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Last night our dog pinched 1 lb (450 g) frozen beef off the HIGH counter while we were out shopping, and did not leave a crumb. I know dogs are fine eating the raw beef, but will this have any lasting effects or require any further attention? 18 hours after the incident he seems fine and completely normal in behavior and nature, and even ate some of his dry food this morning.

He is a 3 year old Basset Hound purebred, weighing around 80 lbs (36 kg).

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    A full pound of beef is a lot for a normal-sized basset. I'd say your biggest concern should be when it comes back out. Get the shovel ready. – Omegacron Jan 20 '15 at 18:37
  • did he wait till it melts? (just wondering) – modular Jan 20 '15 at 20:01
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    "...but will this have any lasting effects..."? I'm guessing it's going to be a lot harder to keep him off that counter from now on. – RBarryYoung Jan 20 '15 at 22:09
  • @Omegacron a pound of meat is nothing to a 80 pound dog – Huangism Jan 21 '15 at 15:25
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    I remember when a friends dog ate an entire ham. He was sick for days. The dog, not my friend :) – Keltari Jan 21 '15 at 15:42
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Short answer is that he'll be fine.

Dogs are primarily scavengers and not quite the hunters we used to think they were, though they're still predators and have some of those instincts. What that means, though, is that the dogs are capable of eating much more riskier foods as much of what they will eat will not be fresh kill (carrion). The acidity level of a dog's stomach is quite high, as they are scavengers, and is there to kill off many micro-organisms that would otherwise make them, or us, quite sick or prove deadly.

So, I would see no reason to be alarmed at his beef eating adventure. I'm sure he quite enjoyed it.

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  • Excellent answer, thank you! I thought as much, but better to be safe than sorry :-) – IronBasset Jan 20 '15 at 17:21
  • @IronBasset - You're welcome. You would never be wrong in calling your vet, but it's not really necessary in this case, this happens all the time. – John Cavan Jan 20 '15 at 17:50
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If your dog is normally on kibble then there is a slight chance and I do mean very small chance it will get sick because kibble passes through very slowly compared to raw meat. If the meat stays in her stomach for too long, it can cause problems which is why no one should be feeding kibble and raw at the same time.

If the meat was frozen then it shouldn't be an issue since freezing the meat will kill a lot of bacterias. You can ignore the first comment, a pound of meat is not a lot for a 80 pound dog. My almost 70 pound German Shepherd eats 2 pounds of raw per day (about 3% of her weight).

You might see the result of raw meat in her stool. Raw diet stool is a lot different than kibble. Don't be alarmed, but monitor her stool when it comes out. If her stool is fine then you are good to go

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    -1 Freezing does NOT kill bacteria. eatingwell.com/healthy_cooking/… – James Jenkins Jan 24 '15 at 11:49
  • @JamesJenkins I didn't say it will all bacterias, it will kill some. Bottom line, if the meat went into the freezer not spoiled, then it will be fine for the dog to eat – Huangism Jan 26 '15 at 14:01

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