Hi, I have a four month old siberian husky and she has been on TOTW pacific stream and high prairie, wellness puppy (only made her diarrhea worse) and now on Nutrisca salmon (best for her stools so far) - I know to change food over slowly so it doesn't upset her digestion and the foods with chicken have her rocket butt since being on Nutrisca which is grain free and potato free she has been doing pretty well, first poop of the day is close to normal but after that it runs out.. Since this food has been the best so far I will keep her on it until I see it gets worse (don't want to change food again on her poor belly)..

I have been thinking about switching her to raw, the price it's such a big deal for me, I know it's going to be more expensive.. However I feel like I am already paying a lot of money and not really know what is in the food, do we REALLY know what is in there? SO what my question is - those of you who have your dog on raw how do you keep it balanced and about how much does it cost, problems you have encountered? Basically want to hear the good and bad from owners who have or had their dog on raw! I have done a lot of research and read the controversy on raw. Also did the research on what dogs ate 100 years ago before kibble was invented, meat scraps! The domesticated dog is less than a tenth percent from the grey wolf and believe their digestive system is still able to digest the way it was made to.

The other thing that came to mind was that the husky (norther breeds) are the longest bred on a raw diet and therefore I believe they of all breeds would benefit the most from a raw diet! I have also heard some kennels feed their dogs a kibble and raw mix diet but the raw diet research say NOT to do that because it puts too much stress on the digestive track.

Any thoughts would help! Thanks!!!

Just a few comments.

Most people would say you can just switch suddenly and fully without complications, and this was our experience as well. The issues with your pup's tummy are likely due to something in the kibble and you wouldn't find this something in raw food, unless of course you are certain she can't eat chicken and you feed her raw chicken.

There is a link at the top of the other raw thread you commented in. You should check it out. It will guide you through balancing ingredients if you are preparing homemade food and provide you with tons of nuts and bolts information.

Our case with cost is different than homemade costs because we buy a locally made, premixed raw diet for our Husky called Northwest Naturals. It's about $80 a month for chicken, $100 a month for bison. We also supplement with bones and other raw meats and organs from time to time.

Hope this helps.

Raw food is much easier on their tummies and so much healthier for them and you will see improvements right off the bat, undoubtedly.

Thank you so much! I have been checking out all of the links on the other post and really helping me out! Very excited to get her on what is completely natural. That was my other thought, rather than chicken but maybe a preservative.. I don't trust the dog food labels!

That's very smart of you. You shouldn't. Just wait until you read about vaccines and flea poisons, that's scarey too.

I feel like I'm spending a lot of money and have no idea what is in the food, plus she isn't doing fantastic on the food anyways.. I will never feed grains or by-products (on the label) so if I'm already spending $65 a month on kibble and not happy with the results why not spend the extra $ and be happy with the results. I haven't talked to my vet about it and wasn't planning on doing so unless she asked what food I switched her to, my last appointment she suggested putting her on a large breed puppy food to help her grow slower and from what I have read the raw meat diet does indeed help puppies grow at a slower rate.

Good luck with the vet. I wouldn't expect too much support from a mainstream vet, especially if there are Purina posters in the waiting room.

Our vet is "at worst indifferent" and we call that a win.

$65 a month on food for 1 dog is a lot, I can feed raw for much less than that. I spend less than $30 a month on raw.

Thank goodness no purina posters! But she does carry ivet and some other corn by-product foods.. She said her dogs were on taste of the wild and it's a good food but didn't ask what she switched them to!

Thanks for the help!

I have been looking into buying raw online and the cheapest I found was $30 / month and about as much as $100 / month. I haven't checked the local stores for pricing but I was thinking another good one to check is costco.

Where do you buy your raw food?

Pre-made raw is generally much more expensive than doing it yourself. I buy my meat from local grocers and warehouse club stores like Sam's and Costco. I like to stock up when meat goes in sale. Warehouse clubs carry meat for a good price and even better you can get a discount if you buy cases of meat. At Costco, for example, I can buy chicken thighs at the regular price of 99 cents/lb or I can buy a case (60 lbs) of the same chicken thighs at 80 cents/lb. I buy my staple of chicken quarters when they go on sale at 59 cent/lb. Pork I pay 99 cent/lb for, turkey is generally cheap like chicken. Beef tends to be pricier so I don't feed it as often, maybe once a week or less. I pay a little more for organ (maybe $1.20/lb) but it tends to balance out at the end of the month.

Yes, follow Valerie's lead

we have no kids to feed

That's great! Thank you! I am definitely going to check out costco and stock up on sale meat, my plan was to finish off her kibble and stock up in the mean time on raw meat that way I can start out with a cushion.

Do they get the majority of bone from the poultry?

Mine do, but the bone can come from other sources. After all, poultry doesn't agree with all dogs.

I am going to start off with beef for Kodiak, not sure if it is poultry or something else in the kibble that makes her sick but will venture from there.

Unfortunately my cushion idea isn't going to work.. Poor thing has rocket butt again. But that's okay I'm going to switched her over to raw in the morning and see how she does!! Very excited!!

Poultry is a good place to start. Take off the skin and as much fat as you can. First time raw dogs can get the runs from the fat. Chicken quarters are the best choice if you don't go for the whole bird. Avoid wings alone if you can.

We have been feeding raw for a couple years now, and our "raw mentors" have had their packs on it for decades.

Is there a big difference between poultry in kibble and raw? (I'm sure there is) however I felt she was much worse on chicken kibble than salmon kibble and worried about starting her on raw chicken.

YES!!! First off, they use all sorts of chemicals to process that chicken and also you probably aren't getting human grade chicken being used.

I would try her out on an honest chicken and see how it goes from there.

Wonderful! I will do that! I have some really nice organic chicken breasts and legs.. Would that be okay to try her on? Or just start with the chicken breast? It has virtually no fat on it.

That will do fine for now, but the bone content in the beginning can help firm up any loose poops that may come from the initial switch.

I would give chicken quarters or legs a try for starters. Like jmscott mentioned, remove the skin as that can cause loose stools. Different dogs need different amounts of bone so there will be some trial and error even with raw, so don't get discouraged if you don't see instant spectacular results.

As for the raw being different from kibble, it definitely is as jmscott also mentioned. My sibe cannot tolerate beef in kibble form but he does just fine on raw beef.

Right now I am snowed in!! So my availability is slim for the moment.. I am already a poop watcher so that will help me trying to figure out where the line will be.

Thank you for all your help!

Something else you may see happen is a big shed. New, raw-fed fur will grow in. It's a neat transformation!

Wow! How cool.. She hasn't blown her coat yet! Still waiting to see how she will look without her puppy fuzz, she has grown a winter coat though.. She is all white with blue eyes and silver running throughout her coat, can't imagine it being any prettier.