Think I found a happy medium (kibble plus topper)

shamrockmommy

LOL Cuz I'm a dog dork like that and I knew you all would understand!

 

   From one dog dork to another; I'm glad that you found something that works.

 That's great! I hope everybody's issues clear up. I know what a pain it is to find something that works for everybody.

Did you ever try Honest Kitchen Preference?? Similar to Sojo's but without grains, my dogs did so much better on that then Sojo's.

stanton

Did you ever try Honest Kitchen Preference??

 

  I think Honest Kitchen would be better too since they add a vitamin premix so it meets AAFCO standards; Sojo's doesn't add any vitamins.

That's one reason I'd feel better with HK myself if it weren't so $$$$. I just do my own - it's not that hard - HK just adds veggies and the supplement premix, and that's the easiest part of using fresh ingredients. Kibble plus whatever is a tried and true method and yields pretty darn good results. I know farmers who feed the cheapest possible dog food and scraps from the table and farm waste, and their dogs do great. Seems like given a decent amount of fresh food in the diet, most dogs just use the kibble to top off energy and balance micronutrients. I do prefer good foods though - they give REALLY great results when combined with fresh foods (I just do raw meaty bones).

Brookcove... do you feed any ground meats at all? I know you feed beef heart, etc, things like that, but I gather your meat source is primarily RMB's??

Also, do you find you have to add a bit of grain to your pup's diets to help with calorie requirements?

Rivers has such a great metabolism, but I find that he needs some grain a few times a week to help keep weight on. I only give him brown rice or millet though, rotating usually. He's very allergic to wheat and oats, and appears to throw up Quinoa when I've tried it a few times.

So many raw feeders suggest avoiding grains all together, but, in reality, I don't think there's harm in it as long as it's not a huge part of the diet.

HK is great, but at $50 per 7# box, it can go a long way if you add a bit of say brown rice or millet to the mix; otherwise, it can be very expensive.

If I just had my 2 5# dogs to feed, it would be no big deal, that box would last a LONG time; but Rivers can put away 2-3# of food a day at his only 55#; so that box only lasts me about 5wks without adding a bit of grain. If I had some grain, it's about 6-7 wks worth....BUT, add that cost with the meat requirement for that big guy and then it does get real pricey.

There are no meat co-op's available in Colorado that I can find after several weeks of searching. I did find a place where I can get chicken backs, but I'm probably paying for 1 chicken back what most would get 2 for. Leg quarters at Walmart have gone up again, they're now $6 for a 10# bag, which isn't too bad; but then I get ripped off on the cost of chicken wings for my little guys.

Appearantly if one decides to feed RMB's, or homecooked for that matter, the state of Colorado is not your friend for affordable meat sources. And you can forget finding any organ meat, other then calf/beef liver, chicken gizzards/hearts, and beef heart; unless you buy a whole turkey, in which you get those organs.

 

I had thought, at one time the HK was going to be my soution, but the dogs won't touch it. I tried 3 different flavors and no go. I don't know what is putting them off. So far so good with kibble and toppers. No issues with stool at all, and no gas (surprising because natura products usually do that to them, they're on cal. nat. lamb/rice). Yesterday afternoon I gave the dogs a beef knuckle bone each. They had some tartar buildup and Gobie the 13 yr old minpin had some BAD 'old dog' breath. My MIL came over for a visit and Gobie licked her and she nearly barfed from the smell. He has good teeth overall, it's those very back ones that get thick buildup of plaque on them. So anyway, one afternoon in the backyard with a knuckle bone (vs. the usual marrow/femur bone) and all dogs have sparkly teeth, no more plaque and nice breath, even Gobie! They look as though they've just got back from a cleaning. So if I can find raw beef knuckle bones, I think they'll be in the weekly lineup! Awesome! As an aside, my FIL has a rat terrier/chow mix dog, she looks like a shiba inu, who is a "farm dog." She gets science diet senior (only just this year, before that it was MILK BONES) plus table scraps at every meal. She's 13.5 yrs old and still doing quite well.

No ground meats in our diets. Two of the Border Collies have oatmeal and cornmeal in their diets, for low-ash energy. Lu and Lynn have white rice in theirs, to provide low-glycemic sources of nutrients and energy. I also use sweet or white potato for the same reasons.

Shamrock....careful with those beef knuckle bones, my chihuahua broke a tooth and chipped another; and my barely 2yr old dog chipped his 4th pre-molar on one too.

I don't feed beef bones anymore. Naturapet products are fantastic, and are the only company, if I had to feed dry food again, that I would resort to. Although I do like Orijen too, however, seems to have too many ingredients if one has a food sensitive dog.

Brookcove - yeah, sweet potatoes are a hot item here. Dogs love them. Ground turkey is the only ground meat I feed around here, but I have no choice in the matter as I have one dog that can't eat bones for fear of choking.. For his chicken, he gets Stella and Chewy's 1.5 oz patties; it's very affordable when he's the only one eating it for his mere 5#.

They also get beef heart, tongue and calf liver (on occasion), but I don't feed any other beef cuts or ground; way too expensive. Rivers and Kuaui get plenty of chicken backs, wings, and chicken necks (that I've recently found). But turkey is the only other affordable meat around here as part of a staple.