I feed it all in the crate.

I have a sorter...right down to the yogurt and raw eggs....pretty good trick !

I feed on a shower curtain liner and wipe it down with regular dishwashing liquid on a paper towel; then I rinse it off with really hot water. I have to say I am in agreement with the article and prefer not to use all those antibacterial products. Also, if it is nice out I leave it hanging outside until the next meal.

I'm somewhat surprised by the number of people who feed raw indoors. Is there any particular reason for you guys not to just feed it outside and avoid the potential mess in the first place?

Just curious... I toss everything into the yard and that's the end of that. The smellier the meat (TRIPE... or "ripe" meats), the further it gets tossed

I did feed my youngest in the crate when she was a puppy, but only because I didn't feel like sitting around for an hour in the yard at mealtime waiting for her to finish daintily nibbling away at a whole rabbit.
Didn't bother cleaning up the crate at every meal unless there was something noticeably sticky, slimy or smelly left behind (such as squished rabbit guts, haha).

I would be careful about using the disinfecting sprays & wipes on a dog's sleeping area though. A lot of these products, such as Lysol, are skin and eye irritants. I'd certainly never apply them directly to the dog and prefer to avoid them in the dog's crate, unless the treated surface is covered with a blanket or dog bed etc. before bringing the dog back in.

While I agree that salmonella is not something you want to get sick with, it's not going to hurt you unless you actually ingest it. No need to be overly paranoid about that - it's not like there's any risk in walking on a floor that has salmonella on it.

Unless you have small children crawling around the floors sticking their hands into their mouths, I'd focus on keeping the kitchen and other food storage & preparation areas disinfected, but wouldn't worry about what may or may not be left on the dog's paws or in its crate (especially if the dog licks the crate clean of all meat juices and the area is dry afterwards).
My pup licked her entire crate clean after each meal and saved me the trouble

Regular soap & hot water hand washing before handling your own food is more than enough to keep yourself safe from whatever pathogens were present in the raw meats.

...

And then of course there's the option of just dumping the food in the yard and avoiding all the hassle in the first place...

 Quote: Yuko Blum

I'm somewhat surprised by the number of people who feed raw indoors. Is there any particular reason for you guys not to just feed it outside and avoid the potential mess in the first place?

Critters!! as in raccoons, possum, weasels, skunks, foxes and coyotes. I live on the edge of a wildlife forest reserve and even with a 6 foot fence, the wildlife can still get into the yard. There is actually a town safety program warning people against feeding pets outside and immediately cleaning grills after using them.

Good points Sheila, hadn't thought of that when I posted.

Come to think of it, I never did feed my dogs outside whenever I was travelling in bear country with them...

(Raccoons and skunks are everywhere in my neighbourhood but having 3 territorial shepherds in and out of the yard every day has caused all critters to steer wayyy clear of my home & yard no matter how much meat is put out. Hehe.)

Thanks to the help on this site, I've been feeding raw for about 3 months now. I also feed in a crate.....I have to because we live in an apartment. I don't worry about cleaning that much, Solo does a pretty good job of cleaning up after himself.

As I am packing for a week in San Diego, thought I would throw in how I feed on vacation. I usually take one mutt with me, and ALWAYS feed in the bathtub. There is no mess, and I can run the shower when he is done!

 Quote: yuko blum

While I agree that salmonella is not something you want to get sick with, it's not going to hurt you unless you actually ingest it. No need to be overly paranoid about that

Ask Ed Frawley about when he got getting sick from contact with raw meat...
After hearing that, I'm just fine wiping down the inside of the crate and anywhere else the meat comes in contact with.!

 Quote: yuko blum

And then of course there's the option of just dumping the food in the yard and avoiding all the hassle in the first place...

Not really an option here. Between critters and fire ants, and a dog that is allergic to fire ants? No way. Not only that, but it is also asking for trouble having two dogs outside with wild animals around while they are trying to eat their dinner. We have raccoons all OVER the place, and the squirrels are some mutant cousin of "normal" squirrels. And if that wasn't bad enough, the Gulls and Pelicans would take over where the land critters stopped. Think of all the juices from feeding raw... all that goes into the ground. Won't take long for animals all over the place to start camping out nearby waiting for mealtime...
Another thing to think about though:
When feeding on the ground, the dog will ingest sand and dirt with food. Over time this will build up. Depending on the soil where you live it can cause some serious problems for the digestive tract of the dog, and can also cause some life threatening issues at times.
I'd rather just "deal" with clean-up

 Quote: cameron feathers

 Quote: yuko blum

While I agree that salmonella is not something you want to get sick with, it's not going to hurt you unless you actually ingest it. No need to be overly paranoid about that

Ask Ed Frawley about when he got getting sick from contact with raw meat...

That kinda backed up what Yuko said.

Ed, if I'm not mistaken, handled the raw poultry on a camping trip and then ate an orange out-of-hand.

Ingestion, as opposed to simple contact.

That said, I'm all for hand-washing after handling raw meat as well as keeping raw meat "juice" from cross-contamination of food surfaces and prep items that are then used with other uncooked foods.

 Quote: connie sutherland

Ed, if I'm not mistaken, handled the raw poultry on a camping trip and then ate an orange out-of-hand.

Ingestion, as opposed to simple contact.

That said, I'm all for hand-washing after handling raw meat as well as keeping raw meat "juice" from cross-contamination of food surfaces and prep items that are then used with other uncooked foods.

Ingestion, yes. That is the primary route of infection. But it is much easier to GET salmonella than I used to understand... After talking to Ed about how he got it, I started changing my clean up practices, and I also started looking for how long the bacteria can survive ( had always thought it was a few days, maybe a week or so) This is one of the clearer answers that I found on this: part of a study done by the California Zoological Supply on salmonella.
( http://www.calzoo.com/html/salmonella.html )
Most of the study is about reptile care, but this still applies to those of us who feed raw and handle poultry:

"Chicken, eggs and meat are the highest source for salmonella transmission. This means raw cookie dough could be a hazard, DON'T EAT IT. The salmonella bacteria can also be transmitted to humans by cattle, pigs, dogs, cats, flies, ducks & their eggs, rats, mice, hamsters, rabbits, and cockroaches. Incubation occurs between 7 - 30 hours. On the average it takes 10 - 24 hours. The salmonella bacteria can also survive from weeks to years on surfaces exposed to the salmonella bacteria."

and further on in the study:
"To illustrate how easy the salmonella bacteria is transmitted and how long it survives, here are two actual cases. CASE #1. A man kept a large snake as a pet. Understandably, he had a large enclosure for it. To make cleaning easier for himself, he would climb into the enclosure. His snake carried the salmonella bacteria. The man picked up the bacteria on his shoes. When he was done cleaning, he transmitted it to the carpeting where his young daughter often crawled. CASE #2. A man once owned a monitor lizard, which he eventually sold. The lizard's enclosure remained untouched for a few months. In time, he cleaned the enclosure. The soiled enclosure still contained viable salmonella bacteria! All the salmonella bacteria needs is slight physical contact to be transmitted. Be careful while preparing chicken, eggs or meat and when handling animals."
Just something to keep in mind when handling the stuff, because an uncleaned floor or crate CAN lead to infection if the bacteria is present.