help with changing food

StaffieMad · Post by **StaffieMad** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 4:11 am

Hiya,

My bf mum has been feeding his collie x on Bakers and Sainsburys own brand complete dog food, which i hate! I have convinced my bf to change the food onto James Wellbeloved which we brought at Crufts!

what is the process for changing it and how long should it take?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Tasha

emmabeth · Post by **emmabeth** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 2:32 am

Well:

YOu can mix the two foods, starting with more of the old food, less of the new and gradually changing the ratio until you have entirely new food.

Do that over a period of a week or two.

Or you can change straight over BUT, you may find this gives your dog the squits for a few days.....

Personally if im changing a poor diet for a good one, i go with the latter (and my personal opinion of Bakers is extremely poor!).

Most people go for the former and thats probably the safer option really. For your carpets if nothing else.

Em

StaffieMad · Post by **StaffieMad** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 8:51 am

thanks for your advice emmabeth think we we change it over 2 weeks. also do you know the ideal weight for a collie x (not sre what he is crossed with) my bf weight him this morning at was 4stone!

thanks

emmabeth · Post by **emmabeth** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 2:33 pm

Bit like how long is a piece of string I'm afraid - depends on the cross, the size of the dog in general....

MY collie cross would be a waddling obese beasty at 4 stone - thats more than my 26" saluki x weighs.....

My friends collie x does weigh that and she is overweight - shes only 18 inches tall though!

The best thing to do is look at the dog from above - is there a narrow 'waist' between the end of the rips and the hind legs? If not, its diet time.

Feel the dogs ribs - can you actually feel the rib bones - be careful not to mistake hard solid fat - dogs tend to get very solid fat as opposed to our human flab. You should be able to feel at the very least, the last few ribs quite clearly - and again you s hould be able to feel the prominent hip bones and a bit of the spine over the lower end of the back. That is 'feel'..... not be cut to ribbons by jutting bones!

If your dog feels slim but as if he is wearing a tshirt, thats probably fine - if he feels like he's wearing a heavy padded jumper - diet time.

hth
em

StaffieMad · Post by **StaffieMad** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 3:59 am

thanks for your tips, when we 1st got him from the rescue place he was skinny as they found him as a stray, after quite a few months he started to fill out which was good. i told my bf that that would be around his ideal weight and he asked his mum NOT to feed him scraps and treats which she said she would do, but then he started getting bigger and she swore she hadnt given him anything but i dont belive her as nothing else changed and one time he caught her giving him gravey from the roast. the only way we can make sure he doesnt get scraps is when we get a house but that isnt going to be for another few years, which is very fustrating.

no there isnt a waist he just looks like a log really, i wouldnt call him fat just podgey for a collie.

thanks again.

Tasha