Hello guys,
I was wondering what is the average cost to put a dog on the barf diet vs high end kibble???

Upstate NY 1.50 per lb average depending on your sources and what you use. If you have availability to alot of meat (hunters, farms, etc) then it may be cheaper. Or in the city, open markets.

I had my dogs on top shelf dog food after the pit bull was on raw for 3 years. We had gotten a new puppy and I was trying to follow directions from our vet...who is very reasonable and feels that puppies and old dogs may be more sensitive to pathogens.

Anyway, after a few months, I am done with dog food ... again. Too much poop and more expensive. I found a local farmer who grounds 100% complete beef and/or chicken. He is a GSD breeder and is wonderful. I shop and watch for meat, organs etc that are on sale and from decent sources. Beef, chicken, lamb are what the dogs mainly get. My dogs also get left overs from bone broth batches, eggs from my chickens, a bit of fish, and I will be raising a batch of chickens this Summer just for the dogs when I raise the chickens for the people for the year. The scraps left from butchering are bagged and those help feed the dogs as well. Except intestines. They get a tripe patty 1x per week.

The only thing is stay away from the Perdue type chickens or chickens that have brine in it. That is the only thing I have found that causes the dogs to get upset. If you get the cheaper stuff that usually works out really well.

If you do try it, make sure you get advise from someone who is experienced with raw. They have some great resources mentioned on this site.

P.S. I have to add this. If this is for a PUPPY make sure you are able to keep a 100% complete nose to tail diet. If you cannot, go with the dog food. My raw food mentor does not advise doing it unless you can do nose to tail for a puppy which is pretty difficult.

Thanks for the reply! Eating table scraps was my next question. Does this include grains? What do you mean by nose to tail?

Thanks for the reply! Eating table scraps was my next question. Does this include grains? What do you mean by nose to tail?

Nose to tail means you are basically feeding whole prey or enough balanced parts to be the equivalent. Too many people don't balance out muscle with bone and you can really hurt a growing puppy doing that. I've stayed away from raw for exactly that reason.

Some dogs need completely grain free but most dogs are okay with some grain here and there. The exception might be corn. There are a lot of dogs that just don't seem to be able to digest it.

Nose to tail definition above is correct. Table scraps given include cooked veggies (I make extra of some veggies for them especially sweet potatoes, greens, etc.), a little bit of brown rice or oatmeal on occasion. NO COOKED BONES EVER as they are dangerous.

The ground complete from the local farmer is nose to tail for beef, bones on the side. The ground chicken is nose to tail and includes bones. He does not include intestines because it makes the product too unstable. Mine get a tripe patty once a week. They also get the stuff included above.

You cannot just give boneless chicken to a dog and expect it to thrive however a raw diet is much easier then it seems once you get management down. Mine do PMR - Prey Model raw which is 80% meaty bones, 10% organs, 10% misc. They also get a vitamin when they are on days not with the ground complete, salmon and/or cocoanut oil.

The dogs look great, coats are gorgeous, no teeth cleaning required because the bones keep their teeth spotless and white. My pit bull is 5 and I have had her since 8 mos old. She thrives on raw. Great vet visits. During the short time she was switched onto dog food, even though she got the directed amount and even less then, she packed on pounds. Also there is less poop altogether on raw. Dogs drink way less water because less is needed to digest their food.

For us we have had great results and it works for us.

Our dogs enjoy fresh fruit and veggies as well and I will flip them some when preparing as treats.

As mentioned, especially if this is for a puppy, please read up. There's a whole "All Natural Diet" section on this board, and lots of info on the LB site itself as well.

A growing pup has to get the right calcium (digestible bone) in his diet to form his own bones, teeth, etc.

Here is a very good start:

http://leerburg.com/webboard/thread.php?topic_id=32656&page=1#366438