Raw feeding ..... dogs

Dollardog

He was at work with me when he had the pizzle and I couldn't hold the end for him, I was watching him and it was there one minute, gone the next!!
My dog never chews anything enough, just a few times then swallows it. He is a big dog, Boxer, but even things like Jerky he'll give a couple of crunches at it then swallows it and has to keep gulping to get it down.

MatyMoo

Rodders loves the puzzle sticks but don't they stink!

Interesting that you all add stuff to kibble - I keep being told it is a balanced diet and they shouldn't need anything else.

Forgot to mention that Rodders gets the odd egg or two. Either raw, scrambled or boiled he likes them all

I have tried him with raw apple and he wasn't keen.

Do any of you do smoothies for your dogs? I have been reading this.

Dollardog

Ha ha, no, can't say I go that far. My friend thinks I'm mad making him a stew with mince or chicken and veg. I think she would think I'd completely flipped if I told her I was making him smoothies!!
He gets his veg plus an apple in his stew, chopped up very finely.

krlyr

Dollardog wrote: »

He was at work with me when he had the pizzle and I couldn't hold the end for him, I was watching him and it was there one minute, gone the next!!
My dog never chews anything enough, just a few times then swallows it. He is a big dog, Boxer, but even things like Jerky he'll give a couple of crunches at it then swallows it and has to keep gulping to get it down.

I would just encourage him to chew things when you can - Kiki did generalise the chewing bones with chewing chews properly, she just needed to be "forced" to do it a few times by me holding one end before she got into the habit of it.

Dollardog

I'll have to get him a few more pizzle sticks and try him when I have time. He's just greedy with certain things. Usually, he's not that food orientated.
Even if I'm sitting eating, he'll stay in the other room but as soon as he knows I've finished, he'll come in to see if I've left him anything.

Dollardog

Lots of treats and biscuits he's not interested in, he won't touch those filled hoof things and although I don't give him rawhide chews anymore, he wasn't that interested in them unless he could get rid of them quickly. He's not keen on holding things like bones in his paws either, he'll try to chew them just with them rolling round on the floor. He quickly loses interest if he thinks he's not getting anywhere with it.

JennyW_2

I have recently switched my dog to a raw diet. He's on food from Natural Instinct.

http://www.naturalinstinct.com/brands/Natural-Instinct.html

all food is human grade, british reared and all made up with meat, bone etc and ready to go so no need to add anything else. I find using food like this is a good starting block and easier to do than buying meat, bone, offal separetely and trying to do it myself.

rising_from_the_ashes

krlyr wrote: »

Something like Natural Instinct or one of the other pre-packaged raw foods will solve both these issues, no need to give more than the odd recreational bone and already balanced for you

JennyW wrote: »

I have recently switched my dog to a raw diet. He's on food from Natural Instinct.

http://www.naturalinstinct.com/brands/Natural-Instinct.html

all food is human grade, british reared and all made up with meat, bone etc and ready to go so no need to add anything else. I find using food like this is a good starting block and easier to do than buying meat, bone, offal separetely and trying to do it myself.

Yup..... thanks both - thinking (for me anyway) that this may be the way to go!:)

con1888

How many tubs of natural instinct would I need a day for a 28kilo GSD? She is a bit overweight atm.

JennyW_2

con1888 wrote: »

How many tubs of natural instinct would I need a day for a 28kilo GSD? She is a bit overweight atm.

they reckon 2-3% of body weight. So if your doggie is overweight, you could probably start off at 1.5% and see how that goes? If so that would be 420gms a day - split between 2 feeds.

Natural Instincts are a family run business and extremely helpful. Give them a call and perhaps they can advise what percentage to give her as obviously it's better for her to lose some weight

Dont be put off by the term Working Chicken, or Working Duck. they are simply called "working" as it makes them cheaper, something to do with the VAT. Plus the working ranges have a shot of vit C.

If you go down the raw route, then if you see any pieces of cheap offal at the supermarket you can throw them in too.

NI also sell chicken carcasses, lamb necks etc which make good meal replacements and a nice alternative for the dog. I also buy saver chicken wings, put them in the freezer and give one to my dog every day - good for cleaning teeth. However DONT cook them, always feed raw because of the chicken bones.

Here is a good link about raw feeding:

http://www.petforums.co.uk/dog-health-nutrition/111437-raw-feeding-everything-you-need-know.html