What Types of Meat are Good?
From a safety standpoint, it’s best to feed raw ground beef from a high-quality source such as a local farm or co-op. Grocery store ground beef is ok to provide but is not as high quality as a local farm. If the raw ground beef is grass-fed, that’s also a plus! Salmonella and other harmful bacteria can be present in raw meat, so high-quality beef is key to reducing bacterial risks.
Unfortunately, a raw meat diet is not as simple as putting raw ground beef, eggs, and bones for calcium in a dog bowl and feeding it. You need to make sure that you are meeting nutrient requirements for your dog using NRC or AAFCO standards, and a raw diet like the one listed above would considerably fall short in meeting nutrient requirements. Dog owners who want to feed a raw diet are best off feeding a commercial raw pet food product to meet nutrient requirements or working with a canine nutritionist for a complete and balanced recipe.
Feeding Raw Ground Beef to Dogs
From a nutritional standpoint, the nutrient values of raw ground beef will differ from cooked ground beef, which also depends on the percentage of fat in the ground beef. Contrary to popular belief, it is a myth that cooking ground beef or other foods destroys nutrients. It does not destroy them; it just changes them. Raw meat fed to dogs has its pros and cons, and you, as the dog owner, need to decide what is best for your dog.
Should you feed your dog ground beef cooked or raw?
Canines indeed have a more robust digestive tract than we do, especially when it comes to meat. Many dogs can eat raw meat and be just fine. However, raw meat can contain bacteria and parasites that can cause problems for your canine. Many people swear by the raw diet, but there is little evidence that raw food is safer or better for dogs than cooked food.
Cooking the meat removes many of these parasites and much of the bacteria raw beef can include. For this reason, we generally recommend feeding your canine cooked ground beef. While they may not get sick from raw ground beef, there is some additional risk involved.
Can Dogs Eat Raw Ground Beef? | DogVela
There have been many articles listing the risks of raw feeding to dogs and their humans. I agree that if we feed raw and never wash our hands, we may have a problem. However, most of the information in these articles is a crock. I readily point out that Im not a pet nutritionist or a veterinarian, however, I dont think I need to be one to know how to wash my hands after handling raw meat. And after feeding a raw food diet to my dogs for several years (we started April 2013) and not getting sick, I think I know something.
But that doesnt mean that raw feeders dont make mistakes. In fact, Ive made a few.