Cooked or raw treats

[Roseann]

I try to give my guys healthy treats. Only homemade usually. I'm wondering if it's best to give raw veggies and fruit. What about meat? Do I cook it or leave it raw? I have never given them cooked veggies. It's always raw carrots or green beans, ect, usually frozen. I have a couple deer hearts from my daughter and nephew hunting. I cut up one the other day and was going to cook it and freeze for treats. Then I decided it would be more nutritious raw. Now I'm wondering if I was right or if it makes a difference. What are your thoughts? They eat TOTW salmon for kibble. Henry can't tolerate chicken. I'm also wondering about fresh chicken. We sometimes butcher fresh chickens for meat but no one eats the liver. We use it as fish bait. I was wondering if maybe Henry could tolerate fresh chicken liver. I would be stocked up on treats if he could have chicken livers! I know this probably makes me sound super red neck but that's ok, I'm a little red neck! I had a beef liver that I cooked for treats a few months ago. Lord help me that thing stunk so bad. I hate liver and it nearly ran me out of the house. It turned out a little rare. I would love to give that to them raw so I never have to smell it again. The went crazy for those liver treats. Same with the deer, they love it. I love to make them treats and it is super awesome to have fresh meat to give them. I just don't quite know if raw or cooked is better.

 

[luseaann]

Liver treats should be cooked. Personally, my dogs won't eat it raw. Here's a good recipe for dehydrating the liver. It says to cut in strips, but I cut in squares. I don't think the venison liver is a good idea for the dogs because you can't guarantee the quality of the liver in game meat. Deer are prone to liver diseases according to this veterinary site I looked at.

 

[Roseann]

I didn't keep the deer liver, only the hearts. The beef was home grown, grass fed, quality beef. I attempted to dry it in the oven but got stank out! I kicked the heat up so it would hurry up and cook. No one can guarantee the quality of any of the game meat but we've killed deer that weren't healthy. There's indications of sick animals. Enlarged organs, off colored meat, milky flesh, a smell that isn't normal. I eat it, and I am a freak when it comes to what kids and my dogs eat. I grew up with a hunter for a dad. Now I hunt and so do my kids. Farm meat isn't like store bought meat. It's not even close. When my dad stopped raising chickens for meat, I didn't eat a store bought chicken for 5 years. It smelled and tasted rotten to me. Same with eggs. You can buy a brown egg in the store, but unless you've ate an egg from a quality chicken that is true free roam and eats quality food and bugs, you've not had a good egg. There's nothing better that true farm raised food.