Actually, the fact is your dogs DON'T "thrive" being fed little dry brown pellets. The simple truth is most of you don't even know what a healthy dog looks like, because (by feeding kibble) you have not created the conditions for a truly healthy dog to exist. The subject of "McDonald's" was brought up, and the truth is any dog owner who feeds their dogs "kibble" all their life is worse than a parent who feeds his/her kids McDonald's all their life. (At least McDonald's food still has moisture to it!)

When I say no person who feeds kibble knows what a healthy dog looks like, what I mean is they do not have dogs that literally *glow* with good health like this:

The only way to get your dogs in optimal shape is to feed them RAW, as that is what dogs are biologically-designed to eat: raw, whole animals. Running a dog on bone-dry kibble, when it's supposed to eat raw (moisture-rich) meat is destructive to the dog. Keep in mind that natural meats are 70% water, so dogs that get fed raw have plenty of water in them naturally and don't need much additional water. The dogs' own bodies are likewise about 70% water, so eating a raw diet keeps them in a perpetual state of equilibrium as nature intended. This natural balance is thrown-off when a dog is fed kibble, while feeding raw maintains this balance as it should be. For example, a dog that gets 2-lb of chicken quarters actually gets 22.4 oz of water and only 9.6 oz of solid food. By contrast, a dog fed 2 lb of dry kibble (at 10% moisture) gets fed only 3.2 oz of water and 28.8 oz of solid food. In other words, he gets 3x the amount of solid food a raw-fed dog gets, and nowhere near enough water to process it. For if a dog ate 28.8 oz of solid mass from raw feed, then he would be getting nearly 70 oz of moisture to process it, as again a raw diet is 70% water and 30% solid. So ~30 oz of solid mass should have 70 oz of moisture to process it, but a kibble-fed dog gets only 3.2 oz of moisture to process 28.8 oz of solids. No wonder kibble-fed dogs drink 10x the amount of water raw-fed dogs drink--they are literally forced into a perpetual state of dehydration!

This is what I personally feed my own dogs:

1. Chicken Quarter (10 oz. raw)
2. Egg (soft-boiled)
3. Beef Tripe (2 oz raw)
4. Beef Liver (2 oz raw)
5. Chicken Gizzards (2 oz raw)
6. Veggie Mix (2 oz raw)
7. Plain Yogurt (tBsp raw)
8. Essential Oils (2 oz mix: WheatGerm/Flax/CodLiver)

Now keep in mind that most low-end kibbles are around $30 for 40 lb which is $0.75/lb. People who feed "Diamond Naturals" ... and "Kirklands" ... are feeding PURE GARBAGE to their dogs compared to this diet above ... which costs about the same as feeding these feeds. And the people who feed "Taste of the Wild" or "Orijen" think they're feeding as good ... but in reality they are NOT ... all they're doing is paying like $4.00/lb just to feed the dried relics of what was once good food.

By contrast, a conscientious dog owner can feed my entire ELITE LEVEL DIET for pretty darned cheap. Here's how:

CHICKEN

Most Walmarts sell 10-lb bags of chicken for between $4.90 and $5.90 a bag (which is $0.49/lb to $0.58/lb). This is the bulk weight of your dog's diet: meat, fat, and bones.

GIZZARDS, BEEF TRIPE, BEEF LIVER

Most Walmarts also sell 1.25 lb of chicken gizzards for ~$1.50 (which is $1.20/lb). I buy every single one of these every time I go in. Walmart also started bringing in beef tripe [as well as kidneys (not featured)] into its stores for about $1.38/lb. I got the Beef Liver at WinnDixie for $0.75/lb. I buy every single one of these they have in stockevery time I go in. This is the second bulk weight of your dog's diet: organ meats.

I think how to get the eggs, the yogurt, and the essential oils are pretty self-explanatory (although I have a source to get my oils in HUGE bulk at a dramatic savings).

Now, as far as the veggie mix goes, I bought a large Juicer at Walmart also, and I mix a wide variety of veggies with it for my girlfriend and me, including a jalapeño pepper and garlic cloves:

VEGGIE MIX

I wisely use my vegetables TWICE ... (1) I make a very healthy vegetable drink for my girlfriend and me, and then (2) I use the discarged "garbage" to give my dogs ... which still have plenty of essential trace vitamins and minerals. I scrape all the veggies into a large bowl, and then give each dog 2 tBsp of the veggie pulp. We get the drinks; the dogs get the pulp.

All-In-All this is as healthy as a person can possibly feed their dogs 

DISH

The full complement of ingredients create as healthy a diet for a group of dogs as they can possibly eat.

At the end of the day, and depending on the prices where you're getting your supplies, your feed bill will be between $0.80/lb to $1.40/lb.

If you're on a tighter budget, I have recipes in my book where you can feed a raw diet for only $0.58/lb. No, it isn't quite as good as the one I have posted, but it damned sure is better than ANY kibbled feed on the market ... and you can do it for even cheaper than Ol' Roy.

Yes, feeding your dogs at this level requires extra work ... and the willingness to do this extra work is what separates an excellent dog owner from an average dog owner.

Hope this helps some folks ... who are willing to put-forth the effort,

Jack

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dieter - Black Book has posted here before and it is always the same whenever there is a food question and it is always the same tone. Just ignore the post and move on. He/She just wants to sell something.

Always a pleasure, Black Book, whoever you are!