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Complete Raw Mix

Hello, I am new to the forum. We are getting our new English Mastiff boy at the end of February. We have one Labrador and one English Bulldog. They are both fed Darwins raw food diet that we have delivered. I'd love to feed our new boy raw but darwins is just too expensive especially with the amount he'll need. I've been looking at my other options and came across Better in the Raw dog mix. Has anyone had any success with this or have other suggestions? I also came across urban wolf but read that it had some deficiencies and requires a lot more ingredients. With Better in Raw you just add the meat and mix and vegetables are optional. I love how healthy my babies are on their raw diet now so I'm having a hard time with going to kibble for the new boy. I'm not opposed to kibble, just have had such great success with raw. Thank you
 

DennasMom

Well-Known Member
Welcome to the forum!

Have you considered making your own raw mix?

I feed based on "whole prey model raw", which is 80% meat, 10% bone (wrapped in some of that meat, like lamb or pork ribs), 5% liver and 5% "other" organ (mostly kidney). I add in veggies and some other goodies occasionally, but as long as you get the organ meats in there you're good, they are the "vitamin pills" of a raw diet. You don't need any other mix-ins.

I do 90% my own, and add in some pre-mades for variety, or ease of use when traveling. Bravo, Red Rock, NW Naturals, GreenTripe, there are lots of different options out there online. I mix it up to make sure I don't miss out on any micro nutrients.

Darwins is one I've never fed. It looks good, but way too expensive! I can do my own mix for $2.50/lb. The pre-mades I try to keep under $4/lb. I don't remember what Darwin went for when I looked... but if I remember correctly, it was a lot higher than that.

If you do want a mix-in, Honest Kitchen is another one. I did use it once... made my dog's poops HUGE and kinda soft, so I quit. Too much veggie fiber for my girl. :)
 
Welcome to the forum!

Have you considered making your own raw mix?

I feed based on "whole prey model raw", which is 80% meat, 10% bone (wrapped in some of that meat, like lamb or pork ribs), 5% liver and 5% "other" organ (mostly kidney). I add in veggies and some other goodies occasionally, but as long as you get the organ meats in there you're good, they are the "vitamin pills" of a raw diet. You don't need any other mix-ins.

I do 90% my own, and add in some pre-mades for variety, or ease of use when traveling. Bravo, Red Rock, NW Naturals, GreenTripe, there are lots of different options out there online. I mix it up to make sure I don't miss out on any micro nutrients.

Darwins is one I've never fed. It looks good, but way too expensive! I can do my own mix for $2.50/lb. The pre-mades I try to keep under $4/lb. I don't remember what Darwin went for when I looked... but if I remember correctly, it was a lot higher than that.

If you do want a mix-in, Honest Kitchen is another one. I did use it once... made my dog's poops HUGE and kinda soft, so I quit. Too much veggie fiber for my girl. :)


Thank you for the reply. I am willing to consider all options. The only issue with doing it myself is that no matter how much I read I still am confused. That's why I used Darwins. I was using it for 3 dogs until we lost one of ours to cancer a few months ago. That cost around $400 every 3 weeks. Now with just two its $250/mo. For the amount the new guy will need it just isnt doable. The one we lost was eating 3 bricks a day and it sounds like the new guy would need up to 8! I don't even want to know how much that would be...lol How much does it typically cost to feed an English Mastiff raw if I do it myself?
 

PippatheMastiff

Well-Known Member
I feed raw, some cooked, some kibble. I feed raw beef ribs with meat and a chicken thigh once a day. Raw hamburger mixed with Fromms or NutriSource kibble (3-4 cups kibble ,1/2 lb ground beef). I change that up with cooked chicken thighs, shredded in the broth and mixed with kibble. And organ meat once or twice a week. I have vitamin/mineral mix that I use only occasionally. Sometimes I put 2 tbsps melted butter or coconut oil over kibble for variety. I only use 1-33 lb bag of kibble per 6 weeks this way, and she's 140 lbs so she's not starving. I buy all the meat I can on sale, portion it and freeze it. She even gets roast and steak when on sale! Pippa has nice firm poop and no stomach issues.


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