Ideas for feeding my dog

Discussion dedicated to promoting the well-being of your dog through diet, exercise and general health tips.

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milliegirl
Posts: 12
Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2006 5:01 pm

Ideas for feeding my dog

Post by milliegirl »

Hi, I have a 3 month old labrador-collie cross who i have been feeding on pedigree puppy sachets (wet meat) un bakers/pedigree puppy biscuits. this week her pooh is runny and she is hyper.
I have been to a pet store who advised me to remove wet meat only give kibble, tried it but she cried for wet meat. does not like both mixed together.
Can someone answer these questions
Is human meat once cooked fit for dogs (beef-lamb-chicken-pork-liver)
how much rice to meat un gravy
is potatoes ok for them
what are the best veg to give them
are they getting the right amount of vitamins-minerals-calcuim with this type of food.
how much per day

I would like to feed her with human food and have kibble at one side

thanks for reading it a long list.

:?
emmabeth
Posts: 8894
Joined: Tue Oct 17, 2006 9:24 pm
Location: West Midlands
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Post by emmabeth »

Hiya

Well i think you are right to want to change from pedigree/bakers... !


Cooking a home diet is hard, you will need various books to research and make sure you get the calcium/phosphorus levels right.

Feeding a RAW diet is much better, you needing supplement if you get a good variety of foods, most raw meaty bones such as chicken wings, lamb ribs, rabbit carcass, chicken carcass etc are ALREADY a good balance of ca:phos so you neednt faff with that.

You also neednt grind bones or find food grade bonemeal as the dog has the tools for the job already there!

And you simply buy in bulk, portion up into meals, freeze and then remember to defrost in the fridge (or locked into teh microwave to prevent the cat stealing it like in my house), and feed. It involves not much more preperation than feedign complete but you do need to be organised, able to store more frozen stuff, and posess a blender to blend up veggies. Access to a proper butcher is always helpful, as these can provide, often for free, larrrrrrge meaty bones for recreational chewing, which satisfies a dogs very real NEED to chew.

Dogs are perfectly equipped to digest raw food and bone and on this diet they smell much better, poo less and better quality poo's (as more of what they eat is actually digested and not returned almost whole), it can even be cheaper - i feed a raw, varied, healthy and interesting diet to four mid/large sized dogs for the cost of what you would spend feeding ONE labrador on a premium brand dry kibble.

There are loads of articles online about this, google for raw feeding, barf feeding, and books by Kymthy Shulz, Ian Billingshurst etc.

There ARE risks to feedign raw, as there are risks to feeding complete, and just like complete it doesnt suit every dog in the same way, however ive seen it suit far more dogs than ive seen do well on foods such as pedigree (and i can also tell you one of the dogs featured on the latest pedigree advert letterbox flyer IS a raw fed dog, as are many dogs who advertise dog food!!!)

Em
milliegirl
Posts: 12
Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2006 5:01 pm

idea for feeding puppy

Post by milliegirl »

Hi silly question time i have read on this site about RAW feeding this does not actually mean feed the dog raw meat does it?
If iam wrong please clarify

wendy
leigh
Posts: 64
Joined: Sat Oct 07, 2006 1:55 am

Post by leigh »

RAW feeding, as BARF feeding, is feeding raw meat, bones etc. My dogs LOVE it. and they're not blood thirsty :) They're just dogs who love raw meat - and they're indoor "lapdogs" too.

I also cook food for my dogs, a mixture of brown & white rice, pasta, minced meat (turkey, chicken, beef, lamb, pork), occasionally sausage meat (well drained), and then I chop up fresh veges (for this week it was zucchini, asparagus, small amount of brocolli and pumpkin) and cook this, and grate raw carrot into them, sometimes I add grated cheese and tuna, and top it with thin gravy. But they now ALWAYS get a chicken neck or wing after their cooked meal. every night. they hang out for it, and their jaws are now happy (from their need to chew), and their teeth are happy (from chewing on the bone).
KathyM
Posts: 66
Joined: Wed Oct 18, 2006 10:56 am

Post by KathyM »

Nature Diet and Nature's Menu are good alternatives to home cooking because you don't have to worry about nutrition levels and it's ready made, and natural. All NatureDiet is is meat (chicken, lamb, tripe, dependent on which flavour you go for), ground bone, rice and vegetables. I think they put seaweed extract in too, which is a good thing in my experience.

I would always recommend them if you're after the benefits of "natural" feeding without the risks (not putting down raw there as we're experimenting with that AGAIN with Dharma *lmao*).
KathyM
Posts: 66
Joined: Wed Oct 18, 2006 10:56 am

Post by KathyM »

Sorry, forgot to elaborate on why we can't use ND and NM for Dharma - she has a rice intolerance which means she gets colitis.
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