# Happy to be a raw feeder BUT



## gorge77 (May 13, 2011)

this is a ranting post. Mod: do let me know if it isn't appropriate. 

i'm always proud to tell other dog owners that I feed my dogs a raw diet, despite them looking at me with disgust & shock. they question my method of feeding & i'm always more than happy to share how & why i chose this diet.

BUT.

it's really upsetting when there are others, who feed commercial raw & self pro claim to be raw feeders. they also attempt to advise or teach others raw feeding. and many of them are stuck at the commercial raw diet as they couldn't bring themselves to handle the real stuff.

do these commercial stuff look anything like a raw diet to you?




























i don't mean to offend anyone nor i'm targeting at anyone. but it's really frustrating when i try to tell newbies what makes up a raw diet, only to be interrupted by these people who have never fed a real raw diet. this happens only in forums in my country hence i tend to get into lots of run-ins with the members.


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

frozen kibble is what it looks like to me :lol:


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

I tend to feel the same way. In my mind, premade raw is very little more than raw kibble. There are a very few instances when it makes sense but very very few.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

I like it for if the owner is too scared of bones- it's better than kibble. Or if the dog has no teeth and can't chew the bones anymore.


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## gorge77 (May 13, 2011)

that's what i thought so! i tried to explain only to get shot & be told to respect their method of feeding.

augh.


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## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

I still consider it to be raw and certainly prefer to use ones that are not HPP. It is not beyond me to use pre-made for traveling or even to keep some in the freezer if I know I have to get to work extra early and don't have time to supervise breakfast, etc. That being said, I would NOT take advice on raw feeding from someone who has never fed a homemade raw diet. Without feeding a homemade raw diet, it is difficult to imagine that that person would have any idea what exactly needs to go into the diet, how to "balance" it (not that it is very difficult to begin with, but knowing how much organ/bone your dog can tolerate), etc.

IMO a commercial raw feeder who has never fed a homemade raw diet is in the same boat as a high quality kibble feeder. I don't mean this as an insult, but I do agree that I would not be on the same page as this person nor would I expect them to know much about a real prey model diet. Typically, these people also don't believe that it is even possible to *GASP* balance your dog's diet yourself.


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## 300roses (Dec 20, 2010)

None of the above looks raw to me in any way. I certainly will not take any advice from those who have never fed a real raw diet before. And I dun think they should be giving out any advice to anyone on raw feeding when they themselves do not understand what it is all about.


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## Angelwing (Feb 20, 2011)

Although I would not feed pre-made raw unless we were travelling, I do think it's a step up from feeding a super premium dry dog food. It can also be looked at as a good way for introducing those who are a little concerned on balancing a raw diet as a good starting point. Also there are different qualities of pre-packaged raw foods, just like dry.

But I do not think it is good enough for my dogs for a long period of time.


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## gorge77 (May 13, 2011)

i agree that these could be a short term / temporary solution to home made raw. 

just can't help feeling frustrated when those who feed home made raw are put down by commercial raw feeders. it's like the pirated version trying to be in control of or dominating the authentic version. :frown:


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

i think pre made has a use....and it's for those who are too afraid to feed raw but need to start somewhere...

thing is, it's yet another commercial product where someone else controls what your dog eats and what goes into those little rectangles.....


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## kady05 (Jul 29, 2011)

I think it has it's place, like for traveling, or in situations where you leave and have a pet sitter/boarding kennel that isn't comfortable feeding raw. 

Seeing as we just had Hurricane Irene pass through, I was ready to feed Piper some of the Sojo's I had left over in case our power went out and her food went bad (obviously worst case scenario, but you never know!). 

I also agree with the others that it can be a good stepping stone for people (like me) who were/are afraid to go full on PMR. 

Then again, I'm not a "raw or nothing" person. I feed two of my dogs kibble *gasp* (Orijen & NV Instinct) LOL.


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## schtuffy (May 17, 2010)

I completely agree with you that all those premade concoctions are not in my definition of 'raw feeding.' However, that being said, it is a better alternative to feeding kibble, and also a great way for people to be introduced to something such as PMR, or even the raw feeding concept in general. I also think it's a great way for people to ease their transition into raw, especially if they aren't comfortable with bones and germs and such.

I think most of us here agree that all those commercial diets are full of uneccessary fruits, veggies, and who knows what else. It frustrates me too when people who have been feeding 'raw' for a long time don't seem to understand that veggies are not needed in a canine diet. That's a big reason why I spend 99.9999% of my time here on this forum :biggrin:


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## tem_sat (Jun 20, 2010)

The classic line that I tend to see is, "I feed raw but my _______ [fill in name of dog breed here] still has bad teeth!"

Well duh, when "raw" = not including any RMB's, you will most likely need to get a dental done.


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## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

Well, I think premade raw is in the middle-Its certainly better than kibble, but still nowhere near anything like tru PMR. If I couldn't feed PMR for whatever reason, I would choose premade before kibble. Most people who feed premade, believe it it is the same as any raw and its not. Like whats been said in past posts, with PMR you know exactly what you are feeding and with premade its just whatever the manufacturer puts in.


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

naturalfeddogs said:


> Well, I think premade raw is in the middle-Its certainly better than kibble, but still nowhere near anything like tru PMR. If I couldn't feed PMR for whatever reason, I would choose premade before kibble. Most people who feed premade, believe it it is the same as any raw and its not. Like whats been said in past posts, with PMR you know exactly what you are feeding and with premade its just whatever the manufacturer puts in.


TOTALLY agree with this post!:thumb:
I dont really understand how it can, and is, called any type of raw though......but I suppose that is just all in how "raw" is perceived by each person!:wink:


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

gorge77 said:


> i agree that these could be a short term / temporary solution to home made raw.
> 
> just can't help feeling frustrated when those who feed home made raw are put down by commercial raw feeders. it's like the pirated version trying to be in control of or dominating the authentic version. :frown:



As someone who feeds premade raw that is NOT hpp'd, I can't help but feeling frustrated by the fact that my current method is still seen as inferior, when I'm doing the best I can at the moment. 


It's RAW meat. That's probably why they call it "raw". If people say "what do you feed your dog?" I say, "I feed one of them raw". If they ask what brand, I tell them. I do try to tell people about PMR style as well.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

naturalfeddogs said:


> Well, I think premade raw is in the middle-Its certainly better than kibble, but still nowhere near anything like tru PMR. If I couldn't feed PMR for whatever reason, I would choose premade before kibble. Most people who feed premade, believe it it is the same as any raw and its not. Like whats been said in past posts, with PMR you know exactly what you are feeding and with premade its just whatever the manufacturer puts in.


and i think if you can afford to feed premade you can feed raw raw 

premade is pretty expensive...even if you have a lightweight....2 oz of chicken is cheaper than a patty of pre raw.


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## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

I started off feeding premade raw including RMBs as I didn't know about true PMR and also fed K9 Naturals made in NZ, the raw frozen stuff not the dehydrated but have now thankfully phased it out as it was very expensive and contains unnecessary fruits and veges etc. But it was a real help for me in the beginning therefore they do have their place.
Doing PMR is great but isn't that cheap here as we don't get the prices for meat that you do in the States. For instance I wouldn't feed my dog joints of lamb or pork as it is too pricey, hard to get anything under $7 per kg (2.2lbs) even the cheapo beef and lamb hearts. I don't mind spending on my dog though as we only have one and are not on a strict budget but in saying that I still like to get bargains (don't we all) where I can and also so my husband doesn't have a fit about his hard earned money etc etc ha ha!


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## SerenityFL (Sep 28, 2010)

gorge77 said:


> that's what i thought so! *i tried to explain only to get shot & be told to respect their method of feeding.
> *
> augh.





gorge77 said:


> i agree that these could be a short term / temporary solution to home made raw.
> 
> *just can't help feeling frustrated when those who feed home made raw are put down by commercial raw feeders.* it's like the pirated version trying to be in control of or dominating the authentic version. :frown:


So you are supposed to respect their feeding but they don't have to respect yours? Wrong. If they want respect, they need to give respect.

I fed pre-made raw when I was moving from Florida to Maine. It was easier to store and not quite as messy. No, it looks nothing like real raw meat, what it looked like was a gray tinged crumbly ice hockey puck and I do not even know what was in it. (No, I didn't check, it was a temporary thing and it wasn't kibble.)

The pre-made raw and actual raw cannot even be compared. Gray tinged ice hockey puck vs raw bone in chicken thigh...one of those is natural, one is not.

Pre-made IS better than kibble, say like Alpo or Purina but it's not as natural as actual raw and there are no bones in pre-made that are extremely beneficial to the teeth as well as the jaw muscles.

Regardless, at this point, I'm just happy that people are feeding their dogs even if I wouldn't feed my dog what they are feeding theirs. Everyone needs to respect what others feed their dogs because I don't think a single person on this planet is intentionally feeding their dog garbage. I think people BELIEVE that what they feed their dog is good for their dog. Some people just don't know any better, I didn't for the longest time but as long as they are feeding their dogs and not giving their dogs up because feeding is too expensive, (which is happening more and more lately with the economy), and not mistreating their dogs or abusing them or starving them, I'm going to be satisfied with that.

If anyone wants to know more about PMR, I'll tell them. If anyone tries to debate me on PMR and say absurd things like, "You'll kill your dog" or "they're going to get worms" or "they'll choke to death on the chicken bones, you're not supposed to feed them chicken bones" or anything else like that, I will talk endlessly about how so very wrong they are. 

And while I may act smug and scoff when I pass the pet food aisle in the store, and while I may look at dog food in someone's basket and think how their dog could be eating better, again, I think people do what they think is best. Therefore, respect should be given no matter what kind of dog food is being fed, from all sides.


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## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

Scarlett_O' said:


> TOTALLY agree with this post!:thumb:
> I dont really understand how it can, and is, called any type of raw though......but I suppose that is just all in how "raw" is perceived by each person!:wink:


Well, IMO if it contains purely "raw", uncooked ingredients it is raw. Pretty straightforward. 

I consider premade raw to be just as raw as homemade raw. The difference is in which type of raw we prefer.

I have to say, I have a hard time considering THK and other dehydrates to be raw. And I consider the HPP raw diets to fall in the gray area. I mean, I do still consider them raw, but they have been altered. I consider those that are non HPP to be truer raw.


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## KittyKat (Feb 11, 2011)

I buy pre made raw... i don't get why people would hate on it... it's just ground up meat and bone. I usually get beef/tripe/organ mixes from a store and use it when I don't have time to fuss with big pieces of meat. The stuff in OP's post doesn't look familiar to me though... but all the brands i have seen are local and canadian.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

There are a lot of things to not like about premade raw ... How much bone is included? How much fat? how much plant stuffs? You just don't know. There are no dental benefits ... actually premade raw may be worse on teeth than kibble as far as dental disease goes. I don't hate it ... it's better than the best kibble but falls far short of PMR.


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