Perhaps I should start by the beginning. I was born in a country where dogs often roamed around, fed on garbage or whatever they felt like eating and when they came back home (usually at supper time:)) they got fed whatever their humans where having, with an occasionnal bone from the butcher. And all was fine.
  We then moved to Canada and had a cat, Tina, who is still with us, we were told about cat food, spaying and vaccinations and even that cats do better indoors (what?!). All that was quite new to us and we did spay our cat and bought her cat food (she hated the dry food so we fed her canned), but she did eat human food as cats in our country did, and had the chance to go exercice outside and hunt mice in the garden. We did vaccinate her the first years and then we forgot about it and soon it was years since she has seen a vet. She has always been as healthy as a cat can be.

  For many years we did not get a dog and I missed playing with all the strays I met walking down the sreet back home. So I went to work part-time at a groomer's studio. There I could see and handle many dogs and I loved it. Soon, I noticed how the dogs were loved and pampered on this side of the ocean, but also how many of them were sick: ear infections and allergies were so common that nobody was surprised when a dog had them, anal glands problems were present, and tumors, cancer, eppilepsy...list went on not to add general short life span. But these were all loved dogs owned by people who could afford grooming services and veterinary care! What was wrong???
  I still had close family in my country and would often go there for vacations. Many friends and family had dogs there and I could chat with a local vet. He would not believe me when I told him about all the health problems dogs experience in Canada. How come dogs appeared healthier in a place where many people could not afford vets? Fleas and ticks were common, and sometimes a dog had to be put down if he got very sick because owners could not afford the medication. But where were all these allergies, infections, rotten teeth and cancers?? Old dogs still had their theeth there and nobody was thinking about brushing their dog's theeth with a thooth brush and flavored chicken paste ("you are kidding me, they do that??" it was quite funny telling them about Canada :).

  After working at the groomers I went on and worked at a pet supply store. We did not sell animals, just food, toys, leashes, crates. They told me all about the foods and what are the differences and that I should recommend the home brand which was pretty well priced compared to others of that quality. Reps from different companies came every month and gave us little nutrition lessons and tried to tell us why their dog or cat food was best. There were many treats, some for allergic pets, others that were 'diet' because many dogs and cats were overweight, and many that claimed give a better breath or clean tatar from the theeth. For almost 3 years, I could meet hundreds of dog and cat owners, meet their pets, talk about them, listen to thier stories and try to help them with whatever trouble they had. This is when I learned that cats should go on a 'senior' diet at the age of 7 and that most never lived past 9-12 years old. They all had urinary tract infections, and we sold more of "weight reduced" formulas of dog and cat food that any other. My cat was then 15 years old, ate as much as she wanted and never got fat, and acted well as if she was going to live another 10 years. What was wrong with all these cats? I already knew there was trouble with the Canadian dog populations, but cats to?
  The longer I worked and talked with reps, the less I liked what I saw and heard. A salesman of one company would tell us why his product is really really good, but then 3 months later the company would make a new formula and now he was telling us how this one was the healthiest and why. But I thought the other one was already pretty healthy? It really knocked me out when one rep changed companies he was working for, so now he was promoting another brand then last year, with the same arguments and confidence. I started to not believe him that much anymore...and talking with the reps you could also learn stuff that maybe they were not supposed to tell the public, like where ingredients came from, or what the stuff on the package really means " No, don't worry there is no beef in there, it just says 'with beef' on the package but you don't need to put lots of it to be allowed to write that" - attitude was pretty scary.
But if I said my cat ate some of my meals if she liked it I was frowned upon because it is supposely very bad for her. Even worse was that she was going outside, but eh, exercice is what is supposed to be good for us humans, so why not a cat? She ate as much of whatever she wanted on top of her cat food and was never obese like all these cats kept strictly on 'weight managment' kibble.

Commercial Pet Food:
http://www.naturalrearing.com/J_In_Learning/Diet/Food/InTheBag.htm
tells you some of what you should know about the commercial pet foods. From working with people from the field I have to sadly say, it is true.

RawFAQ:
http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html
the best site to start! An easy summary that will explain the logics and basics of the whole concept.

RawFeeding:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/
this is a YahooGroup. It is free to subscribe as long as you have a Yahoo account (which is free and you don't even have to use it). This is the best forum to read and ask questions to people around the world who are interested in feeding their pets naturally.Hundreds of membres include very experienced breeders or owners who had been feeding that way for decades. They are very nice and welcome all silly questions so don't be shy :).

FAQS start:
http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm#started
another great Question and Answer reading good for any beginner's questions.

Raw food Recepies
http://www.rawfeddogs.net/Recipes.php
some examples how feeding this way is fast and simple.

Raw Food For Dogs: the best refrence I finally found to really learn everything about a natural diet for dogs.

The Wolfs Natural Diet: another very good text to help understand the similarities, differences and what to do with them of a Wolf and Dog digestive needs.

 
        So now my Zorro eats raw meat, raw bones, some raw organs and some chosen table scraps from time to time. He doesn't shed all year any more, only a week in spring and some in fall. He doesn't smell 'dog' that much anymore. After a couple of months of eating raw, his theeth that were yellow with brown spots cleaned themselves and are now white with yellow spots. These spots keep getting smaller and smaller :). All this without ever brushing his theeth.
  His diaherreas stopped completely. He doesn't have gasses as he used to. He is full of energy but in a healthy way: he sleeps well and can calm down. He is especially calm after a meal, you can see the satisfaction in his eyes.

  Tina, my now over 17 years old cat feels better then ever after I took out the cat food from her menu and added raw meat and organs, with some ground egg shells for calcium to replace the bones she will not chew (I wish I would have switched her when she was younger and was more flexible to changes!). She had started to slow down and took her time to jump up on a chair. She now jumps up the table directly without effort, her fur  is beautiful and soft like a kitten's. She recently caught a hare as big as her and brought it home and is active like years ago. I am so happy because now I see she will be able to live as long as the cats I used to know back home that would die at 24, 30 years old :)!

  I have recommended this diet to all I meet. Some have tried it and none from these regret it. There are cases reported of better dental health, nicer fur, considerable less shedding, no more anal gland problems because the stools are firmer and squeeze them naturally every day like they are supposed to, allergies are either inexistant with real food and no cereals for fillers, or are easy to control, intolerances to food in dogs previously fed on veterinary diets now have none of the past problems , epillepsy seizures drop in frequency or stop completely from not having to deal with all the stress of bad nutrition, hip dysplesia and other bone/joint problems are helped by feeding raw bones and marrow, large breed puppies grow slower and safer into really beautifull adults...

I hope you can try giving what is best for your companion. Bone appetit!

  To all this I would like to add vaccinations...
It is now proven that for exemple rabies vaccines are effective for many years if not for a lifetime when given around 1 year old. Over vaccinating may explain allergies and other such reactions: booster shots do not boost the immunine system if it already has the immunisation: it can only harm it. My cat has not been vaccinated since 15 years. She goes outside, hunts and fights with racoons: she still have all the antibodies needed. We do not vaccinate our kids every 2 years, why should we our dogs or cats? So the companies and vets make a fortune? Just something to think about it...

You may be interested in these articles:
http://www.caberfeidh.com/PuppyVax.htm

http://www.caberfeidh.com/Revax.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3588457.stm

http://www.nbc4.tv/news/4448558/detail.html

http://www.thedapperdog.com/vacc1.html

http://www.volhard.com/holistic/artbywv.htm