Pros:
* you get 100% control of your dog's diet (when not using pre-made options)
* doing any allergy elimination diets is much easier (due to the control you have)
* low to no preservatives or processed chemicals in your dog's diet
* no unknown foreign ingredients
* no food recall worries (other than the pre-mades... and most of those recalls are for human health issues, not canine)
* food is readily available at any human grocery store (i.e. when traveling), no more rushing out to find another bag of the "right stuff" at the last minute
* potential for a much healthier dog
* less (and smaller) poops to clean up
* you get to watch your dog love their meal times, and all the variety you can put in it (no more feeding the same boring kibble for their entire lives!)
* a healthy raw fed dog has a much sturdier GI tract, so is less likely to be 'upset' by the occasional over-indulgence in human food, treats, or other "found" items (this is my supposition, and not supported by any actual experiments that I know of).
Cons:
* more expensive (or not - depending on where you live, how many friends you have that are hunters, etc.). I figure it's 1.5x the cost of top quality kibble for us.
* takes up freezer space - we got a second full size upright freezer to house the dog food. Us humans get 1 shelf in it for our stuff.
* takes time to prepare when purchased in bulk. I spend a few hours a month prepping chunks of meat (I cut 20lb pork shoulders into 4-8oz chunks and freeze about half for later)
* time to research what a 'balanced diet' consists of - this was all up front work, and wasn't as bad as I expected. "Whole Prey Model Raw" (google it) is very easy to accomplish
* hard to find "other" organs for trace minerals. Liver and kidney are our mainstay organs (aka Vitamin Pills).
The cons are all very small relative to the pros, if you ask me.
But, it will depend on your circumstances if you can make it easy... being in TX is a big help! AB gets stuff CHEAP down there!
