Hi, just a quick question about the raw food diet. I have a 7 mos old working GSD. Currently I'm feeding her Medi Cal from a friend of mine who's a vet. No complaints at all, good stool, lots of energy and a great coat. I'm always looking to do better though so I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with the type of food I'm using and then switching to Raw. Benefits/drawbacks etc. Thanks!

Grant

QUOTE: Hi, just a quick question about the raw food diet. END

You're kidding, right? Quick question? LOL!

This is so well-covered on this board already that I'm putting in a link here to a recent thread. And the "search" feature will return lots more, too.

Looked up the ingredient list of your current food and wasn't very impressed (lots of corn, for one thing).

Some people have suggested that a good way to start to improve the commercial diet is to supplement it with real food (and I'm among those people). One reason I like that baby step is that a sudden 100% diet change can cause intestinal distress. So even if you're switching from a terrible diet to a wonderful one, MHO is that gradual is best.

The members of this board are extremely informed about canine nutrition, and I know you'll receive B.A.R.F., modified B.A.R.F., and best-of-the-commercial info. Also, if you look at Ed Frawley's articles (go to the Home page and click on "Training Articles," where you'll find "Breeding, Feeding, and Health"), you'll find more expert opinion.

The link below will take you to a thread that contains lots of URLs to detailed B.A.R.F. sites as well as comparisons among various commercial foods.

http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php/Cat/0/Number/4147857/an//page/0/vc/1