I wish I could do pre-made raw all the time with Jackson.... my problem is cost, mainly. With Primal, he would need 6 nuggets a day. So there's 64 nuggets in a 4lb bag. Correct me if I'm wrong (it's late and math is not my best subject...) but that would last us about 10-11 days, running at around, what... $20 or so? Yeah, that's insane. That'd be well over $40 in dog food for one 16lb dog for one month. I buy a bag of Acana for around $15-$16 and it lasts us over a month, lol.

So I will be sticking to just feeding pre made raw on occasion. Oh well, it works for us. I've been out for a few weeks now though so I need to get to the store and pick up a new bag. I had been doing Stella & Chewy's for breakfast about 3 days a week (1 patty) and then he'd get 1/2 cup of kibble mixed with a bit of wet food.

Ya, it's really expensive to use the pre-made exclusively, that's why I was leaning towards prey-model, but after trying it, it's not going to work for me, not right now anyway. Feeding the raw for 1 meal and kibble for the other works well, keeps my "picky" two eating and cuts down on cost. It's also cheaper to use chubs instead of patties or nuggets (I think Primal makes chubs too, not sure about Stella & Chewy's), but then it is a bit more tricky to portion out, not hard though.

From what I've learned, giving raw even just a few times per week is still benefitial though, so that works too :D

Lol you should at least get some coupons or a couple free bags for the sales boost, tell them its your finder's fee :D.

I just worked out the math for Lexie and at 4lbs she would need 3 oz a day(considering she'll be out a lot in the summer and more active). So if i buy the medallions at $20 a bag that's 16 days, and if i get the chubs at $16 for 2 that's 22 days. The Patties would give me 36 days for $20 but like you said with the chubs and the patties i'd have to buy a kitchen scale to get the portions right. Thats how they get us, they know we love the convenience of the medallions lol.

So half kibble would work out much cheaper. I think i'll do that until i get the scale then i'll switch her full raw and go with the chubs/patties

:D -Coupons are actually easy to get from them, check their web site, they have a referal program - you give emails and names of friends you want to recommend the food to, they'll email a free "try it" coupon to your friend, and $s off coupons to you. I warned the family and few friends I sent it too (lol) and told them if they didn't want to try the food (but that they should;)), please print me their coupon, that way I get both:D

The big sized bag of patties that would last you 36 days is actually about $30, not 20 (just a fyi:D).

Using the kibble for 1 meal a day is not only cheaper, but I think my crew likes to have the "crunchies" once a day, they get the variety of textures that way. Even Alice who used to HATE kibble, gobbles hers up:D

Oh, also, just a heads up - as far as their kibble, I found an awesome deal - on Amazon, it's already a little cheaper than the store and directly through Amazon (they carry every kibble, but not the raw) it qualifies for free shipping. They also have a "subscribe and save" program - you sign up to get it auto. delivered every 1, 3 or 6 months (you choose the size bag and flavor) and you can cancel whenever you want. On a 30# bag of Prairie (that's what I get because of the 3 dogs) saves you almost $20 per bag that way!

I haven't found a good deal on the raw (yet;)) bacause every place online that has it cheaper than the store wants a fortune for cold shipping. I do know it's slightly cheaper to order the chubs by the case though (I think there's 9 per case) through most stores that carry it.

Just thought i would add my 2cents, haha, anyway her in texas our little ones are doing quite well on a raw diet i pre make and freeze and just thaw out daily meals. Jack, jill, chuey & Phoebe love their raw. Took me a while to get it right but what i do is take a meat grinder and grind a combination of chicken, stew meat, ground turkey (or beef) chicken liver, beef heart, chicken gizzards, green trype. I add plain yogurt, 1 large can solid pack pumpkin and some gerber baby squash. When all this is mixed together it comes out like a thin hamburger i simply divide it out for what mine eat per day and just freeze it. About 10 min before dinner i simply put some hot water in my sink and thaw out my bag. Mine get fed once a day they get small amount of instinct duck kibble
and 2 heaping teaspoons of the raw, i don't mix it i just put the kibble in the bowl and then add the 2 spoons of raw. I also sometime will add venison or quail. also once a week i let them have a raw chicken wing which as all of you know helps to keep their teeth clean. It takes me about 1 hour from start to finish on a saturday afternoon and i make enough to feed my dogs for about 6 weeks. This works out to be far cheaper than when i was doing all instinct and prairie kibble and better for them.

treats in our house consist of some homemade baked treats as well as green trype,

peanut butter , bully sticks, stuffed trachias, venison jerkey

Again this works for us all of you know your dogs and will find what works best for you.

good luck with raw!!!!!!!


Darla (jack, jill, chuey and phoebes mom)

:) Welcome to Yorkie Talk:D That's similar to what my "plan" was lol. I may start doing it that way in the future, the only thing I have to be carefull of is that I have two sensative tummies here, so it would be a little more tricky to figure out what they could handle without getting runny stools (learned that the hard way when I started:rolleyes:). I definatly know if I used a lot of organs and trype I would have a huge mess on my hands (well the floor and yard anyway lol). That sounds like a great way to go though and if I can get my hands on a meat grinder one of these days, I may do some experimenting;) Sounds like a good recipie:)

My dogs eat raw because of my schnauzer's pancreatitis. It is possible...but you may have to do some more research to find a raw that works. I'm able to do a pre-made, but mostly because here in Ontario, I have found a pet store that only sells raw, and they have a variety that has no additives...just meat, bone and organ. This works perfectly for my girl as I add my own veggie/fruit mix. And a few other supplements. But I have done this under the watch of a vet, with careful blood monitoring. As long as I'm using a low fat meat (turkey works best with my girl, but I also have used rabbit and elk), the raw works well. It is better than kibble or home-cooked, as raw fat is digested differently than cooked. It only makes sense if you think about it, cooking fat changes it's properties.

First you need to find a supportive vet...then continue to research. Have you checked out this link? DogAware.com: Articles on Dog Health and Nutrition Mary Straus has lots of info regarding home feeding and specialty diets.

Don't give up...if you want it, you can make it happen!

Thanks for the welcome, we have been a silent member for a couple of years now, love reading all the posts, we can definately relate to some of the things you guy go through. We stay pretty busy most of the time here, don't get a whole lot of computer time.

The grinder we picked up on EBAY, i am the ebay queen, haha. They are plentiful, you need one that will grind the bones, we bought a Tassin, probably a medium price grinder but it does the trick and boy is it fast!!! The funny thing is that i started this diet with our bengal kitten after doing research our dogs just love it and so does the kitten. We also give a 1/2 tablet of a nuvet supplement in the morning. We were just lucky that the formula for our raw works for us with no negative side affects.

I do hope everyone gives raw a try, don't give up.

Darla :)

Alice- Oh I saw that on the site about the coupons but wasn't sure how to get them, thanks:). Can you choose whether you want a raw or kibble coupon? because Lexie is not on their kibble she's on Orijen and I planned to try the Orijen 6 fish next. If I were to go with NV kibble I'd get the insinct, but I've called around a few places that sell the Prarie but not the Instict.. I guess it's really hard to come by here.

The "try it" coupon was for either raw or kibble...then the other ones you get, they give you one of each - the ones I have are all for raw though- free trial size raw w/ any other $5 NV purchase; $3 off any raw diet; $1 off any raw bone. I can't remember for sure, but I think when you're registering with them to receive the email coupons, it asks what formula you want to use/are using.

I may be sticking the Orijen for kibble for Alice too, only because she seems to poop much more frequently with the Prairie so far (makes sense because she was on grain-free before), and idk, their Instinct kibble is kind of high in fat for a little dog. I may get their new LID Instinct for her if I can find it since it's much lower in fat, idk yet. Less poop is a major bonus around here having 3 dogs lol.

Im kinda late to the prey model party because I knew it was feeding raw but that's all I knew. I decided to do a lot of research and it's my understanding that at first there's a little trial and error with getting it balanced but once you do it's actually pretty easy. All you need is a small kitchen scale,meat,bone,organs and some fruit/veg if you want. Follow the 80:10:10 and adjust accordingly for your dog, you can add a multivit in too. Hope I'm not missing anything, but if I can find some good wholesalers in my area I'm prepared to give it a try I think:)

Yep, that's pretty much it. I'd suggest you start off with chicken only for about the first month. I made the mistake of using red meat too fast and we had some wicked poops here lol. In my research I also read the organs can cause diarrhea pretty often in the begining, so wait on that too (you can give a panceatic derived digestive enzyme suppliment in the mean time). Make SURE you get enough bone in there too, you have to balance out the phosphorus in the raw meat with the calcium in the bone, plus the bone firms up their stool. I think prey model is great if it doesn't gross you out (lol) and you have the dedication to do it:D Good luck:)