# Now 100% RAW, need advice please



## Little Red (Jan 10, 2009)

After about 6 weeks of slowly switching to raw (started with 50/50 raw and kibble), This past weekend we made the plunge into the 100% raw diet.
Based on all the great advice I garnered from reading all these threads on the subject, I started weighing out the RMB, OM, and MM
(wow I actually know what all that means now!)









I was surprised on how small the portions looked.








I use the wonderful Excel spreadsheet that I found on one of the threads to calculate 2% of my dogs' weight. Because the portions look sort of small, when I weigh it out I give a little more. Did anyone else when making the change to RAW think the portions looked a lot smaller than the amount of kibble they were used to giving their dogs? 

I know this is probably a dumb question because obviously the kibble is full of filler, but I just need a little community reassurance 
that what I am doing is right for my dogs.


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## allieg (Nov 4, 2008)

I'm not 100% RAW but the little I've fed does seem small but I guess it's because it is pure meat,no fillers.


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## Brandon Coker (Jan 9, 2009)

A little off topic here but isn't RAW really expensive?

Seems like with the price of meat it would be 4x the price of decent quality dog food.

But I have no idea so I'll just wait and see what you have to say.


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## mspiker03 (Dec 7, 2006)

> Originally Posted By: Brandon CA little off topic here but isn't RAW really expensive?
> 
> Seems like with the price of meat it would be 4x the price of decent quality dog food.
> 
> But I have no idea so I'll just wait and see what you have to say.


Not really. If you buy in bulk, you can spend $1/lb or under. I buy a lot of items for around .50/lb. Heck, if you know people who hunt and can get some stuff for free, you can bring your costs down even more! Some stuff costs more (than a dollar a pound), but I usually average $1/lb. It costs me approx $4/day to feed my two dogs. My big savings comes from the fact that we aren't at the vet for the itchies and allergy shots every month. 

ETA: as for the OP, I don't remember the difference from kibble to raw...it was over 2 years ago now!


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## Little Red (Jan 10, 2009)

I have priced it all out, and the raw is slightly less in price than the Canidae ALS. And I might add that I have not been able to find the great deals on meat that other members talk about. The least expensive I have found Chicken thighs for is .77 cents a #. (but have had to pay as much as .99 cents a #).
Since I am still new to this I am looking for less expensive meat prices. I would love to find the $3 whole chickens that other members mention. (I paid about $5 each whole chicken this last weekend)

But even so, it is still less in price than the kibble. (there is a lot of effort involved however, in cutting up, weighing, freezing, remembering to defrost the portions. Especially with 3 GSDs)


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

If you were grocery shopping weekly, it would be extremely expensive. But between bargain shopping and stocking up when stuff is on sale it's really no more expensive than a good quality kibble. What you do need is a lot of storage space ... "Save-a-Lot has chicken leg qtrs for $.49lb, we'll take 100lbs!"


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## mspiker03 (Dec 7, 2006)

> Originally Posted By: little red
> I have priced it all out, and the raw is slightly less in price than the Canidae ALS. And I might add that I have not been able to find the great deals on meat that other members talk about. The least expensive I have found Chicken thighs for is .77 cents a #. (but have had to pay as much as .99 cents a #).
> Since I am still new to this I am looking for less expensive meat prices. I would love to find the $3 whole chickens that other members mention. (I paid about $5 each whole chicken this last weekend)
> 
> But even so, it is still less in price than the kibble. (there is a lot of effort involved however, in cutting up, weighing, freezing, remembering to defrost the portions. Especially with 3 GSDs)


Being that you are in LA, you might want to look into the So Cal BARF co op. It doesn't make sense for us to drive that far up north, but they have some great prices - even when you factor in their membership prices. Also, you might want to look for meat distributors in your area (I just did a yahoo yellow pages search and started calling them to see if they sold to the public). I found one less than 15 min from my house!!!

Heck...if you ever come down to SD area, I know all the places down here!!!


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## Traveltmrn (Mar 7, 2009)

I feed a 160 lb english mastiff puppy, Haley my 2 yr old GS, two dachie mixes for less than 150/month. It would cost me double that to feed a quality kibble. Plus, the poops are sooooo much smaller. 
You were correct that it may look smaller but there are no fillers.
congratulations on going raw. You will never regret it.


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## Amaruq (Aug 29, 2001)

> Originally Posted By: Brandon CA little off topic here but isn't RAW really expensive?
> 
> Seems like with the price of meat it would be 4x the price of decent quality dog food.
> 
> But I have no idea so I'll just wait and see what you have to say.


Most Raw feeders are looking for bulk deals under $1/#. Right now I am feeding my guys for probably $.75/# which is far cheaper than I can get a semi decent kibble for but the MAIN bonus is a lot less poop volume!









Back to the OP yes the portions seemed a LOT smaller than kibble but the dogs utilize a lot more of everything they eat which means less waste to pick up. Did I mention the


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## JerzeyGSD (Jun 26, 2008)

I thought that the food looked like so much more, but it's hard to compare by the look of it because I know that she was eating more weight in kibble than she's actually eating in raw. I guess it's true when they say looks can be deceiving!!


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Little red, I have been feeding raw for 10 years. When I first switched my dogs, yes, the portions looked small and I did make my dogs a bit fat at first.







I don't weigh food like a lot of people. If my dogs look chunky I feed them less. If they look lean I feed them more. I feed a lot of turkey, since it is leaner, to balance the fattier chicken, beef and pork. Rabbit is also leaner as is fish. Chicken leg quarters are pretty fatty and the dark meat has more calories. 

Brandon, most of us buy in bulk. The only thing that costs me over $1/# is the beef heart. Most of the meat is under $.60/#.


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## Little Red (Jan 10, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: mspiker03
> 
> 
> > Originally Posted By: little red
> ...


Thanks for suggestions. The So Cal BARF co-op website is currently not enabled, but I found lots of other resources per your suggestion.


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## Little Red (Jan 10, 2009)

Thanks everyone for your support on this. I'm actually very surprised how much I enjoy feeding the raw even though the prep work requires quite some time. There is a lot of satisfaction in seeing/hearing them eat their raw meal.
Looks like we will have to get a bigger freezer so that we can stock up on the 100# specials!! (right now the frig and freezer are full of more food for the dogs than for us humans)


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

I swear I buy more at the store for the dogs than I do for myself. LOL


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

> Originally Posted By: little red
> Looks like we will have to get a bigger freezer so that we can stock up on the 100# specials!! (right now the frig and freezer are full of more food for the dogs than for us humans)


Craigslist is the BEST place to find cheaqp/free freezers:

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/search/hsh?query=freezer&minAsk=min&maxAsk=max


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## Little Red (Jan 10, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: Lauri & The Gang
> 
> 
> > Originally Posted By: little red
> ...


WOW! Thanks Lauri, as usual you have come to my aid.
Looks like I better start looking around for a spot for that freezer!


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