[theBCnut]

I do know about starting to question yourself. I do it all the time. I’m just glad that sometimes I can help.

[Dori]

Don’t sell yourself short, BC! You always help. You certainly always help me that’s for sure. If not for you and Shawna I don’t know what state my poor babies would still be in. You both always answered questions, gave your experiences and gave me the courage to move forward. I will be forever grateful to the two of you. If my girls could speak, well they do speak, not always in a language that everyone understands, they would be jumping all over the two of you. 🙂

[theBCnut]

I love puppy kisses!!

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Good AM,
I have been reading the posts, i guess you all are talking about the ProDen..,
Dori,
Pepper is hypothyroid & is on medication , & I know from being hypothyroid myself iodine consumption has to be watched, I ordered the pro den already, I guess it will be o.k to try, I am going to start on the lower end (as I always do with her because of all her issues)-I hope it doesn’t affect her thyroid, i will wait & since she is due for her yearly thyroid test I will see.
I have a question bout the primal raw, I defrosted a few of the nuggets last nite, do you just feed them cold directly from the frig. or do you zap them in the microwave for a few seconds?
This is the big day at lunch i will give Millie 1 nugget instead of the orijen freeze-dried.
Thanks as always for all the help!!

[Dori]

Cheryl. No do not put them in the microwave. I usually scoop them out of the bag from the freezer into their bowls. I leave them on the counter until they’ve softened up a bit which doesn’t really take more than 15 minutes or so then I feed it to them. If you want to defrost a little faster you can put the frozen nuggets in a zip lock bag and put the bag in a warm (not hot) bowl or tupperware, whatever, in the sink or counter until they soften up. You do not want to have raw cook in anyway (reason for no microwave or hot water) because you will lose some of the nutritients in the raw food, negating the purpose of feeding raw.

As to the Pro Dent Plaque Off, Hannah has been on it for at least a couple of years or so, as have Lola and Katie too. Hannah has had hypothyroid for at least half her life. Her thyroid levels are checked every quarter because she has been and still is on Soloxine so the testing is necessary. Also at 15 years old (last September 9th) I would be taking her for blood worth every six months anyway. Her thyroid levels (on her Soloxine….dose has never had to be adjusted) are always spot on perfect. So maybe iodine affects some thyroid patients and not others. Fish has always been in her diet and that has also never affected her thyroid levels. As I mentioned, I had checked with her vet before purchasing the Plaque Off and she told me that it would only affect her if she was hyperthyroid which she isn’t. Good Luck.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Dori,
Thank you so much as always- well I put them in the frog. overnite, so I am just going to give her 1 to try for lunch-fingers & toes crossed.
Dori, I am very sorry on your loss, I too, lost a son, & life ws /will never be the same, I guess my fur-kids got me so worked up because of that.
Thank you again.

[Dori]

Cheryl. I’m so sorry that you’ve had to experience the loss of your son. You’ve said you have no kids in a past post so you, like me, lost your only child. No, life will never be the same. Surprisingly and shockingly it does go on. So does the pain. My heart breaks for you as it does for all of us that have outlived our children. Bless you Cheryl.

Yes, that does come in to play a bit in our animals becoming our babies. Especially dogs. They are dependent on us for everything as were our sons when they were babies and toddlers. I think of my girls as my babies, but most especially as my toddlers as I don’t actually have to carry them around everywhere for them to get from place to place. Though I’m sometimes been guilty of that. lol. In the evening when watching t.v. or reading they are always on either my husband or my lap or a combination of both.

Just wanted to mention on the Plaque Off that if you would feel more comfortably you may want to give your vet a call. I do know that hypothyroid is the low production of iodine in the body. Hyperthyroid produces too much. It is rare for a dog to have hyperthyroidism. Hyperthyroidism is common in cats. Dogs if they have a thyroid condition is typically hypothyroid. But, of course, you can always check and get the advice of your vet.

Good luck with lunch today though I don’t believe you’ll need it.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Oh Dori,
Thank you for your loving, kind thoughts. Yes we do go on but the mind never forgets and the heart hurts.
Yes, At night we have a routine,pepper & now Millie are in bed we watch tv read -its funny watching Millie navigate her position, Queen Pep has her own pillow & Millie side steps it, but is always trying to put her paw or face on the pillow, i got her her own pillow of course, and she wanted nothing to do with it. Only pepper’s, so now she just lays in my arms, its so sweet-they are so adorable!
I think Pep will be ok with the pro den , I can ask the vet, but if its like its always been she will have never heard of it and will want me to buy something she sells.
Millie INHALED the rabbit, i may have done a no-no but i gave her 2 nuggets for lunch- gone in a matter of 2 seconds.
I did notice her poo a little soft on our walls just now,but, I think that due to me giving her a few TBSP of THK w her dinner.
I will hold off on that tonite, since she just got the real raw today.
I don’t want her system to go into overdrive.
She also loves THK. At least I know I can put that into her rotation-I guess the hard/new part for me will be figuring out her rotation-weekly or daily, it may be easier/better for her to rotate on a weekly basis instead of at each of her meals, this is so new to me with pepper I never had this luxury.
Pepper is still going quite a bit,I guess it may take weeks for her to adjust to THK.
I know Pepper smelled the rabbit -she walked over to Miilie’s bowl,oh Dori I wanted to give her a taste,but am so scared she would have a negative reaction.
In your opinion given her age (11 1/2 ) & the fact she never has eaten raw & her gastritis would you give her a taste ,I know or I should say I think Shawna gives her audrey some raw & she is the kid that has kidney issues.
I am such a wreck when it comes to Pepper & giving her something entirely new.
Oh well I can obsess on that question for a while 😉
Thanks again for your continued support

[Dori]

Hi Cheryl. I started Hannah on raw when she was 12 years old. She was 15 last Sept. 9th so I certainly don’t think Pepper’s age is an issue. If she were my dog I would give her a taste (just a tiny taste) and see how she does and probably eventually have them both on raw. As to rotation, you need to do that slowly. When I first starting rotation with my girls I rotated with each bag, then I would have a couple of different raw foods in the freezer from the same brand at the same time and rotated weekly, once I realized that I could do that with no issues whatsoever I realized that I could introduce different brands. Then I realized I could switch and rotate daily and, of course, now I rotate with each meal or sometimes daily. Whatever happens to be in the fridge as far as fruits and veggies and whatever commercial raws are in the house. Twice a week I also give them sardines in water that you buy in any grocery store. I open the can and split it with the three of them. I also keep in the refrigerator a bottle of Nature’s Logic Sardine Oil. On days that I don’t give them sardines I add a tiny splash of the sardine oil, from the fridge, to one of their meals of the day just before I put their bowls down for them. Great source of omega 3’s.

Until you know how Millie (and Pepper) do on the different foods, I would feed the foods for different meals. It’s easier to keep track if they are having an issue with a particular protein or ingredient in a food.

I will say that there are many thoughts about feeding different foods together in the same meal or should they be fed separately at different meals. I’m one that feeds at different meals. I don’t ever mix different foods together. Even when I first started feeding raw, I had been feeding grain free kibble, I did not mix kibble and raw.

Also on THK it did take a while before their poops became normal size. Initially I questioned whether I would continue with it due to the size of the poops but as I had the box which is as you know very expensive and that was the only issue I had with the food I kept feeding it and then without my even really realizing it their poops were a normal size like when I fed grain free kibble. Now it’s a none issue. Of course raw poops will always be smaller, dryer, and no smell whatsoever. Another advantage of raw feeding.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Dori,
Your such a great wealth of knowledge, my little & i mean little experience with foods rotation is basically kibble with a lightly cooked topper of different proteins. I never fed canned.
i am sorry i am picking your brain so much, i really don’t know how to go about all this and then add in my fear well you can guess-
I used to feed Pepper a sardine every day until she couldn’t handle them, then I gave her fish oil-i would puncture a pill, she got beta glucan for her immune system coq10 for her heart 3x a week a Vit C, folic acid also-all human supplements just scaled down to her wt.
now with Millie I don’t want to overload her at this point because she is a puppy, i had planned to introduce the sardines a few times a week soon I think she needs the omega 3.
You know even though millie is eating a high quality kibble Orijen, Horizon legacy, I am starting to think she needs to get away from all kibble.
I have noticed,( funny that you mentioned this )Pepper’s stool has no smell since she has been eating THK, yet Millie’s does & I can only attribute it to the kibble.
I give Millie both the Orijen & Legacy mixed and she is ok with that.
I know she is ok with the orijen freeze dried (that’s what she gets for lunch alone)
I guess I made the mistake of giving her the HK with her kibble & chicken at nite.
I should have introduced THK alone with her protein as a topper.
Dori I will get this, i won’t be bothering you for ever, I am a Leo ,and we are perfectionists (that’s why I suffer from migraines) so i have to get this correct-poor Millie to have me for a mom 🙁
I did create a new topic on Puppy’s and supplements-i just haven’t had a puppy in ages & according to Millie’s breeder she needs nothing ( i don’t agree) but don’t want to go overboard.
I realize you don’t feed kibble but i saw a post where tripe is now made into kibble-petkind.com, I wanted your opinion, I have read here a lot of posters feed canned tripe-that it is good for them, I see that more of the large breed posters feed it, I just didn’t know if breeds like schnauzers would benefit. After all Pepper & Millie are not what you would call “working dogs’ Pep is in retirement & Millie is unemployed

[theBCnut]

There are multiple causes of hypothyroidism, in dogs and people. If you are low in iodine and that is the reason you are hypothyroid, then your thyroid levels will have to be adjusted when you start taking something that brings up your iodine levels. But it’s a good thing to find out that your thyroid function issues were a product of low iodine. If you are hypothyroid for other reasons(like me), then iodine won’t help. And so it won’t hurt either.

[theBCnut]

BTW, I had an old friend just lose her daughter to texting while driving. If you know any teenagers/young adults, help get the word out. Answering can wait.

[Dori]

Oh BC that is so sad. I’m sorry for the loss. As far as I’m concerned people shouldn’t even be talking while driving. I’m not even sure blue tooth hand free is safe. I’ve seen people talking away while driving on the highway not paying the least attention to what they’re doing and that’s on a hands free device. It’s just plain dangerous. What a tragedy. There are so many tragedies from texting and driving and yet people still do it.

[Akari_32]

Dori, since starting on raw, Bentley has gone from chewing the fur off his body from his ribs back to just chewing his feet, but not to the point where they’re bald, just red and stained fur. Taking as much carbs as possible out of his diet has helped so much! I still think a grass/pollen allergy is part of the feet-chewing problem, but his skin is no longer red all over his body, and his fur is growing much more fully. He’s actually less hyper on a raw diet, though he is a young terrier, so he’s always got energy when he thinks he needs it (which is almost always LOL). But he doesn’t have pointless, wired-up-for-no-reason energy.

[Dori]

Cheryl, thanks for your kind words. I’m hardly an expert on raw feeding or animal nutrition I can only relate my experiences with my dogs.

I don’t feed kibble and I don’t feed canned. The only canned I was somewhat ok with is Weruva but it contains caraggeean (can never spell that word) and it’s also made in Thailand. A very good trusted by most company that makes raw and dehydrated is Vital Essentials. Vital Essentials sells (as treats I believe or at least that’s how I’ve fed them) a bag of tripe. That’s a way you could go if you wanted to introduce some tripe into their diet. I don’t use commercial treats (too many carbs and ingredients that allergy girl, Katie, can’t have and I also just don’t trust them with all the recalls out there) so I’m always on the look out for something I can give them as a dry quick treat for training purposes. The dogs love them and they have not caused any gastro upset either.

A sardine every day is imo way too much! Only two or three times a week is more than sufficient. That’s probably why Pepper was no longer doing well with the sardines. You can go back to feeding her sardines if you want to but maybe a couple of times a week, not every day.

If Millie is already eating a freeze dried food and doing well with it then she should have no problem with raw at all. Freeze dried is raw. I would certainly switch her as soon as possible to the raw and get her off kibble. You can then feed both dogs the same foods.

Cheryl, you are not asking too many questions and you are certainly no bother. We all started where you’re at now. It takes a while to get the hang of it. Anyway, we are all still asking questions as we should be otherwise how else would we continue to learn.

I’m a Virgo. Perfectionist would be a kind description of me and, I too, suffer from migraines. I’ve had them since I was 10 years old. Hereditary I believe because my mother always had them. Anyway, ask all the questions you’d like. If I can’t answer any, I’m sure others will. Eventually you’ll be the one answering posters questions. That’s how it works around here. Learn and pay it forward.

[Dori]

Akari. I’m so glad Bentley is doing better with his skin issues. He’ll continue to get better. If his paws are still itchy I would suggest what BC has stated in other posts and that is that you keep some sort of container….rubbermaid rectangular type or any brand for that matter, right outside the door you taken him in and out of and rinse his paws in the water just before bringing him back in the house. Keep a towel inside the door to dry his feet. That should help if it’s due to environmental issues.

Just another thought. Don’t forget to remove carbs from his treats. We so often forget that most store bought treats are full of carbs and other inflammatory ingredients. Which is another thought….try to remove all inflammatory ingredients from anything he eats. Some are white potatoes, tomatoes (all night shade plants). Rice is another pro inflammatory ingredient. Every little bit that you can remove from his diet is going to help. Some commercial raw foods contain white potatoes which is an ingredient that, if your dog isn’t allergic to, you don’t think to remove. Just google inflammatory foods, fruits and veggies. I’ve had to do that because of Hannah’s arthritis so Katie benefited from the removal of inflammatory ingredients which wreak havoc on the allergy prone animal and human.

[Akari_32]

I’ve tried all that keeping his paws clean after going out and it never helped. Here in FL it’s pretty much a losing battle if there’s an environmental allergy involved. I am about to take out chicken from his diet and see how that helps. He’s got about a month of pork in the freezer. Should be long enough off poultry to see if he improves any at all.

As far as treats, that’s a hard battle with mom. I’ve got her limited to three treats a day, and I’ve got them on Zukes, the little tiny ones the size of a pencil eraser. Moms the kind of person that means well, but is behind the times on the fact that there is more knowledge on pet nutrition and health care these days. All four dogs have her *trained* on where the treats are, and she loves to give them treats. So I do my best to create a happy medium in the treat field. She’s more of the just-feed-it-some-food-and-move-along type. We had some issues between the two of us when I first brought Bentley home with her just wanting to feed him Puppy Chow, and me getting free/cheap Innova (right before the first buy out, when they were still good). Thankfully she does see that all of his skin issues are diet related, but we are still working on the treat front of that. Even she compliments how much better he looks now that I’ve figured out carbs were such a problem with him. It’s a slow process with her LOL

Since we’re on the topic of fish, i just found out that the Publix I work at has whole smelt, that are like 4-5 inches long. They’re frozen in what’s probably a 2 lb bag. If they are plain, would this be a good something to add to his diet? Can they be whole, scales, bones and all?

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Dori,
I did look up the vital essentials -I saw the freeze dried tripe treats, that’s the way I will go on that issue.
I wish I could get the VE raw, but there isn’t any websites that sell it. So if i want to feed commercial raw it will have to be Primal because Wag.com is the only place that sells it-I don’t live in an area that has small pet stores that sells the higher end foods, so Primal it has to be.
For freeze-dried (if you feed that) id you ever try the Vital Essentials?
I so miss not living in a city that has access to everything!!
Millie did well with the raw you were correct-I might give Pepper a little tiny taste with her sweet potato for lunch.
I will report back later.
Have a great day!
I know I keep saying this but thanks so much for everything

[Dori]

Hi Cheryl. I have fed the Vital Essentials freeze dried. As a matter of fact I have a bag in the pantry right now. It takes a very long time to rehydrate though they do say that it does not have to be rehydrated and can be fed, as is. Vital Essentials is a very good company with good products.

Petfooddirect.com carries Primal Raw and they also carry Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw Food Bites. Nature’s Variety Instinct is another good raw food which I have in rotation with no issues.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Hi Dori,
Well, i took a deep breadth a gave pepper a tiny bit of the raw rabbit she gobbled it up -picked up her head as if to say that’s all I get??
Now I wait to see how she does-digestive wise. Fingers & toes crossed
I went to a local feed store and they can get the VE raw for me-can you guide me in the varieties that are not too high in fat-I guess i should stay away from beef.
Thank you

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Hi again Dori,
Just went to petfooddirect thank you .
Quick question have you tried or do you know the difference (beside size?) of the Primal Pronto & the primal Raw?
it looks like the rabbit & venison have about the lowest fats, I could maybe try the chicken, but for now I think I have to stay with the lowest fat profile versions.

[Dori]

Okay, with Primal if the word Formula is in the title that means it is a complete meal. If it says raw mix or raw grind, it’s meant for supplemental feeding where you can tailor your dogs meals with your own supplements.

Vital Essential Raw’s lowest fats, I believe, are their rabbit and fish. Their fish are available in their raw patties.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Dori, have you heard of or ever fed OC raw?
It seems like a good for-may be hard to find though.
I was curious, since I am trying to get some back up brands to have on hand.
I noticed the VE does not contain any veggies or fruits like the Primal yet it is a complete & balanced product correct?
It’s funny Shawna had tried years ago to get me to transition pepper to raw, and I just couldn’t do it, now I just hope she tolerates it so she can go all raw!!!
Life

[Dori]

Hi Cheryl. I have fed OC Raw from time to time. Yes, it’s difficult to find. One of my not too local stores will order it for me but it’s just a pain so I don’t feed it to frequently. Girls like it and they do well on it.

Commercial raws don’t have to contain fruits and veggies to be complete foods. Some raw feeders don’t even believe that dogs need fruits or veggies. I prefer my girls have them in their diet but as I give them all fruits, and veggies as treats and I feed a rotation diet, I’m not a stickler about whether they are included in the meal or not. Eventually with a rotation diet it all works out.

By the way, how are Millie and Pepper doing with raw??

• This reply was modified 10 years, 4 months ago by Dori.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Dori,
I had wanted to post to you sooner, but was waiting.
OMG Dori, I am amazed, Millie eats it so fast its incredibly.
Pepper ADORES it she got 1 whole nugget today & it was gone in a second.
Oh, if pepper can continue to tolerate raw, at least I could rotate every few weeks with the raw and the Honest Kitchen.
I am going to take the freeze dried out for Millie due to the high fat and if they can both tolerate the raw, who could ask for more, at least for my kids.
Thank you Dori sincerely for giving me a push.

Shawna if you peek in I am so sorry for not listening to you yrs ago, I never knew you could buy commercial raw-raw to me meant raw meat poultry etc, and i just couldn’t risk giving it to Pepper.

I hadn’t heard back from OC raw-i emailed the company, I can get Vital Essentials ordered for me locally, so I know I can interchange that with the Primal nuggets.

I would like to get millie off Kibble even though I am feeding her Orijen & Horizon.
I know you told me and forgive me for asking again, in your rotation you feed raw & dehydrated, I think?? I remember you saying you don’t feed kibble of any kind, i hope i am correct in saying this.
Aimee worried me a bit especially in Millie’s case that the Honest Kitchen would need be a complete meal to feed her during her growing stage, I guess that’s why I keep the kibble in.
I add a bit of lightly cooked meat or poultry & just feed a little less of the HK mix to Pepper & that’s using there protein inclusive mixes, I guess i could do the same for Millie.
I am not confident enough to just transition Millie to HK now, so far so good with the raw, and like you told me safer to stay on 1 new food for awhile, which I am doing.
Thank you so much again.
You take care.

[Dori]

Hi Cheryl. So glad to hear Millie and Pepper are doing well. If you can get them both transitioned to raw and raw and dehydrated that there is no need for worries or for feeding kibble if you can afford financially raw and dehydrated. One of the things that I think I have forgotten to say to you is that a complete and balanced meal does not have to be achieved with every single meal. Complete and balanced needs to be achieved over time. Not every single meal every single day. If you feed one meal dehydrated and one meal commercial complete and balanced raw, then you are golden. Kibble companies would have you believe that each and every single meal, no matter how many meals you feed per day, must be complete and balanced. That’s nonsense and not true. It’s the reason that a lot of people, myself included, feed a rotational diet. What nutrients they may be lacking in one meal or with one company with their different proteins (remember…most companies will change the protein, but typically the other ingredients pretty much stay in the same realm) the will get from a different food, different company. If they are getting to high nutrients or ingredients from another company, it will all balance out with a rotational feeding protein. Two companies can have the same exact ingredients in their ingredient list on their web site or their packaging but the % of ingredients are all minimums so they will all differ. That’s why a lot of us believe that “complete and balanced” diets need to be met, and will be met, over time. Not meal to meal.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Good Morning Dori,
Yes, ideally having both girls on the commercial raw & dehydrated (i think) would be a good mix & as you say balance out in the end.
Both are quite expensive
I don’t think I am imagining this,but since pepper is no longer eating any kibble,at times she seems to have more energy, more vitality then when she was on the Amicus.
I don’t know, I know it won’t stop the clock for her, so I am just thankful for any tiny improvements she gains from changing her diet.
You have a great day.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Dori,
would you mind if you could give me some choices for a dehydrated food beside the honest kitchen or in your opinion is that about the best available? I know you mentioned Sojos.
As for commercial raw beside Primal & Vital Essentials any brand that comes to your mind with some lower fat offerings. i don’t think I will be able to get the OC Raw seems very hard to get and they don’t ship to consumers.
I just like to have options for them-I guess there are enough varieties within the same brand, but I want to make sure there diet is balanced overall.
Thanks so much Dori.
I have so much going on right now, it is so hard for me to devote the time I really need to research all the various brands.
I so appreciate all the information you have given me.

[Dori]

Cheryl,
The commercial raw frozen foods that I use in rotation are:
Answer’s Detailed Raw Frozen (if you can’t find it, please call them and speak with Jacquie, she’s the owner, and she’ll let you know who sells the food in your area. Don’t go by the store locater on their website because a lot of stores carry their goat milk but not their food and they are listed in their store locater because they do sell Answer’s Detailed just not the food).

Primal Pronto and Primal Formulas. Vital Essentials Raw. Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw.

Stella & Chew’s Raw (I feed this once in a blue moon. My dogs eat it but I’m not crazy about it. I come back to it periodically to give it a try because it does get good feed back from posters and is highly reviewed on this site and wonder if I’m just missing something). I will say that the company has a great reputation.

Commercial Frozen Raw foods are, by nature, high in fat. None of my three toy dogs have issues with high fat so it’s not a concern of mine. Beef, in my experience, will always be higher in fat than other proteins. If memory serves me, I think Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw and Vital Essentials Raw are probably lower in fat than most others. As I said, my girls don’t have issues with high fat diets. I have always contended that it is not the quantity of fat in a diet, it is the quality of the fat. Now, with that said, I don’t feed foods that have a higher level of fat than they do protein. I’m not paying high prices for fat. You have to keep in mind that the lowest % of fat that I feed is probably around 38% and up to around 58 – 59%. You have to know your animals and what they will be well with and can tolerate and thrive on. That goes not only with fat but protein and carbs as well. Also I think I’ve told you that I do not feed any food that has poultry, fowl, of any sort. One of my girls is highly intolerant of all forms including the different chicken and turkey fats that are put in some foods. Interestingly enough, she has no problems with eggs so long as it is no more than once every two to three weeks, maybe longer.

Moving on the Freeze Dried, I feed Primal Freeze Dried, Vital Essentials Freeze Dried and again, once in a blue moon I’ve wanted to like Stella & Chew’s Freeze Dried.

Dehydrated Foods: The only dehydrated food I feed is The Honest Kitchen. I’ve tried a lot of the others and for one reason or another I don’t like them.

There are, of course, foods in all categories above that I don’t feed for my own various reasons but that doesn’t mean that because I don’t care for them or how my dogs do on them, that they are not going to do well for other dogs. Katie, my allergy girl, has a list of food intolerances as long as my arm that I must avoid. Katie is the reason that I went to commercial raw foods and my other two dogs were lucky enough to come along for the ride and thrive on their diets. Dogs, like people, are all different. We all react to different ingredients differently. Some issues I have with some foods may not be an issue with others or may not be any issue for their dogs. (I don’t mention cats because I don’t have any. I’m allergic to animals which is why my dogs have always been of the hair variety and not fur). I am, fortunately, in a position that I can feed all 5 star rated commercial raw, freeze dried and dehydrated foods from companies that I trust that (in my opinion) have quality ingredients and quality customer service.

Ask away, I’m happy to help with my experiences and my trials and errors of which there have been many along the way. I’ve pretty much got all the kinks worked out for Hannah, Katie and Lola. I’m hoping that Millie and Pepper are well. Though you didn’t take Shawna’s advice years ago I’m glad you’ve jumped on board now. Better late than never as the saying goes.

[pugmomsandy]

I just saw a Sojo’s advertisement banner this morning and it said No Ingredients From China. Is this a new change?

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Dori,
Please, please forgive me for not replying sooner to your kind post of letting me know the foods in your rotation.
I am in then process of renovating a Townhouse I purchased last May and between that and the girls well i am under a great deal of pressure.
I am trying to get all this in my brain and figure out how to go about the full transitions and rotations to raw and probably Honest Kitchen varieties.
It’s pepper i most worry about, so far it seems Millie can transition easier than pepper.
Concerning Nature’s Variety Raw ( and I don’t mean to sound like a snob) is that a good company-I know you do EXHAUSTIVE research,I just thought since all the big box stores carry it, that it was just a so-so company. AS I guess you can surmise by now, I make it very difficult for myself. If it’s too easy, I always question why??
But your endorsement means a great deal.
I can’t seem to find the primal pronto but will call the company next week.

I know you must be familiar with Susan Thixton.
She provides a “Best Foods list yearly.
Have you ever heard of “Fresh Fetch” or “Frenchie’s Kitchen”Fresh Fetch looks interesting-
these are cooked so you may not be too interested in them, just thought you MAY want to look at them.
Dori, thank you so much again, I sound like a broken record but you are really a very special and lovely person.

[Dori]

Cheryl,
Don’t let the fact that Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw is sold at those large stores deter you from using this food. It has a very good reputation and I feel comfortable feeding it to my girls. Though I don’t shop at large box type pet stores, at least three of the local “boutique type” dog food stores that I shop at carry the food.

As for Fresh Fetch, it’s been on Susan’s list for a while. I did research them at one time and their shipping prices were astronomical. Shipping cost more than the food did. If they’ve changed their shipping prices (which I doubt), I’m still not sure why anyone would pay their prices for food and shipping when you can research complete and balanced cooked diets and make it at home for a heck of a lot less. As to Frenchie’s Kitchen, again very expensive for a cooked food. If my memory serves me correctly, the shipping on frozen food was free but the cost of the food was crazy high. Again, one can cook a complete and balanced diet at home from recipes found on this site and others and many great dog books. That is if you want to feed cooked or supplement raw feeding with cooked meals to bring the cost of feeding down. Though I have no inclination to cook complete and balanced meals on a daily basis for my dogs, if that’s what I chose to feed my dogs I would make them myself. I don’t cook on a regular basis for hubby and I anymore so I’m not about to start now.

I’ve renovated probably every home we’ve lived in and so I know what you are going through. It’s exhausting and takes up almost all your waking and sleeping thoughts. Whenever I start a renovation project it is pretty much all I can think about. Glad I can help you in my small way.

OH! Just wanted to say about the Primal Pronto, any place that sells Primal will also sell the Primal Pronto. It’s actually the same food as the Primal formulas just made into small “kibble like” bits so you can scoop out and serve. The real plus of the frozen foods that are the little bits like is that if you’ve forgotten to put the days frozen meals in fridge to defrost, you can just scoop them into their bowls, leave on counter and approx. 15 minutes later they are soft and ready to serve.

[Cheryl Pepper Millie Sophie]

Oh Dori,
This has been a real nightmare, I wanted to downsize, yard etc, saw this townhouse well didn’t like the cabinets tore them out & found BLACK MOLD -well you can imagine gutted the entire 2 stories to the studs!!! As I said a nightmare that is a sinking well of money!!!

I guess while reading your post you do make sense – why have someone else cook, when I could do the same.

It’s funny I got the Primal Nuggets from Wag.com will have to check on the “Pronto” since it ships from the manufacturer.

I can get the “Vital Essentials” & Nature’s variety Instinct Raw here so that’s good , they also had Nature’s Logic it was on Susan’s list in 2013 but just read the review here and I will pass on that raw brand.

This is another reason I so miss living in a city-the availability of everything.

Well if i can rotate different brands with the lower fat proteins , I guess that would be ok., since you said each protein though the same is just a bit different when you change up the brands.
I am going to call Answers as you suggested along with OC Raw, see if they will ship directly to me. This local feed store cannot get either from there vendor.

You are wonderful, thank you again.
Have a great weekend

[jakes mom]

I’m looking for a little guidance concerning the amount (size or ounces or?) of raw to feed along with kibble. Right now Jake gets about a cup of kibble per day, a little less depending on the topper. Half a cup am and pm. I was thinking about giving him raw at suppertime. If I buy commercial raw I can obviously go by the instructions on the package but what about giving a piece of meat? What would be a “meal sized” amount for a beagle/basset, about 34#? Do I give him a chicken drumstick? A thigh? Can I hand him a pork chop? Is that all he gets or does he need a little bit of kibble, too? And how often? Can he have that a few times a week and kibble for his other meals? Would the nutrition all balance out in the end? He’s had RMBs as a treat and loves them. I just don’t know how to figure the right amount to count as his meal. I know he’ll eat whatever I give him so I worry about weight gain.

[Author]

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