For the sake of comparison, I'm able to feed my 60 lb high-energy Vizsla on $2 a day. Granted, I shop well and have some great sources for inexpensive cuts, but this is all fresh meat, chicken, eggs, fish, etc. No grains, legumes, or starches of any kind. It is not necessary to spend $10 a day to feed a dog a balanced PMR style raw diet. Bill

Yeah, I happen to love tripe. I’m alone in my family. But when wife and son travel I make big batches of tripe and share with a friendly neighbor who is a tripe lover. Raw fed dogs would have too much competition with humans for kidney, brain, tripe, and liver in your husbands country. Those are treasured bits. Bill

Dogs Naturally is often a font of bad information. Balancing fats is a fine practice, but limiting meats to lean cuts is extremely wrong-headed. About 30% of a PMR raw fed dogs diet should be fat (about 50-60% of calories). Bill

What raw feeders use is called “green tripe.” Green tripe is unprocessed, unbleached, and uncleaned. Butchers and markets can’t sell green tripe, as it isn’t considered human grade. Green tripe smells like cow dung (which makes sense). Dogs love it. GT is hyped for providing digestive enzymes. I’m skeptical. It does have a very balanced calcium to phosphorus ration. Bleached human grade tripe is generally avoided by raw feeders. Bill

Limiting fat is a very poor idea with raw feeding. Better to balance Omegas 3s with fish oil or oily fish. Fat is the optimal fuel for canines. Bill

Pea gravel. Bill

There is some debate about how cold and how long PNW salmon/trout need to be frozen to kill the deadly pathogens. I've read reports that home freezers may not get cold enough. I would not risk it myself. Salmon poising is deadly if not treated immediately. Bill

The optimal levels of fat for active dogs has been very well established in the veterinary literature. Most raw feeders supplement with fish oil or feed oily ocean fish (never raw salmon/trout from the PNW). Bill

Spay incontinence is a very common risk of the procedure. Bill

Even on an anecdotal level, I do not have "evidence" on longevity differences. The raw fed PMR-style Vizslas are all in great shape, but none that I know are elderly dogs. I have my educated guess that keeping a V in optimal shape is the best way to extend a long and healthy life, but I have no real evidence to back it up. Bill

Ideally, 50-60% of calories should come from fat. Too many raw feeders--operating from "human preconceptions"--feed too little fat to their dogs, opting for leaner cuts when fat is essential for energy. Bill ETA: To get to the 50-60% of "calories from fat," that means about 30% of the "meat" should be fat.

I have not seen any stats on raw vs kibble fed lifespans in Vizslas. Bill

LOL. I posted and then wondered if I'd double posted. LOL. We agree entirely. Same with getting a vet check for hypothyroidism or other issues. Bill

I would have advised adding a high percentage of fat, as there is nothing "nourishing" in carbohydrates. A gram of fat has 2.25 times as many calories as a gram of carbohydrate and dogs metabolize energy from fats far more efficiently. Bill

Adding carbohydrates (rice, etc) defeats much of the purpose of raw feeding as it cuts off fat-metabolism as dogs turn to metabolize carbs. It defeats the purpose IMO. Bill