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The Truth About Raw Diets for Dogs — Calgary

Raw diets for dogs are popular, passionate, and poorly supported by veterinary evidence. AAHA, the Australian Veterinary Association, WSAVA, and the vast majority of veterinary nutrition bodies do not recommend raw diets due to documented contamination risks, zoonotic transmission potential, and the nutritional imbalances common in homemade formulations. That does not mean raw-feeding communities are wrong about everything — but it does mean the claims made about raw diets often outpace the evidence significantly.

Key Context

Why This Matters

Educational

The risks of raw diets are not theoretical. Studies show 10–35% of commercially prepared raw diets test positive for Salmonella contamination. Raw-fed dogs shed pathogenic bacteria in their feces at higher rates for 1–7 days following a raw meal — a direct environmental and public health concern for households with immunocompromised members, young children, or elderly people. For group daycare facilities that handle feces from multiple dogs daily, raw-fed dogs are a meaningful biosafety variable.

Evidence-Based

Key Facts

Source: 2021 AAHA Nutrition and Weight Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats

10–35% of commercially prepared raw diets test positive for Salmonella contamination

2021 AAHA Nutrition and Weight Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats

Raw-fed dogs shed pathogenic bacteria (Salmonella, Campylobacter, E. coli) in feces at higher rates for 1–7 days following a raw meal

2021 AAHA Nutrition and Weight Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats

AAHA, WSAVA, and the Australian Veterinary Association all advise against raw diets due to food safety risks, zoonotic transmission, and nutritional imbalance concerns

2021 AAHA Nutrition and Weight Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats

Homemade raw diets are nutritionally incomplete in the majority of recipes evaluated — most lack adequate calcium, phosphorus, or trace minerals

2021 AAHA Nutrition and Weight Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats

Commercially prepared raw diets are lower-risk than homemade but are not free from contamination risk — high-pressure processing (HPP) reduces but does not eliminate pathogen load

2021 AAHA Nutrition and Weight Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats

Bone fragments in raw diets are a documented cause of dental fractures and gastrointestinal perforation — cooked bones are not safe either

2021 AAHA Nutrition and Weight Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats

Action Steps

What Owners Should Do

Practical steps you can take right now.

  1. 1

    If you feed raw, use food-safe handling protocols: separate cutting boards, gloves during preparation, immediate surface sanitisation, thorough handwashing after handling food and your dog

  2. 2

    Store raw food separately from human food in a clearly labelled container; thaw in the refrigerator, not on the counter

  3. 3

    Disclose raw feeding to your vet, your dog groomer, and your daycare — it is relevant biosafety information

  4. 4

    Do not allow immunocompromised household members, elderly people, or young children to handle raw food or to clean up after a raw-fed dog

  5. 5

    If choosing commercially prepared raw, select brands that use high-pressure processing (HPP) and can provide pathogen testing results

  6. 6

    Have your dog's diet assessed by a board-certified veterinary nutritionist if feeding homemade raw — most home recipes are nutritionally incomplete without professional formulation

Red Flags

Warning Signs to Watch For

Know when something needs attention.

  • Diarrhoea, vomiting, or lethargy in the dog after starting a raw diet — Salmonellosis can affect dogs as well as humans
  • Household members experiencing gastrointestinal illness following handling of raw dog food or the raw-fed dog
  • Tooth fractures or swallowing difficulty following raw bone feeding
When to See a Vet

If your dog shows gastrointestinal symptoms after switching to raw — including diarrhoea, vomiting, or bloody stool — see your vet. Request fecal pathogen testing. If a household member develops gastrointestinal symptoms and you feed raw, mention the dog's diet to your physician immediately. Salmonellosis in humans acquired from raw-fed pets is a documented medical event, not a theoretical concern.

From the Pack

The PAWS Perspective

What We See

We handle feces from 20–40 dogs every single day. That is a daily reality for our staff, and it is one reason we take raw feeding disclosure seriously. We are not anti-raw — we are honest about what raw feeding means in a shared physical environment where staff hygiene and health matters.

How Daycare Connects

Raw feeding is a disclosure item at PAWS. We adjust our handling protocols when we know a dog is raw-fed. If you switch diets, update us. This is the same way we'd ask you to tell us about a new medication or a health condition — it's information we need to manage your dog safely.

Eric's Take
"I don't tell owners what to feed their dog — that's between them and their vet. What I do ask is that they tell us if they're feeding raw, because it changes how we manage the back-end of daycare. Most raw-feeding owners are completely reasonable about this once they understand why we ask. It's not a ban — it's just communication."

— Eric Yeung, Owner, PAWS Dog Daycare

Honest Note

Some raw-fed dogs in our care are thriving by every measure. We're not making a blanket health claim about raw diets — we're being transparent about the biosafety context that is specific to a group care environment. Your vet is the right source for dietary guidance.

Common Questions

The Truth About Raw Diets for Dogs — FAQs

My dog has been on raw food for two years and is perfectly healthy — why change?
Individual outcomes are not the same as population-level safety. Your dog may be thriving — and that is genuinely good. But the biosafety risk is primarily to the humans and other animals in the environment, not always to the dog itself. A Salmonella-shedding dog can infect household members without showing any symptoms themselves.
Isn't raw food what wolves eat? Isn't it more natural?
Wolves also have significantly shorter lifespans, higher rates of dental pathology from bone fractures, and no access to veterinary care. Evolutionary naturalness is not the same as optimal health. Dogs have been domesticated for 15,000+ years and have adapted digestive systems that differ from their wild ancestors in meaningful ways.
My raw food brand says it's been tested and is pathogen-free — is that safe?
Pathogen testing is better than no testing — and brands that provide it are being transparent, which matters. But testing is done on batches, not individual packages, and contamination risk is never zero. High-pressure processing (HPP) is the most effective mitigation currently available for commercially prepared raw.
Will you refuse my raw-fed dog at daycare?
We do not prohibit raw feeding. We ask owners to disclose it so that our staff handle your dog's feces with appropriate protocols. This is not a judgment on your diet choice — it is a straightforward biosafety measure for a shared environment.
What do vets actually have against raw food?
The concerns are specific and evidence-based: documented contamination rates in commercial raw products, documented zoonotic transmission events, and consistent nutritional incompleteness in homemade raw recipes. Vets are not philosophically opposed to raw feeding — they are responsible for communicating the documented risks.
Are there any benefits to raw feeding that are scientifically supported?
Improved coat condition and stool quality are the most commonly reported owner observations, and some limited studies support these. Claimed benefits like improved immune function, cancer prevention, and longevity do not have robust supporting evidence. The benefits that do appear can often be achieved with a high-quality conventional diet without the safety tradeoffs.
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