Who else feeds RAW?

My older two are 15-16lbs and only get 1.5-2% of their weight and then my youngest gets 3% at 16lbs so really it depends on the dog... If i fed 3-4% to my older gals they'd be quite plump.

For not reading that link because you were typing as fast as you say you were, you sure took a lot of time telling me I was wrong and posting links to validate your side. Look back at your post at #123.

Now I"m just being contrary. :rofl1:

Bruzer gets about 8oz per day, he's around 22lbs. I have to watch him close as he'll pork up fast if he gets even a couple oz per day extra.

one reason i stopped feeding raw is Ruckus couldnt keep weight on him. we was eating almost double the amount that he should had been.

since i dont feed raw anymore, i should sell all those books i bought!

Yes, i followed most of it however Wayne's research points to no fox, no coyote in dog/wolf mtDNA and he also says that no other creature bred with wolf to create dog and there have been 4 (not sure of this number) major back breedings. Thats what I was going by. Read his research, I think you'll like it.

I will say that I'm only 5 months into the raw thing. So, time will tell... I may reduce my adults.

umm To be fair I haven't read all his stuff. But you can't say for sure nothing was added just looking at mitochondrial DNA. All you can say is that they share a maternal ancestor back there. It does not say the ancestor was a wolf even.

Wow. This is an INSANELY long, confusing thread... but enlightening in some ways!

All I can say is that, for me personally, I feed raw when ever that is possible. I fed my dogs raw for 2 years starting just before I adopted Fozzie. I had to switch back to feeding mostly kibble, as I was moving, didn't have an extra freezer anymore, and I got really busy. I witnessed my dogs decline in health really quickly, and that was with a premium kibble. I started having to spend extra money on all sorts of chews, I started brushing their teeth every single day, I started noticing hair everywhere, Fozzie got all pudgy, their personalities even changed. Just adding up everything more that I needed to do or add to their kibble to get them back to what I feel is ideal... raw is more than worth it!!! I feed mostly pre-made now (because of freezer space and various other reasons) and organic/free range when I am feeding prey model, but the cost and the inconvenience is a very little price to pay in the long-run. I have tried just about every kibble/freeze-dried food out there, and NOTHING compares, and NOTHING works so effortlessly well for both of my dogs who are complete individuals.

That's my experience with raw! I encourage anyone who can to try it, but I also completely understand that not everyone can feed raw, just as I couldn't for a while.

I don't know about anyone else, but I could go for a raw beer right about now!

Wow, this got long! I have not read it all, but will say comparing a particular protein in raw form to cooked form, it was more digestible in the raw form for my dog. Long story on where we are at now with food. (He is 17 and having health problems.)

This is still going? LOL

I am away and have not had a chance to read or even log into Chaz for several days, why am I not shocked this is till going?? LOL

Carry on....

If dogs came from wolves, why do they not revert back to a wolf like form when they go feral?

ALL other domestic animals do this. Case in point:

Pigs:
Domestic

Wild Boar (NOT from domestic lines)

Feral pigs, descended from escaped pinkies like the first one pictured:


Same thing with cows:

A domestic european cow

Feral cow from Amsterdam Island:

Aurochs (ancestor of domestic euro cattle)


And cats:

African wildcat, this is a wild animal, NOT feral

Feral Domestic cat:


We're all familiar with the wide range of colors and body types found in domestic cats, which quickly disappear after a couple of generations in a feral colony.

MORE

Now on to dogs:

We all know the range of appearance in domestic dogs. Some domestic dogs even bear a superficial resemblance to wolves. Perhaps some of those individual breeds have had some recent (past couple of centuries) outcrossing to wolves. GSDs are possibly one of those breeds.

Let's look at pictures of feral dogs, shall we? If they are descended from wolves, ferals should start to look wolfish, coyote-ish, or huskyish.

A picture of a Puerto Rican feral dog taken from a us gov. website:

El Yunque National Forest - Wildlife Facts


The dingo, arguably the most famous feral dog population in the world. Who have not once produced a remotely wolflike individual, in all the centuries that they have existed.


Trapping feral dogs in Mexico, deep in jungles far from any human villages. In other words, these aren't F1 or F2 stray populations.


Manuel Weber: First feral dog in Calakmul / Primer perro feral atrapado en Calakmul

DNA research on village dogs in Africa and Asia undermines the wolf = dog theory:

Village Dog Project

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/science/04dog.html

One striking thing, about ALL the feral dogs is that NONE of them look like wovles. They are all yellow/red, prick eared, DOGS.

They all look like the most ancient breeds we know, the pariah type dogs common in india, the middle east, africa. Dogs like the basenji, the yellow Carolina dogs, and Canaan dogs. It is likely, given that the wild ancestors of many domestic animals (cattle, horses, sheep, goats) are now extinct, that the ancestor of the dog was a yellow canid who is now extinct in the wild, except for feral throwbacks.

This article is a fascinating read if you're willing to have an open mind:
Darren Naish: Tetrapod Zoology: Controversial origins of the domestic dog

Good posts Romy! And it also explains why dogs don't ACT like wolves. A wild horse (for example) is still basically the same as a horse, with the same behaviour patterns. Albeit a bit more extreme in flight/fight reactions.

- though now that last link has been posted to this thread at least 2 times :lol-sign:

Romy - thanks for the post. Good info.