Raw feeding un-wrapped

We've been feeding the dogs raw for about a year now so I figured I'd talk about what it's like for us. Many people who like the benefits of raw diets for their pets still don't do it because of cost and time. For us it's not that much more expensive than the top brand food we were feeding the dogs so that's not the killer, but the time to get it ready is a tad painful.

First off, we have to go to different locations to get the meat depending on sales or if it's just available at a butcher. Then when we get home we have to wait for the meat to thaw enough that we can prep it and split it up into meals. Some places will pack it up into what quantities you ask for, but that costs more and with how much it is to feed Winston we just ask for everything in bulk. So boxes or bags of meat are hanging out in our kitchen (we try to get it in the sink, but it won't always fit) for an overnight thawing up to a couple days and then comes the fun part. Just as a reference, it takes us an hour to get through 40 pounds of ground pork.

I open the bags/boxes and dump as much as I can into the sink. Then while John is preparing the meat and separating it out into portions I label ziplock bags with dog names.

Here John is de-fating a chicken quarter, when we first started the fat was too much for Winston's system and giving him the squirts, now his body has adapted and we keep the fat on.

After John does all the prep he weighs the meat on our food scale so we can get close to 4 pounds for Winston, a little over a 1/4 for Enna and 1/2 pound for Makoa. Then I open the bag, he plops in the meat and I seal it and stick it on the counter and wait until he's ready for me again.

Look at Enna licking those lips, hoping that John will drop a bite down to her.

Enna and Makoa's turkeys. One turkey neck weighs about 1 pound so John cuts them into pieces for the little ones.

More Turkey necks!

Once everything is ready to go it heads down to our standing freezer.

I know the freezer looks gross, that's what happens when the cooling fan goes out and everything thaws for a day until you notice. 

The door holds the organs and Enna and Makoa's food and the main part is Winston. We just filled it with pork, deer and elk. Turkey will be ordered at the end of the month and will fill the bottom shelf for Winston.

We have a calendar on the door of the fridge and when food goes in John updates it to who gets what on what days and when I need to re-order food. Then that info goes into my phone so I'll remember to call.We have it set up perfectly now that food will run out at different times of the month (or months) so that we only have to fork over cash sparingly and not in one huge chunk. The dogs are also fasted once a week to let their digestive systems take a rest. You may worry that they're going hungry, but remember that in the wild, wolves can go days without eating. Research showed that letting them rest once a week will help them live longer.

If you're only feeding little dogs you'll go forever on 40 pounds of meat, I bought chicken necks for Enna & Makoa in October and I won't have to buy them again until March. But feeding a big dog means you'll be going through big quantities quickly, 40 pounds of pork only gets us through two months with all three dogs eating it.  

When it's feeding time the bony or smelly pieces get eaten outside, that way I don't have to mop my kitchen floor, make sure they stay in the kitchen or put up with the smell of tripe or chicken necks. I learned that the hard way when Enna decided that under our bed was the best place to eat turkey necks.
The ground stuff they eat in their bowls in the kitchen since they usually inhale it any nothing ends up on the floor.

The benefits of raw have been great. All the dogs coats are shiny and soft and their teeth are really clean. Winston used to have an oily texture and constant dog smell which have both gone away. He also has stayed a healthy weight for his size.
Enna actually is excited to eat now when with kibble she'd take a few bits and then wander away. The vet always complained that she was underweight during her yearly check-ups, but at the last one he gave her two thumbs up.
Makoa plumped up 5 extra pounds with kibble and getting it off him was hard, after 6 months on raw he's down to a healthy weight and looks fantastic. Also the vet no longer hassles me about getting his teeth cleaned anymore.
 We still do some supplements because we feel its necessary. Winston gets glucosamine for his joints and everyone gets salmon oil because it's easier for us then doing fish (only Makoa will eat whole fish). 

I would say that one downfall to raw is traveling; it isn't always the easiest and the more dogs you have to more difficult it gets. We haven't gone camping yet, but with road trips I need to make sure we have enough ice and room in a cooler...or one of their very own...and a fridge/freezer to put stuff in or we have to stop to pick stuff up.
There is dehydrated stuff that you can buy for outrageous prices that we might resort to if we'll be camping for long periods of time and deffinately if we go backpacking with the dogs. Packing light does not equal 20 pounds of dog food.

Raw hasn't been as easy as opening a bag of kibble and it can be time consuming, but we won't be quitting any time soon. We're enjoying the benefits and plan on doing it for quite some time.