# Time it takes to Prepare a meal



## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

I started at 4:23 p.m. for their dinner.

bin out of refrigerator
portion out beef and pork (boneless night)

make dogs sit in kitchen and stay (takes the longest -- so i don't get tripped up by dances with food)

set food down - make them sit because we do nothing in life is free

eat food

clean up and i am now posting.

it is 4:34

see? bill? it doesn't take long at all.

what do you guys do at mealtime?

what's your process and how long from start to clean up?


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

Well, about once a month my husband and I have a "meat storm" where we portion out the dog's food into plastic baggies, with two days of food in each bag. (my corgi eats such a small amount, we do a whole week in his)
This probably takes about two hours, from the time we start hacking away, to the time everything is put away and the kitchen is cleaned up, and then we're set for the month- no more cutting, packaging, nothing. 

Then, come mealtime, I take the baggies out, drop a chunk of meat on each of their rugs, and let them eat. When they're done, I fold their rugs back up, and set them in a plastic bin by the garage door. I bleach said rugs once a week.

Sometimes annie takes forever to eat, but actual prep time is maybe 30 seconds, and actual cleanup time is maybe 1 minute. Maybe.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Just fed the dogs dinner: They had tripe/trachea

cut open bag 
split it between three dishes
set dog dishes down
dogs eat
dogs done
wash dishes 
Maybe 2 minutes tops start to finish
Garbage gut was done as soon as I put the bowl down.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

Walk to the freezer in the utility room. Get the plastic container off the top and walk to the kitchen. Take the zip lock out of the container and put it in the kitchen sink. Unlock the ziplock and hand each dog his food. Put a drumstick on the counter for Tiger1. Take another drumstick to the laundry room and put it on the floor for Tiger2. Walk back to the kitchen. Rinse out the ziplock and the plastic container. Take the container back to the utility room and put it back on top. Reach in the freezer and get out the next meal and put it in the plastic container. Done ... Not sure of the time but I guess it's less than 5 minutes.

A couple of times a month I take less than an hour to pack meals in ziplocks. I buy almost everything in bulk.


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## malluver1005 (Nov 15, 2009)

1. Take meat out of baggie and throw it out on the grass area for him.
2. He eats in about 10 minutes.
3. Wipe his mouth and paws, and hose down grass area.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

When we buy in bulk it comes in 20-60 pound cases frozen solid. Takes about 2-3 days to thaw everything out in GIANT rubbermaid containers in the spare room or garage depending on the season to catch any juices. We package everything up in 12 quart containers that hold 10-15 pounds of meat which lasts a day or two depending on what it is (different protein source per container). Packaging takes ~1 hour at the most. We do this maybe 2-3 times a year since we get 400-600 pounds of meat per order.

Typical feeding time:

*Fetch container of meat from spare bedroom where its been thawing out all night.
*Bring to kitchen or back patio depending on season.
*Hand each dog a chunk of meat or two depending on what we are feeding.
*Either take the rest of the contents of the container in fridge for tomorrow or rinse out container for later use.
*Takes less than 5 minutes most days, even on an organ day.

***I should note that we feed everyone once a day except Bailey, who gets a whole fish in the morning which gets pulled out the night before to thaw with the rest of the meat***

If the dogs eat inside (usually only during winter) I wash their dog beds once weekly, during the summer only once monthly.


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## JayJayisme (Aug 2, 2009)

I have "meat storms" too, as Linsey described, but mine generally revolve around the days that I'm able to buy meat on sale. 

Today happened to be boneless meat day as I was able to get boneless chicken quarters from .99/lb and boneless pork picnic roasts for $1.27/lb. I have lots of bone-in meat so I've been waiting for some good deals on boneless meat so I can give them a little of each every day.

After I lugged everything into the house I started cutting it up and putting it into Ziploc freezer bags. I generally put 3-4 days worth in one bag so when it is defrosted, it gets used before it gets rancid. I think I came home with about 40 lbs of meat today and it took me just under an hour to cut it all up and portion/pack it (and mark the bags and clean up).

Now all I do is take a bag of one of the bone-in meats out, and a bag of boneless meat out, let it defrost, and that will feed my two dogs for about 4 days. Feeding time amounts to plopping some of each into a bowl, putting the rest back into the fridge, taking the bowl of meat into the back yard, and throwing it on the patio for them. 

Bada-bing, bada-boom. :biggrin:


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

we have those meat storms too...i wasn't counting them...we buy bulk and on sale, so about once a month or so....we do the packaging and we vacuum seal....i have enough food out there for a year...i don't like freezer burn 

most of my feeding time is the nilif part, where dances with food begins to cry, dance, do flips...and generally won't settle down so getting the food from the kitchen to the patio can sometimes take half the feeding time...

eating time? well, malia is a gentle soul who, i swear, chews...and bubba...he's done in less time than it takes to sneeze.

so if i don't count all the sitting, staying, starting over, because SOMEBODY jumped the gun, that ten minutes is more like five...


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Take meat out of fridge. Walk to lanai, tell dog to sit and 'look at me'. As soon as she looks me in the eye, she gets the meat. Probably less than 30secs. No clean up, maybe a 1/2 a bucket of water out of the pool if there is any blood on the concrete.
Cat, however is a different matter right now. She's still learning to eat raw, so have to cut up her chicken into tiny pieces with scissors along with a couple of tiny pieces of liver. Thats more like 5-10 minutes.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

MollyWoppy said:


> Take meat out of fridge. Walk to lanai, tell dog to sit and 'look at me'. As soon as she looks me in the eye, she gets the meat. Probably less than 30secs. No clean up, maybe a 1/2 a bucket of water out of the pool if there is any blood on the concrete.
> Cat, however is a different matter right now. She's still learning to eat raw, so have to cut up her chicken into tiny pieces with scissors along with a couple of tiny pieces of liver. Thats more like 5-10 minutes.


when you walk to the lanai...where is your dog? is she already there?

bubba the pug begins to cry like a baby when i get up to get their food.

in the minute or two that it takes to put their food together, he has worked himself up to whirling dervish state.

from kitchen to patio, we are teaching them to stay in the kitchen so i can get outside without breaking my neck over the dancing pug.

that's what takes the longest for us....

how'd you get your dog to stay out of the way....

maybe i will leash him outside whilst preparing his food....although he'd probably hang himself LOL


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## harrkim120 (Feb 2, 2010)

In this house we just buy more as needed. I also buy in frozen, bulk cases from a meat distribution company and allow them to thaw in a big Rubbermaid container (thanks Danemama :biggrin. Yesterday I was running low on chicken quarters so I ran and got some of them. This is the only time that I've made the trip and brought home only one thing, but I really didn't need anything else...I really had to fight the urge. LOL They didn't have any frozen cases in stock so I got fresh...not too bad at only an extra 3 cents a pound. So I got them home, busted out the ziplock baggies (which I found out that I only had one left :frown:...so went to the store THEN busted out the baggies) and tossed 5 into each one then tossed all of those in the freezer. Nice and easy. When I get things that need to be cut up, I do just that....cut them up and bag them. Stuff like that I generally put one serving to a bag. Time of labor depends on what it is. 

When it comes to feeding time I go to the fridge where I have a dishwashing bowl that the meat is kept in (because it ALWAYS leaks), and bring it to the garage. There I have a cut-up cardboard box that they eat on. I pull that out, lay it on the floor, and toss a meal for each of them on it. Then I go back in the house, return the bin to the fridge, and call the dogs out. They all AT LEAST sit and stay...Brady normally does his whole string of tricks too. Then I tell them to get it, and it's eaten time!!! Brady takes the longest thanks to his misaligned jaw, but he has kind of got it down to a science. When they are all done eating they go straight outside to wipe their paws, and back in the house. I then pick up the cardboard, and wash my hands. THE END

All the actual feeding time stuff is done in about 10 minutes MAX depending on what they're eating. :biggrin:


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## cprcheetah (Jul 14, 2010)

Because I have littles I cut up their food, weigh it & separate into ziploc bags every few days, I take out their meals out of the freezer the night before to thaw in the fridge, then when it's feeding time I lay a towel in their crates and pull out their ziploc bag out of the fridge and put on their towel and voila..yummy meal time. Just starting out and going meat shopping this weekend to stock up on more yummy food for them.

Heather


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

oh...i forgot about natalie's rubbermaid container trick...thanks for reminding me....much better than thawing forty pounds of turkey necks in the sink....

it's going on the list for shopping this weekend....that will make life easier.

i love these boards...

when i first started, i swear it took an hour each meal because i just HAD to sterlise the kitchen....how far we've all come in a few short months...can't wait until my dogs are veteran raw eaters.....

bless you all....this may well have added time to my malia...


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

harrkim120 said:


> In this house we just buy more as needed. I also buy in frozen, bulk cases from a meat distribution company and allow them to thaw in a big Rubbermaid container (thanks Danemama :biggrin. Yesterday I was running low on chicken quarters so I ran and got some of them. This is the only time that I've made the trip and brought home only one thing, but I really didn't need anything else...I really had to fight the urge. LOL They didn't have any frozen cases in stock so I got fresh...not too bad at only an extra 3 cents a pound. So I got them home, busted out the ziplock baggies (which I found out that I only had one left :frown:...so went to the store THEN busted out the baggies) and tossed 5 into each one then tossed all of those in the freezer. Nice and easy. When I get things that need to be cut up, I do just that....cut them up and bag them. Stuff like that I generally put one serving to a bag. Time of labor depends on what it is.
> 
> When it comes to feeding time I go to the fridge where I have a dishwashing bowl that the meat is kept in (because it ALWAYS leaks), and bring it to the garage. There I have a cut-up cardboard box that they eat on. I pull that out, lay it on the floor, and toss a meal for each of them on it. Then I go back in the house, return the bin to the fridge, and call the dogs out. They all AT LEAST sit and stay...Brady normally does his whole string of tricks too. Then I tell them to get it, and it's eaten time!!! Brady takes the longest thanks to his misaligned jaw, but he has kind of got it down to a science. When they are all done eating they go straight outside to wipe their paws, and back in the house. I then pick up the cardboard, and wash my hands. THE END
> 
> All the actual feeding time stuff is done in about 10 minutes MAX depending on what they're eating. :biggrin:


LOL...we're working on the sit/stay part -- that's what takes the longest...

malia thinks she shouldn't have to and not sure bubba can contain himself


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## harrkim120 (Feb 2, 2010)

magicre said:


> LOL...we're working on the sit/stay part -- that's what takes the longest...
> 
> malia thinks she shouldn't have to and not sure bubba can contain himself


Hahaha...they were hard to handle at first too. They saw a new sight such as chicken on the ground and I didn't even exist. LOL

I started off just doing a sit/stay and went from there. It didn't take long when they realized that they weren't getting it until they calmed down and listened. 

The best advise I can give you is that you need to be the opposite of what your dogs are. If they're excited, be anything BUT excited. If they're lethargic, then you need to be the enthusiastic one. Just calmly keep bringing him back to the same spot and physically put him back into the sit. Don't say anything. Once he's calmed down, then he can go eat. I would recommend teaching him to do "watch me" as well. Take a piece of food and hold it between your eyes to make him look at you. When he does he can have it. Over time work on phasing out having to hold the food up. All of this is what I did. :biggrin:


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

harrkim120 said:


> Hahaha...they were hard to handle at first too. They saw a new sight such as chicken on the ground and I didn't even exist. LOL
> 
> I started off just doing a sit/stay and went from there. It didn't take long when they realized that they weren't getting it until they calmed down and listened.
> 
> The best advise I can give you is that you need to be the opposite of what your dogs are. If they're excited, be anything BUT excited. If they're lethargic, then you need to be the enthusiastic one. Just calmly keep bringing him back to the same spot and physically put him back into the sit. Don't say anything. Once he's calmed down, then he can go eat. I would recommend teaching him to do "watch me" as well. Take a piece of food and hold it between your eyes to make him look at you. When he does he can have it. Over time work on phasing out having to hold the food up. All of this is what I did. :biggrin:


that's good advice....very good..and they do well with it when it's leashing up time

or sitting for their beef liver and salmon oil in the a.m....

and we're working on boundaries for when the ups guy comes and i don't expect miracles from this rescue dog....

BUT.

when it comes to food....OMG.

i could be in a coma and calm is not in his vocabulary,

except for sleep time....then he's calm and lovey...this is what keeps him from being turned into stew meat, BTW.....

we are and have been working on the 'look at me'....i have to take him by the chin and force his face up as he drools all over me....and he fights it..he is so afraid to take his eyes off the food...

he'll sit and he'll wait once the food is in front of him...my hand is in a wait position. he responds more to hand movements than sound...sound seems to indicate an okay no matter what i'm saying or tone i use...that only took six months.

it's getting to that point before the food is in front of him and he's sitting and waiting for malia to decide that it's okay for her highness to sit....

that's the part that takes the longest....before we get to that sit point with food.



and if they get out of sit, we start the whole thing over again....most of feeding time is training time....and maybe over time it will improve...but not yet....

honest, kim, i am calm....and it's hard not to laugh....


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

> When he does he can have it. Over time work on phasing out having to hold the food up. All of this is what I did


this i will do....i will add it to the repertoire....thanks.


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## harrkim120 (Feb 2, 2010)

magicre said:


> this i will do....i will add it to the repertoire....thanks.


Pugs definitely are a unique breed. LOL 

But yeah for both of them I would hold the food and not give it to them or even put it down until they do what they're told, and if they get up just pick it up again....just try not to smack yourself in the face with some liver doing watch me. I did that.  :tongue:


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Mollie has never been particularly motivated by food, so that made it a lot easier to teach her to watch me before handing her anything to eat. 
I don't know if this would help your situtation or not, but I always feed Mol after she's been exercised. It works into our schedule best that way, running first thing in the morning before its too hot, then breakfast, and the same in the evening, exercise and then rewarded with dinner. Just thinking that if he is really tired it might take the edge off a bit. Or, not!
Keep at it though. My friend has a pug and he tries to manipulate her by barking constantly until she feeds him. It's worked very well for him in the past but he's gradually now realising that he will only get food once he stops barking. They are tenacious these pugs!


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

we exercise both before and after they eat....not immidiately, but every two hours we walk....in hot weather, shorter more frequent walks are called for for the pug and malia is eleven and can no longer take the heat on longer walks...

i did try the food between my eyes...lo and behold, he looked at me...

so dinner now took 9 minutes instead of eleven LOL


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