I've been on the look out for Dr. Ian Billinghursts book Give your dog a bone and some how came across this http://www.airgunbbs.com/forums/showthread...t=261154&page=2 it's a forum where they're talking about raw feeding and one of them (GOLD 3/4 way down page) has put up a list of foods 'not to be on your dogs menu' and while i agree with most of it, one of the things on the list is raw liver, i thought that it was alright to give your dog raw liver?

It's perfectly okay to give your dogs raw liver which you would have read if you'd carried on with the rest of the posts on that site, oh and by the way that 'purdey' talks a load of rubbish and clearly doesn't know what they are on about mine had deer liver this very evening. Just go easy on the amount you feed in one time, couple of ounces once a week.
Check if feeding any liver that it hasn't got yellow spots or lumps in it, don't use if it has but if it's been bought for human consumption it should defo be clear of these if not take it back and insist on a replacement.
If you really want to go raw then ask on here, there are loads of us feeding it and we can give you all the info you want without you getting scared off by talk from people who really haven't got a clue about it, if you can't trust us on ST and have any fears about feeding raw then just don't do it, simple as that, keep feeding commercial food!

Sandy

First off i did read all of the posts and i was pretty sure that raw liver was okay to give them i was just a bit surprised that someone had put it on a list of foods not to give dogs along with chococlate etc and just wanted to make sure that i had my facts right (it doesn't harm to double check )
Also i wouldn't take advice from a forum like that as alot on the two pages that i read i didn't agree with, however i do trust advice of the people on this forum and i apologise if it came across that i didn't. If i didn't trust the advice given on here i wouldn't be asking so many questions-i even take notes as i have a horrendous memory
And i can honestly say that from everything i've read on the internet (alot of it being a load of rubbish) i always feel like i will get an honest answer when i ask on here. As i said in my previous post i wasn't looking for advice on raw when i came across that post i was actually looking for a book
I won't be continuing feeding commercial food as the people on this forum have given me the confidence to start raw feeding (as soon as i can get a freezer ) before i started asking questions on here there was no way that i would have felt able to feed raw, but i'm learning such alot and to anyone who has helped me i thank you

You're perfectly entitled to look for advise anywhere you like. There are people with contradicting views on different matters on raw feeding anyway (but not to feed liver raw is rubbish), but quite a few have different views whether to feed carbs or veg, but as I went and do go along I form my own opinion. For example I tried to give Fipps a spoonful of pulped raw veg just a fter I started feeding raw, but the smells she produced after eating it made me stopping that pretty quickly.

Hiya Christine, thanks for pointing me in the direction of BritBarf very interesting and helpful. I want to learn as much as i can and between BritBarf and this forum i think i'm on a winner I'm so desperate for a freezer but typical when i'm looking there doesn't seem to be any in my area so i'll probably have to buy new, but i'm REALLY looking forward to starting.
The biscuits my two are on at the minute (Natural dog food company) are bringing my GSD out in patches of what look like eczema, i'm in the middle of switching them over onto Burns fish and rice-i'm just trying to find something that will suit them till i get a freezer.
I really don't know what can be in the Natural dog food company's food as it isn't supposed to have any artificial colours, preservatives etc, it doesn't have any wheat, gluten, maize, soya or any other cereals, basically going by the ingredients and what it doesn't have in it i wouldn't have thought it would have caused any upset but there's obviously something not suiting her i just hope the Burns will be alright for a week or so-can't wait to start raw.

Mine love deer liver....and heart ....and kidney

My two aren't keen on raw liver, for some reason. But love it if I dry it out in the oven as use it as a dried treat.

As has been said, raw liver is perfectly ok, but some dogs get the runs if they eat too much of it. Rhian loves it and has no trouble with a regular helping.

That list is really a mixture of right and false. For instance it's not the walnuts that are toxic, but the green outer shell is often infected by some nasty fungus which can kill a dog. The nut itself is harmless.

I may be completely wrong here - but I thought the main ingredient in these foods is/was cereals????? In which case it could be that.

A simple intolerance can be to almost anything, and as for true food allergies, almost any protein can cause it. In countries where beef is commonly found in kibbles, allergies to beef protein are most frequent. If on the other hand chicken is more commonly used, negative reactions to chicken are observed more often. Same with cereals - in the beginning, it was mostly wheat and maize, and so you would get allergic reactions to it. Now rice is mor widely used - and more and more dogs cannot tolerate it. This goes on and on.....

It can also depend on the processing. Sometimes a dog will react to a highly processed ingredient, while the same ingredient in a more natural state will cause no reaction at all.

I have just looked up the product mentioned and have found the declaration of ingredients very vague....

The ingredients on the bag are as follows:
Cerals (brown rice min. 34%)
Meat and animal derivatives** (chicken min.23%)
Vegetables (min.15%)

**Excusively from gutted and plucked chicken carcasses.
No other meats or meat parts are used.

Protein 20%
Oil 8.5%
Fibre 3%
Ash 5%

It doesn't say on the bag but on their website it says that there are 100% natural vitamins and minerals in there as well and it goes on to list them all.

It also states that there are No artificial products of any description, no wheat or wheat gluten, maize, soya or any other cereals commonly associated with allergy or intollerace, no unsuitable by products or fillers, no sugars, no GM products, no dairy and no added salt in their products.

So after reading that i thought it would suit my two fine but how wrong could i have been Anyway they're both off it now and on Burns fish and rice so fingers crossed that it will suit them for now.

What does natural mean? Is it just a catchy word or is it a protected word with meaning like 'organic'. In Germany the word bio was not protected so a lot of things were called bio...bio bread, bio meat, bio tomatoes, bio chewing gum ...you name it . I don't know.

I personally would stay away from a kibble which has cereal as it's main ingredient and uses meat derivates. But this is my pers opinion. To be honest, my personal opinion is to stay away from kibble altogether, but never mind. (I know you want to switch, I just mean this as a general statement).

I'm a bit cynical maybe, but I wonder who they want to fool when they call kibble 'wellbeing' for example or 'prescribtion diet'

Edited to say...23% meat and animal derivates...when Fipps has chicken on the menu it's 100% chicken and I really believe it is better for her

Perhaps the chicken? One of my trio has a bad allergy to chicken. As has been said - it could be almost anything. The only way to be sure would be to do skin scrapes then allergy -*test*-('")ing.

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