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All provide dog food v. Small batch v. Dr Harvey’s veg to bowl

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3.9K views 45 replies 12 participants last post by  CBL_WV  
#1 ·
i started feeding my dog dr. Harvey’s veg to bowl which requires 8 oz of protein per day along with mix. I used primarily ground turkey Or ground beef. My dog stopped eating eat after months of doing fine on it. I then put her on small batch freeze dried raw beef flavor. I found that $140 per month is a bit steep for my pocket. 5 Pattie’s per day. She’s been on it about3 months and is now bored with it and virtually eats one meal a day at night because she’s starving. I am now trying turkey All Provide raw and will gently cook it myself instead of buying the gently cooked. It requires 4 oz per day in their guidelines for a 13 lb dog and dr Harvey’s requires 8 oz a day. That is a very big difference. Any suggestions for a good freeze dried raw that won’t break the bank?
 
#2 ·
The feeding guidelines are just that, and the amount of food your particular dog needs may differ. If you really want to save money and feed a good diet, you could feed homemade. Or, you could go for some of the less mainstream companies like My Pet Carnivore or Hare Today which in my opinion have excellent products and most importantly...don't have any carbohydrates!!!. For example,

Fine Ground Beef Supreme PMR - 1 LB
 
#6 · (Edited)
About feeding quantities.
I am in a group that feeds according to BARF guidelines. The group feeds raw and lightly cooked with plant ingredients.
The normal guideline is to feed 2 to 3% of the body weight.
But dogs are so different. It depends on the lifestyle of the dog and how they utilize food.
For example, working dogs/active dogs sometimes need 6%.
My dogs get between appr. 3.70% and 4.70% of their body weight to stay slim. Lili (Havanese 5.5kg) is the one who gets the most. 260g to 270g a day.
Always feed the dog in front of you!
 
#7 ·
I hesitate to offer a suggestion, as you know how people like to jump all over some things. So, just between you and me, no opinions necessary, this is what I've been feeding for several years to 3 dogs: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076GB5J1...ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-reorder_k0_1_9&amp=&crid=2ZNGIU2TBBLZW&sprefix=sojos+dog&th=1
It's dehydrated, so needs to be prepared in advance, and my dogs love it. I also feed a small amount of high quality kibble and a bone broth mixture I make. When everybody has licked their bowl clean, they change places and check the other bowls.
 
#8 ·
Freeze dried complete raw food is probably the most expensive option to choose. The Dr. Harvey's is also fairly expensive, but I've been of mixed feeling about the large quantity of veg/fruit-to-protein, and it doesn't work that well for Marco. If you're feeding fresh/high-quality protein, you can get your cost below that $140/month, but you'll probably have to go to a mostly or totally homemade diet. (Also, double-check your math - my 20 pounder needs ~12 oz. total/day of Allprovide or VivaRaw, whether fed raw or cooked; your 13-lb dog should probably need more than 4 oz/day, maybe it's 4 oz/meal, twice/day?)
 
#9 ·
The Allprovide feeding calculator says my senior dogs (each @ 11 pounds) should eat 3.3 ounces per day. They eat twice that much! I would definitely take the feeding guidelines with a grain of salt. I think it matters too exactly what is being fed. For example, is it purely meat, bone and organs? Or are there a significant amount of vegetables? Are there starchy vegetables or just non starchy ones? Grains? Legumes? Fat content? There are so many variables.
 
#11 ·
I'm a bit confused - are you looking for a freeze dried raw... or a different food that you add your own meat to it?

For freeze dried raw - perry's always done well on Stella and Chewy (with Perry at 11 pounds it's about 4-5 patties a day if I fed it for all of his meals). We recently switched to Rawbbles though there is something in it that doesn't totally agree with Perry's system so we're going to switch back to Stella and Chewy.

For meal mix that you add meat to, we've been using Four Leaf Rover and add our own meat to it... For that, the instructions are 5 ounces of meat a day for an 11 pound dog.

You can also mix and match... I actually do a combo - freeze dried raw for 1 meal, Four leaf rover (you can feed it raw or cooked, I cook it) for dinner).
 
#13 ·
Thank you for your suggestions. I have been feeding her Small Batch, freeze dried raw. cost $140 a month. I would like to feed freeze dried raw However, I don’t want to continue to pay that high cost per month. From what I’m reading Stella and chewy has a high fat Content. There’s been some reviews stating that vital essentials has been found to have sharp bone fragments in it. Who knows if all of this is true. I switch to all provide now and their guidelines say 4 ounces a day for 13 pound dog so I’m adding in A beef patty from small batch until I finish her two bags.
 
#16 ·
I think it looks good if you want a food that includes some vegetative matter. I would stay clear of the Lamu formula as the copper content is insanely high. And I would rotate the beef formula with lower copper formulas. The beef formula is high in copper but if rotated with other formulas would likely be fine. The beef will provide some good nutrition though that cannot be found in poultry.