The Farmer's Dog - yay or nay

[Bizzymammabee]

I thought I would share this - a recipe sheet for raw sent to me by our dog trainer (also a “certified dog nutritionist”).
I was in the same boat wanting to go raw, but found the cost pretty crazy.
We now home cook and it’s really not that bad… my boy is a pup so feeding a lot at the moment (5%body weight) and one 10lb batch only lasts 5 days, but once they’re adults you half that. I’m spending no more than $25/10lb, so ~$150/month (which will go down to $75) along with an additional ~$25 for supplements. I was up until this week lightly cooking and it was a bit of a pain, now I make 2x10lb batches at a time totally raw and it takes about 30 minutes to blend everything and weigh out into ziplocks. We are feeding ground turkey which is a cheap meat (I can get 6lbs for $20), eventually I want to rotate proteins but with him eating 2lbs of food a day right now it’s too cost prohibitive…
I’d be interested to hear other affordable protein sources. I live in Southern California - if anyone can recommend local butchers I’d also be grateful. I’ve been vegetarian for over 25 years so don’t have a great knowledge on meat!

Thank you for the chart. At this point, between work, commuting, helping my sister with my niece's therapy appointments on the weekend, and the usual household chores, I won't be able to deal with making my own. I don't want to short change her in any way and I also get icked out by having to buy/grind organ meat. I am going to give the FD a roll and see how she does with it. I am still looking to see if I can get the pre-prepped raw at a good price from a company that doesn't have a million health/safety issues.

 

[Bizzymammabee]

$600 a month?😳 Seriously? I would be buying meat n make their meals at that price. Up here our dog food n even human food is expensive. Anything in Canada is expensive but I did find a farmer that does dog food. Maybe worth looking what’s in your surroundings. Btw, my rule of thumb is 1 pound per 50lb dog’s weight. Nyala and Jake both gets 3/4lb a day cause they get protein snacks 3x a day n an apple divided into 3. I also have a German Shepherd. She basically gets the two 1/4’s raw from my other 2 bully.

Their stuff looked good but I thought that was crazy pricing.

 

[Mpillers]

Hi guys,

I know it's been a while. Things have been busy and I can barely spare the time to sit down and enjoy a visit here. I do lurk here and there for a fix ;0) Trying to figure out some healthier alternatives for Bella for food since we keep running into yeasty issues with her. We always had yeasty issues with Tyson and could never really totally eradicate it. The vet did mention that it is a possibility that some of the itchiness could be from a dust mite allergy because of the kibble. I guess I am at my wits end trying to find/do the best for Bella. While I would love to home cook but it's not really in the cards. I have been contemplating going all raw or one of these lightly prepared meals. I figured the best place to turn is to my bully guru's here. Is anyone feeding the Farmer's Dog? I would really appreciate it if one of our very savvy gurus chime in and share their opinions on whether it looks like a good option or if it's just marketing bunk.

Thanks in advance.

I've had Farmer's dog for over a year and I was quite pleased with the product, the delivery, the way it was packaged. I would feed Otis half a package morning half a package afternoon I'd leave a little bit left over for his night night which was maybe two bites of food late in the day. His coat was beautiful and my only allergies were to Environmental influences, I'm in the Ozark Hills and we're surrounded by oak trees and he's sensitive to them. I tried switching to ollie. I was wanting a little less cost. It also is packaged nicely and he seemed like it very well and tolerated very well. I got the combination of their wet and kibble. I found Otis does better with staying away from chicken and I was a little limited on FD with choices. I don't eat pork and don't feed it to the dog is that really didn't leave much but beef turkey and chicken which is one of the reasons I went with Ollie. Every time I balk at the price, I take myself out for a burger and see how much that cost and I'm right back to thinking that my dog is more than worth that. Prior to feeding FD I had Otis on Fromm weight management kibble. He actually also did quite well on that I just wanted a better alternative that would be more palatable. Good luck in your search and research

 

[oscarmayer]

My wife, Sandy did a lot of research(including availability...she had to have more than one source nearby) before selecting Stella and Chewy Duck frozen patties for MINI. That food worked well but it was pricy...not unlike most all RAW diets. Farmers Dog is probably fine, but has limited choices for proteins...avoid the Chicken and Beef. Those 2 proteins are the most problematic based on our experiences.

 

[Bizzymammabee]

So I did start the subscription for her. She likes it and sure cleans her bowl. I went down the rabbit hole on Youtube reading anything I could put my hand on and came across a guy that gave the exact recipe from Farmers Dog. Seems that he had subscribed and there was an issue with his order and the delivery date, so they sent him the recipe to make food to carry him for the three days it would take for him to get it. He decided to continue to make his own after receiving that first box and it being beat to hell up. He was very kind to post it. I also found another lady that has some good recipes that were formulated with the guidance of her vet. I decided to take the plunge and order and insta pot and do a dump and cook with the same old Farmers recipe. Let's see how this goes. At least with the insta, I can dump it all in and let it cook while I am working from home.

@helsonwheels @oscarmayer @Cbrugs @2BullyMama - That all being said. Do you guys have any supplements that you would recommend that I toss in to make sure my girl is set.

What are your thoughts on Brown Rice in the recipe?

 

[Cbrugs]

So I did start the subscription for her. She likes it and sure cleans her bowl. I went down the rabbit hole on Youtube reading anything I could put my hand on and came across a guy that gave the exact recipe from Farmers Dog. Seems that he had subscribed and there was an issue with his order and the delivery date, so they sent him the recipe to make food to carry him for the three days it would take for him to get it. He decided to continue to make his own after receiving that first box and it being beat to hell up. He was very kind to post it. I also found another lady that has some good recipes that were formulated with the guidance of her vet. I decided to take the plunge and order and insta pot and do a dump and cook with the same old Farmers recipe. Let's see how this goes. At least with the insta, I can dump it all in and let it cook while I am working from home.

@ hellsonwheels @ oscarmayer @Cbrugs @2BullyMama - That all being said. Do you guys have any supplements that you would recommend that I toss in to make sure my girl is set.

What are your thoughts on Brown Rice in the recipe?

If it were me, I’d probably use quinoa over rice.

 

[2BullyMama]

So I did start the subscription for her. She likes it and sure cleans her bowl. I went down the rabbit hole on Youtube reading anything I could put my hand on and came across a guy that gave the exact recipe from Farmers Dog. Seems that he had subscribed and there was an issue with his order and the delivery date, so they sent him the recipe to make food to carry him for the three days it would take for him to get it. He decided to continue to make his own after receiving that first box and it being beat to hell up. He was very kind to post it. I also found another lady that has some good recipes that were formulated with the guidance of her vet. I decided to take the plunge and order and insta pot and do a dump and cook with the same old Farmers recipe. Let's see how this goes. At least with the insta, I can dump it all in and let it cook while I am working from home.

@helsonwheels @oscarmayer @Cbrugs @2BullyMama - That all being said. Do you guys have any supplements that you would recommend that I toss in to make sure my girl is set.

What are your thoughts on Brown Rice in the recipe?

I wouldn’t add anything just yet… see how he is doing and adjust from there. I agree with Citty quinoa in place of brown rice

 

[Mpillers]

So I did start the subscription for her. She likes it and sure cleans her bowl. I went down the rabbit hole on Youtube reading anything I could put my hand on and came across a guy that gave the exact recipe from Farmers Dog. Seems that he had subscribed and there was an issue with his order and the delivery date, so they sent him the recipe to make food to carry him for the three days it would take for him to get it. He decided to continue to make his own after receiving that first box and it being beat to hell up. He was very kind to post it. I also found another lady that has some good recipes that were formulated with the guidance of her vet. I decided to take the plunge and order and insta pot and do a dump and cook with the same old Farmers recipe. Let's see how this goes. At least with the insta, I can dump it all in and let it cook while I am working from home.

@helsonwheels @oscarmayer @Cbrugs @2BullyMama - That all being said. Do you guys have any supplements that you would recommend that I toss in to make sure my girl is set.

What are your thoughts on Brown Rice in the recipe?

I can appreciate you being busy and please don't be offended by my wanting to ride your coattails and ask if you could post the recipe that was given you. I liked Farmer's dog, they were normally right on time in my little rural area so had no complaints there however I'm having to suspend work for a few months to deal with some health issues and it just got too expensive.

 

[helsonwheels]

So I did start the subscription for her. She likes it and sure cleans her bowl. I went down the rabbit hole on Youtube reading anything I could put my hand on and came across a guy that gave the exact recipe from Farmers Dog. Seems that he had subscribed and there was an issue with his order and the delivery date, so they sent him the recipe to make food to carry him for the three days it would take for him to get it. He decided to continue to make his own after receiving that first box and it being beat to hell up. He was very kind to post it. I also found another lady that has some good recipes that were formulated with the guidance of her vet. I decided to take the plunge and order and insta pot and do a dump and cook with the same old Farmers recipe. Let's see how this goes. At least with the insta, I can dump it all in and let it cook while I am working from home.

@helsonwheels @oscarmayer @Cbrugs @2BullyMama - That all being said. Do you guys have any supplements that you would recommend that I toss in to make sure my girl is set.

What are your thoughts on Brown Rice in the recipe?

I personally wouldn’t use rice, like mentioned quinoa would be a better option.

 

[helsonwheels]

I thought I would share this - a recipe sheet for raw sent to me by our dog trainer (also a “certified dog nutritionist”).
I was in the same boat wanting to go raw, but found the cost pretty crazy.
We now home cook and it’s really not that bad… my boy is a pup so feeding a lot at the moment (5%body weight) and one 10lb batch only lasts 5 days, but once they’re adults you half that. I’m spending no more than $25/10lb, so ~$150/month (which will go down to $75) along with an additional ~$25 for supplements. I was up until this week lightly cooking and it was a bit of a pain, now I make 2x10lb batches at a time totally raw and it takes about 30 minutes to blend everything and weigh out into ziplocks. We are feeding ground turkey which is a cheap meat (I can get 6lbs for $20), eventually I want to rotate proteins but with him eating 2lbs of food a day right now it’s too cost prohibitive…
I’d be interested to hear other affordable protein sources. I live in Southern California - if anyone can recommend local butchers I’d also be grateful. I’ve been vegetarian for over 25 years so don’t have a great knowledge on meat!

Wow good job! Another protein would be ground beef but the fatter one like 70/30 or 60/40. Dogs need fat. I buy from a someone that does raw from his acreage n really great price. Up here if I buy raw from pet shops or online would cost double. The product is in stores but I go pick it up. Comes out t $1.80 a lb. Another way is to add organs to your protein Liver would be the top notch of minerals for the immune system, skin, nails etc.

 

[helsonwheels]

So I did start the subscription for her. She likes it and sure cleans her bowl. I went down the rabbit hole on Youtube reading anything I could put my hand on and came across a guy that gave the exact recipe from Farmers Dog. Seems that he had subscribed and there was an issue with his order and the delivery date, so they sent him the recipe to make food to carry him for the three days it would take for him to get it. He decided to continue to make his own after receiving that first box and it being beat to hell up. He was very kind to post it. I also found another lady that has some good recipes that were formulated with the guidance of her vet. I decided to take the plunge and order and insta pot and do a dump and cook with the same old Farmers recipe. Let's see how this goes. At least with the insta, I can dump it all in and let it cook while I am working from home.

@helsonwheels @oscarmayer @Cbrugs @2BullyMama - That all being said. Do you guys have any supplements that you would recommend that I toss in to make sure my girl is set.

What are your thoughts on Brown Rice in the recipe?

Don’t over cook in the insta pot as dogs do need some redness in their proteins. It’s like when you buy cans of dog food or cat, The cooking pressure in the can is extremely high n you basically lose half the nutrients of the product.

 

[Bizzymammabee]

Don’t over cook in the insta pot as dogs do need some redness in their proteins. It’s like when you buy cans of dog food or cat, The cooking pressure in the can is extremely high n you basically lose half the nutrients of the product.

the recipes all call for 25 minutes on high in the insta with everything all combined. Think that's too long?

 

[Bizzymammabee]

I can appreciate you being busy and please don't be offended by my wanting to ride your coattails and ask if you could post the recipe that was given you. I liked Farmer's dog, they were normally right on time in my little rural area so had no complaints there however I'm having to suspend work for a few months to deal with some health issues and it just got too expensive.

This is the exact recipe that they sent him to hold him over. They also offer it on their site and sell their supplements separately if you just wanted to go that route.

The Farmers Dog:
2.5 lbs lean ground beef
2 cups of sweet potato -shredded or finely diced
3 cups of carrots - shredded or small cut
5 1/2 cups (fresh) or 3/4 (frozen spinach - chopped
3 large eggs
1 tbsp of sunflower oil
1/4 tsp salmon oil

Here are two other recipes that I found from another YouTuber that cooks for her own dog. These recipes were formulated with her vet and a dog nutritionist.

Recipe 1 (makes about 16 cups) - cook 25 minutes on high
5-6 lbs of ground turkey
7.5 ounces of pumpkin puree
2 tbsps of coconut oil
2 sweet potatoes
1 1/2 cup brown rice
7 ozs frozen spinach
4 carrots chopped
12 ozs green beans
12 ozs peas
2 cups of water
1/3 cup of beef liver chopped
5 tsp of calcium
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder

Recipe 2 (makes about 16 cups) - cook 25 minutes on high
5-6 lbs of ground beef
1 apple
3 cups brown rice or chopped sweet potatoes
2 tbsps of olive oil
5 cups of spinach
4 carrots chopped
12 ozs of broccoli
12 ozs green beans
2-3 cups of water

Sending prayers that everything goes well and you can get back to work as soon as possible.