We love our dogs and they love us back. This is why we find it suitable to share a lot of things with our “best friends”. Be it your love, your living space and sometimes even your food. What you fail to notice in all this is that no matter how good it feels to share that slice of pepperoni pizza with him, his body isn’t made to digest all those carbs and processed meat. Your dog like a wolf needs protein and good fat for a healthy and hygienic body. Right from the way your dog behaves to kind of coat he has, everything depends on the food he eats and for him, nothing beats the good old raw food diet.

Here are five reasons why you should only feed raw food to your beloved friend.

Higher energy level

Face it, you don’t like it when your dog shrugs away your invitation to fetch with lethargy. If your dog too has been seemingly tired for reason beyond your comprehension, chances are that his diet might be the culprit.

Dry and processed foods are usually full of carbohydrates and sugars, both of which don’t promise any positive behavior from your dog. In addition, processed foods are full of chemicals and preservatives, which may be safe for humans* but not for dogs.

Raw food, such as raw meat, on the other hand, is full of proteins and good fat, which is what your dog’s digestive system is made to process. Just feed your dog a raw food diet for a week and you should see a marked improvement in his behavior and energy levels.

Better dental hygiene

You cannot ask your dog to brush his teeth twice each day. So how do they maintain their dental hygiene? Well, proponents of dry food for dogs suggest that dry foods, especially kibble, help clean a dog’s teeth. Kibble, as we all know, is crunchy and might be the worst food item that claims to clean teeth. It’s like asking a 5 year old kid to stop brushing his teeth and eat lots of nachos to clean his teeth. It sound’s absurd, doesn’t it?

There are three main kinds of dental debris – plaque, food particles, calculus (tartar). While food particles are the easiest to clean, plaque can be removed by brushing and for removing tartar you have to book an appointment with your dentist.

For dogs, it’s usually their food that has to act in multiple ways to clean all forms of dental debris. When your dog eats meat from the bone, the eating process massages his oral cavity, while the food’s mildly abrasive nature removes plaque and prevents other dental diseases such as tartar, calculus and periodontal disease. Simply put, your pet’s teeth are made to eat meat from a bone and not something that comes out from a can. (a great reason to add Edibones to your dogs diet)

Better coat

We all know that hair is a protein filament and the more protein you have in your diet, the better your hair would be. Well, things are quite similar for your dog too. Dogs need a diet that’s loaded with protein and good fat for a glowing coat.

Dry food is often a blend of carbohydrates and low-quality protein. Needless to say, this low quality protein, which often times is made from vegetable sources with a sprinkling of ‘meat meal’ results in poor skin and coat quality. Raw meat, on the other hand, has high quality protein and high quality good fat. Both of these ingredients give your dog a fuller, shinier coat and better skin. (Back2Raw pet cuisine has an ideal ratio of protein to fat, click hear to learn more.)

To top it all up, raw food contains a blend of essential nutrients including vitamin A, B and E that are essential for processing protein and fats. Dry food manufactures add these nutrients by form of supplementation to the mix, but the fact remains that these nutrients are usually destroyed in the cooking process and long storage as they have a limited shelf life. If you want to nourish your dog’s coat with essential nutrients, fresh raw meat is the way to go.

Improved muscle strength & body composition

What do you eat when you want to build up your muscle mass? Your answer probably would be protein-rich foods and not carbohydrates. Dogs too need a protein-rich diet for better muscular tone. Fresh protein and good fat in raw meat help shed carbohydrate fat and improve muscle strength. Moreover, as the chewing action of raw food diet involves crushing of bones and shredding of meat, it helps building up strength in your dog’s shoulder, neck and back muscles.

Cereals and other dry food items are rich only in carbs and increase your dog’s weight. Fresh raw meat tones his muscles to reveal his firm body.

Aids digestion

Processed food manufacturers add salt and artificial flavour coatings to dog food to make it palatable for them. Without these, your friend won’t even go near that food. However, the additional salt & chemicals in dry and processed foods makes dogs dehydrated leading to drinking more water and passing more urine. This stresses their digestive system and may result in a kidney disease.

You won’t have to add salt or chemicals to fresh meat to make your dog eat. Moreover, proteins & fats metabolize throughout the entire digestive tract. This results in gastric juices being released slowly to properly digest his meal, resulting in firmer stools and an improved digestive track.

Bottom Line

Dogs are like wolves and for them, nothing is healthier than a well balanced raw diet. They need a healthy dose of proteins, fats and essential nutrients like vitamin A, B and E. Just by cutting processed foods from your pet’s diet you will see a positive difference in his energy levels, behavior, digestion, muscle tone, dental health and coat.

Love your pet as much as he loves you and feed him Back2Raw.