I was talking to a few friends on why I think raw is better. They seemed to agree, but said they still wouldn't do it.

Just curious to know what are the reasons so many people don't make the switch?

My parents thought it was too difficult. And a friend of mine is of the firm belief that you cannot feed raw to malamutes due to their close relation to the wolf and it would make them mean....

(I know, I tried, I give up.....but both feed all-natural kibble)

I feed Canidae kibble to our two dogs. The main reason I don't feed raw is because we just have the small freezer that comes with the refrigerator so there is no room to store the raw items if I happened to come across a sale. Frankly, I have not seen any good deals on raw chicken pieces like I have read about on this web forum. For me, the Canidae kibble is more practical for our life style plus the dogs also get raw eggs, low-fat plain yogurt, Grizzly Salmon Oil, and Vit E capsule. They certainly seem to be in excellent health & Nickie's coat especially is like black satin!

(Edit: all of what Diane said plus...)

Although I agree with raw (and am even looking into it for myself! not meat of course) I still feed kibble.

There are a few reasons.

1. cost
2. cost
3. freezer space (I share a fridge and I can barely fit my own stuff in there. I am going to feed more raw to my dogs after my tenant moves out)
4. inconvenience/time
4. (a) There are only two butchers in town and both are only open until 5 PM monday to Friday. I work until 5:30 PM monday to friday.
4. (b) meal prep time is a big one for me. I know some of you say it only takes a minute, but I did used to feed raw, and especially when you are starting out and don't really have it down yet, it takes up to 30 minutes per meal to prep my dog's food. (I was feeding veggie pulp too). As someone who eats mainly take out and microwave meals myself, it is definitely an incentive to feed kibble to the dogs.
4. (c) I have a dog allergic to chicken. Finding alternative meat sources and giving him variety, not to mention bones, would be exhaustive.
5. cost (the cheapest chicken necks here are $1.10/lb to give you an idea)

Edited by Angela Burrell (03/25/2008 01:07 PM)
Edit reason: agree with above post

 Quote: alex corral

Just curious to know what are the reasons so many people don't make the switch?

In my personal experience, the reasons are those that are spewed to owners by the majority of vets or so-called "studies": bone impactions, broken teeth, bacteria and parasites, unbalanced nutrition...blah, blah, blah. But then again, these are also the people who are feeding Purina or Science Diet.

Other people think it's really expensive and still others are just too busy.

And then there are the people I try to get ahold of: those that are just uneducated about the RAW diet and are interested in learning more. It's amazing to me how many pet owners have never even heard of the raw diet.

Edited to add: I thought the question was about the dog-owning population in general, not the specific kibble feeders on this board.

I forgot to mention freezer space...that's a legit concern as I had to buy an extra freezer when I first made the commitment to go raw. It just isn't cost-effective otherwise.

I am a firm believer in raw all the way but 4 of my dogs eat kibble, 2 eat raw and the new puppy is being switched this week to raw.

I'll be honest I feed kibble because it is easy especially since I am not the only one who feeds the kibble dogs. I think it would be cheaper to feed the whole crew raw but some of the dogs on kibble are real gulpers and I would really have to watch them on it.

My cairn terrier (now 15) had major cancer surgery 2 years ago and the vets didn't give her six months. Because of her I started researching raw and made the switch. The vet cannot believe she is still going strong with as much cancer as she has. This dog made my mother a pro-raw person so that says alot.

I started feeding raw before I heard that it was "coming in" again because it seemed more natural, and I felt like it was easier on the dogs inerds.Thank goodness I found this sight as its helped me balance the diet. Lady has a tendency to get chubby and its almost impossible to really get a dog fat on a raw meat and bones diet...I noticed IMMEDIATLY that all her doggy oder, bad breath and crud on her teeth went away, which signals that something went right. I would definitly keep every dog on it, if I could.
I feed the rest of the dogs kibble because I can only afford raw for one dog (when I started raw with her the other two were family members dogs but I inherited them after awhile) and sometimes I have to switch her to kibble for cost reasons.

Thanks for the replies guys! It's very interesting to read your HONEST thoughts.

It took me a year to switch to raw, and it was because of fear of screwing up, cost and freezer space.

Now, it only seems a bit more work to me, but it balances out since I don't have to poop scoop my yard.

Most of my friends didn't want to say why, but based on all the answers here, it's probably because of cost or feeling overwhelmed.

When I would tell people that I feed my dogs raw meat (I do on occasion, it is not their main diet though), a very significant number of them gasp and say, "You can't feed a dog meat!" (or bones, or whatever). I just laugh and say, "What? That's like saying you can't feed hay to horses!"