i've never tried it but i know people with chihuahuas who feed raw. they feed chicken necks, chicken wings, anything small enough for their pups to handle. i would think if the bones are ground, it would be perfect. my dogs have been on raw for 3 months now and i will NEVER go back to kibble! their coats are like velvet, their teeth are as clean as can be and they LOVE LOVE LOVE their meals! they are all great danes so i can feed pretty much anything and they have no problem crunching up the bones. :)

Oma's Pride mixes look pretty convenient with the meat, bones, veggies, etc. already in there. I periodically change my dogs' food and they've been eating Grandma Lucy's freeze dried food lately. I also cook for them, but I've been inching towards feeding raw. I do give them raw beef bones sometimes. Thanks for your input!

deb, once you get into the raw routine, it's so easy to feed this way and dogs absolutely love it. i don't know anybody who has started raw and gone back to kibble. every dog i know that is fed this way thrives on raw food.

i did do a lot of research and talked to other raw feeders before i dove into this. i am using the prey model raw diet which consists of only meat, bones, organ meat, no veggies although my senior dane gets a handful of green beans just because she loves them. i try to give as much variety as i can. i get whatever i can find on sale...chicken, pork, beef, fish, turkey. organ meat is pretty inexpensive. beef and chicken liver and when i can find it, beef kidney. i have found that my dogs prefer their organ meat to be frozen so it's kinda like puppy ice cream. eww! LOL

i'll be taking all 3 danes to the vet in the next couple of weeks and will have blood work done to make sure everything is working as it should. be forewarned, if you decide to start a strictly raw diet (even with veggies), your dog will act like he's starving the first couple of weeks. once he is eating regular meals, that will all level out. also, his activity level will be over the top for a while. even my senior dane girl, at almost 10 years old, had more energy that i ever hoped to have the first few weeks on raw! :D

It seems like it would be much cheaper to just buy food at the grocery store for them, but the bones scare me. I bought Eggshellent Calcium (crushed eggshells) to add to the cooked meat I feed them. Is that an adequate substitute for bones over the long haul if I made my own food? I'm not sure I can cut up organ meat without hurling either. The premade mixes might be worth the cost to avoid that. I'm looking at several brands. Bravo seems to be the least expensive way to go.

oh it's much cheaper than the kibble i was feeding. i averaged it out...it costs me about $1/day per dog to feed raw. i was spending $50 every 10 days for premium kibble. heck, i even bought a deep freeze solely for dog meat and spent about the equivalent of maybe a couple of months of kibble so i'm ahead of the game already.

i don't think crushed egg shells would be a substitute for raw bones. they scared me at first, too, but my dogs have never had a problem. they chew their food really well and once bones hit the stomach, they turn to mush pretty quickly. i have yet to talk to anybody who has had a problem with a dog choking or suffering internal injuries from eating RAW bones. NEVER EVER cooked bones!

LOL, i'm an ole farm gal so cutting up meat and organs doesn't bother me in the least. beef liver is extremely bloody. on the days i cut it up to freeze it, my kitchen counter looks like a crime scene! :O

i have never done any research on any of the pre-made raw diets simply because i know they would be much too pricey to feed to 3 danes!

Well, I went to a pet store about 35 minutes away that carries every decent dog food imaginable. I brought home some Bravo burgers and a couple of premixed logs from K9 Cravings. They also sold me some goat's milk for probiotics. So, I'll see how it goes.

I was reading some sites that promote the prey model diet you're using and they don't think much of the premixed raw food. Their complaints were mostly that you don't know what you're getting and one site called it only a "step-up" from kibble. That was a bit of a turn off. It seems like they won't approve unless I'm tossing whole goat carcasses into the backyard. Wouldn't the neighbors in my residential area love that? Anyway, it's a shame you can't even research dog food without some people acting like their way is the ONLY way to do it. Thanks for not being one of those people and for your help!

i've heard people say good things about 9K cravings. if it works for you and your dog, that's great that you can get it so close! i have a friend with a dane that is allergic to just about everything on the planet. she recently switched her dog to a premade, dehydrated mix that she adds cooked meat and probiotics to, adds water and rehydrates it 10 minutes before meal time. her dog has been eating this for about 3 weeks now and the difference is amazing. she is doing wonderfully on it!

oh heck, i know people who have fed nothing but ole roy and their dogs lived long and happy lives. to each his own, i say. what is right for one person certainly doesn't make it the best for everybody! i live in the middle of nowhere with no neighbors and you still won't find me throwing goat carcasses out in the yard. LOL! pork neck bones, yes. whole carcasses, no!

good luck and update when you can. i'm always interested to know how different foods work. i have found that feeding raw is just so easy for me. now that i have been doing it for a few months, i am no longer measuring and weighing everything. i buy what i can find on sale but still make sure their meals are balanced. from the looks of their teeth, coats and general well-being, i must be doing something right. :)

Thanks, ninapearl. I'll let you know how it works out.

We sell Oma's raw food in our dog bakery/store and yes, small dogs can eat it. The bones are crushed and are safe. Oma's Pride is made at a USDA-inspected facility here in CT (same facility where human food is made). They are very well known and respected in this area.

(I don't work for Oma's....just know about it because we sell it and customers have nothing but good things to say about it!)

well, hey! there ya go, deb! laurie, nice to hear from someone who has had feedback about this food. :)

Thanks, laurie! It is nice to hear favorable comments from someone who's familiar with the company.