# 100$ a week for raw.



## Kaity (Nov 18, 2009)

I just went to go pick up a bag of food for Vida at the store. They have a file system there and if you buy 12 bags you get the 13th free. Everytime, they ask for my number. Everytime it's the SAME cashier. Everytime, I tell her I don't have a file and don't want one. The other chick was like oh well, do you feed her this often? I'm like well, obviously. (I'm very sarcastic when I'm being rude,) and she proceeded to ask me if I planned to keep her on it. I told her no, I plan on feeding raw. The other cashier pipes up "oh, you know that's like 100 bucks a month, er week." 
HAHAHAHA. No, really. My dog is a dog. Not a wolf. I don't know where SHE buys her meat from but I'm sure it's around 100-120$ a month to feed Vida raw. I spend 20$ a month on necks and raw chicken for her and that's 1/4 on her diet. I hate the snide attitude this girl has everytime I go in. She used to goto school with my sister. Now, I'm not really one to complain about service but when I have a know-it-all cashier at the pet food store tell me in a rude tone how much it'll be to feed my dog...
For all she knows I could have a chihuahua. I will definetly talk to the manager about this one!

How much does it cost YOU to feed raw per month, per dog?


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## smerry (Dec 5, 2009)

$100-120/month .... 2- 65lb dogs .....


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## Fodder (Oct 21, 2007)

when i fed 100% raw... $100/mo fed 2 german shepherds and a cat.


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## phgsd (Jun 6, 2004)

I have 3 dogs, and it costs me about $150-200 a month to feed them. If I fed the prepackaged stuff which is $4/lb it would cost a fortune. But depending on what I feed, I pay between .60-$2 per pound, and I go through about 150 pounds a month. My two GSD's each eat about 60 lbs a month and my JRT eats 30 pounds a month.
It's normally about the same price for me to feed raw as when I was feeding kibble unless I can score free/very cheap meat.


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## DrDoom (Nov 7, 2007)

Bear weighs 96lbs, and the vet says based on his body type he's fine at that weight. It costs us about $45-$50 a month to feed him, and he's mostly on chicken quarters or turkey/pork necks, ground turkey or beef, chicken liver, Nature's Best eggs, and some supplements I didn't factor into the price, lol.


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## Kaity (Nov 18, 2009)

Maybe she was talking about the raw that THEY sell (packaged JUNK IMO)
Never thought about that!


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## Syaoransbear (Sep 25, 2008)

When I fed raw, it only cost me $30 a month. The orijen I'm feeding now is $70, so $100 a month isn't even that terrible. $100 a week is scary.

I don't know why you would go to the manager and complain. :S


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## rjvamp (Aug 23, 2008)

DIY RAW is $25 - $30 per week for my 3 dogs.... VERY economical considering I'm not buying all the chews from petsmart anymore!


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## GSDSunshine (Sep 7, 2009)

Well I just bought 2 months worth of raw, plus about 12 extra pounds of Beef heart to go towards next order. It cost about 120 for all of it. So maybe 100 for the month and then add in all his extras for about 15 a month, and I feed one 85 lb dog at about 65/month. Not bad IMO


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

Last time I bought in bulk I paid about $150 for the following:

120 pounds of chicken necks
60 pounds of beef heart
60 pounds of pork heart

That came to about $.63/lb and fed my 5 dogs for 3 months. I go through about 120 pounds per month so we are looking at about $60 per month for the 5 dogs.

Now that I manage a Sustainable Selections co-op I pay nothing.







There are 11 people in our group (including me) and we decided since DH & I do the transporting, all the record keeping and deal with the garbage and such we didn't need to pay.

The rest of the people just paid $45 for 3 months of food. $30 of that goes to SS for the monthly fees ($100 per month, paid quarterly), $10 from it went to tip our garbage guy (he'll be getting $100 every quarter for dealing with our 15+ bags of garbage every week) and $5 went to purchase garbage bags.

The weekly costs comes to roughly $3.75. Some people in our group only get about 10-15 pounds of food per week. Some get 70 - 100.

100 pounds of food per WEEK for only $3.75!!! And that's everything from basic chicken parts to steaks, shrimp, lamb, pork, tongue, turkeys, etc.!

Even if you can't do a program like I'm in there are ways to keep the costs down.

Unless you are buying premades - then you are paying for the convenience of having all the work already done.


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## ch3ckpo1nt (Nov 30, 2009)

Well I'll be the first one to say I feed Pre-made RAW. The girl is not completely far off from the price if she was talking out the pre-made, so you should probably be a little nicer until you are sure what she is talking about?

I'm learning slowly how to feed DIY RAW so for the meantime, I don't want damian to suffer by eating all kibble. I feed about 80% Nature's Variety Pre-Made RAW, and 20% Orijen LB puppy. 

I spend roughly $65-85 per week on the RAW. The Orijen lasts me longer than a month since I give so little.


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## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

For two dogs, about $100 a month, including exotics like quail, tripe and rabbit.


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

I buy in bulk so I spend about $70.00 per month on food for the dog and all three cats.

Last bulk order was great; $150.00 for like 400lbs of turkey neck, wings, liver, hearts, and meat.

I also buy beef, chicken, pork, rabbit and fish in bulk. 

Then I add in extra's when I find them.


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

I buy in bulk and spend at least $300/month for three dogs.


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## ahlamarana (Sep 22, 2008)

The bulk of my raw dog food is free, with supplements and the few things that I do have to buy I figure it averages out to around $.75 a day to feed two dogs.


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

We shop around and buy in huge bulk when we find deals. Several of our club members also feed raw, so we all spread the word and do pick ups for one another when we find a deal. We also buy lots of "scrap" directly from butchers/meat processors, and work with the local Sustainable Selections group.

Staples of our dogs diet are chicken, beef and venison. 

We get the chicken RMBs for $.59# (and could probably find cheaper if we shopped around more), ground venison MM for $.50#, a ground beef MM/OM mix for $.59#, and through the local Sustainable Selections group we get tons of beef MM, occasional pork, chicken, turkey RMBs or MM, a fair amount of fish and shrimp, and all the hotdogs we could ever need for tracking bait/training treats for $.10#.

Even adding in supplements, eggs, green tripe, apple cider vinegar, yogurt, some canned mackerel and the occasional exotic (lamb, rabbit, etc...) it all comes out to around $1 a day per dog.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I spend about $50 a month feeding 3 dogs. Sustainable Selections has made this possible for $25 a month I get fish, ground beef, beef brisket, pork, chix and turkey. 
I have to buy turkey necks, green tripe, organ meat and the supplements Chris listed above. 
S.S. has had their pick up quantities drop drastically at the first of the year, so the co-op I am in is adding another store in March. 
I only got about 50# at my last pick-up(every 2 weeks) and I threw some of the pork ribs and huge shards of neck bones away. I am a bit leary feeding that, since Onyx got sick last weekend.


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## SouthernThistle (Nov 16, 2005)

100% RAW

1 x 86 lbs male GSD (1 y/o)
1 x 40 lbs female APBT (1 y/o)

$7/week to feed RAW
$25-$30/mth to feed RAW (depending on purchasing source)

(And that's using Chkn Quarters, Chkn Breasts, Chkn livers, plain yogurt, probiotics, Fish Oil and Vit E. We buy our chicken directly from the processors, but have bought it from grocery stores before, too - slightly higher price.)


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## gsd88 (Feb 3, 2009)

i dont no wher eu guys by ur meats







man im spending alot more 95 pound shpeherd eats alot i cant find a wholesale place who would sell me like hundreds of pounds for 63 bucks .. im a little jelous


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## GrandJan (Aug 11, 2006)

Two 125-lb. dogs - about $125.00 per month. That's for chicken backs, chicken necks, turkey necks, pork necks, beef hearts, chicken gizzards, hamburger, and chicken livers. Extras are mackerel, eggs and fish oil.


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## SouthernThistle (Nov 16, 2005)

gsd88 - try doing an internet search for "meat processors" in your area. We've made a deal with our meat processor (butcher) to collect his scraps that he would normally throw away (we just haven't introduced the kids to beef yet.)


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

I just kept calling around to different butchers and farmers.

I live in the city, but my city is surrounded by farmers so I called all of them.

I now get regular bulk orders from 3; one who supplies me with turkey and chicken and the occassional rabbits (got almost 400lbs of meat for $150.00 DELIVERED!), the second one does my beef and the third one is my pork guy. Occassionally they have friends or other buisness owners (farmers or butchers) who have diferent types of meat and will ask me if I want some! Heck yes!

Just call around.

I also drove around in the country and anywhere that had a sign that said "meat for sale" I stopped in and talked to them. That's how I found my turkey guy.

Nice Sunday drive out looking for meat.. lol.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: KaitykaityMaybe she was talking about the raw that THEY sell (packaged JUNK IMO)
> Never thought about that!


This is what I thought when I first read the post.

I do frequent feeder at our pet store (13th free) and they also sell "raw" but it's the expensive pre-made stuff. When they talk about raw, that's what they are referring to.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

And now they sell the "fresh-pet" brand at grocery stores. 
I don't consider this a raw diet.


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## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

I found a raw group on Yahoo groups, and that's where I found my bulk supplier.


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## Syaoransbear (Sep 25, 2008)

When I fed raw, I didn't buy bulk, I only bought enough food to last a month and I got it from Superstore. Chrono is 110 pounds and really doesn't need very much food at all to sustain him so that's probably why it ended up being only $30 a month.


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## doxsee (Jun 14, 2007)

It costs me approximately $35-45/month to feed Jayda. I buy in bulk, 3 months worth at a time for two dogs (my parents and I split it.) It costs my parents $20-30/month to feed their Golden Retriever.


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## Raziel (Sep 29, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: SyaoransbearWhen I fed raw, I didn't buy bulk, I only bought enough food to last a month and I got it from Superstore. Chrono is 110 pounds and really doesn't need very much food at all to sustain him so that's probably why it ended up being only $30 a month.


WHAT? Are you buying kibble??
Kilo is 1yr old 85-90 pounds & eats 30 pounds of meat IN ONE WEEK!
Thats 50 bux a week!!
lol


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## Syaoransbear (Sep 25, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: Angel R
> WHAT? Are you buying kibble??
> Kilo is 1yr old 85-90 pounds & eats 30 pounds of meat IN ONE WEEK!
> Thats 50 bux a week!!
> lol


Chrono's metabolism is veerryyyy sloowwww. He's back on kibble right now because between university and work, I just don't have enough time for raw right now. He eats 3/4 a cup of kibble a day, which should really be reduced to 1/2 cup a day because the vet wants him down to 90 pounds, but I'm a little uncomfortable feeding him that little.... Upping his exercise would be hard since he's already exercised a lot!


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

have you had chrono's thyroid checked? That's a really small amount of food.


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## Alto (Nov 18, 2008)

This in an updated price list from Club Canine that will let you do some estimating if you wanted to feed Vida pre-made raw rather than kibble.

Shop online at Wild At Heart - 10% discount until March 1, free delivery on orders of $100 or more ...


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## Amaruq (Aug 29, 2001)

> Originally Posted By: Angel R
> 
> 
> > Originally Posted By: SyaoransbearWhen I fed raw, I didn't buy bulk, I only bought enough food to last a month and I got it from Superstore. Chrono is 110 pounds and really doesn't need very much food at all to sustain him so that's probably why it ended up being only $30 a month.
> ...


4 pounds a day? My guys rarely eat 2 pounds a day.


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## GrandJan (Aug 11, 2006)

> Originally Posted By: AmaruqMy guys rarely eat 2 pounds a day.


Agreed. My 125-pound guys eat 20 oz. and 24 oz. of meat respectively. Any vegetables, eggs, yogurt, etc., is extra.


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## Amaruq (Aug 29, 2001)

I forgot to add I do not spend close to $100 a week on SEVEN large dogs.


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## SouthernThistle (Nov 16, 2005)

> Originally Posted By: Amaruq
> 4 pounds a day? My guys rarely eat 2 pounds a day.


Grimmies (88 lbs) gets 2-1/4 lbs per day
Gidget (40 lbs) gets 1 lbs per day


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