Comercial dog food:Is there anyone who does`nt buy it?

nuttywoman · 16 March 2006 at 9:48PM

I`m thinking of changing from buying comercial dog food to `home-made`.Apart from the cost, my dog is a very fussy eater- he`ll only eat moist dog food, and he`s putting weight on, plus its irritating his skin.
If there`s anyone else who does`nt buy comercial food, have you any advice please?
My dog loves fish so i`m thinking more on those lines if at all possible.
thanks val

pawpurrs · 16 March 2006 at 10:20PM

I cook for my dogs, fish and rice, meat and rice, wholemeal bisuits etc.

Failing that a food like burns or James well belovwd is very good, if he likes it moist try adding gravy to it.

PoshPaws_3 · 17 March 2006 at 12:04AM

I feed my two, a Greyhound and a Saluki, on Gusto working dog mix - which is a dry complete food available from Tesco at the extremely reasonably price of £4.99 for 20kg. I also give them whatever gravy is left from our dinner - and any leftovers from the plates, plus they share a small tin of Shop's own dog food, or a small tin of Chappie.

The Gusto is extremely good stuff. My greyhound is black and his coat shines and he only shows dandruff when he's moulting. My saluki does so well on it, I have to be constantly adjusting the quantity to stop him getting tubby!

However, where feeding a natural diet is concerned, my friend Fiona (who is now based in Switzerland) has written a bit about her experiences with it on her website at http://www.fionas-fastdogs.com/care/healthcare/diet.php
Hope that helps!

amosworks · 17 March 2006 at 12:17AM

I'm a big fan of natural feeding for pets (feeding them as they would eat in the wild) rather than buying tinned junk. Personally I myself have followed a natural diet like this for 3 years (close to Atkins/Neanderthin diets) and have had much success with the improvements in myself. I'm now getting in to actually preparing HM food for my cats that's primarily protein and fat with nutrients from certain vegetables and berries.

Although your question relates to dogs, I think that most mammals diets are actually quite similar, from humans to dogs to cats. There are articles on the net about the "Catkins" diet and I think something similar to this for dogs must exist.

It would, of course, require preparation by hand from raw meat and nutrient rich sources so you might like to investigate this also. Good luck with your project!

Debt_Free_Chick · 17 March 2006 at 9:58AM

My dog doesn't have commercial dog food - never has. The main part of his diet is raw chicken carcasses. I get a huge tray of these from my butcher, enough to last about one month for £2. The carcasses have literally had the breasts and legs removed, leaving plenty of raw meaty bones.

I supplement this by making him some "dinners" too. I'll take some of the carcasses (or use pheasant, lamb or beef) and cover it with water, bring to the boil, simmer until the meat is falling off the bone. Strip off the meat and discard the bone, but keep the water/stock.

Add veg to the water e.g. chopped carrots, shredded cabbage. Then add rice and cook that through. Add back the chopped meat and you have a dinner for him

Occasionally, I'll also do this with tripe but I've found it difficult to get and expensive - my butcher was very embarrassed at the price when he got for me specially - but even he thinks there must be a cheaper source. Not found it yet, though

Try a google search for "BARF" or "bones and raw food" as this will give you information about that kind of diet. Do lots of research and be wary of asking your vet. Vets mostly just push commercial dog food and know little about BARF. I'm lucky as my vet does understand it and is very supportive i.e. doesn't keep pushing the bags of stuff on display in reception.

My pup is a 13 month old English Springer Spaniel with a beautiful silky coat, cold wet nose, a lithe body with excellent muscle tone and bags of energy.

When you do the research, note that you are after raw chewable bones e.g. chicken carcasses, breast of lamb, beef brisket bones ... not the huge hard bones which can't be chewed and can break the dog's teeth.

HTH

Debt_Free_Chick · 17 March 2006 at 10:01AM

p.s. raw fish is fine too. The whole thing - no need to "prepare" it just put it in his food bowl - but you could roughly cut it up to fit it in the bowl.

If you don't feed raw fish consider adding a teaspoon of linseed oil to his food every week or so.

Incidentally, all the food I give to my dog is "human grade" and not rubbish designed for ... erm ...well I don't know what. But it's just food produced for human consumption that never makes it onto the counter.

HTH

MrsTinks · 17 March 2006 at 12:04PM

BARF is indeed what you are looking for

I think a few people on this board feeds it, but I am sure they will be happy to help you with any advice they can

https://www.animal-rescuers.com/bbv2

ladywood · 17 March 2006 at 12:11PM

I used to feed mine raw too - got 20kg trays of chicken wings for £10 from a local poultry processing company and they would throw in a similar sized tray of carcasses free! I would add pulped veggies (the bits cut off from what we ate and stuff that was on sale) plus odd bits of offal etc as I found. The key I found was to find a good cheap supplier - it gets pricey if you have to rely on supermarkets. They were very fit and loved it but we had to stop when we became freezerless (no room for one in the cottage!).

They now eat Autarky which is a good quality additive free working dog food which is half the cost of Burns etc. May well go back to raw when we move again and have a freezer!

PoshPaws_3 · 17 March 2006 at 12:22PM

I was feeding my dogs Autarky until I discovered Gusto - which is made by the same people for half the price.

catkins · 17 March 2006 at 12:39PM

I feed my dog on James Wellbeloved dry food and a very small amount of cooked meat, usually chicken, beef or turkey. I don't feed him tinned food because I like to know exactly what he is eating. All my friends' dogs eat tinned food and to be honest most of them have smelly breath (even the youngsters) and their poo is not totally solid (sorry to be a bit graphic).

James Wellbeloved is prett expensive but a large sack lasts about 6/7 weeks and I have pretty big dog

Mrsbojangles_2 · 17 March 2006 at 12:43PM

I feed my girl on a premium food called Arden Grange, its about £11 for a sack that lasts her about 6-7 weeks, its hypo-allergenic and is NOT tested on animals.

I personally have reservations about feeding a raw diet, have heard far too many stories about dogs getting bones lodged etc, thats just my feeling on it though, I know many people swear by it, but its not for me, i'm too much of a worrier.

hth

Comercial dog food:Is there anyone who does`nt buy it?

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