Feeding Raw vs Kibble

[Bunnyblaster]

Go ahead and explain why you choose the one you do..........i.e. cost, time, health, etc. I wanna see if all of us kibble feeders are just cheap and lazy or what. Does anyone have dogs that do well on the dry stuff besides me?

[bucks better beagles]

I have fed dry all my life. Generally, the best I can afford. My dogs do great on it. It is easy to do and balanced. I have no problems with stamina, coat, disease or other food born illnesses. My dogs are a hobby not part of my family. Feeding them is expensive so I must find the most cost effective ways of doing it.

[HAREHOUND]

i feed both and it has nothing to do with cost or effort. i feed both beacause my dogs seem to be very healthy and look and preform well. when i butcher a cow or buy chicken quarters on sale it does not cost any more, and sometimes less than dry. in the fall and winter i run my dog approx. 5 days a week and i think they do better on a raw diet. a few greens and a cup of salmon oil and there good to go. the salmon oil is expensive but i can swing it so they get it. in the off season they get a good quality kibble but i still give a little raw maybe once a week. i have done this for about 30 years and it works for me. so i guess if it aint broke don't fix it. if a kibble diet has always worked for you in the past i wouldn't change, but it doesn't work for me.

[RiverBottom]

I'm kind of curious about this myself. I never heard of the term "feeding raw" 10 years ago, but every houndsman I know does it. I think it is a regional thing. I live where it is cold 5 months of the year. The cold months also happen to be the months when our dogs get hunted the most and have to work the hardest. Most hounds in this country live outdoors so just keeping warm burns up a lot of energy. Dog food alone just doesn't cut it if you are running them on hare in the snow every day. Maybe the most expensive stuff works but who can afford that?

We feed meat in the winter because it is free for the most part. You just have to find it and haul it home. It keeps all winter, just leave it outside and it stays frozen And dogs stay in good shape through lots of hard hunting if you feed them mostly meat. They need a LOT LESS water than if they are eating dry dog food. Water is a lot more important than most houndsmen think.

What's not to like?

[da ridgetop]

I dont really know if this counts as raw or not but i feed my dogs meat scraps and bones after meals we have and theirs leftovers,also once or twice a week i give raw eggs but for the most part i try to feed a good quality feed aka kibble. I notice i meat scrap more in winter months and hunting season because it helps keep my dogs in good shape Donald

[kybeagler]

Purina Pro Plan for High Porformance dogs is the way to go feeding any dog. Dont have to feed but very little if not being ran much. I feed the chicken flavor and the dogs love it. If running the dogs hard when Im able to I feed purina joint mobility veterinary rx diet for the dogs joints and muscles.

[steve w]

Mine get kibble daily but I firmly believe raw would be better and supplement as much as I can. In winter I see it every year regardless of brand, dogs loosing weight due to cold and running hard, I up the feed it goes thru them not helping much, I supplement and they seem to keep more weight on. I used vegatable oil this year with good results and fed more raw rabbit even at the risk of worms but had no more problem than usual. I am tempted to pick up road killed deer. I suppose the biggest reason I don't make a total switch is the convienance of kibble.

[RiverBottom]

I think one way people get off track is in thinking dry dog food has been around for many years and feeding raw is new. Nothing could be further from the truth. Hounds have been fed meat for as long as there have been hounds, thousands of years. Dry dog food is new. In the UK, most hounds are still fed "fallen stock" and nothing else.

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=Gb-Rx4-e7EQ

[Joeyman]

I feed blk gold blk bag. If we have left over food which is rare I'll pick out a dog and let them out of the kennel and let them eat it. Crack open some eggs on their feed every now and again too.

so far so good over here.

I did however noticed this gun-season during the colder winter months a few of my dogs were slimmer than normal and the extra kibble feed didn't really help just went thru them is all. But i was running them extra hard.

[intrepid]

I've fed raw for a week, and what i've noticed was there wasn't hardly any waste. I think when i feed this dog food out i'm going to go raw.

[TheLittleBlackBook]

I'm kind of curious about this myself. I never heard of the term "feeding raw" 10 years ago, but every houndsman I know does it. I think it is a regional thing. I live where it is cold 5 months of the year. The cold months also happen to be the months when our dogs get hunted the most and have to work the hardest. Most hounds in this country live outdoors so just keeping warm burns up a lot of energy. Dog food alone just doesn't cut it if you are running them on hare in the snow every day. Maybe the most expensive stuff works but who can afford that?

Regarding many people "only hearing about" feeding raw 10 years ago, the truth is kibble didn't even exist 50 years ago. Thus, in point of fact, it is Nature herself who never heard of ANY animal that is "supposed" to eat kibble

Biologically, this simple truth is ALL dogs (and all forms of life) have evolved to eat raw foods. Cows eat raw grass, birds eat raw grains and insects, and all carnivores have evolved to eat other animals, raw. The fact is, only man cooks his meals, and even when you and I cook our meals we barely cook them. Our meats are still tender and juicy, as are our vegetables. However, when kibble is created, it is burned and cooked all the way down to little dry, brown pellets ... and in so doing almost all of the valuable moisture, vitamins, and nutritive enzymes are lost.

This is why ALL top performance dogs are fed raw, because (as you have noticed) kibble just doesn't cut it. Kibble was, plainly and simply, created for human convenience not canine nutrition. Feeding kibble is okay for "pet owners" ... in other words people who aren't too serious about what dogs they have or about getting the best out of a truly top-shelf animal. Pet owners aren't too particular about what dog they get or what they put into their dog.

But when people really are out there competing with their dogs (and wanting the absolute best out of them), they get a little more serious about what they're feeding them. In fact, serious dogmen and women start taking what they feed their dogs as seriously as what dogs they're willing to feed.

We feed meat in the winter because it is free for the most part. You just have to find it and haul it home. It keeps all winter, just leave it outside and it stays frozen And dogs stay in good shape through lots of hard hunting if you feed them mostly meat. They need a LOT LESS water than if they are eating dry dog food. Water is a lot more important than most houndsmen think.
What's not to like?

You hit the nail on the head. Water is VITAL. Without water, there is no life. A dog can live and function longer without food than without water, and this is EXACTLY why feeding raw is so critical.

The world itself is comprised of about 70% water. Your dogs are comprised of about 70% water. And (you guessed it) raw flesh is comprised of about 70% water. Is anyone noticing a pattern here?

By contrast, kibbled feeds are about 4% water. They break the pattern, in so doing they actually DEHAYDRATE a dog. A dog fed 1 lb of raw flesh is actually fed 11.2 oz of water and only 4.3 oz of solid mass. By contrast, a dog fed 1 lb of kibble is fed over 15 oz of solid mass and only 0.64 oz of water. In order for the dog to balance-out his body back to a 70%-water ratio, he must drink nearly 22 oz of water (1 lb 6 oz). This is exactly why dogs fed kibble always look "bloated" compared to dogs fed a proper diet, and this is why ALL high-performance dogmen and women get their dogs off of kibble, and feed raw, so their dogs don't "run hot" and perform better.

Nature intended animals to be able to go a long time without water: it is necessary for survival. And this is why what the dog NATURALLY eats (other animals, raw) has so much water already in it ... just like the animal itself. Feeding kibble totally unbalances this. Dogs in nature don't have a water bowl sitting next to them all day, to get away with the dehydrating effects of kibble.

Feeding kibble is simply counter-productive to a dog's optimal health and peak fitness, but only those people who take the time to switch to a proper raw diet will ever experience this dramatic difference.




.

[BCBeagles]

I am feeding a quality kibble and raw about 2 days a week. I see nice balance in my hounds and no issues. I don't have the time to prepare the raw daily and my wife
sure ain't gonna do it. I keep several deer each year and feed it to my hounds ground and cut up. There is little waste and I add a supplement for vitamins with the raw.
The dogs devour it and I do it more often if they are getting run hard (4-5 days per week). I will continue to do it this way and hopefully it continues to work for me.
JMO.

[Bunnyblaster]

LittleBlackBook, I see you posted again with the same reasons for going raw but you didn't vote..........I need to see at least one vote up there for an all raw diet.

I did check with a local butcher shop that'll give me beef scraps so I'm gonna try some and we'll see. I do wanna say one thing again though.........kibble may not be optimal but according to what you state all of my dogs should be near death on a regular basis because of a lack of nutrition and water.........I still say keep it in perspective. Riddle me this......how many people have the time or availability of ingredients to go raw like you suggest? How many are true "professionals" when it comes to owning our dogs and how many of us do it as a hobby that we enjoy. Should the dogs suffer??? No, but I don't think that's the case either. What dogs do you own if you're feeding 25 on a daily basis? And how do you find the time to get them all out? Just curious.

[Spini Boys]

Purina Pro Plan for High Porformance dogs is the way to go feeding any dog. Dont have to feed but very little if not being ran much. I feed the chicken flavor and the dogs love it. If running the dogs hard when Im able to I feed purina joint mobility veterinary rx diet for the dogs joints and muscles.

Not for $45.00 a 34lb bag, its good feed but not that good!!!! I can buy 34lbs of ground beef for that, Shame on Purina for pricing it so freekin high!!!!!

[Spini Boys]

I feed blk gold blk bag. If we have left over food which is rare I'll pick out a dog and let them out of the kennel and let them eat it. Crack open some eggs on their feed every now and again too.

so far so good over here.

I did however noticed this gun-season during the colder winter months a few of my dogs were slimmer than normal and the extra kibble feed didn't really help just went thru them is all. But i was running them extra hard.

Need to boost up to the Blue 24/20 in winter if running that hard and you will keep the weight on them better. I feed the Black Spring and summer, then the Blue Fall and Winter.JMO