'Taste for blood' myth

Emoi

I have always gone along with the belief that feeding your dog raw meat is a very bad idea, as it gives them a taste for blood.

We have three dogs, live in the countryside and every three years there are lambs or cattle in the field beside us, so obvious we were very worried about the dogs developing 'a taste for blood'.

But recently I have been reading about the huge health benefits of raw food for carnivous animals and how feeding them raw meat doesn't mean they will go out hunting.

It makes sense really that they should be eating what is natural for them instead of the over-processed, dried dog food.

Any opinions on feeding dogs raw meat, will it encourage hunting??

Zapperzy

While I have never gone over to the RAW diet completely I do feed the occasional raw chicken wing to my terrier, and he wants no more but to chase all other animals now than before I started feeding them to him. It's a behavioural thing that he has always had no matter what food I feed him, feeding raw chicken does not make him want to go hunting chickens anymore than before.

Anyways think about it how exactly would a dog associate a piece of raw steak to the cow in the field next to you?

I can't offer any advice on feeding a raw diet but I'm sure others will be able to advice better.

kylith

My dogs are fed dry food, but do get the occasional chicken wing or bit of oxtail. They've also bagged the odd rat or bird in the garden or by the canal. They both have had a high prey drive from the day they arrived, but it definitely hasn't made them more likely to bite people.

I don't understand where this myth has come from. What do people think dogs were fed before the advent of commercially produced food?

Chris_Heilong

Taste for blood is just an old wives tale, dogs are build to eat raw meat which is exactly what I feed my guys and they are in the best of health, I am totally turned off when I see Ki**ble, its full of additives and things dogs cant digest. All this talk of cancer in dogs that I hear I would put down to diet more than genetics. Best thing I ever did was switch to raw.

JustAThought

Hmmm; I have hunting dog (1.5 yr+) which I'm doing training with with the kennel club for hunting; a lit of professional dog types use it: and they all say the sMe thing : do not let your dog eat raw meat as they will get a taste for the blood.
Naturally my yoke caught a rabbit and I got it back fro her unearth ok; all continued fine. Then she caught another 2 in succession and within that time has totally stopped "giving" back to me even for big bribe treats ; she has figured out that she's been loosing out and that the things she chases and pounds are tasty to eat.
This has been my personal experience with this " myth" . My dog up to that point was an exceptional retriever and giver; not any more.
If the risk for me was that she might be shot or have to be put down I wouldn't be taking the risk.
Y your dog mightn't put meaty dish and lamb together, but dogs have exceptional smell; and what if the lamb/ whatever has a cut leg...

ISDW

JustAThought wrote: »

Hmmm; I have hunting dog (1.5 yr+) which I'm doing training with with the kennel club for hunting; a lit of professional dog types use it: and they all say the sMe thing : do not let your dog eat raw meat as they will get a taste for the blood.
Naturally my yoke caught a rabbit and I got it back fro her unearth ok; all continued fine. Then she caught another 2 in succession and within that time has totally stopped "giving" back to me even for big bribe treats ; she has figured out that she's been loosing out and that the things she chases and pounds are tasty to eat.
This has been my personal experience with this " myth" . My dog up to that point was an exceptional retriever and giver; not any more.
If the risk for me was that she might be shot or have to be put down I wouldn't be taking the risk.
Y your dog mightn't put meaty dish and lamb together, but dogs have exceptional smell; and what if the lamb/ whatever has a cut leg...

I think someone needs to get onto these 'professional dog types' whoever they are and tell them to do proper research instead of relying on old wives tales to teach people. Absolutely ridiculous.

Your dog catching live prey and eating it is totally natural. Sorry, but your training obviously isn't going very well if you can't call your dog off a chase, maybe ask the trainers from the Kennel Club what you should be doing.

Unfortunately most dogs won't need a smell of blood on a lamb's leg to want to chase it, which is why responsible owners keep dogs on leads around livestock.

I'm afraid your story about your dog actually disproves your point, rather than proving it. I'm assuming you weren't giving your dog any meat prior to it catching it's first rabbit? So how did it know to catch the rabbit in the first place, if this urge only comes from a thirst for blood from eating raw meat at home? The vast majority of dogs would try and catch a rabbit and if caught, eat it, no matter what food they are on at home, its part of being a dog.

The Sweeper

JustAThought wrote: »

Hmmm; I have hunting dog (1.5 yr+) which I'm doing training with with the kennel club for hunting; a lit of professional dog types use it: and they all say the sMe thing : do not let your dog eat raw meat as they will get a taste for the blood.
Naturally my yoke caught a rabbit and I got it back fro her unearth ok; all continued fine. Then she caught another 2 in succession and within that time has totally stopped "giving" back to me even for big bribe treats ; she has figured out that she's been loosing out and that the things she chases and pounds are tasty to eat.
This has been my personal experience with this " myth" . My dog up to that point was an exceptional retriever and giver; not any more.
If the risk for me was that she might be shot or have to be put down I wouldn't be taking the risk.
Y your dog mightn't put meaty dish and lamb together, but dogs have exceptional smell; and what if the lamb/ whatever has a cut leg...

Here's another spin on that:

Your dog is just out of her adolescence and is a young adult. She's also discovered an extremely rewarding behaviour, with a high-value prize: chasing and killing rabbits.

Eat raw meat hasn't 'made her' like this. Experiencing the fun of chasing and catching a rabbit has made her like this. It's up to you to train in and around this behaviour, to either prevent a pursuit, call her out of a pursuit or ensure she gives up her catch at the end of the chase. If what you're doing isn't working, get some advice and try something else.

My dog was fed mostly raw for the first year of his life and he lives with six cats. Not only has he not eaten them, but his behaviour towards them has improved with age as he matures. His diet has nothing to do with his prey drive.

CreedonsDogDayc

I think the myth of getting a 'taste for blood' originates from when a dog actually catches the animal it chases, it gets a bigger buzz from it and therefore does it more often, nothing to do with tasting the blood but with the game of chase suddenly becoming more rewarding (catches squeaking rabbit).

On another note, two of my clients that have switched to a raw diet have both reported that their dogs have recently killed.
One dog always chased rabbits, the other always chased rats, both recently managed to catch the animal they chased. I put this down to increased fitness though as they always chased these animals.