niki schaef

agreed. we only clip if the owner wants it. they look wierd but i think its better then keeping them in full coat if the owner isnt going to look after them properly

interesting. thanks for the replies all koolietas- why do you not feed the supplements any more?

hello all! just wondering if any one gives their dogs dietry supplements of any kind (eg. oils, multi-vitamins etc)? if so what do you give and why? i feed my dog a raw diet but i've been reading a lot lately and have worried myself a bit. i'm thinking now that i should be supplementing my boys diet? thanks

i'm no expert at all on feeding mum dogs- but i believe they need lots of calcium to keep up with demand from the pups. so maybe some extra bones? again no expert really i have no idea just taking a guess if you dont get any replies here you could try the breeders section there is a wealth of knowledge there that could help you out. (also maybe some piccies of the staffy and pups ) and welcome to dogzonline

hi great to hear that its all going well. as for the weight thing- i've found it really easy to maintain Teds weight. he was 8.3kg when i took him to the vet for his vaccinations in Oct. they told me he was a bit overweight. not long after this i made the switch to raw. ted lost that extra bit of weight really quickly BUT i had to take him to the vet on friday and he only weighs 7.6kg :D i was so surprised he doesnt look skinny at all so he must have been a real porker before! hes pretty muscly now too. but anyway all i'm trying to say is that its easy to maintain weight on the raw diet. i work out Teds food to be about 200gm a day. if i give him chicken frame it would probably be a half (if thats all hes getting) or a smaller piece plus something else (like a bit of organ etc.) so yes i think half a frame should be fine to start with. there isnt a lot of meat on a frame so you may notice your dogs poop get a bit hard/white. i did with Ted so thats why i will usually feed a smaller piece of frame with some organ, or will feed frame if i notice his poop is a bit soft. keep it up your dog will thank it for you

thanks hopenfox- wont worry too much bout the egg then. and will keep trying the fish. what types of fish does everyone feed? and is whole best- what about just fillets? westimum- my boy ted also puts on weight at the drop of a hat. when i was feeding him dry he got a 'little' round (vet told me off ) i find it really easy to keep him at a good weight now. there is so many things to feed teds meals are ususally all different sizes so i can balance his food over the week and not feel bad eg if i give him a lamb shank or turkey neck one day i might give him a small piece of meat or some chicken necks the next day. the biggest thing for me was my guilt (yep i'm easy to con- its the eyes ) so this way ted always gets something to eat and it usually takes him a while to chew it down- everyones happy argee with tess- no matter the size of teds meal he always seems happy.

how important do you think egg shell is? ted likes eggs but doesnt eat the shell, i've tried breaking it up and mixing it in but he will only eat tiny bits (by accident i think ) and also whole fish he isnt keen on. is the tinned stuff ok? cheers guys

woohoo!! well done rom!! i second that ridgies do rock!! they are just the best dogs

ooo yes do tell if you find one i'm always on the look out for cheap suppliers at the moment i buy wherever i see cheap meat but would like to find a good place with fresh meat that is reasonably priced and has variety. dont know what suburb you're in but the foodland in newton is pretty good theres a leonards in the supermarket which does chicken stuff pretty reasonably. then the deli section is great too- chicken liver/giblets hearts etc and whole fish. they have a pretty good selection of red meats too. i've found that foodlands have much better variety then coles/woolies. apart from the central markets does anyone know where to get different meats like rabbit etc? i never see any around and would like to feed more variety to ted instead of chicken, lamb, beef over and over though he doesnt seem to mind.

i agree with tess. when i switched to prey model i fed ted to much variety too soon and he got quite loose poo. i just fed chicken wings and other boney bits until his poo firmed up again. he still gets a bit soft if i feed too much meat with hardly any bone but i would hardly ever fast him (unless it was very severe diarrhoea and/or vomiting) it usually rights itself the next day and wow about the red cordial!! i would never have thought that- learn something everyday.

hey thanks for the help guys- we have success the trick is frozen! so thanks hopenfox. ted was quite happy to eat liver frozen but only in bite size pieces. i think because its been so hot here it was like a nice liver iceblock for him does anyone feed giblets? and what are they actually! huski i'm not sure how long the patties would last but i think a couple months should be ok. the sticker thing on my frezer door says most meat can be left 6-12 months

i am cant wait it looks awesome

hey raw feeders! i'm having lots of trouble getting ted to eat organs. i've mixed it with fish, egg, cooked it a bit, nothing seems to work. he will eat a bit if its cooked but if its raw at all- no way! just tried tonight mixed with sardines and he ate all around the liver i'm pretty sure hes even licked the fish off the liver i've only tried to give chicken liver. so any suggestions?

i take my dog swimming at linear park, in the river. its off-leash but the river can be a bit gross. i have to rinse ted off after as he gets a bit itchy. but he loves it there and would swim all day. if you follow the link below its map number 10 where we go. good luck at the agility trials! http://www.npsp.sa.gov.au/webdata/resource...AreasJune07.pdf

cute pup! looks kind of like ted as a puppy- hes a jrt maltese cross. the first night i got him bout a year old and recently (nearly 2) as you can see he's turned into quite the scruffer! not really what i was expecting from the smooth little puppy he was but hes a great dog- very smart. training hasnt been a problem with him. but no he doesnt get tired easily no matter how far i walk him he still wants more at the end- but after a really big walk he is happy to sleep at home (ready for his afternoon walk!!) currently hes sleeping under my chair. good luck with your pup- if shes anything like ted, im sure she will be lots of fun!

tess- when i feed ted a big meal he just gets very little the next day- like maybe 1 or 2 chicken necks or a bit of meat. i'm too much of a softy to give him nothing

ive been looking at aussiedog products for a while- their stuff seems really good. does anyone have any other toys? and can you only get them on the internet?

theres a butcher near me- marden shopping centre. they are pretty good if you go on the right day. sometimes can have loads of choice- other time hardly anything. start of the week is the best bet. they cut bones up into different sizes too. also do roo minced or diced. do you feed ness raw?

geez hope someone get something out of my post. that was way too long forgot to ask if anyone in adelaide feeds raw and knows where to get 'weird stuff' ( eg rabbit, deer, goat etc) could they let me know?

great idea amstaff shane!! ive recently switched to a prey diet for my boy and im loving it- as is he i had a similar idea to you- but i went through all dol/internet pages and hi-lighted the bits i wanted and printed them off. my ted was on a barf diet but in my opinion it wasnt working and after a bit of research im a firm believer that dogs are carnivores- not omnivores. you just have to look at their teeth. all dogs teeth have a sharp edge to them as opposed to the back, flat grinding teeth of a true omnivore (such as humans). and plus whenever i have feed ted veggies they just end up on the back lawn but if he wants to eat grass he is more then welcome- thats the only plant material he gets. one thing i must add- dont give too much variety too soon!! i found this out the hard way. i was over-keen to give ted a variety of things and he got the runs bad!! so after a week on just chicken his poo is now nice again i was worried about giving him a blanced diet straight away- but to everyone thinking about switching- only feed one food source for at least the first week then start adding other things. this will also let you know if your dog has a problem with a particular type of meat. also organs shouldnt be feed until about a month into the diet- TAKE IT SLOW!! this is the way i'm doing it: week 1- all chicken week 2- added turkey then lamb (i did 2 meat sources in a week as ted didnt have a problem and poos remained nice and firm) week 3- added fish week 4- added beef week 5- small amount of organ meat. when i first tried to give ted organs he got the runs big time (too much too soon) so im just adding tiny bits and gradually building up the amount over time. im actually only up to week 3. but this is the plan. ted menu last week looks something like this mon- chicken 1/4 tues- chicken wings (1 morning and night) wed- turkey neck thurs- chicken wings (morning/night) fri-chicken thigh (meat only) sat- chicken 1/4 sun- lamb fillet. this is a fair bit of bone as ted seems to get quite a loose poo if he isnt fed much bone. wings arent ideal as there is hardly any meat but there was a really good special on and i couldn't resist!! will cut bone down in the future. eventually it will read something like this mon- chicken 1/4 tues- turkey neck wed- chicken thigh, chicken wing thurs- lamb roast (either meat with bone or not) fri- chicken drumstick, chicken liver sat- whole fish or tinned with an egg sun- chicken 1/4 OR whatever i happern to grab out the freezer in the freezer i have (in preperation!!) chicken 1/4 (whole cut up lenards had them 2 for $8 that a dollar a meal!!) chicken wings chicken necks chicken drumsticks chicken liver chicken giblets chicken thigh chicken frames chicken hearts lamb necks lamb fillet lamb shanks lambs fry lamb leg roast (bone in) beef steak beef mince beef stir-fry strips beef roast turkey necks turkey wings turkey drumsticks kangaroo tail whole fish (tommy ruff) tin sardines, salmon, mackeral i've found that grocery stores can have meat (beef/lamb) out quite cheap in bulk packs if you can catch it when they are on sale or reduced due to near use-by. although ted is only small so this stuff can be cut up into a few small meals. depending on what ted gets that day i vary his meals between 1 and 2. after doing a bit of reading and asking a few questions on here i have found the prey diet to be quite easy and simple. its just a matter of being brave enough to take the step! as for amounts to feed, i worked out roughly ted would need about 200gms a day (hes 8kg so its around 2.5% i just wanted an easy figure ) used that as my starting point and went from there. but i dont worry too much- if he has a big meal eg chicken 1/4, one day then he'll get a small meal eg. a couple of chicken necks, the next day. watch your dogs weight and adjust accordingly. and watch their poo- you will become an expert poo watcher hard, dry, white= too much bone, soft, dark= not enough bone. easy have fun with it. ted loves his diet and i love feeding him a natural diet and how i believe dogs are meant to eat. i will never go back to kibble.

hi ness i live in st peters. do obedience at 'the canine behavioural school'. dont get me wrong- i love going to the club and have learnt heaps and will keep going- just want to try something else! by the way i LOVE your signature. your dog is gorgeous!!

hey all just wondering if anyone can recommend any good places in adelaide where i can do agility with my dog? i know of a few clubs but was after some first hand experience where people have been there/know others who have gone there and know it to be a good club. i live in the north east suburbs but dont mind travelling (within reason!!) i'm already part of an obedience club which is fun but ted and i are already in the highest level after 6months of training. its more of a pet dog training club and i'm looking for something else to keep teds (and mine) interest. i've had my eye on agility for a while. we've done a little bit at obedience (they bring out equipment every now and again) and ted has taken a real shine to it. i think he could be pretty good (but i may be a little bias ) sorry for the rambling: all i really want to know is if anyone can recommend a good club that does agility in adelaide!! thanks nicole.

just want to say thanks to everyone for helping me out but got a couple more questions i'm a bit confused over the raw meaty bones aspect. are things such as necks etc classed as a bone meal or meat meal? sorry thats probably a stupid question. i'm guessing anything with bone is a bone meal? and any cuts of meat whether its whole, minced or diced is ok for the meat part? one more question on how much to feed. i'm going to trial ted on aroun 2.5% body weight. hes ideal weight is 8kg so thats 200gm of food a day? (i think my maths is working!! 8 x 0.025 is that right?) does that then mean that every day he needs about 200gm of food a day whether it is bone meat or offal? and the percentages then work themselves out over the week? i get that its trial and error (if hes fat feed less, skinny more) i just need a starting point!! oops just thought of another with the fishy bit, is any fish ok to feed. i've read of some people feeding fish heads and whole fish? they don't get all the little bones stuck? and is there ANYTHING to steer clear of? and should everything be frozen before giving it? can it then be defrosted or does that defeat the purpose? thanks to all who have helped out. and to those who have asked additional questions that i didnt think of i'm looking forward to starting the diet it should be fun and exciting, i guess for ted too and easy i went to the butcher/supermarket yesterday and got a few things to start with and couldn't believe the variety! and cheap too it was great!!

thanks delta charlie thats awesome. so its mainly meat then not bones? i like to give ted a bone everyday when i go out, would this be unneccesary then? do you only fed once a day? say if i gave him a bone in the morning and meat at night would this be ok? or will that be too much bone and will i just turn myself crazy trying to work it all out. thanks heaps for the links too fit for a king- thats my lab and yes she is a gutso!! but she lives with my parents now. the dog i'm talking bout is my terrierx ted. trying to convince my folks to switch maddie (lab) to a raw diet too.

hi all having recently discovered the idea of a prey model diet i think i want to have a go at feeding my dogs on it. but first i would like to ask a few questions. 1. what are the daily ratios of bone/meat/offal? is it 60/35/5% or similar 2. what do others feed as the meat component? is it mainly mince or can it be any kind of meat eg steak, stirfry meat, chicken breast/thigh etc? 3. do you need to add anything to the meat? 4. is the only difference between barf and prey the vegetables component? do prey feeders feed any kind of veggies? 5. is there any kinds of offal that should be avoided? 6. what % of bodyweight is the most common to feed? or is it more trial and error? 7. can anyone recommend any good books/websites for me to do other research if you cant be bothered answering questions!! i'm currently feeding my boy on advance dry with some natures gift mixed in. i've noticed recently he always seems to be hungry. he is definatly being fed enough (not fat but wouldn't want to put on any more weight). after his tea he goes back to his bowl a couple of times a night to see if hes left any or its magically filled up again. and he sniffs all around the kitchen for any little scraps. is he just being a gutso dog or could it be his diet? i'm sure i'll think of other questions. thanks all!!