I need help shopping for raw foods at the grocery store for my dog.

When you buy food for your dog, make sure to get organic USDA in order to avoid giving him chemicals, antibiotics, or steroids used in food growing.  (Especially when it comes to roots as they absorb everything including unwanted chemicals from the ground).

We began feeding our dogs prepared foods from the grocery store about a year ago, and have not been in the vet ill since.  We have a 11 year old Pomeranian, a 6 year toy Yorkie, and a 1 year old Papillion.  After a couple of months of giving them foods we prepared, they began having more energy, and their coats were beautiful as well.

Your Vet should give you a list of foods to avoid with dogs that will cause harm or death...including grapes, and coco for starters.

We bake or boil organic chicken mostly as their meat source, though they get turkey at holidays.  We use no spices at all.  The brothe is then mixed after cooling with blended vegetables (we use are fresh organic spinach, beets, carrots, peas.  We blend these up as our dogs are picky and wont eat them any other way) and poured into ice cube trays...then frozen for later feedings.  We cook batches to reduce the time we are in the kitchen...it's easier that way.  The meat is diced up in little pieces because our dogs are small, and divided into servings...then frozen.

The grain they get is whole grain oatmeal that we cook without any sugar, or spices.  They also get brown rice cooked.

We purchase fresh organic apples, blueberries, strawberries, bananas, and slice them on top of their meal each time, or sometimes slice and freeze.

You can have fun cooking for your pet, and I promise they will love you for giving them a variety of food instead of the same crunch.  We began preparing our dog's food because of their health, vet bills, and we found little bugs in expensive food once.  Yuk!  You can switch around the way you serve the food to make it interesting for your dog.  Be sure to get a list of foods to avoid from the Vet, and use no spices or sugar when preparing their food.  You can use vegetable oil in small amounts when baking chicken in a baking dish.  The amount of food you give your dog will be approximately the same amount as he eats normally in volume.  Ours eat a little less and maintain perfect weight....you will have to watch your dog's weight when first starting food.  We did not gradually introduce "real" food to our dogs either...and let me tell you that they all had sensitive stomachs when eating any kind of "dog food".  We no longer have to deal with that.

We had our dog's blood work drawn 6 months after they began eating better than we do really...and everything was normal.  There are other foods you can give your dog as well.  The ones I told you about are ones I thought of now...ask your vet for more options.

As far as your dogs coat, you can give omega fish oil capsules that help skin and coats.  If you live in a wet area and your dog's coat is staying wet, that will cause hair loss and itching.  Try to avoid that.  Dog's can be allergic to things that cause skin problems, and have a multitude of skin conditions as well...that your vet should know all about.

Hope that helps,

Julie

My dog eats vegetables all the time, he really prefers it to meat. He will eat lettuce, carrots which are great for dogs,raw or cooked, he likes raw potatoes, both   baking  and sweet,onions but they are a no no the vet said.He likes everything I eat except popcorn and I don't know why he want eat it. I buy right off the grocery shelf and the vet said he is healthy, has muscles instead of fat and his teeth are good. Has your dog been around where he could have got the mange? The raw spots are one of the signs of mange that dogs do pick up from other dogs.Put some vaseline on the spots to soothe it.He may lick some of it off, put it want hurt him.I feel for you and the dog. Hope he gets better soon. 

The best thing you can do for your dog is completely avoid the advice of clunks, cranks, eco-freaks, and vegetarians!  In case you hadn't noticed, dogs are carnivores and can live on a diet of small game -- if they eat the entire captured animal.

Look to your vet for answers, not to clatterbrain vegetarians on Yedda.

If your current vet lacks an answer, then talk to another vet.  Do not tell the next vet about prior veterinary treatments as the prior vet may cover his behind at your dog's expense -- they can be that unethical.

IAMS dog food (as prescribed) might be your best bet.  Also, treat the scabs much more aggressively: demodex or sarcoptic mange can present in patches.  Heart worms (micrifilaria) can present as skin lesions also -- when they clump under the skin.  If you have a simple bacterial infection, wash it daily with iodine soap, and once dry, coat with antibiotic salve.  Install a "cone collar" to prevent the dog from licking off the medication.

If none of this works, consider the unthinkable: might your buddy be in such misery that he'd want to get it over?  if so, humane euthanasia is the humane option.

If so, talk to the humane society and adopt a new buddy.

www.iams.com

Although cats are carnivores, dogs are actually omnivores, so a well-balanced diet of meat and vegetables is good for them.  Spices are unnecessary, and simple prep is better.  Typically a mix of vegetables and cooked meats in a base of brown rice will do the trick, although some foods are not okay, such as grapes, onions, chocolate, etc.  You can get a list of foods that are toxic to dogs from your vet.  Like people, they need small amounts of oils for coat, skin, etc.  Be careful with fats though, as too much can lead to pancreatitis in dogs.

Also, contrary to the post above, do NOT use vaseline on the hot spots.  Vaseline should NOT be ingested - it is a pertroleum based product.  You might try some of the Burt's Bees products which for the most part of safe, even if ingested.