Feeding My Dog Raw Ground Beef

by

Dogs evolved to eat mostly meat. They can consume fruits and veggies as well, but their diet needs to be made up of mostly meat. As you might imagine, meat contains tons of protein and fat – which is precisely what canines need to thrive.

Ground beef is used to make everything from burgers to tacos. It is also relatively inexpensive, which is mostly why it is used so widely by humans today. While ground beef is absolutely meat, that doesn’t necessarily mean you should share your ground beef with your canine.

Generally speaking, plain ground beef is safe for most pets. However, there is a lot you can do to ground beef that can make it unsafe. We’ll discuss these situations below.

Raw meat is likely to contain harmful bacteria like Salmonella, Listeria, E. coli and more. Cooking meat to a safe temperature kills off those harmful bacteria. By feeding uncooked meat, there’s a higher risk your dog will develop a foodborne illness or other type of bacterial infection.

A Balanced Diet is Important for Your Dog.

Feeding My Dog Raw Ground Beef

Of course, its best to make sure your dog’s diet is complete and balanced with the help of your veterinarian or canine nutritionist. Cooked ground beef also contains many vitamins and minerals, including B6, B12, B3, zinc, phosphorus, calcium, iron, and potassium. There are five different types of ground beef based on their fat percentage – we will talk more about fatty acids and fat percentages below. Remember that the nutritional value for 100g of ground beef at different fat percentages will alter the nutritional value.

Is Raw Beef Right For Your Dog?

Absolutely, dogs have forgiving digestive systems. With higher acidity in their stomachs and shorter intestinal tracts, they can eat raw meat that may harbor salmonella or listeria spores with no problem– and before you panic, some pathogens are completely normal. Remember, we’re talking real, whole, fresh food.

Feeding My Dog Raw Ground Beef

We hoomans have more sensitive digestive systems that allow those bacteria to wreak havoc for us, which is why we’re hyper-aware of naturally occurring pathogens in our food.

Any dog who is immunocompromised should avoid raw meats. With a weakened immune system, their body isn’t functioning at 100%, making them more vulnerable to pathogen loads. To not deprive these pups entirely, you could cook the beef lightly or opt for a freeze-dried option.

5 Raw Feeding Mistakes I’ve Made

A diet of ground chicken or beef (or whole chicken) isnt what people have in mind when they suggest transitioning a dog to a raw food diet. A diet that only has a ground protein doesnt contain all the nutrients our dogs need.

To make sure Im feeding a balanced diet to my dogs, I do the following:

  • I start with a base of 80% muscle meat, 10% bone, and 10% organ meat.
  • I make sure that Im adding variety and I do this by alternating the main protein each week.
  • And I then think about nutrients that arent covered by meat alone, like Omega-3 fatty acids (sardines), iodine (kelp), and, in some cases, zinc (oysters).

    • It seems complicated at first, but youll be amazed at how easy this can be once you secure sourcing and gain a better understanding of what your dog needs in the bowl.

    FAQ

    How much raw hamburger should I feed my dog?

    How Much Raw Food to Feed a Dog? Feed approximately 2-3% of your dog’s weight daily and split this between two meals. For example, a 50 pound dog would need ½ to ¾ of a pound raw dog food per meal.

    Can my dog get sick from eating raw meat?

    Eating raw meat from game animals can make pets sick. Dogs can get all the diseases and parasites that spread between game and their predators and scavengers like wolves and foxes. It is important to note that it is not legal to feed game meat to pets, with the exceptions listed below.