A raw diet will not be as expensive as THK, IME. I use it to mix raw meat with, or feed alone to one of my dogs. If I feed it alone, I add bone meal powder and enzymes, which helps to decrease the amount of poop.

How much does your Dobe weigh? 4 cups seems like a lot, but I tend to feed less than nearly everyone. I like to err on the side of "less is more," since learning that a 25% reduction of food can add literally years to the life of your dog. Yet another link I wish I'd saved! I concentrate more on the quality of the food than the quantity. I try not to figure out what I spend, but I think it's probably around $150ish...for 4 dogs.

You can try Preference from THK and just add meat and bones that you find on sale. Invest in a chest freezer! Meet some hunters! It's not as hard as it seems at first, and I GUARANTEE you will spend less at the vets. I personally have not had a sickness-related vet bill in 6 years.

Has anyone ever heard of or tried the FLINT RIVER brand? From what i understand, everything is oven baked and completely natural. I don't believe they use any grains either. Can anyone provide insight? Thanks.

 Quote: MauricioVilches

Thanks Beth.

Well, I failed to mention that I mix Merrick and either raw chicken filets or ground beef. Basically, they get fed twice a day and each meal consists of 1 cup of THK, 1/2 cup raw meat and 1/2 cup of the Merrick.

I hear that Merrick is a top quality kibble and it also has whole vegetables and fruits that you can acually see, unlike the THK grinds it all up.

does that sound like a good combination?

I'm familiar with Merrick kibble, as well as their can food, having fed them both to the last German Shepherd I had, although mostly fed Chicken Soup for Dog Lovers kibble. After my dog died, I had Chicken Soup kibble left over. When I ran out of Liver Biscotti treats to give to my pup (now 7 months old), I used the kibble left over as a treat for training. That way it's just a few kibbles a day as opposed to a whole meal of it. Don't know if that's a great idea or not as far as health is concerned, but one pound has lasted me for months and still have some left over. I don't think it hurts them.

Can you feel your pup's ribs? That's a good way to judge if you're feeding too much or too little.

I just bought several packages of chicken drums and thighs for $.99/lb on sale. I try to get stuff on sale. I give about 1/2 pound of Omaspride - http://www.omaspride.com - for one meal and 2 thighs or 3 drums or 4 wings for the other meal. I can find huge slabs of beef meat on sale at times so cut it up into portions. $6.00 can buy 4 lbs or so, and lasts 6-7 days when fed for one meal and chicken parts for the other meal.

If my pup seems to be getting too thin, I give an extra little amount of Omaspride for a few days. As he's grown I've had to up the amount gradually. If he seems to be getting too heavy and I can't see his tummy tucked in, I lower the amount.

Sandy, I looked at the website you provided and it appears as though it raw meat. What's the difference w/their stuff and getting the stuff at the supermarket? Thanks for your e-mail.

Mauricio, Omaspride has bone ground in with the raw meat, and it has veggies in it also. It's also a little easier for me, I just order the chicken, turkey, beef and rabbit, comes frozen (hopefully you have a distributor in your area so no shipping charges involved), and I don't have to think too much about what to buy at the grocer's. I've found the ground turkey, for example, is cheaper than ground turkey at the grocer's and it's got the bone in it which is good. It's human grade meats. I do give the raw (mostly chicken) bones, like I mentioned, as well so my pup gets to crunch on them. Your pup is about 5 months, you could start with chicken wings, instead of the drums or thighs. See how he does with those. I just started giving drums and thighs cause my pup was crunching the wings only a couple of times and swallowing, so I wanted to give him more to chew and work on, and it's worked. I knew he could handle the heavier drum and thigh bones based on how he ate the chicken wings.

Every time I go to the market, I always check the meat aisle for good sales. I've bought ground turkey there also, but only when on a good sale. The large slab of meats, that I've bought were on sale, $1.77/lb, and ended up being cheaper than ground beef, which I sometimes buy when on sale as well. There's always some sale going on, when there is, I stock up as much as my little freezer can hold