I'm actually putting forward an idea to the publisher I work for about a book that really deals with canine nutrition properly - the pros and cons of the various diets. I swapped Bella over to raw in November for health reasons (and it does seem to be helping her - she'd had numerous eye and ear infections prior to that and it may just be coincidence but since November she hasn't had any - may not seem like a long time but we were at the vet's every 3-4 weeks before that!).
I agree that it is very hard to get proper information as people either tend to be absolutely pro raw, or absolutely against it. My vet actually has a foot in both camps, he sees the benefits of giving bones for teeth cleaning (he advocates beef bones, this is what he feeds his own dogs because they can chip away at the bone and there is much less risk of splinters - he has not come across dogs who have actually broken their teeth on bones but he has come across dogs who've broken their teeth on stones!). He also said that the most common obstruction he's had to remove from dogs stomachs is conkers and that as long as you are sensible with feeding them bones it should not be a problem - I know that is only one vet's attitude - my mum's vet is vehemently against bones of any kind and my mum, who has owned dogs for over 40 years and had always given them recreational bones and hardly supervised them at all, and never once had a problem, is now absolutely terrified of giving them to he current dog.
I know that there are stories of dogs with bones being stuck and undoubtedly this happens if inappropriate bones are given - I think everyone on here who feeds raw has done alot of reading about it, gives suitable bones, supervises their dog whilst they eat them, and feels at the end of the day that their dog is doing so much better on this diet than they were before, that it is worth the risk. This is how I feel - I am a big worrier about Bella and bones so I am extremely cautious, I smash up chicken and rabbit for her so that she can't swallow big chunks of bone, I avoid lamb because I think it too splintery, I supervise her like a hawk. I'm also not hugely keen on having to deal with raw meat for her but at the end of the day her health has improved and I'd rather have that bit more hassle than be at the vet's every 3-4 weeks with yet another ear infection or watery eyes.
If Bella's health had been good on kibble then I'd have kept her on it - my cats eat kibble and have done so for their whole lives (although interestingly my old cat with failing health, who has been losing weight for 18 months and despite various prescription diets cannot keep much food down, has started pinching raw meat whenever she can and is never sick on it, so much so that we are trying to switch her over to raw completely).
I think alot of the problem is that it's so hard to get decent information, it seems to be such a contentious subject and that makes for mis-information on both sides of the fence. Personally I think at the end of the day you have to do what you think is right for your dog - if they are fit and healthy on kibble (and many are), then stick with it, if they are suffering from numerous niggling infections and the vet cannot find out why, then give raw feeding a try for a few months and see if there is an improvement - if not you can always switch back.
