<ms. purity, how did dr. pitcairn kill your cat?>
His homeopathic and "natural" health prescriptions are dangerous. Unknowingly, I used what he prescribed on my sick cat. She died in two days of his "remedy." I later found out that the remedy he recommended was 100% wrong for the problem my cat had. Also note that he is not formally trained in homeopathy (he's been to a few workshops and has read some books). An example is that he prescribes nosodes after vaccinations. This can actually cause even more pronounced problems after a vaccination.

<there has been so much talk about people learning to make their own pet food and feeding their animals raw meat ->

The best resource I've found to date on raw feeding is the Yahoo Group "Raw Feeding" It's a wealth of info and they'll answer any questions/concerns you may have.

<eg. i give my dog raw bones for the calcium, for vitamin b he gets liver, nutritional yeast, molasses, he gets buffered vitamin c for his joints and bones as well as chicken necks.>

Just be aware that too much bone and not enough meat can cause your dog to have painful poohs (constipation). Your dog, ideally should get 10% bone, 10% organs and 80% muscle (tongue and heart are considered muscle, not organ). Liver, if given too often, can cause Vitamin A toxicity, so don't feed more than once per week. Nutritional yeast is great, but there's no reason for molasses. I also give my dogs vitamin C, but you can also try unfiltered Apple Cider vinegar.

<i do use oil too - vitamin e or olive oil >

I would suggest using fish oil instead of olive oil. It is more complete in it's omega fatty acids. Plus dogs love the taste of it.

<and garlic>

Don't feed garlic. There is no nutritional reason dogs should eat garlic (it doesn't even help with fleas - an old wives tale), and being from the allium genus it is toxic to them. You can feed a little tiny bit every once in awhile, but keep in mind that they can't metabolize the toxin readily and it builds up in their system.

<i switch things around too - i have a dog that variety is actually good for - it varies so much with individual breeds >

Variety is awesome for all dogs (and other animals)!!!!!! It makes it more nutritionally complete.

<my dog gets raw goat milk because i live where there is a goat and it seems great for him. he can digest dairy. my friends dog gets bad diarrhea - so that dog doesn't get any dairy.>

Actually goats milk is much better for them than cow's milk. Plus it's not pumped full of hormones and antibiotics.