Can Dogs Eat Raw Ground Beef?

In this research you will know the answer to the query “Can Dogs Eat Raw Ground Beef?“.

You or your dog can get sick from eating raw ground beef- its nice like that!

While its unlikely that raw ground beef will make your dog sick it may contain bacteria.

Yersinia salmonella and E Coli are the main suspects.

There is a real danger from Salmonella in poultry but it can also infect beef.

Salmonella outbreaks were linked to beef-infected in 2021. 

The accident left one person dead and eight others hospitalized. 

I realize dogs are the subject of this research not people.

Although dogs can die from salmonella poisoning from eating infected meat and feces they can also get it from eating infected feces.

Dogs oh how we love them!

In addition to E Coli ground beef contains other bacteria.

Ground beef was the subject of an E Coli outbreak in 2021. 

Twenty-nine people were hospitalized during this outbreak but no deaths occurred. 

Raw pet food products were linked to an E Coli outbreak in 2021. 

Raw beef brings up another issue.

You do not have to worry about just your dog getting sick if you feed raw ground beef to him. 

I will then discuss how we can virtually eliminate these risks in the next section.

Does cooking ground beef make it safer to eat?

This can be accomplished by cooking the beef.

That was easy wasnot it?

Well its not as simple as throwing ground beef into the oven without thinking.

It does need to be cooked until it reaches a certain temperature – 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

The beef needs to be stored and handled correctly in addition to cooking. 

What is the nutrition in ground beef? Can Dogs have Raw Ground Beef?

The most important nutrient in red meat (other than water) is protein followed by fat.

This can vary between 3% and 10% in red meat.

A dogs body is made up of proteins. There are proteins in every cell. 

Fat is also essential to the diet of dogs. 

Aside from being a great source of energy fat also helps certain vitamins be absorbed by the body. 

Iron and B vitamins are also abundant in beef. 

Your dogs body uses iron to move oxygen more efficiently and B vitamins to turn food into energy.  

Thus the review of ground beef is glowing. 

Comparing it to other meats how does it compare?

In the next section we’ll find out.

Beef vs pork vs chicken vs venison

100 g serving	Beef	Pork	Chicken	Venison
Calories	198	263	143	116
Fat	13 g	21 g	8.1 g	2.7 g
Protein	19 g	17 g	17 g	22 g
Cholesterol	62 mg	72 mg	86 mg	18 mg
Vitamin Bs	B3 & B6	B1 B3 & B6	B3 B6 & B12	B2 & B3
Iron	1.99 mg	0.88 mg	0.82 mg	2.9 mg

Where does ground beef rank among its main competitors?

Comparing pork and chicken it scores well when it comes to the main nutrients.

Compared to pork it has fewer calories and fat than chicken.

However beef has more protein than pork or chicken.

Its cause is also helped by lowering cholesterol levels.

There are two B vitamins in abundance in beef whereas there are three in chicken and pork.

In the case of iron however it is far ahead of its main competitors.

But venison (deer) stands out as the most popular meat in the entire chart.

Deer legs and raw deer meat are so exceptional that I have written about them. 

This meat is low in fat and cholesterol high in protein and contains a significant amount of iron.

People would be most interested in getting hold of it more easily and not having to pay such exorbitant prices!

In addition to being three times the price of good quality chicken and twice the price of good quality since venison is not widely available the hassle involved in purchasing some could be enough to send you over the edge…

How much ground beef should you feed your dog?

In this section I will not explain the role that raw ground beef can play in a raw food diet.

We’ll have to revisit that topic another time…

As a dog that is currently eating a completely dry or canned food diet I would like to add some ground beef to the diet.

As a treat I recommend adding it occasionally. 

You may find that your dog stops eating his full diet if ground beef appears too often in his bowl.

Quantities would be measured in tablespoons. 

In the case of smaller dogs the amount of ground beef should be less than a tablespoon while in the case of larger dogs four tablespoons should be added. 

It should add a hint of flavor to the meal but not so much that the dog begins to wonder why he should bother eating anything else. 

Now that I have answered that question I believe I have covered everything there is to know about raw ground beef.

In the next section I will discuss something a bit different.

Raw and beef are my choices but instead of ground meat I prefer to look at bones 

Can dogs eat raw beef bones?

A dog is much safer to eat raw bones than cooked ones. 

Raw beef bones are always better for your dog than cooked ones.

Although I realize that I’m contradicting myself here because raw bones have the potential to carry the same bacteria as meat do not they?

They do but the risk is lower because their bones have less meat on them.

Additionally make sure your dog eats the larger bones such as those from his legs and shoulders.

This is because larger bones need to be chewed instead of just swallowed whole.

A weight-bearing bone such as a leg or shoulder is somewhat denser.

Chewing on this bone reduces the chances of it shattering. 

Again treat yourself to bones every once in a while.

In the long run a dogs massive overdose of calcium from eating a bone would not harm them.

However in the short term it will result in their stool changing completely and becoming more powdery or harder which must be a very uncomfortable experience for them. 

Can Dogs Eat Raw Ground Meet?

I think we should examine steak fat more closely after looking at ground beef.

The line of fat that is often left on the plate after eating the steak is often discarded.

However do dogs find it as inedible as we do?

In the same way that ground beef is contaminated with bacteria steak fat is also susceptible to contamination.

As you already know what it is I will not go over it again.

Moreover cooked steak fat might have been cooked with onions and garlic which your dog should not consume. 

Providing them with the fat of a steak at once will be too much for them. They need fat in their diet but too much is too much.

Feed them the fat by cutting it into small cubes and sprinkling it over their food (like croutons for the next few days.)

An in-depth post on beef fat can be found here.

Does raw beef make dogs aggressive?

I want to close this research by talking about a popular question that I have recently had a lot of experience with.

Do dogs become aggressive when fed raw meat of any kind?

In the past I would have dismissed this suggestion as nonsense. Having fed my dog raw meat for years I should know that raw meat does not make dogs aggressive or at least have a well-informed opinion about it.

Dog ate raw ground beef is there anything to worry about? Since my dogs have eaten raw meat for years there have been no signs of aggression. When we introduced her to her raw diet two months ago a big fat eight-week-old Golden Retriever puppy could not believe her good fortune.

Her love for it caused her to develop sharing issues. A soft and delightful bundle of joy turned into an 8″ tall monster at dinner time.

Our team was shocked and worked hard to eliminate this aggression which is almost completely gone now. As well as our hard work she also settled into her new home and found her place in the pack with the other two dogs.

Do dogs become aggressive if they are fed raw meat? 

While it is possible under specific circumstances most dogs will be able to extinguish their aggressive behavior. 

If you want to read more about dog food tips read here: Dog Food Tips and Tricks.

Can Dogs Eat Raw Ground Beef? (Watch Video)