial dog food. All of the recommendations are based on kibble-fed dogs. 

The NRC has not published new recommendations since 2006, so the data is old and does not reflect all of the current nutrition research. NRC has not reviewed studies on raw or fresh-fed dogs.

Homemade Fresh Food Diets Will Cause Nutrient Imbalances

Although raw diets may not have the same nutrient levels required of commercial pet food, they are species-appropriate and provide all necessary nutrients if the proper foods are used at the correct levels. In fact, the raw diet has a more complete profile of nutrients like natural vitamins and minerals found in whole food that are more bioavailable for a dog's body to use for metabolic processes. Nutritional imbalances are almost impossible if you are feeding the proper components of a fresh diet when using one of the three commonly used feeding models : the Biologically Appropriate Raw Food (BARF) diet, the Prey Model Raw (PMR), or the Real 6X Ancestral™ diet .

Kibble must be fortified with synthetic vitamins and minerals to meet the AAFCO guidelines. However, there is scientific evidence that some synthetic vitamins and minerals can harm a dog's body more than good. 

Kibble Manufacturing Is Safe And Regulated

Dog parents are repeatedly reassured that the manufacturing process of kibble  is safe. However, studies have repeatedly contradicted this claim. 

The dog food is cooked four to six times at high heat throughout manufacturing. When foods are cooked at very high temperatures for extended periods, especially when they contain certain carbohydrates or fats, harmful compounds like acrylamide (in carbohydrate-rich foods) and acrolein (from fats) can form. Advanced glycation end products are also produced through a complex series of chemical reactions known as glycation. All of these compounds are harmful to your dog, causing chronic inflammation that leads to diseases such as skin issues and metabolic disorders like diabetes, gastrointestinal disease, obesity, and cancer.

The FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine allows pet food manufacturers to use components from "diseased animals and animals that have died other than by slaughter" without informing pet food buyers. Additionally, the FDA has no scientific evidence that pet food derived from ill or non-slaughtered animals is safe for pets or owners to bring into their homes. Yet the food companies are not required to disclose that there are products for animals that have died otherwise than by slaughter.

A quick look at the dog food label will demonstrate that the ingredients in kibble are not high-quality. Meat meals and by-products are created from rendering . Independent renderers can include condemned or fallen animals that died from unknown causes before slaughter. Restaurant-generated materials, including fryer grease, grocery store discards including bones, fat, scrap from meat cutting or leftovers from the deli, butcher shop scraps, and animals euthanized in shelters, veterinary clinics, or zoos, and roadkill as also used by independent renderers.

Synthetic Vitamins and Minerals Are Equal to Their Natural Counterparts

Natural vitamins are complex compounds that contain enzymes, coenzymes, transporters, and co-factors. Without the full complement of components, synthetic vitamins cannot perform their full range of biological processes.

Accelerated aging has been attributed to the long-term use of synthetic vitamins and minerals , which exacerbates debilitating health problems. Diseases associated with long-term use of synthetics include allergies, cancer, organ failure, fertility issues, congenital disabilities, bone disease, liver disease, kidney disease, muscular-skeletal system problems, gastrointestinal issues, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and a shortened lifespan for a dog.

Prescription Commercial Diets Treat and Prevent Disease

Veterinarians typically recommend prescription or therapeutic diets  to manage various health issues, including kidney disease, joint disease, cardiovascular health, diabetes, liver disease, kidney disease, urinary bladder disease, food allergies, obesity, cancer support, and gastrointestinal disorders. The components of prescription diets are touted as specialized ingredients and nutrient profiles that can help manage or alleviate the symptoms of certain conditions. These diets claim that they have been developed based on scientific research and clinical evidence and are formulated to provide therapeutic benefits through nutrition. 

When comparing the ingredients of prescription diets to regular diets, there is very little difference. The prescription diets for allergies contain common ingredients that cause allergies: corn, soy, wheat, rice, barley, and chicken. Purina Pro Plan for sensitive skin, one of the most commonly purchased brands for skin allergies, advertises that it contains high levels of omega-6 fatty acids for healthy skin. Balancing omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids  is essential for skin health. Excessive levels of omega-6 promote inflammation, the opposite of what an itchy, inflamed dog needs!

Raw Dog Food Will Cause Bacterial Infections

Of the concerns about raw feeding dogs, the risk of potentially pathogenic microorganisms  in the food is primary among veterinary professionals and dog owners. Worries about household members being exposed to the dog that can potentially carry harmful bacteria on its face or other body areas also exist. However, realistically, this is true with any food and everything else a dog licks or eats. 

That kibble is a safe choice for bacterial contamination is a false assumption. Over ten years, from 2009 to 2018, 23 kibble recalls for Salmonella and E. coli contamination have occurred. All food products can be sources of bacteria. The key is to mitigate the chances of contamination using sanitary practices and common sense.

Commercial Dog Food Companies Are Devoted to Dog Nutrition

Two of the major dog food manufacturers are candy makers! Mars, the maker of Royal Canin and Eukanuba, is the same company that makes Milky Ways and M&Ms. Nestles, the producer of all Purina products, makes ice cream treats and coffee creamers. Colgate-Palmolive, the maker of toothpaste and household cleaning products, owns Hill's and Science Diet. The pet food branch of these companies is a significant revenue generator but is hardly their primary business concern.

Dogs Should Eat The Same Food Every Day To Avoid Stomach Issues

Variety is the key  to providing a complete nutrient profile for all species! In human medicine, it is recommended that people get a variety of fruits, vegetables, grains, and protein daily. Your dog needs the same variety in her diet! 

Providing a variety of proteins in your dog's meals helps prevent food intolerances that occur with overexposure to a protein. As you feed your dog, you are actually feeding her gut microbiome, the complex community of organisms living in the gut lining. If the gut microbiome is not fed the proper nutrients, the balance of organisms is disrupted, which can lead to a leaky gut. Leaky gut syndrome is responsible for food allergies, as semi-digested proteins can pass through the gut lining into the bloodstream. 

Maintaining a healthy gut microbiome  requires feeding your dog a variety of whole, fresh foods.

The NOVA Food Classification system, which the University of Sao Paulo designed, helps people group foods according to the extent and purpose of their processing. Food processing includes the physical, biological, and chemical processes that occur after foods are separated from nature and before they are consumed.

The definition of ultra-processed  is foods that are industrial formulations made entirely or mainly from substances extracted from foods (oils, fats, sugar, starch, and proteins), derived from food constituents (hydrogenated fats and modified starch), or synthesized in laboratories from food substrates or other organic sources (flavor enhancers, colors, and several food additives used to make the product hyper-palatable). Manufacturing techniques include extrusion, molding, and preprocessing by frying. 

Veterinary medicine is ts the only branch of medicine that advocates for the consumption of ultra-processed food! All human medical practitioners encourage their human patients to forego ultra-processed foods and return to eating fresh, real food. 

Commercial Dog Food Is Formulated For Specific Ailments

When confronted with a dog with allergies, many dog parents reach for the commercial diet that claims to be hypoallergenic. However, a study that tested dog food ingredients demonstrated that 89% of the foods were mislabeled. Testing one of the foods using DNA sequencing of the ingredients revealed that despite the producer's declaration that the pet food contained duck and lamb as the two main ingredients, lamb was not detected. Chicken was detected as the second protein source. For diets that are prescribed to be used to avoid specific allergens, the contents must match the label!

Other studies have shown that many therapeutic diets contain ingredients not listed on the label, causing confusion and frustration when determining what foods your dog can tolerate. A benefit of putting your dog's meal together is that you have complete control of what goes into the bowl! There will be no hidden or surprising ingredients to confound results. 

You Are Not Qualified To Create Balanced Meals For Your Dog

With the Feed Real Institute (FRI)  dog food calculator, you can easily prepare DIY homemade meals for your dog. The FRI offers a Dog Food Basics Course for dog parents to learn why and how to feed their dog's real food. Live, virtual workshops provide hands-on guidance for prepping meals, with tips on sourcing all meal components and feeding fresh food within a budget. 

You know your dog better than anyone. With fresh feeding, you can tweak your dog's meals to meet her needs while knowing every ingredient in her meals!

Feeding fresh food does not have to be complicated. 

The FRI provides everything you need to feel confident in your fresh food journey.

Brady, C. (2020). Feeding dogs dry or raw? The science behind the debate. Farrow Road Publishing.

Habib, Rodney; Becker, Karen Shaw. (2021). The Forever Dog. HarperCollins. Kindle Edition. 

Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes, and Essential Fatty Acids 

Reasons NOT to Feed Your Dog a Raw Diet... DEBUNKED

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