Hello,

We have a 10 week old lab mix. I was wondering if it was necessary to feed her a large breed puppy formula? Does it make a difference. We are looking at Nutro Max, Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul, or Diamond. What do you think of these brands?

Thanks so much

Most here are Raw diet advocates for the rest of us here are the brands which offer all natural kibble.

http://www.leerburg.com/all-natural%20kibble.htm

I think after 10 weeks you do not want to feed your pup anything with over 25% protien as you do not want your pup to grow to fast.

 Quote:

Most here are Raw diet advocates for the rest of us here are the brands which offer all natural kibble.

http://www.leerburg.com/all-natural%20kibble.htm

I think after 10 weeks you do not want to feed your pup anything with over 25% protien as you do not want your pup to grow to fast.

I agree 100% with Trent about choosing from that list. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

If you can, I'd go with The Honest Kitchen (on that same page) and add in some meat, RMBs, etc., as the package suggests.

It's not kibble; it's dehydrated raw.

I haven't tried the raw diet yet-as bank account won't allow it at this time. I have been feeding my dogs, 13 wk old lab pup and 1 yr old GSD, Nutro Natural Choice large breed puppy formula. I don't get the Lamb and rice formula because my GSD won't eat it. I have read the ingredients and as far as that goes, for now until I start the raw diet, will work just fine. My dogs are healthy and have great teeth and coats.

Before I switched to Raw, my Mal was on Nutro Large Breed Puppy formula and the Bloodhound was on Nutro Lamb and Rice, both dogs were on that when the Mal was switched to adult food. Both did well and were healthy and happy. Reason I switched to Raw was weight control for the Bloodhound. I had him down to 4 cups of kibble a day with exercise and work but I could not get the weight off. Raw worked beautifully and he did not act like I was starving him to death.
The other dogs I own now are also on Raw and the dogs that come here for training get the Nutro unless they are on a different quality kibble. If it is cheap, I will not use it.

The Honest Kitchen is a great back up for me now as I have my recipes for "veggie glop" and have talked to and made deals all over town and even at the larger grocery stores that are two hours away. My "dog food" costs have diminished quite a bit and the hunters are happy to drop off their carcasses and other stuff they don't use. Biggest expense was a third freezer. One for us, one for the dogs and one for my HRD material (which is actually our old fridge/freezer)...I know..sounds twisted
I would say if your going to feed kibble to feed high quality all natural and enjoy watching your pup thrive and do well.

I though at the beging that feeding raw is more expencive, but after doing the maths it will actually end up beeing 10%-20% cheaper when our dog is on adult feeed. As a pup we worked out that raw vs giant breed puppy food its like 40% cheaper heh.it really doesnt have to be expensive.

Edited by Connie Sutherland (07/02/2012 03:31 PM)
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 Quote: Nina Malmberg

I though at the beging that feeding raw is more expencive, but after doing the maths it will actually end up beeing 10%-20% cheaper when our dog is on adult feeed. As a pup we worked out that raw vs giant breed puppy food its like 40% cheaper heh.it really doesnt have to be expensive.

everyone keeps saying this but no one ever gives the raw formula for doing this everyone has there own secret formula the they got for reading a bunch of books. the true key to this is can you find the food cheap raw is not 40% cheaper if you can't get the food

Edited by Connie Sutherland (07/02/2012 03:31 PM)
Edit reason: modify title

Edited by Connie Sutherland (07/02/2012 03:32 PM)
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 Quote: Gerald Dunn

everyone keeps saying this but no one ever gives the raw formula for doing this everyone has there own secret formula the they got for reading a bunch of books.

I read a bunch of material to begin with, years ago, that came with a box of BARF food but quickly realized I could do it just as easily, and cheaper, myself.

Been feeding raw a long time too and don't really know what the price would be if I had to feed simply kibble, nor could I imagine it. I always do have a bag of Orijen in the house but it's mainly for training treats and to fill their treat balls.

They've had the odd kibble meal, kind of like a trip to McDonald's, but it just doesn't feel right and I can count the number of times it's happened on one hand. Urgent type situations when something wasn't readily unthawed and the dogs needed to be fed quickly or an extended camping outing when I didn't pack enough.

But we also hunt with the boys in mind. Where we wouldn't normally take down an older, larger buck say, we will take one simply for the dogs. And we have a couple of hunting areas where we allow them an opportunity to get a few meals themselves, fine dining on fresh rabbits and mice.

When we find the deals in the store, we take the opportunity and stock up on as much as possible. Our food is pretty much always fresh, leaving the freezer space in both the fridge and large freezer for the dogs. Not that we don't unthaw the odd meals for ourselves, but then the boys are usually eating the same thing.

I have paid top price for meat for the boys, but it's quite rare and you rationalize those decisions on what you can afford and how good they've been. Or maybe more about how bad you're planning has been.

Getting out there and getting to know butchers and store merchants and what's available in your area, you'd be surprised what good deals you can come across.

Edited by Connie Sutherland (07/02/2012 03:32 PM)
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 Quote: Gerald Dunn

 Quote: Nina Malmberg

I though at the beging that feeding raw is more expencive, but after doing the maths it will actually end up beeing 10%-20% cheaper when our dog is on adult feeed. As a pup we worked out that raw vs giant breed puppy food its like 40% cheaper heh.it really doesnt have to be expensive.

everyone keeps saying this but no one ever gives the raw formula for doing this everyone has there own secret formula the they got for reading a bunch of books. the true key to this is can you find the food cheap raw is not 40% cheaper if you can't get the food

No secrets.

First, the diet:

I've linked folks to actual sample bowls of food on this very site uncountable times.

Yes, I've read a bunch of books, probably all of them (that I know about), but with nary a book, one could easily do a good raw diet from this site alone, asking any and all questions here on the board (an extremely knowledgeable raw-feeing board).

http://leerburg.com/feedingarawdiet.htm

http://leerburg.com/diet2.htm

http://leerburg.com/feedpups.htm

If you post with the dog's weight, we will explain the probable daily amount of raw food needed as well as how much fish oil and E.


Now the cost:
Here's the cost deal: Your cost is a function of what RMBs you can get at what price. This is the biggest chunk of the diet, so someone paying $2.50 a pound is going to be paying almost double (there are other items, too) what the person pays who has hunted up a source of chicken backs, say, for $1.25 (or less).

So no one can pinpoint the raw actual cost for anyone until that sourcing of RMBs is in place.

Then, when you have that, and you know your muscle meat average cost, and the 2 or 2.5% of the adult dog's weight that you will feed per day, THEN you have a very good estimate.

The produce is negligible cost, the organ meat will be less per pound than the muscle meat so can be part of that line item, and things like yogurt and eggs are generally also less than (or equal to) the muscle meat and can also fall into that line.

IMO, virtually all dogs on virtually all diets needs fish oil and E, so I don't consider that as a "raw item." But over the long term, it is not an expensive item.

For the muscle meat, think of things like "Can I get beef heart?" because there's a muscle meat that even has taurine AND is quite inexpensive. Consider RMBs from restaurant supply companies. Turn over every rock, from ethnic butcher shops to farmers' markets where farmers and ranchers who sell meat might sell trimmings very inexpensively. Do you have a venison source?

Or, if you have to begin with supermarket RMBs, find out what kind of a deal you can get on chicken backs (a very good beginner .... and forever .... inexpensive basic RMB to which variety is added in the form of the muscle meat).

You see why it sounds vague or secretive ..... because of the individual sourcing.



Edited by Connie Sutherland (07/02/2012 03:32 PM)
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