My mother in law was here visiting this weekend and I knew we would run into this as soon as she saw me feeding our dog her raw food.
I told her about all the research I had done, and that a raw diet was the very best I could give her and why.
Just curious what others here say to people/family about feeding raw?
Ironically, my brother in law who says that I should be feeding kibble and table scraps, his dog just died of cancer.....
maybe that is all one has to say?

I add that I just don't believe that a bag of dried food fed every day forever has any more chance of covering the dog's nutritional needs than a bowl of dry "fortified" cereal three times a day has for us. (That's IF I thought that only a kibble company, in it for the money (of course), was the only entity able to feed a dog, when what they have done is to reverse what the dog has eaten for eons, dried it, sprayed flavorings and fat on it, and given it an almost-infinite shelf life.)

Fresh food or bags of dried by-products and grain fractions .... hmmmm ......

I have always explained that dogs and cats are carnivores, and I don’t feel that feeding them corn and grains as large part or even majority of it can ever be good for them in any way. Any more than feeding a child nothing but a fortified cereal every day. Their digestive systems are set up to digest meat, and my horses system is set up to digest hay.

I always follow it up with a line like, “I don’t condemn people that don’t feel the same way, because I used to feed regular dog food too, but if you are interested, I have tons of books, articles and two dogs and a cat that are happy and healthy. Oh yeah, and it ends up being cheaper in many different ways!”

It is non-confrontational, and opens up dialog. But the healthy, shiny, muscled dogs speak for the diet. They usually acknowledge that it makes sense and if they are interested, I direct them to this site (and especially the FREE e-book, it's at the top of the list!) and a couple of others by giving them my business card with all of the sites neatly written on the back. (I am a real estate agent after all!)

Joyce, it sounds like what you said worked perfectly in your situation.

I like Jessica's approach.

You'll attract more flies with sugar than with vinegar.

Anything perceived as an attack on the way someone cares for their dog will be met with closed hears. They'll skip learning and go completely defensive.

The way Jessica does it, puts the invitation for info on the table. Not forcing an opinion on someone also makes you look more confident about your choice, IMO. People that are always pushing their agenda or getting defensive when questioned can come off like they are trying to convince themselves that they are doing right.

The ones that want to hear will.

Easy for me:

I started the raw diet because Sailor had horrible breath! I started with 3 bone nights a week to keep his teeth cleaner, but I didn't like having to maintain two diets, so I switched to all raw.

Raw is amazing! It's the only thing that's given Shabbado close to 100% good poops, size small, smell almost nothing. If she'd been fine on kibble we might never have made the switch.

I thought that I explained myself pretty well with my mother in law, however when she returned home and called me to thank me for the nice weekend, she said that she was concerned and that I should really be cooking the food!
I realize that many people are programmed to believe that cooked or kibbled foods are the way to go. I tried to reiterate my knowledge with her and she just said that she would butt out.
I know that I am doing the right thing, but it is strange having her thinking we are the crazy ones, feeding raw.
There wasn't a bad exchange or anything like that at all, but I was just interested in what others encountered when they tell their families or friends when met with resistance.
I chuckle to myself, just thinking that I had done a good job explaining things to her, only to have her tell me later that she is concerned about the raw and that I should be heating the food!! LOL! I tried my best, but hey, you can't convince all the people all the time.

My mother thinks I'm nuts.

Actually, everything I do with the dog she thinks is too much but she's the first to say how beautiful and well-behaved he is.

I'm of the belief that the more you try to make your argument and convince someone, the more you weaken your position. So I make a statement "this is why I feed raw"...short and sweet...and on to the next subject. It's not debatable so I never encourage a discussion unless someone is genuinely interested and curious.

"They" can be horrified all they want. But I'll bet my dog is healthier than theirs.

I'm in nursing school, and the other day I told another student that I feed my dog raw meat and bones. He gave me a horrified look and said, "My mom has Miniature Schnauzers, and her vet told her that they evolved to be vegetarians!"

Wow. I thought that I had heard all of the stupid vet stories, but that one amazed me. I explained to him that all dogs are carnivores, but I don't think I convinced him. After all, I'm not the expert vet.

Like Sarah said, some people will always think we're crazy, but we know how healthy our dogs are.

Here is what I say.

If you were to let your dog wild in the forest to fend for it's self, the dog would:

A: Hunt down animals, cook them over a fire and then eat them
B: Hunt down animals and eat them raw
C: Search for a field of corn, and munch away
D: Get lazy and have a nap
E: All of the above