# Raw diet vs cooked roll



## maddogdodge (May 29, 2015)

All my dogs have always eaten dry dog food with regular bones from the butcher and of course treats as well. The last few weeks I've been thinking I'd like to introduce some meat into their diet. I've found a BARF brand that I really like. It's an Australian company called 'Prime 100' I met them at a dog show and was very impressed with their products.

Now I was just looking at their website and saw they also have cooked dog rolls, they sound good as well. I'm just wondering what peoples thoughts are when it comes to feeding raw meat vs cooked meat like the rolls. Is there any real benefit of feeding raw compared to the cooked? 

And would there be any real benefit of adding the cooked rolls to my dogs diet compared to just continuing with kibble.

I don't know if these are silly questions or not, but I'm new at this, so if any of you have advice, it would be much appreciated!

Here's links to the BARF and the dog rolls I was looking at. Both come in Chicken, Lamb, Kangaroo and Crocodile. 

BARF:
SPD? BARF Kangaroo

Dog roll:
SPD? Lamb and Rosemary


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Myths About Raw: Are cooked diets a better alternative to raw?


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

If both are certified as a complete diet I would try both and see which your dogs prefer. There may also be issues like storage and convenience to consider - how much freezer space do you have? I started looking into alternatives because one of my dogs refused to eat kibble when it became the least bit stale and found that it is actually very difficult to find any decent research into raw and home cooked diets - practically everything is based on personal experience, faith, anecdote, opinion and extrapolation. The most reliable source of advice I have found is DogAware.com: Diet & Health Info for Man's Best Friend

One thing I did quickly find was that commercial complete foods are much more expensive than doing it yourself. If you work out the cost of the ingredients they are typically 10 - 20% of the retail price. Whether you consider the convenience and assurance that the diet is balanced worth the higher cost is a personal decision, but I batch cook for mine and freeze meal size portions.


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

I think the BARF is a much better choice of the two as it is in it's natural state nutrition wise, while the rolls are more or less like a 'canned' food in a different type package! 
I use both types, plus canned, raw dehydrated, kibble and homemade! I like providing a variety so as to prevent developing allergy response to any single food as recommended by Dr Karen Becker. So I see more benefit than harm in adding both of those to your dog's diet!


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## maddogdodge (May 29, 2015)

Thanks all for your responses  Much appreciated!

Convenience is definitely my reason for going for BARF/roll types of food rather than making my own. I work long hours so by the time i get home and tend to all my animals, I usually don't have the time or energy to prepare complicated balanced diets for my animals.

So the general idea I'm getting is that as a general rule, raw is better nutrient wise. I like the idea of giving both a shot though, even if I continue to alternate between the two a bit. Will see what the dogs like I guess 

One advantage of having the BARF patties kept in the fridge would be I could easily grab a patty and divide it up for my 6 ferrets too... again that is where convenience comes into play, haha 

How do you guys think the rolls would compare to a high quality kibble? All 3 of my dogs are currently on Black Hawk kibble.


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## Mfmst (Jun 18, 2014)

I feed AM kibble and an evening meal of 3-4 chicken necks. I think feeding 3 large-ish dogs commercial raw is going to be prohibitively expensive. Fjm, nifty and Poodlebeguiled have some very helpful and confidence building threads on the topic.


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

I buy raw beef from a farmer who butchers his cattle one at a time in an ethical way...he mixes it in the prey model and freezes it for me in 2 lb chunks. I just trust that he's combining the meat, organs etc in the right balance. Anyway, I still feed high quality kibble and give the frozen beef for them to gnaw on basically for the teeth cleaning benefits. The dogs love it (except for my little Boston male; he's too refined to touch it) and together with their kibble and a little crumb of coconut oil every morning when i cook breakfast, their coats are looking amazing.


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

If I didn't want to spend the extra time to fix my little dog's meals every night, I'd make my own pre-made mix ahead of time...Take a day on the week end and start fixin'. Raw is better imo. Cooking food destroys a lot of the nutrients and it isn't natural for dogs. Wild dogs aren't out there in the woods or plains putting a skewered rabbit over the fire. Our dogs' digestive systems are identical to wild dogs and wolves. (almost...a little amylase in their pancreas) 

I like big chunks rather than ground so the dog has to work to get his food. Working to get their meat off a bone, chewing the bone strengthens jaw muscles and cleans teeth. Big bones if you can do big bones are good but never weight bearing bones. My little ones need small bones or the ratio is off because I feed them a little bone every day. It turned out that it was better for them to have their meals balanced each day rather than over a week's time. So, therefore, unfortunately, they can only have little bones or pieces of a bone to make it 10%. I might re-visit another way at some point.

Anyhow... if you don't want to pick out, as I do, each night, muscle meat from a baggie I've already had in the freezer and thawed, organ meat from another baggie and a bone, you could make your own pre-mix. You could use ground meat if you want (80%) and organ meat, (50/50 beef liver/some other organs like kidney, pancreas, lung) and mix it all up. You could use chunks of meat even with that. Don't forget fresh sardines or mackerel once or twice a week and the only supplement I'd worry about is fish oil every day. Eggs can be given a few times a week too. I do eggs usually as a snack or light breakfast. Normally, they eat one main meal a day...dinner. (there are reasons for this) Divide into meal sized freezer bags and freeze. If you want you can also steam and puree some vegetables but the more I'm learning in my research, the more I'm convinced carbs are not only not necessary but may do harm, at least if in large amounts. (as in commercial food) So, it would be cheaper and you'd know what's in it if you made up your own pre-made mixture. It would be some work, but not much and you could do it on a week end day. Cooking not only destroys nutrients, it's more work and more clean-up) lol. Go Rah-rah-rah! :cheers2::act-up:

So that's my idea anyhow.


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

Oh Heck use em' both, use em' all! I feed Molly an ever rotating range of foods and types of foods! She always get at least one of her meals raw though.............those chicken bones have kept her teeth nice and tartar free! And she'll do anything for a raw chicken gizzard! LOL!


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## maddogdodge (May 29, 2015)

Thanks all again 

I'll look into all my options, and thanks for the detailed info on making it myself Poodlebeguilded! 

Perhaps I will do a mix of all kinds of things, I'm liking that idea, but will do more research


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

If you do decide to feed a raw meaty bone diet, don't start with all those things thrown in together. There's a method...a starting out with one protein, usually chicken, then moving onto another and trying each for a week or so to make sure there's no sensitivity. I didn't go as gradually as recommended. And I didn't like waiting too long to introduce the organ meats. Fortunately, my dogs didn't have any allergies or sensitivities to anything. You can join raw feeding forums and get a lot of information there. Here are a couple sites I like...that make sense to me:

The Many Myths of Raw Feeding

Raw Feeding FAQ

The Great Debate: Do Dogs Need Fruits and Vegetables? - Primal Pooch

Some of these are probably posted elsewhere. There are other good links in a sticky thread. Good luck!


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