How about dogfood :)

[TyCowboy]

BARF=Bones And Raw Feed.

I've been kicking around the idea. I have a dog who I believe is diabetic, and my other dog is allergic to most of the fillers in dog food.

So I'm mulling over the beef diet.

Ty

[Dieselbud]

I buy 40lbs at a time 2x/month (what they call breeder blocks) it is a case of 8x5lb frozen blocks of ground chicken with bone (and fat and skin)........ it is the consistency of ground beef. A 40lb breeder block here of plain chicken goes for $28, but the same size case of chicken that is mixed with the veggies and fruit cost $42.

The stuff I buy is by a company called http://www.mountaindogfood.com/ out of Edmonton, I used to make the 2.5 hour trip myself once a month, but now I can get it locally for a few dollars more. (check out the help section, it explains a bit on how to feed)

Diesel weighs over 120lbs, and not very active in the winter, so he gets 2.5-3lbs/day to maintain, so I alternate between the plain chicken and the mixed veggies/fruit formula to keep my costs down. When the money is good he gets a treat of tripe (cow stomach: which is SOOO good for them and he loves it more than anything)) or beef offal (liver, heart etc)

You do not need to feed ground meat to your dog..... the reason I do is when I statred the diet I was 7 months pregnant and it was easier... I got lazy and he got picky. Most people who feed large dogs go the route of chicken backs and necks from the butchers (the practically give them away) Pork neck bones are dirt cheap too. You can feed a 50lb dog this way for about $20/month. Heck, I have seen a chihuahua scarf down a whole chicken wing and call it a meal. You could buy a family pack of chicken wings for $13 and it would feed a tiny dog for a month!!

Here is what 35lbs of ground chicken looks like (you can get it in smaller packaging but it is more $$ that way) this would feed a 35-40lb dog for a month, it lasts me about 14 days:




My sister buys ground chicken from a chicken farm and pays $20 for a 50lb bag!! (she feeds 3 large dogs and has 2 large freezers I wouldn't recommend that size to anyone else LOL.

I would ask around, you do not have to buy the BARF brand......... the only people I nkow who do that are ones with little dogs

I don't mind answering any questions you have, I am a HUGE advocate of a raw diet for cats and dogs

Tycowboy, if you think your dog is diabetic, I would get him checked out fast. Dogs can go blind very rapidly if they are diabetic and not monitored... all it takes is a minor pee test (I know this I had Diesel tested last month) You do not want a diabetic dog....... they would need to be medicated just like a diabetic human.......

[full-wit]

I use to feed my cats and dog BARF - I stopped when I got pregnant with my first child because I was so sick all the time and that just added to it. I really need to get back too it. Now that they eat dog food, they shed like crazy! And the poops are much smellier. Also, from what I remember from my reading long ago, the grains in the dog food causes puppies to grow too fast and in dogs prone to hip dysplasia (like rotties) this can be a bad thing. Out rottie Hilda is only 90 pounds, this is small for a rottie and I really believe it's because of her raw diet as a puppy. Her coat use to be so shiny and glossy while she was on it - I think I am talking myself into doing it again

Also, I never bought any packaged food, I would order chicken backs from my local grocery store and stock up on chicken and turkey necks and beef bones when they were on sale. I also feed the cats a lot of chicken livers which they LOVED. And I would make my own veggie mush for them, the cats only got a taste of it, but Hilda would eat a big scoop every day. It's hard to remember but I think for all three of them I was paying less than $50/month. I probably pay at least that now because I buy the high priced premium dog and cat food.