# Going with a pre-made raw



## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

I've done nothing for the past almost month but research raw foods, both prey model and pre-made. For a variety of reasons, I've decided to try a pre-made raw. I decided to go with Darwins after researching them, Primal and Stella & Cheweys, for the most part. I placed my introductory order this morning and have my next two orders in their system, ready to go. I don't think the 10lb intro will be enough to tell how my two will do so I placed an order for 20lbs after that. I read something here yesterday in a thread from a couple people who said they rotate. If they like the Darwins & do well on it, I may do a day of raw, a day of The Honest Kitchen (I love this food too much to give it up) and a day of kibble with canned.
I know most of you do the prey model but I still thought I'd share.


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## BearMurphy (Feb 29, 2012)

hope they like it! I started with pre-made and switched to PMR because it was much cheaper, I could give more variety, have the dental benefits and could control exactly what my dog was eating.
If it's something you would consider in the future, i think it made the overall transition to PMR easier because I never had any cannon butt incidents in the house. think maybe his gut was primed for raw food with the pre-made and it just took some slow transitioning to other things to get on full PMR


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

Heh, I wondered if anyone would say that, about trying raw in the future. Yes, that is in my mind. You know I'm scared so if i get to raw step by step, that's okay too, at least I think so. It's going to be nice to sit home and watch the Darwin's be delivered to my door!


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

What about Vital Essentials and NW Naturals???

I don't know much about Darwin's, well, nothing actually, but I'm not a huge fan of Primal and Stella and Chewy's. From what I've been told from my "guru" they really are just a glorified canned food, because they take out the beneficial bacteria using "high pressure pastuerization" (I believe that's the name), so you really are paying a lot for something that isn't fully raw. 


Either way, I'm glad you are finally taking this small step


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

I can't get NW Naturals or Vital Essentials anywhere within traveling distance. One thing I like about Darwin's is the face the food is made and shipped within weeks. I'm guessing that pre made raw isn't popular in my local area because the same bag of Stella has been sitting at the pet store for over six months. I put a teeny mark on the bag so i know it's the same one. It's all frosty and icy inside and out. At least the Darwin's comes fresher.


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

I would maybe look into ordering from hare-today. They are great


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

meggels said:


> I would maybe look into ordering from hare-today. They are great


Is that a pre made raw place?


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

InkedMarie said:


> I can't get NW Naturals or Vital Essentials anywhere within traveling distance. One thing I like about Darwin's is the face the food is made and shipped within weeks. I'm guessing that pre made raw isn't popular in my local area because the same bag of Stella has been sitting at the pet store for over six months. I put a teeny mark on the bag so i know it's the same one. It's all frosty and icy inside and out. At least the Darwin's comes fresher.


i found darwin's when i was looking around for pre mades. i've never tried it, but i would. seems like an awesome product.


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

InkedMarie said:


> Is that a pre made raw place?


They do alllll sorts of stuff. Premade chubs that are just ground up animals/organs/bones


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## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

We're going to use Blue Ridge Beef. It's all grass fed, hormone and antibiotic free meat. It's only meat too-major advantage to me. It's all under 1.75 a pound for us. The average is around 1.60 a pound.


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

magicre said:


> i found darwin's when i was looking around for pre mades. i've never tried it, but i would. seems like an awesome product.


I liked what I read, both from customers and them, also like what I hear about their customer service. I've talked to two different people three times and have to agree with their service, top notch. I admit, it's "easy", even for pre made. It comes in 2lb packages, with four 1/2 lb portions. They don't offer chubs or anything like that or I would have gotten that if it was cheaper. They advise that when the dogs are on it and doing fine, adding tripe once a week in addition to the raw then adding one whole frozen sardine, no tail, once a week instead of a raw meal.


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

meggels said:


> They do alllll sorts of stuff. Premade chubs that are just ground up animals/organs/bones


I did not know that, I thought it was just raw meat. I will have to take a look at them.


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

https://www.hare-today.com/index.php?cPath=21&osCsid=cc59373f0234cf9d567782b67bd5cb92

you can check out all the different products they have for each animal


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

SaharaNight Boxers said:


> We're going to use Blue Ridge Beef. It's all grass fed, hormone and antibiotic free meat. It's only meat too-major advantage to me. It's all under 1.75 a pound for us. The average is around 1.60 a pound.


I checked on that too but not available to me


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

meggels said:


> https://www.hare-today.com/index.php?cPath=21&osCsid=cc59373f0234cf9d567782b67bd5cb92
> 
> you can check out all the different products they have for each animal


thanks, stalker <g>


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## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

There's Pawfectly Raw in Amherst, NH

PawfectlyRaw


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## lmgakg (Jan 1, 2011)

InkedMarie said:


> I put a teeny mark on the bag so i know it's the same one. It's all frosty and icy inside and out. At least the Darwin's comes fresher.


HAHAHAHA, that's awesome!!!!!!!! Good for you!!!!!!!!!! Sorry, I can't be of any help though, I have never used a pre-made raw. Good luck!


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

SaharaNight Boxers said:


> There's Pawfectly Raw in Amherst, NH
> 
> PawfectlyRaw


It's not exactly in Amherst, it's a Co op type of thing. They have a drop that is 40 min from me but to be honest, I did not know they have mixes, I thought it was just be raw meat. I will look when on my computer because it's a jumble of mixed up stuff on my tablet.


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

lmgakg said:


> HAHAHAHA, that's awesome!!!!!!!! Good for you!!!!!!!!!! Sorry, I can't be of any help though, I have never used a pre-made raw. Good luck!


This is the same store that I went to buy a bag of food. The bag was very 



dusty, we turned it over and it had expired a few months before. We found three other expired bags. I told the clerks and we pulled the bags off the shelf. Three days later, I just had to stop by; bsgs were back on the shelf.


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## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

InkedMarie said:


> It's not exactly in Amherst, it's a Co op type of thing. They have a drop that is 40 min from me but to be honest, I did not know they have mixes, I thought it was just be raw meat. I will look when on my computer because it's a jumble of mixed up stuff on my tablet.


I saw they have a few grinds of different things. I saw ground backs for one.


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

SaharaNight Boxers said:


> I saw they have a few grinds of different things. I saw ground backs for one.


I see that too, now that i'm on my computer. I don't know enough about tablets but some sites, everything is all a jumbled mess. Try to quote with it isn't easy either!


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## Celt (Dec 27, 2010)

InkedMarie said:


> I read something here yesterday in a thread from a couple people who said they rotate. If they like the Darwins & do well on it, I may do a day of raw, a day of The Honest Kitchen (I love this food too much to give it up) and a day of kibble with canned.
> I know most of you do the prey model but I still thought I'd share.


I sort of feed this way, I do pmr-type raw instead of Honest Kitchen though. So they get premade raw, kibble, canned, pmr-type raw, and an occassional cooked "meal". My pups do very well on it


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

Celt said:


> I sort of feed this way, I do pmr-type raw instead of Honest Kitchen though. So they get premade raw, kibble, canned, pmr-type raw, and an occassional cooked "meal". My pups do very well on it


What kind of pre made raw do you use? I'm getting Darwins, my first order, the 10lb introductory package, arrives tomorrow


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