There is a debate about whether raw meat is safe or not for dogs. Some vets will state never to feed your dog raw meat while others will freely admit that they feed a raw diet to their own dogs.

This page is not intended to try and sway you one way or the other, it mearly tells the story of our own dogs, Ellie and Oscar, and how and why we have ended up feeding them a raw diet and subsequently stock it in the shop.

Ellie's story

Ellie, like Oscar, has never had much of a problem with her appetite. She devours pretty much everything that is in front of her. The problem we had though was keeping the weight on her. For all the different biscuit brands we tried, nothing maintained her weight well enough. It was at this point that Kellie started reading about raw meat and we decided to give it a go.
The result? Ellie no longer has weight loss issues and she never appears ravenous between meals. Her coat has also improved remarkably, taking on a fuller, glossier appearance.

Oscar's story

Ever since Oscar arrived on our doorstep aged 5 months, he had suffered from terrible skin problems, mainly on and around his paws. We were forever lathering him up with skin creams in a desperate attempt to curb the flare ups.
Up stepped the raw diet. Literally after one to two weeks, his skin problem was eradicated. A year on and his skin problems show no sign of flaring up again.

Before we continue, a couple of disadvantages to the raw diet must be highlighted:

• All types of bone, whether cooked or not, can potentially pose problems such as getting stuck in the throat - the chances of this actually occurring are minimal though. It is always advisable to not leave your dog unsupervised when eating anything.

• Raw meat can contain salmonella and e.coli, however, a dogs intestines are much more effective at dealing with foreign bodies than humans - think of the smelly places your dog ends up with his face in - if we did that we'd be ill all the time!

• Parasites can also be found in raw meat - this is easily eradicated by buying your meat frozen or freezing after purchase and thawing when required.

For those interested in exploring further:

• Can be particularly successful with fussy eaters as it smells interesting to them.

• Can be useful for those with sensitive tummies as you know exactly what is going into his body.

• Promotes a shiny coat and clean teeth.

• Dogs seem to be more content and less hungry between meals.

• Very cheap - Ellie and Oscar cost us about £1 a day between them.

• Raw food digests and is excreted in less than 24 hours. This ensures that no toxins are absorbed into the body.

• Feeding raw produces very little waste and is considerably less smelly than some commercial foods we have come across.

Tips if you want to give raw meat a try:

• A raw diet should roughly consist of 90% meat, 5% carbohydrates and 5% vegetables.

• Feed your dog roughly 3% of his bodyweight in meat each day - roughly 300g for a 10kg dog. Each meat has slightly different levels of fat so you may need to adjust this with which meat you are feeding.

• When choosing a meat supplier ensure that the meat is of human grade so that you know you are not feeding your dog harmful steroids or antibiotics that can be found in condemned meat. The meat supplied by Ellie & Oscar’s (thankfully!) is only human grade meat.

• Feed as wide a variety of meat and offal that your dog will eat including fish!

• Chicken wings make a great meal as they have a good balance of meat and bone.

• Whole rabbits and pheasants also make a great meal.

• To add variety, supplement your dogs meals with sardines or pilchards, whole raw eggs, cottage cheese and porridge.

• A teaspoon of crushed eggshells in their food every day gives an excellent calcium boost.

Try not to do the following:

• Don't feed meat and a complete biscuit in the same meal - two different meals is fine.

• Don't leave your dog unsupervised especially with multiple dogs in the same room - your dog may see it's new food as a high value prize that it will want to protect from others.