feeding my dog.

Lieja

I feed my boy a mix of raw and dried food because I simply can't afford to feed 100% raw. I buy frozen chicken breasts and whatever the supermarkets have reduced, and a bowl of kibble only if there's no meat for him. He definitely loves his meat more than his kibble! He gets lots of raw eggs too, which he loves to smash.

krlyr

Babbawah has proven time and time again that what little knowledge he has on dogs is outdated (and often incorrect). OP, I'd recommend doing plenty of research - it won't all be valid, it won't all be 'correct', or it won't all suit you, but it's well worth reading the 'bad' stuff as well as the good to help make up your mind.

http://dogsdinner2.webs.com/ is a good place to start, as well as the Facebook groups linked above.

I've raw-fed for around 6 years now and haven't looked back. I follow the prey model diet of around 80:10:10 (meat, offal and bone) but do add extras like eggs, sometimes I feed veg or oats, sometimes other bits and pieces. You find out what suits your dogs, what suits your budget and so forth.

TamVilla80

We have Natures Menu for our Pup. We get it from Pets At Home and costs ups 89p a day. I would love to have time/storage space to make everything from scratch, but getting a block out the freezer everyday is so much easier!

karmacookie

Natures menu frozen chunks are very convenient and I do sometimes use them but feel that they have a lot of rice/veg etc in them for the price. I think nutriment is probably the best value and if you buy a starter pack you get free delivery

http://www.nutriment.co/5kg-adult-starter/

madlyn

WOW! didnt realise there was so much to consider.
i'm seriously considering changing my dog to a raw food diet just need to read up on getting her started and what to give her.

pawsies

Babbawah wrote: »

Raw is best.

Try looking up info on fasting your dog as well. Fasting your dog for at least 1 day in 7 is as good for your dog as a raw diet.

No it is totally unneccessary. Dogs will fast themselves if they don't want it but it should always be offered. Otherwise you get hunger pukes which is not pleasant. Especially for a small JRT you don't want them to fast as they digest quicker than bigger dogs.

Rev

madlyn wrote: »

WOW! didnt realise there was so much to consider.
i'm seriously considering changing my dog to a raw food diet just need to read up on getting her started and what to give her.

If you're worried about getting it right. There are things like nutriment and natural instinct. Just defrost and feed. It's more expensive that way but for a small dog like a JRT it's hardly going to be expensive whichever way you feed him is it.

Babbawah

pawsies wrote: »

No it is totally unneccessary. Dogs will fast themselves if they don't want it but it should always be offered. Otherwise you get hunger pukes which is not pleasant. Especially for a small JRT you don't want them to fast as they digest quicker than bigger dogs.

So fasting isn't good for a dog then?

P.S. You're not confusing dogs with cats are you?

krlyr

Definately read up - I raw-feed so obviously I'm an advocate of it, but a raw diet done wrong will be just as harmful, if not more, than a poor quality commercial dog food. Nutritional deficiencies may not be obvious until the damage is done - e.g. calcium deficiency causing joint/bone problems a few years down the line.

pawsies

Babbawah wrote: »

So fasting isn't good for a dog then?

P.S. You're not confusing dogs with cats are you?

No I am not.

In the same way that humans shouldn't fast and we are omnivores dogs shouldn't be forced to fast because someone somewhere said dogs need to be fed like wolves.

There would be outrage if parents fasted their kids for one day a week. Sure, they wouldn't suffer long term from it but psychologically it is not fair to starve someone that is clearly hungry.

To some people their pets are their kids.