grocery store dog food?
- Thread starter iheartsammy
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Just realize that a raw diet for a GSD is going to cost you quite a bit more than grocery or pet store quality dog food. It's going to cost about the same as a high quality designer type dog food if not a little more. I just went shopping for food the other day. 42lbs of chicken legs- 20 bucks. 10lbs of beef- 20 bucks. 15lbs of pork shoulder- 22 bucks. 15lbs of pork ribs- 25 bucks. That will last me about a month for 3 dogs. That doesn't include eggs, organ meat, and a couple other supplements.
My Border Collie is very active and 40 lbs, and he eats slightly more than 1/2 lb per day... which equates to less than $0.50 per day for him, with the meats that I buy.
HOWEVER, a high quality kibble is much better than an unbalanced Raw diet. Please do your research in advance, and make sure you know at least the basics of feeding Raw. You should ask your Mom to go to a feed/pet store, and look for Innova Evo, it is one of the closest kibbles you can find to a species appropriate diet.
HOWEVER, a high quality kibble is much better than an unbalanced Raw diet. Please do your research in advance, and make sure you know at least the basics of feeding Raw. You should ask your Mom to go to a feed/pet store, and look for Innova Evo, it is one of the closest kibbles you can find to a species appropriate diet.
Sam has a moderate activaty level.
I went to this site...
http://www.rawdogranch.com/howmuch.htm
to see how much I will need to buy monthly
I got,
20lbs of RAw Meaty Bones
12lbs of Muscle Meat
& 1.6lbs of Organ Meat
that's a months worth.. does it seem about right?
I went to this site...
http://www.rawdogranch.com/howmuch.htm
to see how much I will need to buy monthly
I got,
20lbs of RAw Meaty Bones
12lbs of Muscle Meat
& 1.6lbs of Organ Meat
that's a months worth.. does it seem about right?
rawdogranch is a great site for raw feeding. If you used their spreadsheet to figure that out, then you are probably on track with the amounts.
ihartgonzo, my 22lb pug gets about 3/4lb of raw per day- any less and he wastes away. Our 60lb 12 year old gets about a pound and a half, and Gunnar, who is young, 85lbs and high activity needs at least 2 1/2 lbs a day to keep his weight on. Gonzo must have a real low metabolism! I wish mine could eat like that.
ihartgonzo, my 22lb pug gets about 3/4lb of raw per day- any less and he wastes away. Our 60lb 12 year old gets about a pound and a half, and Gunnar, who is young, 85lbs and high activity needs at least 2 1/2 lbs a day to keep his weight on. Gonzo must have a real low metabolism! I wish mine could eat like that.
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I wouldn't switch to raw just yet. I've been reading about homemade diets for a very long time and am just starting the switch. You have to make sure it is balanced before you start feeding it. Instead of starting raw right now, I'd buy the highest-quality food I could afford, and then some plain yogurt with active cultures (add a little to the food), and share any doggy-friendly foods that I'm eating.
DanL, woow! Your little Pug eats a lot 
! Yes, Gonzo does use everything he eats... it's pretty common for Border Collies. When he was an adolescent, he ate a ton and was super lean, but as he matured it only takes a small amount of food to keep him at his ideal weight. I started feeding him 1 lb of Raw per day, and he gained a few lbs almost immediately. He's super healthy, though! He gets an average of 2 hours of intense exercise everyday (to keep him sane) and he is very fit & muscular. I just wanted to add that the amount a dog eats varies, depending on the dog ^^ some people need to feed more calories than kibble, some feed less.
Good luck with Sammy! I'm sure she will love it. It's up to you, but you might want to include 10% yogurt, cottage cheese, fish/flaxseed oils, and pulped fruits/veggies into her diet. I add in all of these things here and there into my pups' meals, and they love all of it. Also, it is a great idea to buy in bulk. I can get 10 lbs of chicken quarters or wings from my butcher for about $3 each, and I can save more if I buy 20 lbs of each. Buying a bunch of whole chickens & cutting them up yourself can also save you money. He also gives me a big (10+ lbs) bag of lamb, beef or pork off-cuts for a few dollars.
You don't need to balance each meal every day. That is not natural. However, you should try to keep a good % balance over the span of 7-10 days. My pups get one offal meal per week, a couple muscle meat meals per week, one or two veggie meals per week, and yogurt, cottage cheese and supplements here and there; the rest of the time, they get RMB's (which makes up 50-60% of meals over the week). I suggest http://www.rawlearning.com & http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html for really good reading.
! Yes, Gonzo does use everything he eats... it's pretty common for Border Collies. When he was an adolescent, he ate a ton and was super lean, but as he matured it only takes a small amount of food to keep him at his ideal weight. I started feeding him 1 lb of Raw per day, and he gained a few lbs almost immediately. He's super healthy, though! He gets an average of 2 hours of intense exercise everyday (to keep him sane) and he is very fit & muscular. I just wanted to add that the amount a dog eats varies, depending on the dog ^^ some people need to feed more calories than kibble, some feed less.Good luck with Sammy! I'm sure she will love it. It's up to you, but you might want to include 10% yogurt, cottage cheese, fish/flaxseed oils, and pulped fruits/veggies into her diet. I add in all of these things here and there into my pups' meals, and they love all of it. Also, it is a great idea to buy in bulk. I can get 10 lbs of chicken quarters or wings from my butcher for about $3 each, and I can save more if I buy 20 lbs of each. Buying a bunch of whole chickens & cutting them up yourself can also save you money. He also gives me a big (10+ lbs) bag of lamb, beef or pork off-cuts for a few dollars.
You don't need to balance each meal every day. That is not natural. However, you should try to keep a good % balance over the span of 7-10 days. My pups get one offal meal per week, a couple muscle meat meals per week, one or two veggie meals per week, and yogurt, cottage cheese and supplements here and there; the rest of the time, they get RMB's (which makes up 50-60% of meals over the week). I suggest http://www.rawlearning.com & http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html for really good reading.