OMG, Primal Raw is a LIFESAVER!
 

So, after I got fed up with Stella refusing to eat her EVO after she had been on it for 2 months, and after the vet yelled at me that she needed to gain weight (even though I feed her as much as I can, I swear!), I decided to at least give raw a try. Well, I'm SO happy I did. It's not quite as convenient as her EVO, but, she eats it the SECOND I put it down so I never have to worry about her not eating now. And she's only been on it for a week, but her poops are like little marbles and not to mention they DON'T SMELL AT ALL. And, she's managed to put a little meat on her bones because she loves her Duck Formula so much!

I couldn't be happier with it so far, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone with a really picky eater.

Well that's just *wonderful* :D - so thrilled for you! Finding a food that works is such a relief. I feed Primal too, and I like it so much. Do you need any help w/ the inconvenience thing? Btw, I do defrost about 3-4 days worth at a time, and then put in tupperware, and feed from that....don't know if that helps :).

Yay! So glad you found something that worked for you. :) I love the raw food diet and am excited that your dog is doing so well on it.

Like Ann, when we feed pre-made raw, we just pop the next day's portion into a tupperware container . It defrosts in that 24 hour period and takes no time at all!

If you don't mind my asking...how much does going to this raw diet cost? Like...day/week/month? (any or all) If you don't want to broadcast how much, I would appreciate a pm. My Tank is too thin, and I can't get him to eat very much...I have wondered if raw would appeal to him, but I worry it would be a little too spendy for us...

Here is a feeding calculator for Primal, and this can help - bc every dog is different: Primal Calculator

Let's see...I think I spent the most when I was homecooking, then raw, and the least on kibble. I *think* for my 2 boys (who weigh 7lbs and 3lbs), I'm spending around $45-50 a month, approx? Hope that helps a little :)!

Sorry I didn't see all the replies here, I was off the computer for a couple weeks :(

She's still doing great on Primal, we go through a bag about every 2.5-3 weeks, and those cost around $25 because of course her favorite protein is duck and that's the most expensive :rolleyes: I think we'll be trying a new flavor soon, lol.

It is pricey, but I can't really put a price on knowing that she's getting the proper nutrition. Because before, I'd have to sit on the floor with her and coax her into eating by playing games and things, and I was lucky if I could get her to eat half of her recommended daily food intake each day. So this is a huge timesaver too! Just since we've started her new diet, Stella has learned "breakfast" and "dinner" and she comes BOLTING to the kitchen whenever she hears those. Again, nice to see her excited about eating finally.

Thanks for the advice, Wylie's Mom, the lady at the store told me the same thing and it's working out well. If I ever forget to defrost ahead of time I just run them under lukewarm water in a baggy or pop them in the microwave on defrost for like 15 seconds. Amazingly, she doesn't even mind if I put her cosequin pill whole inside one of the nuggets...this is the same dog that has to have any other pill ground up and put in a syringe in order for her not chew up whatever it's in and spit the pill out!

Oh, and I'm pretty sure her eye goopies are pretty much non-existent now! They weren't bad before, but now I never even notice them.

This Primal sounds like a must try! I thought about raw for my girl Shylo, but knew that it would be an inconvenience and I'd be paranoid to do it myself if it wasn't pre-made. I tried the homecooking with Shylo and I'm giving up. I try mixing veggies and chicken with her kibble, but she'll only eat steamed chicken. Nothing else and I think the steamed chicken is getting old for her, she isn't as crazy about it anymore as she was a few weeks ago when I started. It's also not very nutritionally balanced either and she hates steamed veggies too. I've also tried just her kibble and I have to hand feed her most of the time and she doesn't eat very much, but she is small. I really didn't want to just feed her kibble only because I want the best for her. Will def. be looking into Primal! Thanks for sharing your solution! :)

Primal is fantastic. I'm so happy you found it!! Snickers LOVES his beef and chicken raw. He sits so perfectly when he sees me take out his raw tupperware:). You will soon begin to see changes within your pup's appreance as well. Lovely teeth, GORGEOUS MAT FREE coat (I kidd you not, Snickers hair is about 3 inches long right now and it does not mat ever!) and no more doggy smell. Snick smells sweet even after his Yorkie SplashNShine wears off:)!!!!! I even think Snick healed more quickly from hi LP (knee) surgery from being on raw.

FYI-Primal has NO denturant and can be consumed by humans. GOOD QUALITY MEAT IF WE CAN EAT IT TOO!!!!!

Yay!
Snick & Viv

Hi I'm new and this is my first post. I have been feeding my two yorkies Primal raw for a month now. Their feces is so much smaller, no smell, and really dry. My girl was overweight for a while, but is now at a perfect weight. My boy, however, was really underweight before, and now he's lost even more weight. I didn't think that was possible! They both are always always ALWAYS hungry now. They started scavenging my trash when I'm off to school! They never did this before. I wonder if I'm starving them. I read other posts about this, but nothing really helped. I just upped his food to three primal nuggets a day (and oz and a half) and my girl stayed at 2 nuggets a day (1 oz). Do you think I should feed them more? It seems like they could eat 10 nuggetts in one sitting! Plus, my boy has "roach back" and it's even more pronounced nowthat he lost weight. Is this normal? and should i stick to this diet?

Thanks

Keoki has been on primal for 2 years now- He LOVES it and so do I - I am so grateful and blessed that I found it for him- It is so worth it!!!!

Wow, I would def supplement some kibble into their diet if you're ok with it. I always leave kibble out for Snick to munch on if he gets hungry. We use and love Acana Grasslands & Prairie. He eats his kibble regularly. Esp for your boy...poor guy!!!

Snick & Viv

Primal is a great food, I feed my dogs that as well.

If you're looking for a excellent food that's more convenient and easier to store and handle, with most the benefits of raw, take a look at Stella and Chewies Freezed Dry Raw Foods. Dogs love it and it's also an awesome company.

I would love to test out raw but with my boy, who according to the vet a few weeks ago, now weighs close to 16lbs... I did the Primal calculator thing and he would need 6 nuggets a day. So... 3 nuggets per meal. That's just alot. And I will add a 2nd dog in my life eventually and I just couldn't afford two.

I may look into those Stella and Chewie's posted above. Here's my question.... is it OK to get Jackson some raw, say, once a week or a few times a month as a 'treat' to replace his dinner for the night? Or will that throw off his system? If I'm correct, they're literally shaped like patties, right? So you literally just take the patty out of the bag, put it on a plate for them, and they eat? Does anyone have a picture of what's in the Stella and Chewie's?

Like, if I bought this: Stella & Chewy's Duck Duck Goose Dinner for Dogs - Luke's All Natural Pet Food... what is in that bag? Is it only technically one meal?

They look like little freezed-dried hamburger patties that you add water to, then it puffs up into a real looking hamburger. A 16 lb dog will consume about 5 a day.

With Freeze-dried you can take your fingers and crumble it, it's not hard like a dehydrated chew. A lot of people use their treats and crumble it on top of the food as a topper.

Here's the Feeding Calculator for it.

A 16 oz bag has 32 patties, that will last you approximately 6 days.

We feed our dogs a lot of things and we fed a lot, so we can explain how to use it.

There's nothing wrong with adding raw foods into their diets, a lot of people do raw at night and kibble in the morning. We do both as well, we feed primal mostly, but when it's not defrosted enough, or we're in a hurry and we don't have time to properly defrost it, we use kibble and stella's as backups. If primal didn't have a retailer feeding program, I would most likely use Stella's more for the sheer convience and easy storage.