Thanks for all the kind words about my raw feeding posts! It's something I'm very passionate about, and I love to pass on what I know.

I don't think I have too many more thoughts to share, except to remember that if you're gonna do this, research and then research some more! Eventually, feeding this diet will be like second nature and you'll have your routine down. It's so worth it!

A few more example meals to show you.



Protein: Turkey drumsticks
Cost: About $7 for 4
Cost per dog: Ok, these are HUGE. Too big for a dachshund, but I let them gorge on these, then fasted them the next day. So essentially I'm getting 2 days of food here, so the cost per dog is 93 cents.

Thor is all about the big meals.



Poor Po. He was really sick as a puppy, and all the meds he was on left his adult teeth yellowed and just nasty. Somehow, he's broken both his giant molars that are used for chewing and they had to be pulled. He has a bit of trouble with bigger and tougher things and it takes him so long to eat them. I think I'm going to have to watch what I feed him now, so he can finish the meals a bit easier.



Not that he's really suffering ... he was so full and so fat after this meal, he looked like a pregnant, sway-backed mule.



Protein: Bravo! Balance turkey burgers
Cost: Free!!! Thanks to a local store's coupon. One $12.79, 3-lb box for free. Ok, not totally free. I had to pay sales tax - about 9 cents per burger.
Cost per dog: 9 cents.

Coupons! Gotta love them. I don't mind getting e-mails so I sign up for newsletters from companies whenever I can. I've gotten coupons for free premium food and treats this way. The coupon for this particular deal happened to be on dallasnews.com. I've gotten four free boxes so far. The coupons expire each month but have no limit. I decided to be nice and only get 2 at a time. >:)



I don't normally feed the commercial raw, but I'd probably get these again even if they weren't free. They are the perfect size - 4 oz. That's pretty much exactly what my dogs eat per day. In the pic above, I had a wee bit of beef heart in the freezer so I added it to Fred's and Isabella's dinners since they seem to need more food. I also added some eggs - a great protein for dogs as well as humans, and something you can add to your dog's diet even if he eats dry or wet dog food.

Beyond the price, the dogs love these burgers. They aren't picky by any means, and they love everything they eat, but they snarf this stuff down and look for more!

Give up the goods, lady.



Fred jumps for ... hunger?



If other people know you feed your dogs raw meat, you may be able to score free food. People often clean out their freezers and/or have freezer-burnt meat they can't eat - but it's fine for dogs! Take it when you can!

Here in Texas, y'all, huntin' is a big pastime (not for me, but for LOTS of people). Wild game is great, but it's recommended to freeze it first.

Once you get to know other local raw feeders, you may be able to go in on bulk buys, or even swap stuff. I bought some emu necks that turned out to be too big for my dogs. I have a friend with Great Danes, so I gave them to her, and she once gave me some venison she had. She told me when I saw her this week that they'd just shot some rabbits, so her dogs were going to eat those! Obviously, killing and dressing your own food is NOT a requirement of raw feeding - just putting that idea out there!



Protein: Green tripe from www.greentripe.com
Cost: $7.40 for the 5-lb roll, $1.48 per lb
Cost per dog: About 37 cents

I'm SO lucky to get this stuff. A group of us here go in on bulk orders twice a year and take advantage of a price discount. This is absolutely the most disgusting thing imaginable - it's unbleached, raw cow intestines. The smell will knock you out (until you get used to it). It was once described by my husband as "hot nasty." So is there any question that the dogs love it? NO! Tripe meals are favorites here.

This particular stuff is from grass-fed, hormone-free, antibiotic-free cows. Green tripe is packed with nutrients and enzymes. I have all four of the blends and feed it often. My big chest freezer is full of it!

That's about it for now on raw. Even though you may find yourself scouring the newspaper ads obsessively for meat deals, answering questions at the checkout line about whether or not the beef heart you're buying tastes good, be utterly grossed out when you first hear your dog crunch a bone or when you first smell liver, you'll soon be an expert, and then you'll just have people give you really strange looks when you get super excited about feeding sheep heads or whole rabbits. Imagine the fun tales you can tell at parties! Watch your dogs thrive, scare your friends and family as an added bonus! :) Have fun and happy feeding!!