Okay, Iām just going to throw this out here because Iāve found this to be a remarkably useful website, and if thereās anyplace I might productively ask my question, itād be here. I apologize in advance for the length of it.
My familyās got four dogs currently: One small, one medium, one medium-large, and one large. Itās a nice range. I try to order higher-quality kibble brands to offset the lower-quality ones sometimes brought home by other people. A month or two ago, I had a two-hour phone conversation with my aunt, whoās got one small dog on a raw diet (with wet canned stuff in the mornings.) Iād hoped to simply be able to follow her precise regimen, adjusted for our packā¦and got a half-page worth of notes during that convo in Microsoft Word. I shouldāve figured it wouldnāt be simple, and I suppose I could start ordering some whole rabbits or tripe or turkey necks and supplements or any of the other various things I jotted down from the site she mentionedā¦but the whole thing still seems so overly, excessively complicated and worrisome. She said that she hadnāt even told her vet about the switch, but had been at it for about a year now.
A few benefits stood out: Cleaner teeth naturally, because no matter how much toothpaste or how many correct-ingredient-inclusive wipes I use, nothing removes the āickyā stuff (which is worst on the oldest dog.) My aunt also noted that cleaning up after them is much easier thanks to the rawāand since that job typically falls to me, Iād really appreciate that. AND potential weight loss/healthy-weight management, as wellā¦I almost always opt for the low-fat variety of everything to be on the safe side. Fortunately the hefty Brittany did recently move down to a smaller dosage of heartworm med, and can suddenly fit behind the sofa againāso I guess it finally paid off.
Iāve given the pooches everything from the raw-coated kibbles to Stella & Chewy patties to Fresh Pet to Honest Kitchen āgreen slopā (weāve had that huge box for over a year now), to dozens of kibble brands that all seem essentially identicalāand so on and so forth. When I try to look up which kibble or commercial raw food to try (assuming that cans would disappear far too quickly to be worthwhile), I am instantly overwhelmed and confusedāI see loads and loads of brand names and packaging and shapes, but all of the food and flavors appear to be the same. I have no idea how to even tell which to buy. The sizes and portions and pricing baffle meāhow am I to tell what will feed multiple dogs of various sizes and breeds for more than a couple days? We usually get a new big kibble bag about twice a month. I simply cannot tell what the raw equivalent would beā¦and even for dry food, Iām now kinda stumped. Every time Iām asked to order another bag, I freeze. How to choose?!?! My listās grown so long, and weāve tried so manyā¦now I usually go with whichever has the best price per pound at the time, and a decent rating/reviews. I wish I could just find the perfect brand to consistently turn to, and continuously rotate through their flavors and treats. (Deciding which treat to pick up becomes a whole other can of worms, and Iām just like, āGods, why, why, why must this be so bamboozling?! Why the hundreds of redundant choices? The dogs donāt even care, they just want our stuff!ā)
Only one of the four dogs eats neatly (my Saluki, who has a snood. š The other three are slobs, knocking the bowls around and splashing before they even touch the floor. The little Beagle frequently flat-out refuses to eat from a bowl, insisting that the food be spilled onto the floor for him. Also, my momās a clean freakāand Iām a bit of one myself at times. For these reasons, I knew that any attempt to transition would be tough and drawn-out, if not impossible. I knew Iād have to discover the cleanest, neatest, easiest, least odiferous method.
Now, before I got older and started performing more research into these areas, my parentsā¦well all right, let me just put it this way. The two Beagles we had at the time I was born ate cheap supermarket kibble and human leftovers, lived in the backyard, never once to my knowledge had their teeth brushed (the one had green teeth and rancid breath) or nails trimmed or even saw the vetā¦yet both lived happily & health-problem-free for 16-18+ years (we canāt be exactly certain because they were adopted from a shelter.) Thus it can be very difficult for me to convince these guys, no matter how many times I reiterate what the healthy-food brochures say, to go out of their way for āspecial frou-frou dog foodā or anything theyāre unused to.
WHEW. Ever so sorry to unload all that frustration here. Any advice, recommendations, or assistance that anybody ever feels like dropping would, of course, be most appreciated.
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