# primal dog food



## healthnut (Nov 3, 2015)

I just ordered my first bag of Primal chicken dog food, wondering if any of you fed your dogs this? At first I didn't realize it was raw, until after the fact...I liked all the ingredients, and that it was freeze dried, very healthy...but my dogs never ate raw and I am a little concerned. Please share if you can, I would appreciate it very much :thumbsup:


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## Sylie (Apr 4, 2011)

I feed my dogs Primal raw frozen. I did start with the freeze dried, but found that I could by the frozen locally at a substantially lower price. I like it better, because it looks like real food. All three of mine made the transition from kibble very quickly with no digestive upset. The only difficulty I have is in giving them a small enough portion. They gobble it up and want more, but MiMi and Ray were starting to seem a little overweight, so I cut back. I believe that this is the best diet I can provide, and the little ones seem to be doing very well.


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## healthnut (Nov 3, 2015)

Hi Sylie;

Thank you for sharing. Your dogs seem like very good eaters, mine are all picky. I cook for mine, with the exception of life's abundance dry food, natural balance and at times Blue...I change it up so they had variety, but they will not eat dry food as a meal...they pick. 

I will see if they like the primal, baby steps... I believe in the healthiest diet for them, so important. What kind of frozen raw food do you feed them? I am not sure mine will go raw, even with the Primal. They are very picky, so will shall see, worth a try 

Thanks again!


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## healthnut (Nov 3, 2015)

oh...I see, Primal raw frozen


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## Sylie (Apr 4, 2011)

I switch the meat from chicken, duck and beef. MiMi wont eat lamb...it is the only thing she won't eat. She acts as if there is nothing in her bowl.

I wouldn't assume that a picky eater would not eat raw, I would think they would be more likely to eat it than kibble. Even before there were raw foods especially for dogs, I would give mine (previous three) little pieces of raw meat or raw salmon and they went crazy.


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## LilSuz (Oct 18, 2015)

Mine like raw. I´ve fed a lot of my dogs raw over the years. I now feed a mix of all sorts...kibble, raw, and cooked, and they eat it all. Raw and lightly cooked chicken was what got my tiny pup eating again. I feed them kibble to keep my vet happy, as the vets here are dead against feeding more naturally, it´s a constant battle. I had a look at the Primal raw, it looks great. I won´t be able to get this Primal food here, but I would if I could. 
You might find your dog loves it.


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## healthnut (Nov 3, 2015)

that is amazing that they go crazy for raw! I tried to offer raw years ago, they would have nothing to do with it, stuck their noses in the air and walked away. I will see what happens with the primal freeze dried... I was concerned that their systems may not be use to it, I will give a few pieces at a time and see where it goes.
Thanks!


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## healthnut (Nov 3, 2015)

LilSuz, 

I can't get over how many malts are not picky, mine are very much so! They do love raw veggies, that is what they get for treats, and I make their meals with veggies everyday as well, been cooking for them for years... its a long shot that they will like it, I will see what happens when the freeze dried arrives...I will fall over if the eat it  

You should look on line for primal raw, I am sure they will deliver it, the freeze dried is being shipped, look in to it!


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## Sarahsphere (Oct 4, 2015)

My vet seemed against me feeding anything but kibble too.
I was surprised that he was so keen for Gigi's whole diet to be the kibble.


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## maggieh (Dec 16, 2007)

Sarahsphere said:


> My vet seemed against me feeding anything but kibble too.
> I was surprised that he was so keen for Gigi's whole diet to be the kibble.


Sadly, many "regular" (non-specialist and non-holistic) are ignorant about animal nutrition. This happens in part because they don't spend a lot of time in vet school studying nutrition. One of the main reasons, though, is many vet school programs are partially subsidized by Purina, Hills (Science Diet) and Royal Canin. This results in newly-graduated vets who are advocates of kibble and of those brands in particular. 

Some vets are willing to listen to differing opinions, while others are not. I recently changed vets because the one I had been going to for 20 years was unwilling to acknowledge that Tessa's problems might be vaccine-related and that an integrated approach (using holistic to manage chronic conditions and maintain overall health) wasn't in the best interest of the dog. My new vet researched the food and supplements that my holistic vet recommended and was impressed. 

My personal opinion is that if your vet pushes back on holistic approaches to wellness and/or refuses to acknowledge that anything but kibble will work for your dog, is to find a new vet.


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## LilSuz (Oct 18, 2015)

healthnut said:


> LilSuz,
> 
> I can't get over how many malts are not picky, mine are very much so! They do love raw veggies, that is what they get for treats, and I make their meals with veggies everyday as well, been cooking for them for years... its a long shot that they will like it, I will see what happens when the freeze dried arrives...I will fall over if the eat it
> 
> You should look on line for primal raw, I am sure they will deliver it, the freeze dried is being shipped, look in to it!


I had a look. I think it would be costly to get it shipped over, but I intend to look into it. I´ve already done rawfeed at home before, there´s nothing to it once you get into the swing. 
Looking forward to hearing if yours like the freeze-dried. You could always put a little hot water over it to make the smells waft up. 
And yes, mine eat pretty well anything. Though I strictly keep them off grains so they don´t even develop any problem.


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## LilSuz (Oct 18, 2015)

maggieh said:


> Sadly, many "regular" (non-specialist and non-holistic) are ignorant about animal nutrition. This happens in part because they don't spend a lot of time in vet school studying nutrition. One of the main reasons, though, is many vet school programs are partially subsidized by Purina, Hills (Science Diet) and Royal Canin. This results in newly-graduated vets who are advocates of kibble and of those brands in particular.
> 
> Some vets are willing to listen to differing opinions, while others are not. I recently changed vets because the one I had been going to for 20 years was unwilling to acknowledge that Tessa's problems might be vaccine-related and that an integrated approach (using holistic to manage chronic conditions and maintain overall health) wasn't in the best interest of the dog. My new vet researched the food and supplements that my holistic vet recommended and was impressed.
> 
> My personal opinion is that if your vet pushes back on holistic approaches to wellness and/or refuses to acknowledge that anything but kibble will work for your dog, is to find a new vet.


I had an older vet years ago that I stayed with for a very long time, he was great. Older and wiser guy, did farm vetting. Really used his head, and was brilliant with my various animals over the many years I knew him. His sound advice wd be frowned upon today, sad to say. Sadly, it seems the younger ones are so indoctrinated by the feed companies now! I received a lecture from one young vet here about how terrible it is to feed dogs meat, bones and offal, much better to feed kibble...She said people don´t eat bones and offal (they do here, actually!), dogs aren´t wolves...etc etc What?? Doesn´t she know what most kibble is made from?? Apparently not! She stocks Royal Canin, Hills science and a few others.
Well, I listened patiently, calmly put across my point of view, and changed to a different vet. This new one´s probably much the same, but she seems to be less arrogant, so see how we go..... Meanwhile, I´m thinking about buying a duck from the local store.  

Oh, actually, while I think about it, I went to a fair back in the summer, and spoke to a trainee vet nurse there who was promoting kibbles, and got into a similar conversation with her....who, of course, was horrified at what I feed my dogs...but interestingly, another student vet nurse was there listening. I discovered she was English, so I asked her about it, and she had to admit that in England a lot of the training is about diet, and she knows all about rawfeed diets, she couldn´t help but agree with the points I was making, but here it isn´t recommended, so she keeps quiet.....


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## Bailey&Me (Mar 8, 2010)

My dogs get Primal frozen and dehydrated raw foods as part of their rotation. They love the food and I am very happy with it. I would definitely recommend it!


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## LilSuz (Oct 18, 2015)

Healthnut, That Primal looks to be good stuff, but they don´t ship it here. 
Looks like I´ll have to get organised and go back to preparing my own with supplements. I really don´t like to feed the kibble, even tho I sometimes soak it in a bit of hot water first.


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## healthnut (Nov 3, 2015)

LilSuz said:


> Healthnut, That Primal looks to be good stuff, but they don´t ship it here.
> Looks like I´ll have to get organised and go back to preparing my own with supplements. I really don´t like to feed the kibble, even tho I sometimes soak it in a bit of hot water first.


LilSuz,
Thats too bad!! Starange they are limited in where they ship..I actually ordered mine from Josymir...she sells it...she has a different website as well , Natural Pawsibilities ...maybe check with her? I ordered the chicken , but she was out of it, so I ordered turkey with sardines? I game to try new things...lets see if they eat it...

I havent received it yet, but I will keep you posted! fingers crossed they like it!


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## silverhaven (Sep 6, 2009)

My Penny went nuts over the primal dehydrated. Barked at me to give it to her faster, and she is a really picky one. Then she went off it..... but she will accept it occasionally. My Lola doesn't do well on any raw food. I can only give in a snack portion or she will actually throw up. So odd as she can eat anything usually. 

The only thing that works for mine with no issues at all is home cooking, so I am stuck with it lol.


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## healthnut (Nov 3, 2015)

*update Primal freeze dried dog food*

Thank you everyone for sharing. my shih tzu ( Brea) loved it, my malt did not, turkey and sardine ...I tried the 5.5 oz and it was about 4 meals, with shipping 18.00 :smilie_tischkante: ... have to find it at better pricing...  

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving


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## LilSuz (Oct 18, 2015)

OK, I´ve found a freeze-dried food by Nature´s Menu. It´s an English brand, duck and plum. Will cost me about one euro/dollar a day to feed my two little ones. I hope they get on ok with it. I´ll let you know how they get on.


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## gypsyqueen (Nov 9, 2008)

Sylie said:


> I feed my dogs Primal raw frozen. I did start with the freeze dried, but found that I could by the frozen locally at a substantially lower price. I like it better, because it looks like real food. All three of mine made the transition from kibble very quickly with no digestive upset. The only difficulty I have is in giving them a small enough portion. They gobble it up and want more, but MiMi and Ray were starting to seem a little overweight, so I cut back. I believe that this is the best diet I can provide, and the little ones seem to be doing very well.


Do you think it helps with tear staining I just transitioned my girls to primal.


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## lucki (Jun 20, 2014)

My boy is having Primal Freeze Dried Pork. He loves it to max. He has no problem transiting to primal from homecooked food but Primal made him have tear stains and he licked his paw very often ever since we started him with Primal.


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