Has anyone used Primal dog food?

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

Someone we met last week was raving about it and what it did for her elder dog's health. They carry it at our local petstore, but I honestly didn't think we could find dog food any more expensive than what they're already getting

Has anyone had experience with this diet? We just gave them a taste today and they LOVED it. Of course.

[Presley Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Presley]

I use it on occasion when we run out of our custom stuff. Yeah, raw diets are very expensive, but I will tell you that it is worth it. The senior I adopted 2 years ago was in really poor health. He is like a completely different dog today. The rescue said they can't believe he is still alive. Not only is he still alive, he is getting younger every day.

My others were switched to raw a couple years ago. Vets always compliment their overall health and muscle tone. The downside to this type of diet is that the dogs get a LOT more energy. When the overall energy picked up for all 5 of mine, I did think for a split second about feeding them the cheapest junk so they wouldn't be so frisky.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

Is this the frozen raw food?

BTW, we have a neighbor who gives her German shepherd mix plain old raw meat and chicken. From Whole Foods! Geez, I can't afford that for my family! But I will say the German shepherd looks pretty healthy.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

I use it on occasion when we run out of our custom stuff. Yeah, raw diets are very expensive, but I will tell you that it is worth it. The senior I adopted 2 years ago was in really poor health. He is like a completely different dog today. The rescue said they can't believe he is still alive. Not only is he still alive, he is getting younger every day.

My others were switched to raw a couple years ago. Vets always compliment their overall health and muscle tone. The downside to this type of diet is that the dogs get a LOT more energy. When the overall energy picked up for all 5 of mine, I did think for a split second about feeding them the cheapest junk so they wouldn't be so frisky.

That's exactly what the people we met said. And they had a 13 1/2 y.o. white lab who seemed in great shape. My girl was friskier than usual today, and we're only on day one of transition.

I will say the company knows what it's doing with those free samples.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

Is this the frozen raw food?

BTW, we have a neighbor who gives her German shepherd mix plain old raw meat and chicken. From Whole Foods! Geez, I can't afford that for my family! But I will say the German shepherd looks pretty healthy.

Yes, Wacky, it's frozen raw food. Been zapped to eliminate bacterial pathogens, etc.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

How much does it cost? Just curious.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

How much does it cost? Just curious.

I'm not entirely sure yet, and it's hard to compare Primal to kibble, but I think it's about $35 for 8 pounds, which is what it would take to feed our two dogs (total weight 50 lbs) for a week. My 20 pounder would supposedly eat 1/2 lb per day (2 servings of 1/4 lb each). They (allegedly) need less of this in weight than kibble bc it's all usable raw food with no fillers. The dogs are both now scratching at the food cabinet, I don't think they understand that the good stuff is in the fridge. This is beginning to feel like doggie crack.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

Great, doggie crackheads. Just what my life needs!

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

I gave in and gave them each a little more. I've never seen them want anything this much, not even people food. I spent a lot of time today doing things other than work, including researching this stuff. It all sounds really good for them. Ugh, the untrainable one is now trying to jump on the counter to find more while my sweet old poodle just gazes at me longingly. What have I done? Maybe I should turn back before it's too late...

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

They NEED less...but if you spend all your time refusing to give them more because they love it so much, is it really a net gain? Oh, god, I'm in the next state over and I'm feeling guilty about not giving it to MY dog!

[jackio Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close jackio]

They NEED less...but if you spend all your time refusing to give them more because they love it so much, is it really a net gain? Oh, god, I'm in the next state over and I'm feeling guilty about not giving it to MY dog!

Me too! My dog eats plain old Beneful, with a bit of meat or egg added (whatever we are eating or Boar's Head turkey breast if we aren't eating meat that night). I'm reluctant to change it because she has great bowels and she is plenty energetic. This sounds tempting though....

[Presley Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Presley]

Yes, they do gobble down their servings quite quickly. I suppose you could feed more and then walk them more. I doubt the dogs would say no to that.

It takes 2 pounds of the raw diet to feed my 5 each day. It costs us about $6./per day. My dogs are all small. The largest is 20 pounds. I can only imagine how much it would take to feed a couple huskies or St. bernards.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

Jacki, our dog ate Benefuls and liked it, but it gets terrible reviews on all the pet food sites. We switched to Kirkland dog food from Costco, which gets excellent reviews and is actually less expensive, and she LOVES it. She looks good and has a LOT of energy, too.

It comes in 40-pound bags, which is a pain when you have a 15-pound dog, but for the first bag we worked out with a friend that we would split the bag with her and her 90-pound mutt that eats like a horse. Both dogs ended up loving it and now we both buy it. Give it a try!

[jackio Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close jackio]

Jacki, our dog ate Benefuls and liked it, but it gets terrible reviews on all the pet food sites. We switched to Kirkland dog food from Costco, which gets excellent reviews and is actually less expensive, and she LOVES it. She looks good and has a LOT of energy, too.

It comes in 40-pound bags, which is a pain when you have a 15-pound dog, but for the first bag we worked out with a friend that we would split the bag with her and her 90-pound mutt that eats like a horse. Both dogs ended up loving it and now we both buy it. Give it a try!

I'll have to find someone to split it with me. Isabella is only 10 lbs and only eats 1/4 cup of food twice a day. The 4.5 lb bag lasts me several weeks, and she won't eat it when it gets to the last couple of cupfuls. I guess it gets stale by then.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

I'll have to find someone to split it with me. Isabella is only 10 lbs and only eats 1/4 cup of food twice a day. The 4.5 lb bag lasts me several weeks, and she won't eat it when it gets to the last couple of cupfuls. I guess it gets stale by then.

Yes, 40 pounds seems pretty unsurmountable in the beginning. And our dog was like that about the last bits of Beneful--wouldn't eat the last couple of cups in the bag. But she eats the Kirkland till it's all gone. We only buy it every six months or so!