Freeze Dried Raw Food

[mindless06795]

Hello,
I wanted to switch my pup to a raw diet. I saw the Natures Variety Freeze Dried Raw food. has anyone ever heard of this, and has anyone had any luck with it?

Also, If not for Raw, then does anyone recommend a great dry kibble? Thank you.

[dragondawg]

If available in your area try Propet. I have my 3 yr olds on the Large Puppy formula. If for any reason they start to pack on the weight I'll go down to the Maintenance forumula. My previous dog was given the Performance formula and then switched at around 4 to the Maintenance.

If not available then take a look at the ingredients for the formula on their web site. Then find a comparable dry food. In general the more meat ingredients listed first, along with dry egg products the better. The amount of protein and fat to feed is dependent on the age of your dog and other health factors.

The criteria for determining of a particular dog food is good for your dog is actually quite simple:

1. Does the dog readily eat the food. My larger dog has her dinner down the hatch in about 20-30 secs. The smaller one takes maybe 1.5 minutes. The current crew have been eating it for 3 yrs, and the prior dog 10 yrs.

2. Does it result in a healthy dog? For example no food allergies, a good coat, proper maintenance of weight.

3. Does it result in a dog with a high energy level?

If it meets those criteria then it doesn't matter if the name on the bag is Propet, Science Diet, Iams or some other brand. But once you find a brand keep them on it. Regularly switching is liable to cause digestive problems.

[bckrazy]

=P If it's "freeze-dried", it isn't Raw! LOL

Nature's Variety has great products! I definitely recommend their freeze-dried, although it is a bit pricey. NV's kibble is really good, and similar to Innova Evo, which is also a great kibble. Honest Kitchen has really awesome freeze-dried food as well, at a lower cost, if you're interested in that.

[Vela]

If available in your area try Propet. I have my 3 yr olds on the Large Puppy formula. If for any reason they start to pack on the weight I'll go down to the Maintenance forumula. My previous dog was given the Performance formula and then switched at around 4 to the Maintenance.

If not available then take a look at the ingredients for the formula on their web site. Then find a comparable dry food. In general the more meat ingredients listed first, along with dry egg products the better. The amount of protein and fat to feed is dependent on the age of your dog and other health factors.

The criteria for determining of a particular dog food is good for your dog is actually quite simple:

1. Does the dog readily eat the food. My larger dog has her dinner down the hatch in about 20-30 secs. The smaller one takes maybe 1.5 minutes. The current crew have been eating it for 3 yrs, and the prior dog 10 yrs.

2. Does it result in a healthy dog? For example no food allergies, a good coat, proper maintenance of weight.

3. Does it result in a dog with a high energy level?

If it meets those criteria then it doesn't matter if the name on the bag is Propet, Science Diet, Iams or some other brand. But once you find a brand keep them on it. Regularly switching is liable to cause digestive problems.

That is only your opinion. It actually DOES matter what is in the food you feed, and rotating food does not cause digestive upset if done properly. In fact, keeping a dog on the same food it's entire life CAN lead do allergies to some of the products in the food, generally the grains or corn. It does not always but it can. You can feed a kid McDonald's for most of its growing years and it can look okay and even be active, but doesn't mean healthy. You are what you eat, both dogs and humans, so what goes into the digestive system DOES matter, no matter if you feed kibble or raw.

[Lady's Human]

Actually, you can live a very healthy life eating at McD's, it all depends on what you order.

[Vela]

LOL well, some people, and dogs, can eat anything and be just fine, just like some people can smoke all their life and live to be 80, doesn't mean it's good for them=) I don't think people have to feed raw or kibble, but I think people should buy the best quality kibble or other food choice they can afford, becaue what goes into a food DOES affect the health of the animal. SUre some dogs can eat kibbles N bits, look fine, be active, but unless you try something better, how can you know they are at their peak of health? Maybe they would shed less, have better haircoats, more energy, less health issues if they ahd better food.

[CathyBogart]

Hello,
I wanted to switch my pup to a raw diet. I saw the Natures Variety Freeze Dried Raw food. has anyone ever heard of this, and has anyone had any luck with it?

Also, If not for Raw, then does anyone recommend a great dry kibble? Thank you.

I've tried it, and I plan to use this if I go on vacation and need a dog-sitter who may be squeamish about handling "fresh" raw meat. I like everything I've tried from Nature's Variety, I hope you have good results with it. :)

[Tralee]

Actually, you can live a very healthy life eating at McD's, it all depends on what you order.
Have you watched the documentary, "Supersize Me?"

[Lady's Human]

again, it depends on what you order.

If you get a large fry, double cheeseburger and huge orange soda for every meal you're going to be a hurt puppy.

There's more on the menu than that, however

[Tralee]

The man in supersize me ordered everything on the menu at least once. He ate MD for every meal for a month and suffered serious health consequences.

[wolfsoul]

Too expensive for me, but my (ex)roomate had her German shepherd dog on this. The vet couldn't figure out what was wrong with her skin, she had raised bumps everywhere. Anne tried dozens of kibbles, including allergy formulas. None of them helped. She switched to raw, and it went away. The NV freeze-dried diet was the cheapest prepared stuff at the time so she encorporated that into the diet. Her dog thrived on it, amazing change.

[Lady's Human]

Yes, he ordered everything on the menu at least once, but he also ate the largest sizes offered (hence the name of the "documentary"), and consumed 3-4 times the reccomended caloric intake every day.

[dragonfly]

Eating McDonald's for the rest of your life would not be a healthy diet. Just the lack of fiber on the McDonald's menu is enough to make you very ill. Keep in mind their healthy choices only have to look healthy compared to their other menu items. ;)

I don't feed raw, it does sound like a good diet for dogs. Being a kibble girl I like Innova EVO it's very high quality, a bit spendy in my area though. Another brand I like well is Natural Balance, they have some great allergy formulas too, which I know have really helped out some dogs and their owners. The nice thing about Natural Balance is Petco sells it so it's pretty easy to get and I think it costs a little less than the EVO.

[Lady's Human]

Again, there are salads, fruit, diet drinks, juices, etc. on the menu. It is POSSIBLE to maintain a good diet while eating at McD's, Wendy's, etc, you just have to use your head.

[VTJess03]

Just nobody get confused and try to order raw at a McD's. :D

I'm almost confused trying to follow both threads within this thread.

[Vela]

LOL I hear ya. Pretty sure I don't want ANYTHING raw from McDonald's. I don't think I'd really like anything cooked either from them.

[Lady's Human]

McD's is bad enough COOKED! :p

[Charlieanne]

=P If it's "freeze-dried", it isn't Raw! LOL

Nature's Variety has great products! I definitely recommend their freeze-dried, although it is a bit pricey. NV's kibble is really good, and similar to Innova Evo, which is also a great kibble. Honest Kitchen has really awesome freeze-dried food as well, at a lower cost, if you're interested in that.


Just as an FYI, Freeze dried "raw" products are actually raw, and should be treated as any raw meat. Freeze drying is just removing the water, it doesn't remove any bacteria which may exist in raw meat.

[zoey]

I'd opt for the freeze dried food over kibble.
But that is just my opinion.

[Love That Collie]

Just nobody get confused and try to order raw at a McD's. :D

I'm almost confused trying to follow both threads within this thread.

LOL, me too, I felt like a tennis ball. :D I hope nobody goes thru the
drive-thru and tries to order chicken necks! :eek:

[signorelli21]

i won't get in to the fast food debate, i have worked in a few of those places and ate from them most of my life, but will never eat at any of them again. but thats just a personal choice, here's a site that tells the most healthy items and the worst items of the most popular fast food places.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/fastfood.htm

also if you click on the restraunt you can look at the nutritional value at everything on the menu, i would recommend looking at the salads from mcdonalds, you will be suprised how unhealthy they are. :eek:

[mugsy]

OOOOOHHHHHHH something I know LOTS about since that's now Mike's business!!!

Ok, the N.V. Prairie...

Freeze Dried: EXPENSIVE!!! We have it for $25.99 for a small bag. You just need to re-hydrate it and you're good...it's good for people who take their dogs camping or hiking because it's lightweight.

Raw: We have Tigger on this and he has gained 7, much needed, pounds and looks great! It IS expensive as well. We give him (he weighs 49 pounds now) a patty and a 1/2 per day (along with one cup of dry Canidae) and one bag lasts one week and it's $20.00. He seems to like the beef the best. He hated the Chicken/Turkey. He did like the Venison as well, and we haven't given him the lamb.

Nature's Variety also have dry food, one of which is Raw Instinct and it has no grains in it. Tigg did NOT like it, but, we have people whose dogs LOVE it. They also have: Lamb and Oatmeal, Beef and Barley, Chicken and Brown Rice, Salmon and Brown Rice...

There are many excellent brands of dry food as well. We carry 20 of the top 30 rated dog foods as stated by Whole Dog Journal. If you start using the higher quality foods, you really don't need to worry about digestive issues when you change foods. Our dogs have had just about every kind of food we have and we didn't mix it before changing and there was not an issue. Canidae is what most of them get most of the time though. Sox is on Canidae Platinum because of her weight, age, and the glucosomine and chondrotin. George is on Pinnacle Duck and Potato because of his digestive issues. Shawna is on Merrick's Wilderness Blend because she does so well on it, and of course Tigg is on the raw diet....