after thinking and doing research i switched alex over to a raw food diet in 12/2000. duke statrted eating raw the day he moved in with me 3/2002. feeding raw does involve a time commitment. i order the organically raised chicken necks on a thursday, go pick them up on saturday, then i whack the necks in to kibble sized pieces, dividing them, by weight, into the daily meal packs.(duke has bad teeth from who knows what before i got him and he can manage the small pieces very well.) i buy the veggies once or twice a week(depends on cash flow ) and food process them into a mixed veggie 'glop" and freeze that into meal sized packets. when i travel, i take a cooler with the correct amount of frozen chicken necks and a few frozen veggie packs, i'll buy fresh veggies where i go. i spend, not counting car /shopping time, 3 hours a week on this. i do have a few frozen meals packs in the basement freezer in case i'm sick and a friend takes over the dogs for a few days. for the dogs and me, the benifits are great. when i switched alex to the raw diet he didn't have a seizure for 7 months., what ever chemicals were on the kibble where helping lower this seizure threshold. both dogs look geat, good weight, shiny coats, good breath and clean teeth. the stools are very small, surprisingly oder free and dry out in a day to a white pebble like 'stone'.
raw feeding is not for everyone, but for us, it's been a good thing. oh yeah, my vet says my dogs eat better then she does, for that matter they eat better then i do!