# Why DON'T you feed your dog a raw diet?



## baxtersmom (Jun 11, 2011)

I've been scouring the forums for days researching vaccines and diet etc. as we just welcomed our first puppy into our lives. I had NO IDEA that kibble was "so bad" for my pup, but I am incredibly intimidated by raw feeding... I have a 3yo and 18mo that I have a hard enough time feeding! LOL I guess I ASSumed that we would feed a good quality kibble and we would be doing the best by our pup. He's currently on Orijen puppy food, and I can't help but feel guilty for it after reading through the forum.

My little guy is 3.5lbs right now (he's a ShihPoo) and it seems most of the online PMR feeders have 3+ BIG dogs. I don't even know if he COULD chew through a chicken neck etc. 

Please share your reasons for choosing to feed kibble vs. raw (if you don't mind of course) I sincerely hope I'm not starting a typical newbie debate thread either. TIA :biggrin1:


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

Don't underestimate your pups jaws, little guys can power through bone and muscle meats with the best of them!! :biggrin:

You're new to the forum so :welcome:

Orijen is a FANTASTIC food IMO (and you're doing awesome by feeding such a high quality food, looks like you've done some homework), most here would agree that just because it's kibble doesn't make it HORRIBLE like the other kibbles on the market, If i didn't feed raw this is what i would be feeding (not rich enough for ziwipeak).

I don't feed kibble so i can't say why i feed kibble vs. raw but maybe some others can chime in that feed kibs


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## KlaMarie (Dec 30, 2010)

I feed kibble (Orijen LBP) once or twice a week, primarily to make sure my dog still knows it's food. I always have a big bag of kibble stashed away for emergencies, it just wouldn't be feasible to feed a diet that requires a freezer/fridge during a hurricane. I didn't have power for a week+ during Ike, and we didn't have grocery store access for at least 3 days, so even the humans of the family weren't eating much refrigerated or frozen foods :smile: 

And I like to watch her when she eats raw, she just gulps way too quickly sometimes and will have to hork it back up. I've never had to pull something out from her throat but I'm still cautious about it. On days when I work (usually at least 13 hours shifts), I use those days to feed her kibble meals because it's so convenient, I don't have to watch her eat.


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## Mollygirl (May 14, 2011)

I find feeding raw is easier than kibble in the way that I always got meat especially chicken in the freezer. With kibble I sometimes ran out and had to run to the store just to buy some, which I don't like doing. That is one reason I like it plus many others. It does take time to cut it up, especially for Molly who won't eat big cuts of meat and she is a bulldog. But I would rather be at home cutting meat than getting in the car and knowing that Walmart doesn't have what I need, no pet stores in town, so I have to buy some low quality kibble for them so they won't starve. We couldn't always run to the next city just to buy kibble. As for you worrying about your little dog, my little yorkie can chew threw all the chicken bones I give her. If your worried about it, you can hit it with a hammer to break up the bones. I have to hold the drumstick in Molly's mouth so she can break it in half, then I take it and cut it in two. She will not eat any other way. My little dogs do better than Molly, so if you want to try it, do it, you can always go back to Orijen if it doesn't work out.


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## SerenityFL (Sep 28, 2010)

KlaMarie said:


> I feed kibble (Orijen LBP) once or twice a week, primarily to make sure my dog still knows it's food. I always have a big bag of kibble stashed away for emergencies, it just wouldn't be feasible to feed a diet that requires a freezer/fridge during a hurricane. I didn't have power for a week+ during Ike, and we didn't have grocery store access for at least 3 days, so even the humans of the family weren't eating much refrigerated or frozen foods :smile:
> 
> And I like to watch her when she eats raw, she just gulps way too quickly sometimes and will have to hork it back up. I've never had to pull something out from her throat but I'm still cautious about it. On days when I work (usually at least 13 hours shifts), I use those days to feed her kibble meals because it's so convenient, I don't have to watch her eat.


Just real quick as someone who came from hurricane country and went through three of them in my stay there:

If you leave the freezer closed except to grab something really quick, that food can stay frozen for a good couple of days. You can also get ice from distribution points to add to the freezer if you find that stores are not opening within a few days of the hurricane. Right before the hurricane, you can also take water bottles or zip loc bags and fill them 3/4 of the way with water and store those in the freezer. They will, obviously, freeze up in to ice blocks keeping things frozen or very cold for a couple of days longer. You could, essentially, go 3-4 days with food in the freezer staying frozen, without power. (And 3/4 because, I'm sure you know, the water will expand when it turns to ice so there needs to be room at the top.) 

Anyway, I've wondered this question myself. Clearly anyone who feeds a high quality kibble has some knowledge on dog food nutrion, has done some sort of research...and I've always wondered what made people choose to feed what they feed. Great question, OP.


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## Jacksons Mom (Jun 13, 2010)

Don't feel BAD.... there is no reason to feel guilty. Dogs can and do live perfectly healthy long lives on kibble. I do think it's important to choose a high quality kibble (which Orijen is) but most of all, it is important to find what works for your dogs and your lifestyle.

I do buy a bag of pre-made raw to keep around the house (Stella & Chewy's). It's easier for me. I am a "poor" college student who rarely even prepares meals for myself, LOL. I honestly am too lazy to work it all out, go find a butcher or a store, etc, etc. So, yes, I am admitting laziness is a factor. Two, I don't feel like I know enough about it. It's something that makes me uncomfortable... *shrugs* Three, I travel alot with my dog. Every week I am back and forth between my house and my dads house where I spend a lot of time, I am a dogsitter who frequently sleeps w/ Jackson at other peoples homes, etc. I think my family, whom I live with, would think I was totally insane. And... I see good results with kibble (he's got no major health issues, good teeth, no eye ****, solid small poop, shiny hair, no allergies, infections or anything like that) and don't think it'd be that much different on raw. 

Anyways, kibble is easiest for me. I think raw is great and maybe someday I will solely feed it. But for now with my lifestyle, this is the easiest and best for us.


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## Montana (Apr 10, 2011)

The prey model raw diet just made all the sense in the world to me. It was like a light bulb went on in my head when I read about it. 
WE don't eat raw meat (well, I like my steak blue rare and LOVE sushi) but many don't because we've been accustomed not to, mentally and physically. It's in our brains, raw meat = bacteria and disease. And this is true because we don't eat it, we get sick. But there are cultures that do, and their bodies are adjusted to it. We live a pretty cushy and protected life. 

My mutt was a stray in Mexico before I adopted her, and lord only knows what she ate to survive. Who am I to deprive her of the most delicious food she will ever eat and force her to a dull, dry, unexciting life of the same cardboard textured kibble everyday. It would be like someone offering you your most favorite meal, then giving it to you in the form of a pill, and that's what you get for the rest of your life. Yum....

I don't judge anyone who does feed kibble mind you! As long as they are doing the best they can for their pets. Feeding a high quality kibble is a step in the right direction, it shows that research was done and the dietary needs of a beloved pet is a priority, which is being a responsible owner! I do scoff at those who pick up the $15 bag of crap at the grocery store just because they like the look of the bag, or because the word of the precious television told them too.

ETA: I do have to add and admit, I have fed crap kibble before, even growing up with our family dog, Mom fed him Nutro. But I think with the awareness now, and having such an abundance of information at our finger tips in our current day, there's no real good excuse to not educate yourself. It's just ignorance.


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## SerenityFL (Sep 28, 2010)

Montana said:


> I do scoff at those who pick up the $15 bag of crap at the grocery store just because they like the look of the bag, or because the word of the precious television told them too.


Go easy, some of us just didn't know any better. Some of us believed that the pet food industry wouldn't do anything to hurt/harm our pets. Some of us never even thought about it...it was what we knew all growing up. It doesn't mean that all of them are horrible, uncaring owners...we just never had the information or knew to even look for it. And when a vet I used to work for told me that all kibble was crap, well, why spend the money on Iams or Eukanueba if that is the case? (I had never even heard of Orijen before I found this forum.)


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## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

I don't feed raw to Tucker because he's not my dog and my parents don't feel like they could do the diet properly, nor do they want to put in the time to prepare it.
I didn't feed it my cat Neko because he wouldn't eat it.
I don't feed it to my cat Willie anymore because I went to college so he's cared for by my parents and he hated organs.


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

We juste started feeding raw about a year ago. I have even weaned a litter of puppies onto raw. The difference in the dogs looks and behavior is amazing. My dogs look wonderful, have tons of energy (not hyper)and have a more easy going demeanor. Their breath is fresh and clean, teeth are stunning, weight is perfect, stools are small and disintergrate after a day or two. I used to buy dog food at Costco and when I factor in all the time to get there, the extra money spent on things I didn't need, the vet visits for teeth cleaning and skin issues, storing the kibble and smelling it - well raw is not that difficult. I just purchased 120 pounds of chicken necks, and recieved 50 pounds of lamb lung. It took about 40 minutes to repacked and grind some then put in freezer. We feed 8 dogs right now so feed about 11 pounds per day. It runs me the same to feed mid range kibble as to do raw. Last time I had this many dogs I fed 5 (40) pound bags per month at $30 = $150.00 This month I have spent $80.00 on meat. The perks outweigh the cost and time involved IMHO.


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## swolek (Mar 31, 2011)

I only switched this year.

My three reasons for not doing raw:

-Not enough time. I think the problem is that diets like BARF make it seem like there's a ton of prep time involved. I'm finding that it doesn't take any longer to feed than kibble and I probably only spend 10 minutes a week cutting and portioning things. So now I realize that this reason was kind of silly!

-My dog was perfectly healthy on kibble. Little did I know, she _could_ actually improve and problems that I didn't think were related to diet disappeared. But still, I can see why people are hesitant to change when they see that their dog is fine on kibble.

-Lack of freezer space. I can totally understand this one. If my dog was big, I wouldn't have the room. For a small dog, though, it's easy to share some space. It means paying a little more (no bulk buying) and shopping more frequently, though. I think a chest freezer would pay for itself in time but in my case I seriously wouldn't have the room for one.


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

My main beef with raw was having to buy a freezer to make it affordable for my situation. Grocery store shopping for the meat for four big dogs and one small dog to start off with was WAY too expensive for me. I was buying Wellness CORE and that was actually cheaper for me to feed them than buying from the grocery store. So, I had to buy a freezer. As soon as I made that investment I saved TONS of money on food for the dogs. We were then able to switch our other two by the time they came back from NY with my dad. So there are 7 dogs to feed here and it is actually very affordable because of our freezer and co-op.

But ya, that was my problem with raw. With the number of dogs I had buying from the grocery store in nice convenient little packages was just too expensive.


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## trikerdon (May 14, 2011)

I just went to a site that reviews kibble. I was checking out Orijen. The review I read was on the Orijen Six Fish Dry Dog Food. It seems to have all the stuff dogs need. Now I am wondering if one could not mix (grind) this kibble into the raw mixture. Maybe half and half?


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## Serendipity (Aug 13, 2010)

trikerdon said:


> I just went to a site that reviews kibble. I was checking out Orijen. The review I read was on the Orijen Six Fish Dry Dog Food. It seems to have all the stuff dogs need. Now I am wondering if one could not mix (grind) this kibble into the raw mixture. Maybe half and half?


Cooked food and raw digest at different rates, so that wouldn't work.


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

Before I started feeding raw, I had a million excuses. 
I felt like I didn't know enough, but really I was just over complicating a VERY simple thing. Get meat. Give to dog. Done. 
I didn't think I could afford it, but then I discovered cuts of meat that I always overlooked in my own shopping and never realized how cheap they can be. When the world of bulk orders opened up to me later, I was golden.
I was fearful of germs around my house with my nieces and nephews crawling everywhere, and now I feel silly for even admitting that. It simply ISN'T a problem.
Freezer space was a concern, as was a lack of space to put a freezer. But really, now I'd put one in my bedroom if that's what I had to do. 

Then one day it just clicked that raw was the way to go, and then all my "reasons" seemed so stupid. SO, I made the plunge, and never looked back!


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## baxtersmom (Jun 11, 2011)

Thanks for your opinions everyone. I posted some questions about PMR in the Raw Feeding section of the forum. I am still a bit hesitant to switch my tiny puppy right now because he can barely chew kibble and I don't think he even has all his molars yet, but I'm seriously... SERIOUSLY considering trying him on raw after this bag of Orijen is gone. I have easy access to organically raised rabbits, chickens, lambs, goats, deer... pretty much anything that was once alive since ILs have a butcher shop  It does strike me as gross, but if it's really that awful I can always go back to kibble right? Judging by the size of my puppy and the 2.5kg bag of Orijen I have a lot of time to learn more and ask around.


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## Kofismom (Sep 14, 2010)

baxtersmom said:


> Thanks for your opinions everyone. I posted some questions about PMR in the Raw Feeding section of the forum. I am still a bit hesitant to switch my tiny puppy right now because he can barely chew kibble and I don't think he even has all his molars yet, but I'm seriously... SERIOUSLY considering trying him on raw after this bag of Orijen is gone. I have easy access to organically raised rabbits, chickens, lambs, goats, deer... pretty much anything that was once alive since ILs have a butcher shop  It does strike me as gross, but if it's really that awful I can always go back to kibble right? Judging by the size of my puppy and the 2.5kg bag of Orijen I have a lot of time to learn more and ask around.


 Wow, easy access to such high quality food. That's really great.
The fact that it seemed really gross was one thing that held me back. 
Now I just toss it to Kofi and love to hear the crunch, knowing she's getting great benefit for her teeth and gums.
Even the raw liver doesn't gross me out anymore.
Seeing her transformation, and how much she loved raw made me a true believer.
BTW, two cute little guys in your picture!


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## Jack Monzon (Jul 25, 2010)

I don't have freezer space, and I don't have a car so can't buy in bulk.


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## lucky (Jan 8, 2011)

I have had lucky on PMR for 8 months, she was on kibble before that. 

My reason for not feeding raw sooner (my honest answer)
Never researched alternative diets until lucky became obviously miserable with her diet of kibble 

When I brought lucky home at 8 weeks old the breeder gave me a bag of IAMS, I knew that I did not want to feed her on IAMS so gradually changed her food to JWB, to be honest I never really though about an alternative to kibble until lucky was 6 months old, she was getting extremely bored of her kibble and most of it would be just left in her bowl, she never seemed interested in eating it (can't blame her really) so I started researching alternative diets, came across BARF and thought that seemed a bit much with all the veg etc ... finally I found info on PMR, the more I read on it the more keen I was to start lucky on it, I did have a few worries with getting the balance right and whether she would eat organ meat but decided that this was the perfect diet for my dog, a few days later after more reading I went shopping and bought a few packs of chicken wings, gave the kibble to my dad for his dogs and never looked back. Lucky never hesitated to eat her first raw meal and she thoroughly enjoyed it, she is always excited at meal times and finishes every single meal, she will now eat any meat and any organ (as long as kidney is frozen). 

I wish I had started her on it the day I brought her home


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## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

baxtersmom said:


> I've been scouring the forums for days researching vaccines and diet etc. as we just welcomed our first puppy into our lives. I had NO IDEA that kibble was "so bad" for my pup, but I am incredibly intimidated by raw feeding... I have a 3yo and 18mo that I have a hard enough time feeding! LOL I guess I ASSumed that we would feed a good quality kibble and we would be doing the best by our pup. He's currently on Orijen puppy food, and I can't help but feel guilty for it after reading through the forum.
> 
> My little guy is 3.5lbs right now (he's a ShihPoo) and it seems most of the online PMR feeders have 3+ BIG dogs. I don't even know if he COULD chew through a chicken neck etc.
> 
> Please share your reasons for choosing to feed kibble vs. raw (if you don't mind of course) I sincerely hope I'm not starting a typical newbie debate thread either. TIA :biggrin1:


Actually, you are opening a really big can of worms, especially here in the Dry & Canned Dog Food section.

The tip off? "I had NO IDEA that kibble was 'so bad' for my pup...":tape:

This is a heated debate/loaded question that always either puts people on the defensive or makes them feel superior.

Bad idea. Dump the thread.


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## shellbeme (Dec 8, 2010)

I have no issues with, nor do I think it's weird or barbaric to feed dogs raw. I actually think it's kind of neat-however-I will never do it. For me, I don't have the stomach for it, I think it's gross and I don't want to snuggle with my dogs after they have been all over that mess. I also don't want to clean up the aftermath. It's easy to wash my hands and clean off my counters after handling raw meat but I would feel like I have to completely bathe my dog each time it ate. I'm just not comfortable with it in our house. I am also not comletely sold on the idea that its the BEST way to go-however I don't think it's bad at all, I just don't want it in my home


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## baxtersmom (Jun 11, 2011)

Shellbeme those are my feelings on it exactly, but I'm willing to try anything once! 

SubMariner (or anyone) can you please help me with deleting the thread? I didn't realize I was starting the equivalent of a formula feeding vs breastfeeding debate on my mommy forum  so I'd like to shut this down so no one's feelings get hurt, it certainly wasn't my intent. I truly had no idea that there even WERE other options for feeding a dog (other than maybe cooking for them!) Seriously, don't want to be *that* newbie!


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

Thread closed at OP's request.


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