# Raw but on the cheap?



## Maxx (Jun 23, 2012)

I'm new to the raw diet which means I have read about it before but it was a while ago.

I agree with it, the idea, on principle.

Imho, more than ever, most of the pet food corporations are passing on low quality food and are skimping out on QC in order to save money and maximize profits.

Also, I just prefer to control what the dog eats and raw should allow that to be easier. 

The main problem, for me, is the cost. The preparation time is a bit inconvenient but not nearly as problematic as the assumed costs. I read that you can somehow feed a dog a raw diet for the same cost but someone would have to explain how that's possible!

So, the other concern is what to buy, what foods and how to prepare them. It must be more than just defrosting some raw meat and putting it in the bowl, right?!?

Currently, I give my dog eggs but I boil them first. Any thoughts about that? I want to avoid giving the dog the yellow yolk that is supposedly not that healthy for humans. It has 'bad' cholesterol and my Pom has a heart condition. So, it's not a GSD but my wish/hope is to buy a GSD as my next dog. So, I am hoping that the info can be applicable. 

Any advice or thoughts?

I know there are probably a dozen sites about RAW food but I think that there will be various info (I looked before) so it would be nice to obtain some info in a nice organized and convenient way. 

There are some butchershops nearby and pet stores that sell raw food but I am not sure where the best place to go is. I'm in Canada so selection is limited. That might be why it's so costly, I'm not sure. 

Right now, I feed a kibble and canned food. I look for low-fat and low-protein since the dog is a senior, 12 years old. I don't mind vitamins but I'm trying to avoid grains, preservatives and 'extra' so-called nutrients. 

I don't trust these pet food corporations as most lines seem to have at least one bad batch and the QC is really questionable. Also, since I am looking for food appropriate for an older dog, the high-protein, high-energy diet foods that are pushed to me is not desired. That might be ok for young dogs but trying to find a 'small breed senior' food is difficult. I thought a raw diet might solve it. 

Whenever I'd get a GSD, I would want a raw diet anyway. So, this is a good opportunity to become familiar with it. 

Thanks for any help.


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

There are some pre made raw foods, Natures Variety comes to mind. Here in New England, we have Oma's Pride and Bravo being the biggest suppliers of raw premade combos of food.

I don't know if they have any distributors in your area, but you could check out their sites for one.

Can be easier and not that costly, the benefit is, it's already ground up and you can get whatever "kind" you like..just a suggestion


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I feed raw because I can control what my dogs eat. Feeding some of the premades eliminates that along with the packaging/storage of those. 
Find a good meat processor/butcher and see if they sell a dog food grind, and ask what is in it of course! Having a dedicated freezer is also important if you buy in bulk(which is cheaper usually).

I transferred my 11 yr old (border/goldenx) to raw and she lived to be almost 15. She ate leg quarters just fine. Her teeth became whiter/no more stinky breath and she never had hot spots after the switch. She used to get hot spots every August.
If your senior won't digest the bigger bones, chicken necks are easy to chew and contain a fair amount of bone. 
The biggest splurge I have is on the green tripe, that runs almost $2 per #. Everything else is right around a dollar a pound and my dogs eat on average 2# per day. 
Supplements are important, so adding in natural C, E and fish oil adds to the cost. I also give a B complex and D every so often. We have chickens, my dogs eat hard boiled eggs every other day.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

I'm looking into switching (if I can correct an electrical problem in my house and find a cheap freezer chest) but all the supplements seem daunting an expensive. Can you feed raw without having to also buy a dozen different pills and supplements? To me it kind of defeats the purpose, if the raw ingredients themselves aren't providing a complete, balanced diet. I'm trying to get in touch with the market on my block, I'm pretty sure they have some "dog meat" stuff available I just need to get the connect... Right now I pay $1.25/lb of quality kibble and add no supplements so $1/lb of raw is a good deal but not if I have to also buy a lot of other things to add.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

For 3 dogs, I buy supplements in the BOGO sales and invest in them every few months. So probably about $20-30 extra for human grade vitamins/oils. I try to stay with quality natural vitamins, not go cheap.
I gave Kacie tumeric when her sebeceous cysts popped up(oils can cause these) but that wasn't very expensive. 
I still spend $ on Zymox for Onyx's chronic ear issues and her generic benedryl...she has environmental allergies which the raw diet won't help.


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## Theo241 (Dec 10, 2011)

If you are in Canada, I would recommend looking into spring meadows. It's based in Saskatchewan, so it's one of the better priced premade raw food in Canada, but still really good quality. It's pretty much the entire animal ground up, so you get the proper organ mix and everything. I don't really worry much about adding any supplements other than fish oil. My vet said to give them berries occasionally but other than that their fine.


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## kbella999 (Jan 6, 2012)

A freezer is a must to get the good buys but not supplements unless you have a special needs dog. The only supplement my dogs get is Grizzly Salmon Oil and one of my dogs gets Dasuquin because he has severe arthritis in his elbows. There is debate on whether or not to feed vitamin E but I don't do that either. With prey model raw, all the nutrition comes from the food. You will notice a huge difference in the amount of waste once you switch to raw. I pay less for raw than I did for kibble. There is a bit more work to feed your dogs but I figure that is time I am not spending at the vet.



Liesje said:


> I'm looking into switching (if I can correct an electrical problem in my house and find a cheap freezer chest) but all the supplements seem daunting an expensive. Can you feed raw without having to also buy a dozen different pills and supplements? To me it kind of defeats the purpose, if the raw ingredients themselves aren't providing a complete, balanced diet. I'm trying to get in touch with the market on my block, I'm pretty sure they have some "dog meat" stuff available I just need to get the connect... Right now I pay $1.25/lb of quality kibble and add no supplements so $1/lb of raw is a good deal but not if I have to also buy a lot of other things to add.


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## TimberGSD2 (Nov 8, 2011)

I only supplement my old dog who has arthritis. Other than that it is just the raw meat and bones that I feed. All my dogs are healthy, happy and look fantastic. 

I posted a video of my 12 year old who has gotten "younger" the last year on the raw diet. She has more energy, stamina and is moving better than she was previous to the raw diet. 

Depending on your area you can contact a co-op or look on YahooGroups for a raw food supplier in your area.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

Yes the waste is a big draw! My dogs crap so much on their current food! They are very healthy, we do not go to the vet unless they need a rabies shot or heartworm test, so I'm not sure there's much improvement for their overall condition but I can generally get a good deal of raw venison for free and already feed that to them (along with occasional marrow bones, raw eggs, etc). I'm not a raw purist or anything like that and my dogs are not picky or sensitive to anything in particular but a fair cost and less waste is always a plus.


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## TimberGSD2 (Nov 8, 2011)

Liesje said:


> Yes the waste is a big draw! My dogs crap so much on their current food! They are very healthy, we do not go to the vet unless they need a rabies shot or heartworm test, so I'm not sure there's much improvement for their overall condition but I can generally get a good deal of raw venison for free and already feed that to them (along with occasional marrow bones, raw eggs, etc). I'm not a raw purist or anything like that and my dogs are not picky or sensitive to anything in particular but a fair cost and less waste is always a plus.


How lucky you have access to venison! I found mine did really good with the majority of venison in their diets. 

And who's going to argue with less stool!


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## jae (Jul 17, 2012)

I'll say this - one week on raw, and my 7mo boy only needs to eliminate twice a day. I used to have to leave the dog run open for him during the day, otherwise there would be a mess everywhere. Also drinks less water, which is great, less coming out the other side. 

I have heard that with a balanced diet, anything but raw meat is optional? Cost for me isn't cheaper than kibble, but I'm still looking around for better distributors and stocking opportunities. He's also on beef only for now, until all allergies can be singled out. Poultry is very cheap, can totally get that going for less than $1/lb! And for some reason, pork is way cheaper than beef? Can't wait to introduce those. 
Regardless of cost, he's staying on raw. Starting to sound cliche to me, but after 1 week trial, I'm convinced raw really is the way to go - I'm sure everyone has already heard the reasons.

Liesje, what are you feeding? I'm curious.


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## TimberGSD2 (Nov 8, 2011)

Jeliya look up raw feed suppliers on YahooGroups. That is where I found several of my suppliers.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

In my experience the raw waste is not only less but it breaks down much faster. I know people that don't even pick up after their dogs who eat raw. My dogs on kibble only go once maybe twice a day but it's big and stinky. For some reason when they at California Natural the poop hardly had a smell and was much smaller and more dry like when they eat raw or homecooked food but on Fromm I have not been impressed. Sorry if it's TMI! I have a small yard so I pick up poop right away and bury it to dispose of it so anything that's smaller and breaks down faster is a plus for me.


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## jae (Jul 17, 2012)

Totally, I just joined my NJ group! Already got some lined up, but my freezer is packed to the brim with beef neck bones :laugh: so I won't bother for a little.

ETA: During my switch from NB LID to Fromm 4-star was when I decided to go raw. Only got up to 50/50, and he was scratching, smelly, along with inconsistent, smelly, large turds. Figured that's that, and he needs a new diet. I don't think we are the only one with issues with Fromm, but I didn't want to keep playing with kibble. I'm sure his GI is thanking me.


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