we have a cutting board, a cleaver, and a carving knife and a knife sharpener (good one, jay)
when we buy in bulk, we use our food saver, depending on what we've bought and sharpies to mark what it is and the date....
i don't break down everything....
so i have a llama roast defrosting in my fridge at the moment...and i'll just cut pieces as i need them once it defrosts..
on the other hand, i'll cut ribs into appropriate meals when i buy a rack...
i used to make 'meal bags'....but i don't anymore, because what i feed them is determined by their poop the day before....
and i now know that malia needs a little more bone than bubba, plus rich muscle meat and fattier cuts will loosen her stools, but not bubba....so they don't always eat the same thing...i keep a polycarbonate container in the fridge with three or four proteins...
their liver is in the freezer and they get a 1 inch cube of that daily.
i tried scissors.....what's her name...last name is chen...didn't much care for them.
i have a henckels carving knife, presidential series, that i got with a gift certificate at macy's..and a kitchen aid carving knife....got from fred meyers...
the cleaver is my best friend and i need a new one....can't remember the brand but it has held up and has oriental writing on it....it wasn't expensive...
i take whole chickens and just whack on them,
well, i have a little more finesse now than that...but i am getting pretty good at separating chickens....they get the drummies and wings with breast attached and thighs and we get the breast meat, they get the carcass...
but i do it at meal time...takes a few minutes....and then put the rest of the chicken back.
jay is right about smaller dogs...although it's pretty easy to cut a slice of beef off of a roast...
ribs are packaged separately...because my dogs don't get an entire rack...they get a rib apiece...i have learned not to use baby backs...too small....
we do buy a lot of bulk food, so we use our food saver quite often...for both our meat and their meat....
i found there is a learning curve...and i think i take longer than most people here, but you do what works for you....and your dog...
it used to take me a half hour to feed the dogs....they were learning and i was learning...now it's down to fridge to clean up in about 10 minutes or less.