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  1. #1
    Puppy
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    Combining Raw with a base mix

    Has anyone tried combining raw with commercially made base mix? I am thinking about using The Honest Kitchens Preferance Base Mix with locally purchased meat to start one of my dogs on a raw diet, she has always had gurd and has to take antiacid meds since I got her, this may not help her but its worth trying.

    I am also thinking about getting a meat grinder to grind up meats with bones in it, since my two other dogs are gulpers and I am afraid if they get into her food they may not take the time to properly chew their mis-gotten booty. Does anyone see any issues with this?

    For those who take thier dogs on the road feeding raw, how do you manage to maintain thier diets when you do not have refridgeration available, I assume most use a cooler for short trips but how about for longer trips?

    thank you.

  2. #2
    Real Retriever
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    In regards to traveling with raw; there are options of using dry ice and/or deep freezing the raw portions in tiny compact amounts and loading it up heavy/thick.

    Both of our dogs are on raw and we travel for up to 2 wks at a time. We do have a small freezer in our 5th wheel, but for the most part, we use 2 different coolers. One that NEVER gets opened, with the exception of needing to rotate their raw meats into the one that gets opened daily.

    As long as I pack them to the brim, keep them in the shade, and keep the imperative cooler sealed good/tight with aluminum foil on the top and shaded, I can generally get a good 1.5wk out of our system.

    The last few days of our trips, the dogs generally end up eating canned salmon, eggs or something non-raw, as I better have used up all of their raw portions by then, or they've gone bad.

    In regards to adding raw meat to honest kitchen; nothing wrong with that at all, in fact, that's part of the idea of those pre-mixes IS to make it easier for the home-body, every day busy person.

    My dogs don't eat whole bones either, one is a huge gulper with sensitive intestinal tract that I haven't had issues with in over a year, so I don't care to aggravate it. The other is a VERY slow chewer, to the point the gulper would want to push her into eating faster....just don't care to go there.

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    My Three Labs (03-08-2015)

  4. #3
    House Broken happy_blackbird's Avatar
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    I'm a little late to this, but I wanted to recommend the Yeti coolers for traveling with raw foods. They are crazy durable, lockable, and the most effective insulators I have ever used in my life. We pre-chill them for 24 hours with a couple of bags of ice, then place some ice at the bottom, a block of ice at both ends, and some loose ice above what's packed. I vacuum seal Ellie's food, which makes it virtually waterproof in the event of interior ice melting, but using a thermometer for certainly, we've had the contents hover at or below 40 degrees for upwards of two weeks. Definitely employ all of Woofie's tactics (always in the shade, rotate foods into the daily cooler).

    Their only drawback is that they are hella expensive and the interior compartments are small compared with the external dimensions.

    YETI Tundra Coolers: Large Ice Chests | YETI Coolers

    And we love the Honest Kitchen folks! Big thumbs up!
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    My Three Labs (03-23-2015)

  6. #4
    Puppy kerplunk105's Avatar
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    I tried HK and raw with my dog and she wasn't able to handle it. Obviously all dogs are different. Her stool just never firmed up and it was HUGE.
    -Elizabeth & chocolate pup Nora
    Philadelphia, PA


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    My Three Labs (03-23-2015)

  8. #5
    Real Retriever
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    HK has a lot of vegetable matter, including potatoes, IIRC.

    Personally for a digestive sensitive dog, I would either add VERY little HK to meat; or perhaps do your own meat and a few veggies to start with and then advance from there.

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    My Three Labs (03-23-2015)

  10. #6
    Puppy
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    Thank you for the suggestions, I have been feeding ground whole chicken (with most of the skin/fat removed prior to grinding) and HK, she does not like the HK at all but loves the chicken (I think its the smell of the HK, very grassy smelling). My other two labs goobles up the HK and looks for more. I would like to create my own veggie mixes but it would be nice to have a referance to go by to ensure I am making a balanced mix, does anyone have a favorite book or web site that would help?

  11. #7
    Real Retriever BogeyBaby's Avatar
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    What about using freeze dried commercial raw like Primal? I've been feeding that for about a year but have recently changed to frozen raw (Darwin). I personally never liked HK and although my dogs ate it, they didn't seem as enthusiastic about it at all.

 



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