Raw feeding ..... dogs

krlyr

You don't have to pay VAT on food for working animals, e.g. horses or hunting dogs. So it's a sneaky/handy way to buy dog food a little cheaper if you buy the working dog stuff, it's rarely that different.

Beckyy

I wouldn't buy bones from Natural Instinct. They're quite smal from my experience, too small for a lot of large dogs. I got one to try for my Great Dane when I was trying their food and ended up having to throw it away.Granted, Danes are bigger than average, but I still wouldn't have given it to a GSD or Lab.

Try your local butcher for bones, there are a few local to me which sell them for a small charge. Much fresher and cheaper than most dog food companies.

I also think Supermarket Value chicken wings are cheaper than a lot of upmarket raw food companies. £1.69/kg at Tesco at the moment, I saw some in a farm shop being sold as pet food for £2.66/kg last week!

Beckyy

Dollardog wrote: »

I know a lot of people on here feed raw fish, chicken wings and carcases but it would scare me to give my dog these in case he got the bones stuck. I know raw bones are better than cooked ones but it would still worry me.
I tried him the other day with one of those chunks of antler, we went through a whole box of them to see if one took his fancy, he finally decided that one looked ok, then the pet man gave him a pizzle stick, that was it, not interested in the antler at all after that. I had to swap it for some pizzle sticks and other treats.
Not all that keen on him having the pizzle sticks either, he chews them until they are soft then swallows them, heaves them up, chews a bit longer then swallows them again, this goes on 3-4 times before they stay down. He does the same with pigs ears and rawhide chews, so I don't let him have those either.

Hi Dollardog. I'm actually more comfortable feeding boney foods like raw fish and chicken wings than I ever have been raw hide etc. My pup swallowed a pigs ear when he was little and I have never bought another one since. Whereas with bones you can see them being crunched, and raw bones are digested by dogs meaning that they can break them down themselves and digest them fully. You could try chopping up the fish (or using smaller tinned fish like sardines), or hitting the chicken wings with a hammer first to ensure they are broken until your dog gets the hang of chewing them.

Michtaylor09

My collie/gsdX was on a raw food diet. He lived to be 18, and the only times he had to go to the vets were for his boosters (which I didn't like doing, but no option if going into kennels).

Unfortunately, the last year of his life was hard... he went senile, and didn't even know me anymore

Dollardog

So sorry that your dog didn't know you anymore, I suppose its like people who get dementia, my dad got that but luckily he alsways knew me although sometimes he did get me confused with his sister who had dies a few years before him but who I look similar to.
It must have been heartbreaking for you, but to live to be 18 was a really good age, you must have taken good care of her. xx

Rev

I feed my two raw.

Rule of thumb is 3% of their body weight. 2% if overweight.

I use Durham animal feeds. Their minces are basically complete (a little short on liver).

Cost me around £40 a month to feed two 26kg dogs.

nonnatus

Oooh, I just found this thread!

I've been looking into the raw feeding for my four dogs and got in touch with a company called Honeys.

www.honeysrealdogfood.com

They put together a complete months worth of food, individually tailored to each animal (for example, one of mine is fat so is on their diet rations, and one is anorexic so is on extra rations!) and deliver it to you to go in your freezer. Every night, you take out the next days food and leave to thaw.
It's a mixture of ground organic bones, meat and veg. They only use food fit for human consumption, and offer lots of extras like bones and liver bites etc.

Even if you don't want to order, the website is PACKED with information and they are so lovely and kind to stoopid people like me who ask TONNES of questions .

I've ordered my first months supply, so will let you know how we get on?

con1888

I feel like I am way over my head in it. People are saying about £40 a month for two dogs which should mean £20ish for my one dog. For some reason I must be counting or estimating products I need wrong. I admit I am terrile with mathematics, could do with someone coming to help me, wish some of you lived nearer.

For those of you with a dog similar weight/breed to mine (GSD 28k) could you maybe give me a breakdown of what you order per month ?? Hope that isn't too much to ask but it would be a big help and benefit my Kia

topsales

I would appreciate the same info for my 2 Beardies - if I could feed them for £20 a month each I would be delighted!!

Beckyy

It depends on how much storage you have. If you had a chest freezer which you coudl fill it would be much cheaper than having to order in dribs and drabs to fit in your own freezer.

Our dog has his own chest freezer, and we fill it up every 3 months. We buy bulk packs of 12 x 5lb of meat (60lb). We can fit 3 lots of these inour freezer so around 180lb. It costs us around £75 with deliver, but this will probably be less for you due to our area. We then top it up with supermarket offal, value chicken wings from Tesco and bones from the butcher. I would say it costs us around £35-40 a month to feed him (Remember he's an 80kg+ Great Dane though).

We pay £22 for 60lb of meat. This makes it about 36p per lb. 3lb per day would = £1.08 = about £30 per month. Of course this will vary slightly, and you can bulk meals out with vegetables (although there isn't any nutritonal benefit unless they are pureed they will help to fill your dog up). A good butcher will save you a lot of money too.

My calculations are based on our supplier though, and I know they're probably not the cheapest but they are ones of the only ones who deliver to our area as we're in North Scotland.