# Pre-packaged raw?



## Cliffdog (Dec 30, 2010)

Due to unfortunate financial circumstances... it looks like I won't be moving out of my folks house as soon as I had hoped. I was planning on started Bonnie, my 4 month old dobe pup, on raw as soon as I moved out, but it looks like it may be a while.

My father thinks it is unhealthy to feed a dog raw food and he will not budge on this, no matter what I say. He's raised lab puppies on Purina Puppy Chow for years and doesn't even like that I buy her high-end kibbles. However, considering that it may be months before I move out (up to a year, if my mother has her druthers) I really hate to wait to get her on raw for that long.

The problem comes with this: according to my father, as long as she lives with us, she is a _family_ dog, not _my_ dog, so he gets a say in what food _I_ buy for her- and that rules out a PMR diet.

So I was wondering, should I consider a pre-packaged raw diet to try to "show him the light"? What are your experiences with it? Should I just bear it out and stick to good holistic kibble? (Right now we're trying Blue Buffalo large breed puppy, trying to find a food she likes) Do you have any other suggestions?

-Cliff and Bonnie


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## candiceb (Jan 22, 2010)

Wow, that's a very frustrating situation to be stuck in with your dog. I just can't understand why some people are so violently adherent to their commercial diets. 

Premade raw diets are better than kibble, but not on par with real raw. However in your situation I would try to give a premade raw versus kibble. 

My experience with premade is with a brand called The Honest Kitchen. (I use it as my back-up if I run out of food and can't make it to the store for a day, or if someone who is uncomfortable with raw is feeding my dogs for me.) You can visit their website here. It's dehydrated, so it wouldn't look raw to your dad, but you'd still get at least some of the benefits of a raw diet. Keep in mind that premade diets cost about twice or more what a homemade prey-model raw diet costs.

Perhaps in the meantime of feeding a premade diet you can try all the more to show your dad why feeding raw is such an appropriate choice. Maybe see if he'll read any of the literature on it. I found a free PDF copy of Tom Lonsdale's book "Work Wonders" here, you could see if he'll read that.

Good luck with your situation.


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## Cliffdog (Dec 30, 2010)

I understand that it is quite a bit more expensive... while I'm not paying rent or a house note, though, I can afford it. Whatever is best for my animals. Thanks for the PDF! I will have to print the text out for him- he doesn't like computers and won't get online to read it. But maybe if he reads it it'll be worth printing it out, if he changes his mind!


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## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

While I prefer homemade raw, I had good a experience with Nature's Variety premade. Another brand I might try is Primal. I am in grad. school and currently live with my parents as well. When I move out I will no longer be there to feed my mom's dog, Henry, homemade raw. She keeps saying she will feed him kibble once I'm gone, but I hope to convince her to at least feed him Primal or Nature's Variety with a weekly chicken quarter for dental benefits. Any raw is better than no raw, right? :wink:

Good luck!


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## littleboodog (Jun 28, 2010)

BrownieM said:


> While I prefer homemade raw, I had good a experience with Nature's Variety premade.


Natrure's Variety pateurizes it's frozen raw and raw freezedried products.
FAQ's - Safety and Quality | Nature's Variety


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## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

littleboodog said:


> Natrure's Variety pateurizes it's frozen raw and raw freezedried products.
> FAQ's - Safety and Quality | Nature's Variety


I'm not sure how necessary that is?


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## Cliffdog (Dec 30, 2010)

BrownieM said:


> While I prefer homemade raw, I had good a experience with Nature's Variety premade. Another brand I might try is Primal. I am in grad. school and currently live with my parents as well. When I move out I will no longer be there to feed my mom's dog, Henry, homemade raw. She keeps saying she will feed him kibble once I'm gone, but I hope to convince her to at least feed him Primal or Nature's Variety with a weekly chicken quarter for dental benefits. Any raw is better than no raw, right? :wink:
> 
> Good luck!


Hmmm. I may try to do that as well! I may just tell him the prepackaged raw is like canned food, if I use Nature's Variety raw. If I use prepackaged, that's probably what I will use, because it's the only one that I can seem to find locally. And I'm sure I could sneak her a chicken quarter occasionally, if she'll eat them (shouldn't be a problem- she eats anything and everything!).


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## Cliffdog (Dec 30, 2010)

Oh, and a question- with prepackaged raw, do I need to transition slowly as with kibble, or cold-turkey as with homemade raw?


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

Why do they pasteurize it? If it kills bacteria wouldn't it destroy other things in the meat that is beneficial to the dog?

Would your dad let you make your own grinds?


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## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

Cliffdog said:


> Oh, and a question- with prepackaged raw, do I need to transition slowly as with kibble, or cold-turkey as with homemade raw?


You could probably do either way. If you transition slowly as with kibble you may experience digestive upset due to mixing kibble and raw. If you choose this method, I would separate raw/kibble by meals. If you switch cold turkey, on the other hand, you could possibly experience digestive upset as well, although you very well may be just fine.

When I was feeding Millie kibble (Innova) I actually just started by feeding one 1 oz. medallion with her kibble. She never had any digestive upset but that's not to say other dogs wouldn't. Nature's Variety actually suggests on their bag that you can feed their medallions with kibble. Eventually Millie ate raw for one whole meal and then kibble for the other meal. Of course, then I switched to homemade raw :biggrin:


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## Cliffdog (Dec 30, 2010)

bishopthesheltie said:


> Why do they pasteurize it? If it kills bacteria wouldn't it destroy other things in the meat that is beneficial to the dog?


Probably- but I still can't help but think that it _must_ be better than kibble. I think perhaps they pasteurize it as a comfort to less-knowledgeable buyers who assume raw meat pathogens will harm their animals.



> Would your dad let you make your own grinds?


I'll put it up to him, but I doubt it. It's the fact that the meat is raw that bothers him- he honestly believes that because dogs are domesticated, they are no longer able to handle raw meat, only cooked, and that they need veggies and grains.


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## funshine (Jan 21, 2010)

Just an idea...
In case you could have a mini fridge in your room (for your soda or something :wink, you could officially feed premaid and then add some easy cuts to the diet in your room once in a while. Bone-in pieces are a bit messier (could use a towel?), but most boneless decent size cuts get swallowed in seconds.


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## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

funshine said:


> Just an idea...
> In case you could have a mini fridge in your room (for your soda or something :wink, you could officially feed premaid and then add some easy cuts to the diet in your room once in a while. Bone-in pieces are a bit messier (could use a towel?), but most boneless decent size cuts get swallowed in seconds.


Not to mention you would probably want to add boneless to pre-made as they tend to be high in bone content! :biggrin:


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## cprcheetah (Jul 14, 2010)

I have heard lots of good things about Stella & Chewies & Primal as far as premades go, I have actually made some of my own premades, and it is one way I get Zoey to eat her organs without having to sear/cook them.


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## Cliffdog (Dec 30, 2010)

Good idea about the minifridge! I didn't even think of it. And as for Primal, I just don't think I feel safe using it... I've heard that while the actual meat is good quality, people have found foreign objects in their food. YIKES! But I haven't done any research into the brand so maybe I will look into it more. Right now it's a contest between Nature's Variety and Stella & Chewy's; I really don't know of any others...


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## Ania's Mommy (Feb 8, 2009)

Cliffdog said:


> Right now it's a contest between Nature's Variety and Stella & Chewy's; I really don't know of any others...


Darwin's. Natural, Raw Dog Food, Grain-free Dog Food - from Darwin


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## candiceb (Jan 22, 2010)

I found a list of premade raw foods on DogAware here.

Also, S.A.D. Dog Sushi makes grinds that only include meat, bones, and organs. You can check them out here.


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