RAW MEAT DIET FOR DOGS - COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS

First let me state that this diet is not intended to represent a "premium" RAW diet, but a low budget raw diet for larger kennel situations trying to keep their costs down. The big claim that larger kennel operations cite as a reason for not feeding raw is "cost" and "convenience."

Well, feeding raw is always going to be a bit more inconvenient than feeding kibble, but I have made this formula as convenient as I can (you can get everything at WalMart), and as cost-effective as I can (it costs less per-lb than the number 2 of number 2-kibble Ol' Roy). At my local WalMart, Ol' Roy is now $20.88 for 40 lb (which is $0.52/lb), and the following raw diet I am listing can be put together for only $0.50/lb. Here are the items:

Food Item.............................Cost Per Meal

Raw Chicken Quarters (8 oz)..............$0.290
1 Cup White Rice (8 oz)......................$0.087
Whole Egg (2 oz)................................$0.121
Plain Yogurt (1.2 oz)...........................$0.079
1 Tsp Lard (1/6th oz)..........................$0.013
½ Vitamin Pill (0 oz)............................$0.014

19.2 oz meal........................................ $0.60 = Total Cost

* WalMart offers 10-lb bags of chicken quarters for $5.78, which pans-out to be only about $0.58/lb.
* You can get 20 lb of Matma white rice for $13.12 at WalMart also. Keep in mind that 1/3 cup of rice grains makes a full cup of cooked rice (after you add 2/3-cup of water and heat it). There are 50.5 cups of rice grains in the 20-lb sack, which after adding water make 151.5 cups of rice for $13.12, making each cup of rice cost only $0.087 (just under nine cents a cup).
* You can also get a carton of 60 (5-dozen) eggs for $7.24 (which comes to $0.97/lb), and each egg weighs about 2 oz (or about 12.1 cents per egg).
* You can buy a quart of "Great Value" plain yogurt for about $1.57 each (which is about $0.79/lb), and it has been my experience that you can scoop out about 20 heaping tablespoons per container, which is about 7.9 cents per serving.
* You can also get a bottle of 300 Equate Multi-Vitamin pills for $8.42. Since a little dog doesn’t need the full horse pill, you can cut each vitamin in half, which means you get 600 multi-vitamins for just over eight bucks (or $0.014/pill). The best way to feed the half-vitamin pill is to stuff it in a teaspoon of lard.
* You can get a 4-lb tub of Armour Lard for $4.82, and since 4 lb = 64 oz, and since 1 tsp = 1/6th of an ounce, this means you get 384 teaspoon servings for less than five bucks, or $0.013 per serving (just over one cent).

This means the above meal would cost 29 cents + 8.7 cents + 12.1 cents + 7.9 cents + 1.3 cents + 1.4 cents which would equal a total cost of 60.4 cents for 19.2 oz of feed, which translates to just over $0.030/ounce—or just over $0.50/lb—and it’s still a better meal compared to just about any commercial kibble.

That’s right, you can shop at WalMart and feed your dogs a low budget raw diet for less than what it costs to feed Ol’ Roy, the lousiest feed on the market, and yet it is better for your dogs than virtually any high-end kibble. You don't need to go to butchers, slaughterhouses, or any other inconvenient spot for many folks ... you can get all of these things right at WalMart.

Just purchase a crock pot for the rice (also at WalMart), in a size commensurate with the number of dogs you have (1 cup of rice per dog), and you will be saving money AND feeding your dogs better. There is simply no excuse to feed kibble anymore with today's prices.

Yes, there are raw diets better than this; again, my point was to provide a LOW BUDGET ("anyone can get it") raw diet for kennel situations.

All you need is a meat cleaver, the crock pot, and a cutting board. Lay the number of eggs, vitamins, chicken pieces out there ... and stack a buncha bowls ... and you can feed a yard of dogs better than any kibble ... for LESS MONEY than any kibble.

Good luck,