Quote: Cheri Grissom

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

 Quote: Melissa Hoyer

My Kira has a tendency to get a little tube shape to her, even though she is raw fed. She's just a tough dog to balance because she really doesn't NEED much food, but she's very active and gets very hungry.

Tube shape is better than the dreaded pickle shape!

I was thinking exactly the same thing.

LOL...no dog of mine will ever be pickle shaped!!! She did earn herself the nickname "toobie" though.

 Quote: Duane Hull

Tresa;

Just because a food is a kibble doesn't mean it's biologically inappropriate, any moreso than is a raw diet which contains supplements that the dog wouldn't get in a wild diet.
There are some excellent dog foods on the market.

A diet containing grains or other carbs is far inferior on a cellular metabolic perspective plus cooking denatures the protein and other nutrients...not to mention the food is stored for long periods, not fresh. I could go on and on. Obviously nothing beats a fresh killed whole animal fed an idea diet...but raw is as close as most can get.

 Quote: Duane Hull

They may not be for you, but that doesn't mean that those who choose to feed kibble are any less health-conscious than anyone else.

Never said that...has nothing to do with caring. People who feed kibble love their dogs too. Everybody has their reasons for whatever the diet, no reasons are inferior, some may be based on lack of/or abundance knowledge, lack of money, availability, convenience or who knows.

Edited by Connie Sutherland (01/11/2013 07:48 PM)
Edit reason: restored broken post

:-( It ate my post.







Note: I fixed it. Part of quote tags missing.

Edited by Connie Sutherland (01/11/2013 07:48 PM)
Edit reason: mod note inserted

 Quote: Tresa Hendrix

 Quote: Duane Hull

They may not be for you, but that doesn't mean that those who choose to feed kibble are any less health-conscious than anyone else.

Never said that...

"atrophied pudgy kibble fed dogs"

People like their dogs fat. Fat dogs don't need as much exercise. Not every home can cope with a dog that needs 2 - 4 hrs of energy burning activities per day. People LIKE couch potatoes.

Not arguing in favor of kibble or obesity but many obese dogs are just adored.

A friend of mine has 3 border collies that are always fat. They were fat when she fed kibble and fat when she fed raw. She feels bad for them when she thinks they're hungry, so she overfeeds. Plus, I think she just gets used to seeing them like that and it becomes normal in her mind, even though I point it out every time I see them.

 Quote: Duane Hull

 Quote: Tresa Hendrix

 Quote: Duane Hull

They may not be for you, but that doesn't mean that those who choose to feed kibble are any less health-conscious than anyone else.

Never said that...

"atrophied pudgy kibble fed dogs"

Yes they tend to have mess muscle mass and tend to be overweight more often. Just an observation, not a judgement of the owners morality towards their dogs.

It's not the kibble that does that. It's the table scraps and Beggin Strips and dog biscuits.

By far the vast majority of top performing dogs are kibble fed, both in sport and in real working dogs.

When you say observation, how big is the sample pool of raw-fed dogs that you observed? I only personally know one raw feeder, and she only recently started making the switch. Her dogs were in top shape when she was still on kibble.

If my dog is atrophied, my morality does need to be questioned. She's not. She's in peak condition and will rival any dog by any measure in terms of muscle tone and fitness.

Edited by Duane Hull (01/12/2013 06:23 PM)
Edit reason: eta

 Quote: Tresa Hendrix

 Quote: Duane Hull

 Quote: Tresa Hendrix

 Quote: Duane Hull

They may not be for you, but that doesn't mean that those who choose to feed kibble are any less health-conscious than anyone else.

Never said that...

"atrophied pudgy kibble fed dogs"

Yes they tend to have mess muscle mass and tend to be overweight more often. Just an observation, not a judgement of the owners morality towards their dogs.

and you don't think maybe this has to do with the shear number of dogs on kibble or the fact that raw fed feeders are more likely to understand portion control, exercise requirements, etc/

Of COURSE most of the dogs you SEE who are eating kibble (which is going to be most dogs you see) may be more likely to be chubbier or less muscled...why? Well most (if not all on a daily basis) going to be primarily the pet community or casual weekend warrior agility types....how many times have you (as in the forum) told people on here raising a working dog not to bring it to places like petstores or into situations where you as an average person walking down the street are going to observe the dog and learn of it's eating habits? I tend to talk about dog's diets with people with their dogs in the pet stores...pet dog people...who's dogs do seem more likely to be fat. It has nothing to do with the dog not eating raw, the dogs are eating to much. Working from observation you're not getting a good sample. Go to a local training club and guess which dogs, based on physical appearance alone, are eating kibble and which are eating raw....good luck with that.....


To answer the OP question, yes, a lot of them, all part of the pet community. Yet more of the working dogs or active dogs I see are pretty equal in muscle tone (breed specifics aside) are are healthy weight, and many of them are on kibble. I do not have the money or space to feed raw, my dogs on on kibble. Ryuk's not as freaky body-builder like as normal but he's far from chubby or atrophied. It has nothing to do with his primarily kibble diet, there's to much snow to bike with him and I have no skis so we're only getting in 1-2 hours a day of hard exercise. Gam only juuuuust turned two so there has been no focus on getting his muscle mass up. He's doing bitework again and he suddenly has grown a neck in the past week and a half...and is eating kibble...

Fat dogs aren't a product of their diet. They are a product of the person feeding them!