MORE questions about RAW diets:)

[baileys423]

I'll start off by saying Hello to everyone, i'm very new here and have been very interested in the RAW diet for my dogs, I've been reading up on it for awhile now but had a couple of questions since I couldn't find the answers on the board, I'll appologize in advance if it has been asked, I hope these questions aren't stupid but I really want to start this for my 9 yr old GSD who has food allergies from dog food, gets ear infections and hot spots. I know its from her food or somethnig in the food BUT i've got her on a pretty expensive natural brand of dog food and even though everything eased up A LOT...its not gone completely!

1. I feed my dogs the Nuro dog food and the bag of dog food gets pretty pricey a week, for you guys that have been doing the RAW diet for awhile, how much do you typiclly spend per month on the food and how many dogs to you have?

2. question about fish, i've read that fish is very good for our dogs as long as it's freezed for like 2 weeks before feeding it to our dog because of potential parasites, my question is...what about caught fish, like from the Bay or a lake? Also what fish should I avoid besides Salmon?

3. How do you feed the fish to a dog? meaning, do you have to scale it, gut it, and cut off the head and fins before feeding them to your dogs?

4. where do you get your meat at a very cheap cost?

[onyx'girl]

1. If you can find a bulk source(or a raw feeding co-op), the price of feeding raw is cheaper. I try to keep my costs at less than $1 a #(my dogs average 2# a day portion-wise)
2/3. I feed fish in a semi frozen state or frozen. My dogs won't eat it otherwise. And yes, it should be frozen before feeding. You can feed whole fish, head and all if the dog will eat it(mine won't)
Canned Jack Mackarel is eaten readily by my dogs, but I hardly ever buy it do to the cost, it doubled in price a couple years ago there was a shortage of it for some odd reason. I really don't know who eats that nasty stuff!
4. I am in a co-op, also order from meat processors that make a dog food grind, and buy in bulk(have a dedicated freezer just for the dogs)
The most I spend is on the green tripe, that runs over $2 a# and I have to pay for shipping.
Supplements are costly too, I use human grade vitamins and salmon oil, try to get them BOGO sale, and don't usually buy the cheapest, stay with quality.

[baileys423]

Originally Posted by onyx'girl

1. If you can find a bulk source(or a raw feeding co-op), the price of feeding raw is cheaper. I try to keep my costs at less than $1 a #(my dogs average 2# a day portion-wise)
2/3. I feed fish in a semi frozen state or frozen. My dogs won't eat it otherwise. And yes, it should be frozen before feeding. You can feed whole fish, head and all if the dog will eat it(mine won't)
Canned Jack Mackarel is eaten readily by my dogs, but I hardly ever buy it do to the cost, it doubled in price a couple years ago there was a shortage of it for some odd reason. I really don't know who eats that nasty stuff!
4. I am in a co-op, also order from meat processors that make a dog food grind, and buy in bulk(have a dedicated freezer just for the dogs)
The most I spend is on the green tripe, that runs over $2 a# and I have to pay for shipping.
Supplements are costly too, I use human grade vitamins and salmon oil, try to get them BOGO sale, and don't usually buy the cheapest, stay with quality.

WOW, that's not bad at all compared to what I pay per week on the expensive kibble plus the vet bills for when she is having an ear infection or a hot spot, or the dryness of her coat!
As for the raw feeding co-op...if you don't mind me asking, what exactly is that? Is it like a butcher shop? Where do you find them?

one other quesiton, what about veggies? I hear people using canned unsalted veggies for their dogs.
I'm so very interested in doing this for my dogs!

[onyx'girl]

I don't feed any vegetables. If your dog is overweight, frozen green beans are a good filler, though.
The feeding group I am in is thru Quest Recycling it is a closed group now, but there are co-ops around that may be still taking members.
You can get on a yahoo group in your area for raw feeders, there may be co-ops in your area. Co-ops are a group of people that go in on huge bulk orders for better pricing.

[baileys423]

Originally Posted by onyx'girl

I don't feed any vegetables. If your dog is overweight, frozen green beans are a good filler, though.
The feeding group I am in is thru Quest Recycling it is a closed group now, but there are co-ops around that may be still taking members.
You can get on a yahoo group in your area for raw feeders, there may be co-ops in your area. Co-ops are a group of people that go in on huge bulk orders for better pricing.

What GREAT info..thanks so much. I've found some info on it already!
Here is the info on theYahoo groups raw feeders if anyone is interested
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/
I'm determined to make sure my dogs will be completely healthy...it really hit me hard when my male GSD passed away suddenly a couple weeks ago and the vets not knowing what illness he had to have him pass so quickly. I want the best for my dogs, they aren't meant to eat processed crap from the stores which could lead to certain trypes of cancers, tumors and among other health problems.

[sable123]

Unless you have all day, and are lucky, to find raw food ingredients for your dog, raw feeding done properly will cost many multiples of feeding a decent dry. In order to keep costs down you have to buy in bulk, then break up the amounts and store large quantities. Have you ever seen a 50lb block of chicken backs? Well they are a frozen block not individually frozen.

Green Tripe alone is $1.5lb.

I would just feed something better than Nutro. There is no way it is cost competitive for a normal household.

[Jax08]

sable123 - that is not true. I feed RAW, I do not have all day, I give supplements and I had a chem17 done on my dog to see where her organ functions were just for kicks and giggles.

She's perfectly healthy, I do not spend all day processing the food I buy in bulk and it does not cost me even close to "multiples" of dry food. Since you don't feed RAW, it would be grand if you would stop giving false information. At least you have the cost of green tripe down to where it actually is instead over $3/ lb like you did in a previous thread.

[SchDDR]

I think it is a misconception that a raw diet will cost more or take considerably more time than another type of diet.

Yes- if you plan to feed your dog by shopping at your local grocery store and buying individually packaged whole, cut-up chickens, it will end up taking considerably more time and money than buying a bag of kibble once a month.

If, on the other hand, you expend a little bit of energy and ingenuity at the outset, you can save yourself both of those.
Finding places near you that allow you to buy meat in bulk can save time and money.

Local butchers are ideal, as not only is there a good supply of meat, but you can establish a good relationship with your butcher. Being able to make a quick call and schedule a time to pick up your regular purchase [be it once a month, or every few months], can make life pretty simple.

I can bag 3 months worth of meals into individual bags, in about 30 minutes with help from a second person. Then all I have to do is grab the day's meals out of the freezer in the morning, toss them in a bucket to thaw, and grab them out when it's time to feed in the evening. They're already pre-made with the right amounts of everything.

So, I've expended what... an hour and a half of time [calling, driving to pick up, bagging and freezing] every three months?

Cost-wise, I can get meat for $0.50 per lb when I buy in bulk.
My costs add up to less than $45 a month.

[baileys423]

Originally Posted by SchDDR

I think it is a misconception that a raw diet will cost more or take considerably more time than another type of diet.

Yes- if you plan to feed your dog by shopping at your local grocery store and buying individually packaged whole, cut-up chickens, it will end up taking considerably more time and money than buying a bag of kibble once a month.

If, on the other hand, you expend a little bit of energy and ingenuity at the outset, you can save yourself both of those.
Finding places near you that allow you to buy meat in bulk can save time and money.

Local butchers are ideal, as not only is there a good supply of meat, but you can establish a good relationship with your butcher. Being able to make a quick call and schedule a time to pick up your regular purchase [be it once a month, or every few months], can make life pretty simple.

I can bag 3 months worth of meals into individual bags, in about 30 minutes with help from a second person. Then all I have to do is grab the day's meals out of the freezer in the morning, toss them in a bucket to thaw, and grab them out when it's time to feed in the evening. They're already pre-made with the right amounts of everything.

So, I've expended what... an hour and a half of time [calling, driving to pick up, bagging and freezing] every three months?

Cost-wise, I can get meat for $0.50 per lb when I buy in bulk.
My costs add up to less than $45 a month.

Thank you so much for that info...that's exactly what I wanted to hear, actual people who are using the RAW diet. I'm not planning on going regular grocery shopping for my dogs, I'm planning on buying in bulk form places like the butchers shops and co-ops. My cost for dog food a month adds up to be around $80, so $45 bucks..Oh yeah! Even if it still adds up to be $80 a month on the RAW diet..at least she'll be A LOT healthier and won't be dealing with allergies , poor girl

Originally Posted by Jax08

sable123 - that is not true. I feed RAW, I do not have all day, I give supplements and I had a chem17 done on my dog to see where her organ functions were just for kicks and giggles.

She's perfectly healthy, I do not spend all day processing the food I buy in bulk and it does not cost me even close to "multiples" of dry food. Since you don't feed RAW, it would be grand if you would stop giving false information. At least you have the cost of green tripe down to where it actually is instead over $3/ lb like you did in a previous thread.

Thanks for the great info

Originally Posted by sable123

Unless you have all day, and are lucky, to find raw food ingredients for your dog, raw feeding done properly will cost many multiples of feeding a decent dry. In order to keep costs down you have to buy in bulk, then break up the amounts and store large quantities. Have you ever seen a 50lb block of chicken backs? Well they are a frozen block not individually frozen.

Green Tripe alone is $1.5lb.

I would just feed something better than Nutro. There is no way it is cost competitive for a normal household.

unfortunately, I have used LOTS of expensive brand foods for my 9 yr old shepherd and Nutro is really the only food that will control her allergies so with that said I feel that the RAW diet will help her tremendously. My question to you... why are you so negative about the RAW diet? Have you tried it for your dogs?