# Going back to kibble??? Honest Opinion..



## wyoung2153 (Feb 28, 2010)

Have any of you ever thought of going back to kibble from raw? Maybe you actually did and it worked out better... but why did you?

Just thought of these today.. Not that that is what I'm thinking of doing.. was curious on what people thought..


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## Wolfgeist (Dec 4, 2010)

Nope. I've been feeding Hunter raw since he was 8 weeks old, and I could never imagine feeding him kibble after almost a year of real, healthy food.


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## GatorDog (Aug 17, 2011)

I did it. I didn't have the freezer space for raw. My dog also can't tolerate chicken or beef very well, and buying lamb/venison/rabbit got too expensive and hard to find. He is doing really well on a limited ingredient lamb based diet now. 

I would stick to raw if I had better availability, more money, and a bigger house so that I could put a big freezer somewhere.


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## sashadog (Sep 2, 2011)

I fed raw for about a year but it just got too expensive and I couldn't keep up with feeding three big dogs raw. I still use it as treats and try to give them as much of it as possible (raw bones and such). They've done just fine on a higher quality, grain free kibble. Their coats are still great and their weight and energy is wonderful as well. And of course, the all important #2's are solid and healthy  

If I could, I would feed all raw again but I just can't. I need to eat too and I have dogs that do well on kibble.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

No, but I've never had any problem at all that would make me think about it.


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## wyoung2153 (Feb 28, 2010)

Very interesting to me... I have contemplated it before just because of the expense and lack of a butcher in the area. Not to mention I have 1 large GSD an almost 4 m/o Boerboel who is already 46 lbs... and both need a lot. And my GSD is picky as all heck, so I can't do as many protein sources. Just wanted to see if I was one of the few that ever thought about it.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

I have fed raw since 1999 and, no, I have never thought about going back to kibble. I also have never had any of the problems feeding raw that I read about on this board and I have fed more than just a few dogs this way. Looking at the prices of good quality kibbles I don't see it saving me money and I like the quality control I have over what I feed. No worries about bad batches of foods, companies changing ingredients on a whim, and I have never had to deal with a recall.


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## Holmeshx2 (Apr 25, 2010)

Years ago I fed raw to a GSD and a Lab. I had a hard time with the cost, THOUGHT I knew how to feed it but never really "got" it honestly had issues with the GSD and stomach issues etc... so finally I went back to kibble and had no more problems at all. Now years later Jinx was weaned onto raw and has been raw fed her entire life. There is no way in heck I would EVER go back. This time around I get it so much better and it has just become second nature. I realize the issues I had were because I was feeding it all wrong and thankfully I switched back to kibble so my dogs had proper nutrition and I didn't screw them up. with Jinx you couldn't pay me enough to go back to kibble! So funny this thread came up today because I was just thinking about it this morning and my husband and I have been talking about it for a few days now. We have the foster pup who is on kibble. She is gassy (it could choke out a flippin water buffalo), breath stinks (in fairness it's just dog breath but Jinx has no odor so her breath stinks to us) she poops numerous times a day they stink and while formed are nothing like raw poop, and drinks a lot more water then Jinx. having a kibble fed and raw fed dog side by side we can see HUGE differences.. oh lets not forget when we take each one outside for a potty break the pup comes in and smells like cold dog..Jinx no odor, not to mention when it rains ECK!. This morning when I had to actually go out and clean up the yard from the puppy poop and there was almost a half bag full of poop in just a few days where as I rarely have to pick up the yard with Jinx after a few days it crumbles and goes away plus she only goes once a day and you smell almost nothing to nothing at all.


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## Holmeshx2 (Apr 25, 2010)

lhczth said:


> I have fed raw since 1999 and, no, I have never thought about going back to kibble. I also have never had any of the problems feeding raw that I read about on this board and I have fed more than just a few dogs this way. Looking at the prices of good quality kibbles I don't see it saving me money and I like the quality control I have over what I feed. No worries about bad batches of foods, companies changing ingredients on a whim, and I have never had to deal with a recall.


don't forget selling the company over to someone else! The fact they are selling dog food companies to companies that make Q-TIPS drives me insane :crazy:


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## wyoung2153 (Feb 28, 2010)

Did not know that! Weird! 

Right now the thing for me is the cost and availibility, we don't really have a local butcher or large meat companies.. just grocery stores; Publix, Winn Dixie and Walmart, which is why I feed a local premade raw. In all honesty the only difference I have noticed as far as change is Titan's appetite has increased.. used to not really care for meal time. His stools are a little lighter and much more manageable. But his coat has always been great and he never really smelled before and still doesn't. His breath has gotten better though.. I admit. But as a whole I haven't seen a drastic change. Though I've only been feeding for about 3 months. But my new girl, Athena still has the WORST gas ever and she has been on raw her whole life.. she's about 4 month now. I'm not knocking raw at all. Nurtitionally I believe it is so healthy for them! I wonder constantly if I am giving them enough of what they need. I have posted menus on here before and people have said I was fine and maybe add this or get rid of that.


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## Clyde (Feb 13, 2011)

I just tried a kibble diet on my boy who has grown up on raw. The reason I did is because he has allergies and although I did all sorts of different single protein diets with the raw diet I just wanted to try one more thing. I was pretty sure his issues are all environmental but I decided to try the Cal Nat kangaroo and lentil to do something different. It has made no difference and we are three weeks in. I will finish off the bag (I can't wait until it is gone maybe 2-3 weeks left) and then go back to raw and start him back on chicken, beef and all the other cheap proteins I have had him off of for the last year and a bit. Bison and Llama and Rabbit are not cheap Hopefully the chicken all goes well I really don't think the food was ever a problem for him.

The worst thing about the kibble are the poops they are HUGE!! and more frequent. Also the breath starts to go off a bit can't wait for the nice unoffensive doggie breath of a raw fed dog again!


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

I raised Luka on raw. When she got to be about 7 years old, it was hard keeping weight on her--put her on kibble, and she keeps weight on now and looks great. She's now 10. No problems whatsoever on kibble. I still feed her raw meaty bones.


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## Dejavu (Nov 11, 2010)

GatorDog said:


> I would stick to raw if I had better availability, more money, and a bigger house so that I could put a big freezer somewhere.


This is exactly what happened to me. I didn't have enough space in the freezer for raw food for 3 dogs, and there isn't a lot of variety here, so it was mostly beef and chicken and I doubt that was good enough for them.


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## Holmeshx2 (Apr 25, 2010)

Dejavu said:


> This is exactly what happened to me. I didn't have enough space in the freezer for raw food for 3 dogs, and there isn't a lot of variety here, so it was mostly beef and chicken and I doubt that was good enough for them.


I don't mean to side track the thread but I just wanted to say THANK YOU!

I am a HUGE advocate for RAW however only if someone can do it properly if not then I believe a good quality kibble is better for the dog. I know some people are hardcore about raw but if it's done improperly it can be dangerous quite honestly (like just throwing some hamburger down)


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## Zisso (Mar 20, 2009)

I have been thinking about this very thing, but fear that one of my dogs would not do well on strictly kibble. My reason are much as described above, with the price of meat being more than I can afford and the availability is just not what it was even a year ago. I used to get awesome scores from Craig's List~this year...not so much. I have gotten more freezer burnt meat from 2001 than I care to feed, and the pork I got from 2004 gave my dogs less than stellar poop. I won't be accepting any more freezer burnt stuff older than two years old from now on. I cannot feed chicken to my boy, and as the OP said Bison is very expensive. I prefer to feed venison and other game. 

However, it is almost spring so I will be making calls and begging butchers to save their scrap and saw shavings for me. I had some scrap that I just got to yesterday and while I had to cut off a LOT of fat because it was beef, I ended up getting 10lbs that will do my two for the week. 

I also know someone that has elk in the back 40 every winter and has family that likes to hunt but they do not care much for the gamey taste of the meat. So there is a good chance of getting to fill my freezer next winter with an Elk and that would change my thoughts about going back to kibble.


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