Providing your dog with a natural, species appropriate raw diet is the best thing you can do to ensure your pooch lives a long, healthy and happy life.
Raw food is certainly the best! However, it does need to be handled and prepared with care, due to the nature of this being raw meat.
You must defrost all raw dog food products in the fridge. Why, you ask? Raw food is naturally moist and therefore, prone to bacteria growth when it is placed in a warm environment.
Defrosting in the fridge takes away the risk of the meat becoming warm at room temperature and allowing bacteria to grow and multiply. Bacteria naturally thrives in warm and moist conditions.
If you were to defrost outside of the fridge at room temperature, the bacteria would have grown and multiplied in this time. If you then put this in the fridge, the cold will make the bacteria lie dormant and pause the activity, but not eradicate it. Should this be fed to your dog, this could cause them to become unwell.
The critical temperature for this is 8˚C. Once the meat reaches this temperature, it is at risk and should be placed in the fridge immediately.
Your fridge is your raw dog food's best friend!