Is raw dog food safe?

By Jasper Bravo · Founder and Editor

Short answer: Raw feeding can work for healthy adult dogs, but it carries real risks — bacteria like Salmonella, choking or gut injury from bones, and unbalanced meals over time. The risks fall a lot when you follow a few rules: use human-grade meat from a trusted source, freeze it first, never feed cooked bones, and balance the diet over the week, not the day.

What raw feeding actually is

Raw feeding means feeding uncooked animal tissue — muscle meat, raw edible bone, liver and other organs — dosed as a percentage of ideal body weight, usually 2–3% a day for an adult (2.5% is the standard maintenance rate). The two common models differ in one place: BARF adds 10% vegetables and fruit (70% muscle meat, 10% bone, 5% liver, 5% other organ, 10% veg), while PMR — the prey model — is 80% meat, 10% bone, 5% liver, 5% organ and nothing else. The raw calculator does the split for any weight and rate.

The real risks

Three risks matter, and none of them is theoretical. Bacteria: raw meat can carry Salmonella, Campylobacter and E. coli. Healthy adult dogs often handle them without symptoms — and can still shed them in their stools, which is how the risk reaches the people in the house. Bones: cooked bones splinter and should never be fed; raw edible bones must be sized to the dog — too small and they are swallowed whole, too large and they crack teeth. Unbalanced meals: a raw diet that is just meat and bone runs short over time on iodine, vitamin E, vitamin D, manganese and omega-3s unless the meat rotation includes oily fish, eggs or a supplement. A diet that looks fine for a month can drift for a year.

The rules that lower the risks

Use human-grade meat from a source you trust, and freeze it before serving — freezing does not sterilise meat, but it is one of the few practical controls available at home. Keep raw meat, bowls and preparation surfaces separate from human food, and wash hands and bowls after every meal. Never feed cooked bones. Balance the diet over the week, not the day: the 70/10/5/5/10 or 80/10/5/5 split is a weekly average, and a single day can be heavier on one component as long as the week lands on the split. Transition over 7–10 days, and weigh the dog every two weeks — raw portions drift just like kibble portions do.

Who should not feed raw

Extra caution applies to puppies, dogs with weak immune systems, and dogs with kidney or liver disease — those need a vet-set plan, not a percentage rule. The same caution applies to the household: small children, elderly people and anyone immunocompromised should not handle raw dog food or clean up after a raw-fed dog without strict hygiene. None of this makes raw feeding wrong; it makes it a method with a hygiene bill attached, and the bill has to be paid every day, not once.

How much raw food per day

At the standard adult rate of 2.5% of ideal body weight, a 10 kg dog eats about 250 g a day, a 20 kg dog about 500 g, and a 40 kg dog about 1,000 g — split by the BARF or PMR model. Active dogs go to 3%, dogs losing weight to 2%. The exact split for any weight and rate is on the raw calculator and the 80/10/10 calculator.

Questions

Frequently asked

Can puppies eat raw food?

Vets usually advise extra caution with puppies: young dogs are more vulnerable to the bacteria raw meat can carry, and growth diets need precise calcium and mineral balance that a homemade raw mix often misses. A complete commercial puppy food, or a raw plan built with a vet nutritionist, is the safer route until adulthood.

Do I need to add vegetables to raw food?

On the BARF model, yes — 10% vegetables and fruit is part of the split, and it is the model's fibre source. On the PMR (prey-model) split there is no plant matter by design, which is why many experienced PMR feeders add oily fish, eggs or a supplement for the iodine, vitamin E, vitamin D, manganese and omega-3s the model otherwise runs short on.

Can raw food make my family sick?

Yes — raw meat can carry Salmonella, Campylobacter and E. coli, and dogs fed raw can shed those bacteria in their stools without looking ill. Wash hands, bowls and surfaces after handling raw meat, keep it separate from human food, and take extra care in households with small children, elderly people or anyone with a weak immune system.

Is BARF or PMR better?

Neither is proven better: BARF (70/10/5/5/10) includes vegetables and fruit, so it has a fibre source; PMR (80/10/5/5) mimics whole prey more strictly and runs shorter on iodine, vitamin E, vitamin D, manganese and omega-3s unless the meat rotation covers them. Pick the model you will actually balance every week, and run the numbers through the raw calculator.

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