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Raw Diet for Dogs

Updated: Jun 29

Last updated: 6/28/2025

There are a lot of dog diet fads gaining popularity on social media, and while it's great that owners are caring more about what goes in their pet's bodies, it's crucial to understand why a particular diet is better than another. This article will discuss the pros and cons of the raw food trend and offer insights into what it takes to do it right. As always, before making a dietary switch, discuss it with your vet to ensure that it's the right decision for your dog's health.


(TLDR: )

Dogs are designed to eat meat, and though they can theoretically digest raw meat no problem, raw feeding can pose serious health and safety risks if not done correctly. Cooked diets and supplements may offer a more balanced alternative for most parents. Always consult your veterinarian prior to adopting a raw-meat diet for your pet.


Dogs Are Built to Eat Meat — But It’s Complicated 😵‍💫

While dogs can't survive on meat alone, they are clearly adapted to consume it. Their mouths are full of incisors, canines, and premolars (Purina DentalLife, 2025)- teeth designed for tearing and shredding, not grinding unlike those of herbivores. Their esophagus is thick and muscular, helping push chunks of food down to their highly acidic stomach (pH ~ 1), which quickly breaks down proteins. (Side note: this is another reason why grains need to be fully cooked, as they need to be readily digestible when entering a dog's highly acidic stomach, or else they'll burn right up! Check out our article on grain free foods to learn more about grain-free vs grain-inclusive diets)

Good quality, cooked meat is good for dogs since it kills off potentially dangerous pathogens and is in a form that your dog's body recognizes. However, when it comes to raw meat, it so simple.


Why Not Just Feed Raw?
Stock photo of E. coli
Stock photo of E. coli

While cooked meat is generally safe, precautions must be made when considering raw. One of the most obvious is the higher risk of disease-causing bacteria (DCBs) such as Escherichia coli (E. Coli) and Salmonella. As stated earlier, due to their low pH, the average dog is actually able to handle DCBs; however, your dog isn't the only body coming in contact with them.


Every time someone handles raw meat, they run the risk of spreading DCBs elsewhere. DCBS can linger on preparation surfaces, food bowls, and even in your dog's stool. For this reason, homes with individuals who lack strong immune systems (i.e. elderly people, children, immunocompromised individuals) may be at higher risk at getting sick from a dog's raw-food diet. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) already offers advise for handling raw meat: be sure to keep meat frozen and thoroughly disinfect surfaces the raw meat comes in contact with (FDA, n.d.).


Choosing the Right Meat

According to registered dietitian and consultant Toby Amidor, firmness and color vibrancy are key signs of fresh, lower-risk meat (Amidor, 2016). In the U.S., meat is graded by agencies like the USDA to ensure it’s fit for human consumption. These grades - prime (highest), choice, select, and standard/commercial (lowest)- also help indicate fat content. For dogs, leaner meat is often better, as they need protein more than marbling. For example, select-grade beef may be healthier than prime due to its lower fat content (Amidor, 2016).


How do I Find the Right Balance? And what Makes Raw Better (or worse) than Cooked?

The biggest issue with raw-food diets is that there isn't a nutritional standard. Unlike commercial kibble which must meet certain safe and nutritional guidelines (like FDA and Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) approval), raw diets don't undergo systematic regulation. That means it's up to the pet owner to not only ensure that every ratio of protein, fat, and vitamin is exactly right for their dog, but also that it's disease-free and safe to consume.

Unfortunately, that's a common concern for raw diets. PetMD journalist, Amanda Ardente (2022), explains that raw diets often lack vital nutrients. Calcium, for example, is one of the most commonly missed components, especially for growing puppies and large breeds (Ardente, 2022). An imbalance in calcium and calcium-phosphorus ratios can lead to bone deformities, coat issues, anemia, organ strain, and even toxicity if protein or fat levels are too high (Ardente, 2022). Furthermore, there isn't a universal ratio for vitamins; what works for one dog may be inadequate for another and lead to serious health complications. If you want to switch to a raw diet, first ask yourself what does raw have that another diet doesn't. If your dog needs more vitamins, just add regular supplements to their diet. If its for aesthetic purposes, why isn't cooked meat sufficient?


How do you Know if it's Working?

Another challenge with raw diets is that there's no clear feedback loop. With commercial food, if a brand doesn't agree with your dog, it's easier to troubleshoot. However, with raw, you don't always know if symptoms stem from missing nutrients, improper ratios, food allergies, or something else entirely. Even if you're using generic calorie formulas like Resting Energy Requirement (RER) or Maintenance Energy Requirement (MER), they aren't a one-size-fits-all. Even within the same breed, health status, age, and metabolism all contribute to an individuals nutritional requirements.


What About Immune-Deficient Dogs?

There is ongoing debates about whether raw diets are appropriate for dogs with compromised immune systems. Some research suggest that raw feeding can promote a healthy gut microbiome, providing natural enzymes and probiotics that may support immune function (Schmidt et al., 2018). Contrarily, other studies suggest that immunocompromised dogs are at higher risk for serious infections from pathogenic bacteria commonly found in raw meat (Freeman et al., 2013). Due to these risks and benefits, it's essential to consult a veterinarian before feeding raw to immunocompromised dogs, including seniors and puppies.


Conclusion: Is Raw Right for Your Dog and What to Watch for

When doing any kind of homestyle diet, a successful one will need to be catered for your dogs lifestyle. Raw food can be healthy, but only if it's done with precision and the right resources. It's not for every dog, and certainly not for every pet parent. The main things to consider are:

  1. If your dog is already thriving on commercial food, there's no need to switch to raw.

  2. If you're switching to raw for health reasons, consider whether supplemented cooked food could meet those goals more safely.

  3. If you do choose raw, be sure to follow strict sanitation practices, source high-quality meat, and work with a veterinary nutritionist to get the balance right.


Common raw food pit-falls (Ardente, 2022; Freeman et al., 2013):

  • Too much fat → Can lead to obesity, anemia, or pancreatitis

  • Too little fat → Dry skin, poor coat condition

  • Excess protein → Can strain liver and kidneys

  • Insufficient calcium or phosphorus → Bone deformities

  • Feeding the same protein repeatedly → Can cause allergies or intolerances


References:

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