Trying to find my options on raw

[shortdariwanda]

Yesterday my husband and I walked around various places to run a couple errands, and strolled around the meat sections so I could show him the monetary benefits on going raw for the dogs. He made an interesting point about the inconvenience of going raw. When we feed the pups, any special things for the dogs, whether it be adding extra fresh veggies or eggs or supps, would be done by me. When I'm working and it's feeding time, he pretty much scoops out the kibble and puts it in their bowl. So if we were to go raw, he wouldn't really know what to do. I mean, I could pretty much cut up the meat for him the night before or something, but what about if we were to have an emergency and have to find someone to watch them or board them somewhere? Trying to trust strangers to feed three dogs raw meat for dinner sounds a bit iffy to me... I might just be too much of a control freak to worry, but has anyone had any experience with that?

[CorgiPaws]

He made an interesting point about the inconvenience of going raw.

I don't really find it to be too inconvenient. While some people scoop kibble into a bowl, I just dump a baggie of raw in the grass outside. (we taught our puppy to eat on a rug that I just bleach every few days, so she doesn't eat outside)The only thing that can be considered an inconvenience is getting a freezer set up, but that's a one time thing, and for three dogs as little as yours, with as little weight asa they have, I don't even know that you'd necessarily *need* a full sized one.

Trying to trust strangers to feed three dogs raw meat for dinner sounds a bit iffy to me... I might just be too much of a control freak to worry, but has anyone had any experience with that?

Absolutely. Jon and I go out of town about one weekend a month, and my father in law stops in a few times a day to take care of the dogs. Easy peasy.



What Jon and I do is have a meat storm about every 6 weeks or however long it takes for us to have a decent stock of sale meats. (we never pay full price, just grab stuff when we see good sales) During this "meat storm" we cut and package all of our meat into one day portioned baggies. We spend about two to three hours on it, depending on how much we have, but we don't have to worry with it for another moth or two, so it's not too bad.

From there, all the bags go into labeled containers in my full size upright freezer. Each night, we just pull the next day's food out and let it thaw overnight.
We are considering eliminating the baggies because they are wasteful, but for now it's what's working for us, since all of our dogs eat such different amounts, I like to have them seprate.
I linked another thread that has pictures of how we organize.

I think my freezer has OCD....



NOTE: It really doesn't have to be THIS crazy organized. We just did this not long ago. Before then we just had baggies all over, and it was fine, this is moreso the product of me having nothing better to do one night.

ETA: I would never leave me dogs in someone's care who was unwilling to keep them on their raw diet. IMO if they aren't willing to feed hem raw, which just isn't that big of a deal, just dumping an already prepared baggie, what else are they not willing to do for their care?

[DaneMama]

Yesterday my husband and I walked around various places to run a couple errands, and strolled around the meat sections so I could show him the monetary benefits on going raw for the dogs. He made an interesting point about the inconvenience of going raw. When we feed the pups, any special things for the dogs, whether it be adding extra fresh veggies or eggs or supps, would be done by me. When I'm working and it's feeding time, he pretty much scoops out the kibble and puts it in their bowl. So if we were to go raw, he wouldn't really know what to do. I mean, I could pretty much cut up the meat for him the night before or something, but what about if we were to have an emergency and have to find someone to watch them or board them somewhere? Trying to trust strangers to feed three dogs raw meat for dinner sounds a bit iffy to me... I might just be too much of a control freak to worry, but has anyone had any experience with that?

The inconvenience of raw is one of the biggest reasons why people don't choose it. I don't see it as an inconvenience because these are my fur kids and I will always do what is best for them no matter what.

I will say that raw feeding really should be a combined effort for the both of you. It really isn't that much work or hard to get the hang of, so no reason why he shouldn't learn and be supportive of it. Instead of scooping out some doom nuggets and pouring them into a bowl, you throw a chunk of meat outside and let the dog out to have at it. As for adding in veggies...that is a personal matter but they hold no real nutrition for dogs and it would just be added energy and prep work.

The biggest prep that you would do is pre packaging the meat into separated meals, however you choose to do it. What we do is section our meat out into 12 quart containers which holds about 2 days worth of food for our 4 dogs. We pull one out of the freezer and let it thaw out over night and feed it over the next day or two.

As far as leaving your dogs, you should definitely call around to boarding facilities and find one that is raw supportive, they do exist. Or contact friends and family that you trust and give them the gist of your feeding schedule and what to do if they are willing to support it. Since you will already be prepared with pre packaged meals, there wont be any "emergency" when it comes to figuring out what to feed the dogs if you have to leave. You just send frozen meats instead of bagged kibble. When we leave town, we have someone stay at the house and just give them detailed directions on what to do and how to feed. Never had an issue with that.

[g00dgirl]

It really is easy to do once you know how much to feed.
I usually don't portion out the meat in advance. I don't have anything but the freezer in my refrigerator so I am not stocking up large quantities either. (though I would like to!).

The basis of my dogs' diet is chicken leg quarters. For each meal I grab a quarter out of the fridge, split it in half with a meat cleaver and feed each dog one half. Stick the cleaver and cutting board in the sink til the next meal, wash my hands and I'm done! If your husband finds this too difficult you could just pre-portion and freeze (feed frozen for even less mess!) or keep out a couple days worth in the fridge in a container too.

One way to keep it less messy is to feed in their crates, if you use crates. Or to gate them in the kitchen. Honestly, the chicken hardly hits the floor with mine though so they take it onto the dinning room carpet and it's fine. They even lick the carpet clean. I do have a shampooer that I use once or twice a month anyway.

[shortdariwanda]

I did a test run tonight to see how it would be. I normally feed them in the kitchen in their individual bowls. Tonight I put a small portion of raw meat in their bowls to see how they would take to it. They jumped at it immediately, but instead of staying in the kitchen, they grabbed it and ran into the carpeted living room to find a comfortable place to lie down and enjoy their treat. We had to chase them around the house to grab it from them and then put them outside in our screened-in porch to feed it to them... The hubby wasn't too thrilled about it... And crates are out of the question because they absolutely hate them. I'm going to have to figure something else out. Ha.

Well I have time considering that I still have a huge container full of Orijen that needs to be consumed.

[g00dgirl]

If they won't stay put you could tether them to the cabinets, perhaps?

[DaneMama]

Just feed them outside?

[CorgiPaws]

I taught our Cocker Spaniel puppy to eat on a rug that I just bleach when it gets gross. She's pretty clean, now that she's got the hang of it, so I doubt I'll have to wash more than once a week, if that.
It took her one day (three meals) to learn to eat on the rug, and now I can just give her her food and walk away and she stays on her rug. I'm thinking I'm going to train my Corgi to do it that way too because feeding outsde can get inconvenient if it's raining, having four dogs.
I also have a little half bathroom that is all tile, and if it's raining outside, i've fed them in there, and then just swiffer the floor after, takes like two seconds.

[harrkim120]

If I were you, I would just feed them on your porch. You know there's no way that they're just going to stay in one place...especially if they can't chew it up quickly. I feed Brady out on that patio thingy, and he licks the concrete clean.

What did you give them anyway?

[Jodysmom]

They're bigger rats and run a little over a pound a piece. He's not ready for it yet, but eventually yes, he will get some rat goodness. It's meat and organs and bones. There's just a bad stigma with them. And at least I know where these have come from.

We'll see how I do with the skinning of them.

Harrkim:
We buy frozen mice and smaller rats for our corn snake! I guess they are meat! Interesting that we don't question what to feed our reptile friends. Of course we feed them what they would find in the wild. In the case of our corn snake she eats adult mice or small rats.

To the OP: I am only feeding 1 dog raw but I have been able to find all of my meat through our local grocery store and Super WalMart. I can sometimes find bone-in chicken breasts for .79 a lb. I have also found chicken quarters for .33 a lb. WalMart carries the beef kidney and liver I use but it is over 1 a lb. I also look for pork steaks on sale and just cut them at home. Raw Fed Dogs buys Pork Boston Butt (big cuts of pork)and has the meat butcher cut them for him. If I fed more than one dog, I probably would join a coop but so far raw is affordable. I figure I am also saving money not getting teeth cleanings and unnecessary medications/tests for the loose stool our GSD had on dog kibble.

Shortdariwanda: I read over your original post and realized I didn't really help answer any of your questions. I'll let the other people who have a few dogs answer those.