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by mewoodjr on 04 May 2010 - 01:05
1. What are the benifits drawbacks to feeding a Commercial Frozen Raw (exp. K9 Kraving) vs. Homemade?
3. How much do you spend on a dog approx per week? Feasability?
2. For those who travel (trials etc.) with your dogs and or board your dogs how do you deal with the feeding then?
Thanks Michael
by VomMarischal on 04 May 2010 - 01:05
2. It depends on where you buy the meat. I usually get it for 50 cents a pound from a grocer. So...maybe a buck a day per dog.
3. Everywhere you go, there are grocery stores selling your brand in the meat dept. When I board them, I take a big ice chest full of frozen, ice-packed, pre-packaged meals if they don't have a freezer.
by VomMarischal on 04 May 2010 - 01:05
by mollyandjack on 04 May 2010 - 01:05
1. Only done homemade, but once they get the hang of chewing (and you may have to help them learn at first, depends on the dog) homemade seems a whole lot easier.
2. Same as above, I can usually find good meat for 50 cents a pound. When I compare that to what I used to feed, Orijen kibble, at $70 for 29.7 lbs....hmmm.
3. Haven't had to yet. I rarely board my animals.
by sueincc on 04 May 2010 - 02:05
I think the drawbacks to a commercial frozen raw diet is all the extra junk they put in it, and it's more expensive. By all the extra junk I mean anything other than meat/bone/organs. It seems like the "all inclusive" commercially prepared raw contains a huge proportion that is veg, and then a bunch of extras I don't think my dog needs.
I think the biggest advantage to commercial frozen raw diet is many people are hesitant to jump with both feet into home prepared raw, so it's a good bridge between kibble and home prepared raw.
At this point, the only commercially prepared raw diet I would feel really good about feeding to my own dogs is the Exkaliber product from greentripe.com: http://www.greentripe.com/ . Click on "products" on the left hand side of the page, scroll down to Exkaliber. I feed their tripe/organ blend because I also feed whole bones. I only add in Salmon Oil and Vit E.
by yoshy on 04 May 2010 - 02:05
Evo did great for my dogs but I now feed this concoction-
chicken backs w/bone and skin - 12$ for 40lbs getting a great deal.
vertex supplement- i get at wholesale so not sure what retail is.
salmon oil-
kelp powder-
1 egg w/shell- once per week.
garlic/yeast pills-6$ for 1000.
plus I advocate fasting 1 day per week. so your actually feeding 6 days a week as well.
I am all for knowing exactly what my dogs are eating. so i would prefer non commercial foods. As well as i like to support small town butchers vs corporate venders. so i see benefit in many ways to feed yourself.
As far as traveling- i just throw meat in a cooler. frozen and ice packed. if im going for extended time periods i just stop at a grocery store and by a bag of thighs as needed.
by Doberdoodle on 04 May 2010 - 03:05
Fromm is a very quality kibble, it's out of Wisconsin, and they do make a good product, BUT I am not a believer in processed foods for dogs. I wrote a good article that pretty much covers everything including reasons why, I will PM a link to you.
As far as the traveling, I will either bring a cooler or stop at a grocery store when I get there. You can also buy freeze-dried meals that are still "raw", only reason I don't like buying that is b/c it's expensive. Nature's Variety makes both a pre-made raw mix and a freeze dried for travel. I won't give them kibble for one I think it's junk, for two it will give them terrible runs since they're used to raw. I spend a decent amount for the meats, but I don't mind-- instead of having that Starbucks every day or buying something for myself, I would rather spend it on my dogs.
by SchHBabe on 04 May 2010 - 14:05
I like the mixes because we don't have the time to make our own and I want my dogs to get a healthy variety. We buy three different kinds of Oma's mixes... Turkey, Chicken, and Lamb based and they all have different veggies included. It's pre-mixed and pre-ground and in good proportion... 70% meat/bone, 10% organs, 20% veggies.
We are set up as a distributor and sell to other members of my club so we get wholesale pricing and share the shipping cost. We have 2 freezers in our basement and we order in bulk, enough to last about 4 months.
When we travel on the road, we pack the mixes in the cooler along with some BEvERages and buy a bag of ice.
For backpacking in the wilderness, we bought freeze-dried food from Oma's which can be reconsitituted with water.
If you "do it yourself" you could probably do it cheaper but we just don't have the time to deal with it.
Yvette
by VomMarischal on 04 May 2010 - 14:05
You do have to go to craigslist and land a freezer or two, though. Can't do it without one of those, because the second you start, you will be scouring the available sources for cheap meat and the stuff begins to stack up!
by Pharaoh on 05 May 2010 - 04:05
I like the Excalibur from GreenTripe.com. It is as close to plain as it gets. Pharaoh loves it.
XKALIBER: Green Tripe, Muscle Meat, Heart, Tongue, Trachea/Gullet and Ground Bone
This product is excellent for younger dogs and serious working dogs. It helps build muscle, bone and stamina. It is also excellent for older dogs if fed a couple of times per week.
This product was developed by GreenTripe.Com and is available only through GreenTripe.Com.
Product is available in 1lb, 2lb and 5lb size chubs.
Michele
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