My breeder said not to feed raw meat because it will awaken his hound hunting instincts. Have you ever heard of such a thing?

Hey there,



Let me just start with a big thanks for the wonderful website and DVDs you've created. They've been a huge source of information for me and they really help me a lot!



If it wasn't for you, I would've been raising my Beagle the "old school" way and would probably have had a sadder dog to live with. I'm sure he is also very grateful for you teaching me better! :)



I've read most of the stuff you wrote about the all natural, raw diet, and I have just one thing i had a problem with and couldn't find an answer to:



The "breeders" ("breeders" because it was they're 3rd or 4th litter :D) I bought my Beagle from told me to be very careful NOT to feed my beagle raw meat, because it will "awaken" his hound hunting instincts, and he'll be running all around round town - well hunting - face down on the ground, sniffing every little inch he can find....?



He eats stuff off the ground all the time, and he almost died once (when I had just got him), he had either a slight case of parvo, or a very severe case of enteritis... he wounldn't eat OR DRINK for a whole week and survived only thanks to two daily IVs and two plasma transfusions.... and he just got sick again two weeks ago... all that being 8 months old and 3 months under my care....



This make me very worried that a raw diet will increase his off-the-ground-eating habits...



So my question is?have you ever heard about this kind of a phenomena with Beagles or any other hound/species? Is there a risk in getting a hound on raw meat?



Thanks a million,
Alex



P.S.If you have any quick tips on getting my dog to stop eating things off the ground I would be even more grateful... :)