[John N]

I just calculated/estimated how much I spend weekly and it came to around $16.00 a week. Pretty expensive, huh? It’s tough to swallow when I know other dogs are eating some decent quality, but affordable kibble at less than $8.00 a week. So how much do you guys estimate you spend weekly?

The bulk of my cost obviously comes from the meat. Not sure where I can buy meat for cheap. Three chicken quarters a week for a little over $2.50, a pound and a half of ground pork for $4.50, a pound of ground turkey for $2.60, and a big can of mackerel for $1.35.

[Hound Dog Mom]

I spend probably $50-$75 per week. I get my meat a lot cheaper than you do though. I pay about $0.30/lb for chicken parts, $0.65/lb. for turkey necks and a little over $1/lb. for boneless pork.

[John N]

How many dogs and how much do they weigh? I forgot to mention my $16/week is for a 45 pound dog. I wish I could find cheaper meat. I’m too lazy to try to be best friends with a butcher or a hunter. I relegate myself to the typical grocery store.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 4 months ago by John N.

[Melissaandcrew]

Hi John- I don’t know how much per week. I would have to sit down and actually figure that out. Since I Buy in bulk, at different times of the month, not everything I buy is for “that” month..and cost depends on what deals I get and what products I am buying. My pricing is – chicken backs-.28cents/lbb, 40-55cents/lb Chicken quarters, $1.01 beef hearts, 85-90%lean ground beef/cubes-$1.00/lb, liver,kidney,pancreas,spleen(85cents to 1.00/lb) green tripe(1.25 to 1.75/lb)duck necks $1.45, turkey gizzards 1.40/lb, turkey wings .99cents and fish ranges from canned sardines(89cents to fresh fish at 2.50/lb). I aslso buy 15 doz eggs at a time for $24, and large sized cottage cheese and yogurt-I think they are around $8-9 each. Veggies and fruit change monthly. I get the best prices in large bulk which works for me as I am feeding 17. In addition, they get dehydrated, dry and canned sporadically.

[John N]

Wow. You two get some crazy cheap meat! Buying in bulk to feed 17. You must have a ginormous freezer.

[InkedMarie]

I wish I could figure this out but I order ground in bulk from two places. Too much but that’s ok.

[Melissaandcrew]

John-LOl. I have the largest size chest freezer you can get, plus a smaller one. the small one houses the marrow bones and ribs(5lb/$3) I think my problem is that I get carried away with things. I grind the quarters and backs as I have major gulpers and I feel its safer for them, so its time consuming. I don’t want to have to break out the grinder three times a month, so I try to do all at once when I can. For ex, at the beginning of the month, I ground up 240lbs quarters. Then next day I cut up 180lbs beef heart into chunks.. I grind quarters every month, but other items I try to get 2-3mths worth of to cut down on days spent prepping. right now, I am making their meals out of what is in the freezer to try and use some of it up as its a pain digging to the bottom to be sure to rotate. Yesterdays meal was ground duck necks, and ground beef. Today is beef heart chunks, liver/kidney mix, ground chicken with their veggie blend(this time sweet potatoe, kale, spinach, dandelion greens and raspberries) a little fish oil/vit e and they should be good.

[Hildie V]

I’m at about $60-$75 a week for a 55 lb dog. She eats 3 lbs a day. I know, that is lots right?!

[Martha S]

We are at about $60 per week, but also do rotate in commercial raw.

Hildie, your 55 pound dog eats 3 pounds a day? Mine eats 2 pounds per day, and is a 50 pound puppy at six months of age. Hmm, maybe I’m not feeding enough??

[Cyndi]

3lbs. a day seems like an awful lot of food to me. My 50lb girl eats about about a pound and a half a day. The rule is 2-3% of their ideal body weight. 2% for less active dogs and 3% for more active dogs.

Hildie, is your dog very active?

Martha, I think you are doing fine with 2 pounds. Keep an eye on your dogs waistline and adjust accordingly.

[Akari_32]

Uum, I spend $20 a month to feed one of the dogs on all raw…. Lol This price also includes his pre-mix, as well, so really it’s about $16 not including the pre-mix.

Thankfully he only weights about 8 lbs, and only eats 5 oz of meat a day! I think I manage pretty cheaply, though! I buy meats that are $2.50 a pound and less (mostly less), though I did recently buy a small package of ground beef to give him a couple meals that aren’t chicken parts, ground pork, or beef or chicken heart lol And I found beef Kidney in the grocery store! So I bought some of that, too lol

[Hildie V]

My girl is super active, high metabolism!

The “rule” is 2-3% of their body weight. But that isn’t a rule, it is a guideline. There are far too many factors to say 100% that it is a “rule”.

If you feed 2-3% to start, you can gauge pretty quickly if you need to alter it.

Martha S. you may not have to feed tonnes more. Depends on your dog 🙂 I would keep on the fresh food.

[Kristin C]

Hey John, I probably spend an average of $25-35 per week to feed my 2 dogs homemade raw. They are 25 and 35 lbs and that’s if I can get chicken for $1.99 or less per/lb and beef for $2.99 per lb. I rotate in novel proteins for variety so I’m sure that increases it a bit, but I also get raw meaty bones for less sometimes at the grocer so that might balance it out. I just get my chicken or beef at the grocer and order the novelty proteins and organs online.

[theBCnut]

I only feed half raw and spend about $35 a week on raw plus kibble. I spend more because I have dogs with food reaction issues, so I can’t use chicken, and I rotate through a few different proteins.

[Nancy B]

Raw backs and necks are new to me. What do you use for grinding these? Do you remove the skin?

[Kristin C]

I feed raw chicken backs and necks just as they come. I can’t imagine trying to grind them myself. If there is a lot of skin on the backs I’ll take some off. I usually feed some boneless muscle meat along with it, or feed a boneless grind in the evening to prevent constipation.

[pugmomsandy]

The only bones my pugs get are necks (usually skinless), feet and some ribs so I grind everything else with a 1 hp Weston. I generally leave skin on unless there’s a huge ball of it.

[Jennifer H]

pugmomsandy, what kind of ribs do you feed your pugs? I have a Maltese, and I’m trying to find edible bones for him that aren’t just poulty. Would goat bones be edible, do you think? HareToday has small cut goat bones, they look like ribs to me. Would that be edible, for a small dog?

He’s had a pork neck before, but I dislike they way they are cut and he didn’t seem to be able to eat a lot of the bone. He does well with chicken necks, backs, and feet.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 10 months ago by Jennifer H.

[pugmomsandy]

I’ve fed them baby back ribs and the little lamb ribs (rack of lamb, looks like a mini bone in pork chop). I’ve also fed them whole rabbit. I haven’t tried bone-in pork chop yet. Some places might also sell calf ribs which are small. I know GreenTripe.com does. For fun, they’ve had lamb shank bones. Keeps them occupied as does cow hooves.

[theBCnut]

Not Sandy, but pork, sheep, and goat ribs are all good for small dogs.

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