I have been trying to get into RAW, and read this...
Getting Started (quick start) | Prey Model Raw
I hope you found my page helpful! A lot of the other members here helped contribute to it. Let me know if you think anything is missing or you have any other questions as well.
1.) In all of the guides all I see is meat products. Don't you have to throw in some veggies/fruits/etc? If so how much?
Most of the raw feeders here don't feed fruits and veggies on a regular basis. If we do feed them its because our dogs like them or its a "treat" because they hold no nutritional value to a dog. Just to make them digestible to a dog you have to puree or cook most of the nutrients out of them. Most of the time fruits and veggies are pretty harmless to a dog, but in large enough quantities they can become irritants to the bowels and cause diarrhea and gas.
If you were to add in fruits and veggies I would say either just a very small amount of the diet, approximately 5% or less of their overall diet. They must be cooked or pureed to make them digestible to the dog. Why such a small number? Well, with "prey model raw" you are modeling what would be found in a prey animal. So we assume that the average prey item is composed of 80% muscle meats, 10% bone, and 10% organs meats by weight. It is possible that there is still plant material left in the digestive system of a prey animal (which would be 5% or less by weight) that would be consumed by the dog, if in a wild/natural state. Since we have to model this we have to estimate how much would be good to give.
2.) I have a 70 lb GSD. going by the 2-3% meat per day, thats right around 1.75 lbs/day. For measurement, do you simply take (say a leg quarter) and throw it on a scale until it hits 1.75 lbs? Or does the 2-3% meat requirement mean MEAT only and not including bone/skin/etc?
The 2-3% meat per day includes everything that goes into the diet. This is meat, bone and organ and anything else you want to include like fruits and veggies. Remember that this is just a starting guideline that you may have to tweak a bit for your dog's individual needs. Some dogs need more or less depending on energy expenditure, age, breed and metabolism. But definitely start out the first few days on the smaller end of your daily ration range because it takes a while for dogs to be able to handle raw foods rather than highly processed starchy foods.
3.) What stores has everyone typically found to be the cheapest for buying food?
We get most of our meat from a wholesale meat distributor called Harvest Meats. We order in bulk cases from them maybe 3-4 times per year while getting 400+ pound of meat at a time. We order chicken, turkey, pork, beef, fish, lamb, organ meats, etc from them all being under $1 per pound. We have 4 large breed dogs to feed and this is the only way that we can do this so cheaply.
We also shop the meat sales at grocery stores, always keeping what we buy to under $1 per pound (ie during Thanksgiving turkeys are ~25 cents per pound...can't beat that price so you'd better stock up!!!).
We also shop the ethnic markets locally for rare types of meats that we can't find anywhere else.
We also are members of a raw feeding co op group and get all kinds of stuff from them. Our latest hook up through them is buying a whole llama butchered for less than $1.25 per pound for the whole animal (meat, bones and organs). We never know what we will get offered through that group!
We also post ads up on craigslist for buying people's freezer burned meat off their hands. We have gotten awesome response with these ads because there are a lot of people out there with freezers packed with meats they wont eat. Freezer burned meats are just fine/safe to feed a dog. All it freezer burn is dried out and loses some of the flavor which dogs don't mind at all. I would say that we get close to 2 thousand pounds of meat from these ads annually if not more than that!
Keep the questions coming if it will help you make the switch. We are all here at your disposal!!!
