Dog Community

Newbie - RAW or Homecooked Questions (.stacer.)

.stacer.

Posted : 9/8/2009 12:42:34 PM

Hi, so, I know little about dog nutrition - aside from some good brands of kibble. I've been thinking about either switching to a raw diet or homecooked, after I learn some about each diet. Fiance homecooks for his birds and has fancy food for his fish....but we feed the dogs just kibble. That seems odd since they are much more important pets - not that the birds and fish aren't important! Can you give me some reputable websites I could check out to learn more? Also, how much on average do you spend on a large dog per month for homecooking and for raw? Timmy eats a bag of dog food a month (about 30lbs I think) and it's $90). Also, if you wanted to give me some ideas of what you feed your own dogs.....I wouldn't hate that ;)

glenmar

Posted : 9/8/2009 1:52:45 PM

Holy crap!! That's $3 a pound! Yikes!

Once we moved down here, for some reason mine stopped tolerating homecooked. Now they get raw chicken necks three times a week along with some organ. Under $20 a week for the 6 of them.

Spazzy

Posted : 9/8/2009 2:22:13 PM

Holy crap, $90 for a 30lbs bag? I havent fed kibble in years now but that seems a little high to me. Bailey has been on all raw for so long now, i wouldnt even think about putting him on kibble again. I buy in bulk when possible, when meats are on sale i get as many as i can. Bailey weights about 70lbs, and he usually eats around 1 pound to 1.5 pounds of meat every day. Less if hes sleepin on the bed all day, more if we're outside doing stuff. The average cost for one day of food for him anywhere from $1, to maybe $5. Today he is getting pork neck bones ($1.60) its about 1.2 pounds i think, there is more bone than meat but he can eat pork bones. You have to alternate, today Bailey is getting a lot of bone, so tomarrow he will get all or mostly meat. It all depends on if stuff was on sale, and what kind of meat it is. If you plan on feeding alot of chicken, buy whole ones insted of just legs or wings. Buying them whole and dividing them into meals is cheaper than buying a bunch of legs/wings/ thighs(at least in my area its cheaper, it might not be where you live)

jessies_mom

Posted : 9/8/2009 8:07:53 PM

Hi Stacy;

I cook all of Jessie's food .She weighs about 60 pounds and it costs about $20 a week to feed her. Her diet was formulated by Monica Segal;

http://www.monicasegal.com/

She has booklets with balanced cooked and raw diets for dogs of all sizes;

http://www.monicasegal.com/catalog/productindex.php?cPath=25_26

Her yahoo group called K9 Kitchen is a great place to learn about cooking or doing raw diets;

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/K9Kitchen/