Some dogs will, and do, die from viruses. Following is a link for interesting reading. I believe that she did lose one of her dogs to non-vaccination, but I don't have time to look it up. It might have been a friend of hers - but I remember reading the article and it was difficult as she / or her friend thought there were doing the best thing for the dog's health. She does give suggestions on how to be prepared when the dog does come down with parvo and the vaccine wasn't given. Personally, until I delve much, much further into the subject, I am for minimal vaccinations. I have only given my guys their puppy shots, and titers several years later still showed them high. (which according to her articles, showing high is not necessary as long as initial titers showed there was a reaction). I am saying, don't, please don't just say "well, this lady says it's ok not to vaccinate". That type of statement will end in alot of dog's deaths due to negligence of the owners to be prepared - both for what to do if the dog gets sick and to be prepared for their possible death and b/c of the lack of substantial research and information gathering by the owner. Blanket statements like these are dangerous b/c what ends up getting around is "you don't have to vaccinate" rather than a more moderate approach of "we don't have to vaccinate nearly as much" which affords protection for the majority of dogs whose owners are not obsessive about their health and care and prepreation.
Some good starter reading is found here: caberfeidh.com/HHC.htm --this is the index for a few holistic health articles.
As are as the raw goes, the 10% organ meat is, in my opinion, often confused with being 10% liver. Personally, I think this is waaaay too much vit A, and I stick with around 3-4% liver, depending on the type of meat source. I do have sporadic consults with a well, well known specialist regarding diet for special needs dogs. What I was told was that alot more dogs that are being raw 'barf' (mostly just meat) fed are now being seen in her clinic with cancer, and she does think supplementation is good - however, it's darn difficult to find a supplement that is in moderation and doesn't go overboard, imo. Due to severe food allergies, we dont' have access to an ideal vitamin supplement - but I do have something I am using. Personally, I prefer human vitamins from well respected sources as I just don't trust "dog" supplements. So, there's another difficulty in acquiring a product that is appropriate for much smaller dogs. Too much supplements - vitamin - maybe even more the minerals - can be very bad and dangerous. But, too little, as in all meat/bone may in fact be rising the incident of cancer. Her info at this point is just what she has noticed in her practice, so there isn't 'proof', but it sure is worth considering in my opinion. I try hard for 'moderation' b/c I think that either extreme can lead for more oppurtunity for negative results. As my dogs get stabilized, and I will finally be able to acquire my Hav, then I want to consult her with raising a healthy dog on home prepared, and then I can find out more about other options for vitamins.
But in the meantime, my 'moderation' stance is both reflective in regards to vaccines as well as food. No, I'm not a vet, and not nearly as smart as many others who really are trying to get the true picture. This is my viewpoint only that comes from alot of years watching the human scientist tell us things like "vit E is a miracle vitamin" only to come back years later and tell us that taking more than 200 mg of vit E a day can lead to more severe health issues". (This dosage is for humans) So, moderation regarding the food means not going to the extreme of only feeding meat/bones and wondering where these doggies are going to get their micronutrients from. By the way, are these dog that are being fed meat/bone only -- are they getting the whole animal? The eyes, the brain, the intestines? Most aren't - most of us are far to squimish for that and just give meat/bones with a little organ added on top. This isn't a balanced meal at all, imo.
For what it's worth (and may be worth very little to most of you), but I do feed well cooked veggies to my guys. I also believe that small amounts of fruit for dogs are just as they are for us. There are a lot of phyto-nutrients in whole foods - and as long as you educate yourself on what not to give (and some veggies I limit severely in their diet due to nutrition uptake issues), then my personal opinion is that my dogs do acquire these micro-nutrients.
Again, still stating my personal feelings, I don't like the idea of their consuming bone unless it is ground. Lots of people do this, but I am not comfortable with the risk. A dog can pull meat off of a large bone, which helps his jaw muscles and teeth, but consuming unground bones do have risks. Besides possible obstruction/perforation, there is the risk of breaking teeth. I should know, as mine each have at least one 4th premolar broken (seems to be the first one to go). Some have been removed, and one dog actually has a root canal - which may/may not still have to be removed. Will find out more with the upcoming dental cleaning.
I think it's great that more people are getting educated about health for their dogs and their selves. But, I worry about blanket statements b/c many people hearing such things just won't take in all the relevant information and take shortcuts and won't take the time for education and prep. And, as far as no vaccines go at all, well, I don't think you will find any older people who lived thru the polio years that will tell you that no one should get the polio shot. Yes, it does come with risks. All things do. The question to ask is: where is the greater risk? and what risk am I best capable of managing? The big reason some kids are not being vaccinated today is the belief that since the 'herd' is generally vacinated, then the 'individual' will be mostly protected. "herd" immunity. Hmmm, that still doesn't mean that 'that' person/dog won't get sick just b/c "most" around him have been vaccinated.
Having went on a long rant that may turn many people off, I will finalize by saying that I still continue to read, research both of these issues. My mind is open to changes, and there is the possibility that I will come back on this board a few years down the road and say something else if I feel truely relevant information has surfaced to sway my opinion. But, I think this moderate stance is very likely where, I, personally will stay.
These are hot topics, and very important. If I offended anyone by my tone, then I apologize. I realize that I may come off sounding harsh, and it is not my intention. I'm just stating why I feel the way I do, and it can be difficult to print all this and still 'sound' nice in tone when it's just in email. So, I hope everyone takes my point of view not as a personal attack --especially to the original poster who has started this topic b/c I do not mean it this way, ok?
I am concerned the op will think this is an attack since she brought it up -- but please don't think so -- it is not an attack on you!
Maybe I do get too opinionated about these topics and maybe I should just :ban: myself from them. I guess it all hits too close to home for me since I struggle so much with the health of my two dogs and all their serious issues, and not knowing for sure what helps/hurts.