Yonjuro

Thanks SG it makes for a nice restful afternoon when the clowns are buggered :laugh:

Just do a Thai green curry :D

Great stuff, SG, I am really happy for you

THanks :) Aww, thanks DDD, that is very nice of you to say this :)

Great! Thanks DDD, your comment really made me chuckle. I am so pleased you enjoyed it :D Thanks Hazy, it's a bit early for a beer, but maybe this evening if you can't get it out of your head :laugh: Thanks so much for your continued comments on this thread

Here is the latest in the adventures of Ronin and Tigger. I have tried something a bit different with the soundtrack this time. I hope you like it and any comments are greatly appreciated :)

Wow, that is interesting and something I have never heard of before. I suppose it makes sense, and probably okay, but I don't think I would like to use meat that old. I do buy lots of meat when its on its last day at the supermarket and that saves me a lot of money. I would expect the stuff beyond use by to be very very cheap to make it worthwhile? Once I bought some cheap chicken wings from a supermarket with a day to go on the expiry and took them home and they smelled foul (not fowl :laugh: ) - so in the bin they went.

There is a difference between packing your kid a healthy lunch of fresh foods and packing your kid supplements. If said kid is getting a good variety of foods, the diet shouldn't need to be "balanced" with dietary supplements. Also, I assume you are aware that Protexin isn't actually labeled for daily use in healthy dogs? There is a reason for that but I'm sure you've done your research and understand why that is. Yes I am aware of both of those things, thanks :) "Said kid" is also able to tell me when there is something wrong or explain it to a doctor :D

Well, I don't agree... :) I don't think it is rocket science to be honest. Yes, there is an overwhelming amount of contradictory information around these days, just like with human diets. Some fad or hype and some just common sense. My daughter gets fed mainly unprocessed foods with the occasional sweets and processed food including takeaway - but these things makes up a small proportion of her diet. A vast number of kids are way overweight at her school at such a young age, so this begs the question...why? So why is feeding healthy food to a dog different to feeding healthy food your human family? I feed Ronin raw unprocessed meats, bone and offal. And treats I make myself and even the odd bit of fruit and veg as a treat. I don't see this as any different to what you feed to human or dog if you want them to have the best opportunity to be healthy. I also feed supplements - I don't subscribe to the "what wolves did"... I feel aspects can be taken and improved upon now that we know that certain supplements certain properties that can be beneficial to health and wellbeing. I do agree that some get carried away, and some may think of me as being too full on with diet too. I joined a raw feeding forum and was immediately put off by the extreme nature of their single-mindedness. I unsubscribed as it felt cult like I also agree that wolves eating the stomach contents of prey in order to get grains is BS. I don't think there is an evil plot by food manufacturers to brainwash vets into only recommending their particular brand :D But they are certainly aligning themselves to professionals in order to increase brand awareness and position in the market. Smart marketing but nothing new or outrageous. - my business is branding so far be it from me to knock them for this :laugh: I don't think coconut oil, fish oil, turmeric and probiotics are akin to unicorn dandruff :laugh: But hey, I don't care if people think they are snake oil :) I do think that grains may be okay for many dogs, but also believe that many are used as fillers in dog foods in order to make them more affordable. Meat is expensive so the bulk has to be made up with something else. Is scarfing down a bowl of dry processed kibble that then requires the dog to consume lots of water the best way (generally speaking) or is fresh food better (generally speaking). Obviously different dogs have different requirements and issues that will require specific feeding regimes. BTW, I am not anti-kibble, I think there are some really good ones available these days and if you dog does well on the ones that are mainly cereals, corn etc, then that is good too. Anyway, it is just a topic that I find fascinating and I really don't see why it seems to cause so much anger and frustration between dog enthusiasts? A forum is about discussion and sharing ideas and concepts, I don't agree with everyone and I certainly don't expect people to agree with me or share my beliefs on food and nutrition :) I also respect the OP's and others views even though they may differ from mine.

I watched this the other day with my 7 year old daughter, afterwards she said "now Ronin can tell us if mum gets pregnant" :laugh:

+1

Plenty of breeders & members of this forum raise their puppies from weaning on a totally raw diet, it's not that hard! If you want to feed raw and kibble, feed the two elements of the diet seperately, eg raw in the morning & kibble at night. Raw & kibble are digested & absorbed quite differently, feeding together may predispose your puppy or dog to digestive upsets. This 'no mixing' was a theory that I had previously and vigorously subscribed to. From my research I can find no evidence that this is in fact an absolute rule. All of my breeders pups were raised on kibble and raw, as was Ronin. Huskies are renowned for having a sensitive stomach, but in my experience this hasn't been the case. He is now on fully PMRD. But I agree that it may not be right for all puppies. One thing that the potential mixer must be aware of is to make sure that whatever you mix is balanced. Regular mince for instance may throw out the calcium phosphorus ratio as it will be high is phosphorus and will be a calcium inhibitor, so this would need to be balance with some edible bone (like a chicken neck) Anyway, these are just my thoughts and I respect other peoples opinions on this controversial subject :) I also agree that pups can be raised on a fully raw diet :)

Thanks so much Nushie

Yeah, the comments were full on LOL. I am surprised I haven't had any abuse on my Ronin and Tigger vids yet :D But give it time I guess.

Pet mince normally has bones in it. It is a tricky one in your case, if you can't get the dog to chew the raw meaty bones then you may need to go for a barf style and teeth brushing. Or wait until the adult teeth are strong and go for bigger bones like beef necks and roo tails. I think you just need to experiment further while you watch what is going on. The only think dangerous about chicken frames is again if the dog doesn't crunch them down then choking becomes a danger.

I tried a few of the nylon bones with flavours and Ronin just didn't take to them at all. I wasted around $40 on them Frozen carrots are good for teething pups as are the necks mentioned above. They can also be a great tool for "drop' and "on your mat" training. I use an old towel inside and use beef neck mainly these days and started the beef neck from around 6-7 months I think. Ronin never budges from his mat (towel) when chewing them. If it gets knocked around to the floor - a simple "on your mat" and he will pick it up and put back on the mat to chew. This training and treat has been a real sanity saver for us, especially during the 'Witching hour' with a teenage husky :D - it calms him before arousal and insanity starts, and the extended chewing is exhausting for him. Frozen salmon heads however are definitely and outdoor chew Another thing that I found really excellent when teething is bully sticks. They used to last the best part of a day when he was small, but sadly they only last 3 - 5 minutes these days :D When they are young, you can take away the bully stick when they have finished the chew session, rinse it off and freeze it ready for the next session and you get the added bonus of it being cool.

Well, I gotta respect someone who recognises their techno limitations :thumbsup: That vid is great, and certainly gives me some ideas - thanks! Not sure when I be able to implement them, but definitely food for thought :) I've only started with vids since I made this thread, so it is all learning for me :) Edit - typo

:laugh: all the effort to make a movie and the grass is the main thing noticed :D ...I don't think Spielberg has anything to be worried about LOL I am surprised it is as good as it is to be honest. Lots of traffic, lots of wee, lots of digging and of course the Perth summer. They finally put some drainage in around the water bowl, and ground off the sharp corners from the limestone wall surrounding the sand pit :) Agility equipment goes in next week I think

Thanks HW- I am glad you liked the vid, and thank you for commenting :) It is pretty simple to add a soundtrack to a vid, I think youtube has walk throughs. Once you have that done you can muck around with trimming clips etc. It seems daunting at first but once you dive in it gets easier. I use iMovie on my Mac and then just upload to Youtube. I'd love to see more vids of Stan and Maddie - the digging one you did was very funny

Wow this turned into a thread with some great pictures.

Thanks very much DDD :) I am so pleased you commented on his coat, I am pretty full on with his diet so it is nice to hear that you noticed :) Believe it or not but Ronin is around 25kg and Tigger is around 37kg. His coat definitely makes him look very solid, but if you go back many pages to where he was at the river you can see that he is quite lean and muscular. Tigger is certainly a big grey, possibly because when diagnosed with a slight heart murmur he went to GAP and was neutered at 4 months. I think the early neutering can result in a bigger dog sometimes? Well that what my old vet said anyway??? Apparently his heart is all good now Ronin is scary smart and quickly learnt ways to use his shoulders and bum to bump Tigger because of the big weight difference :laugh: He also is able to get lower than Tigger and use that to his advantage. Ronin will chomp on Tiggers legs and as we all know greys have very thin skin and plenty of bones near the surface, so I can only guess that he is very gentle as there is yet to be any scratches or woulds on either. Thanks again for your comments :)

Thanks Rebanne I am happy that you liked it :) Thanks CC :) I am pleased that you are still enjoying watching these loonies run amok :) And yep I have the Randy Newman track in my maybe list :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

I think frozen turkey or duck necks are quite good as are the wings as mentioned above. I did frozen chicken necks and wings when my puppy was 8 weeks to around 6 months, but he didn't swallow them whole. I prefer softer bones for when they are young and lamb flaps are a bit too easy to gobble down. Stuffing meat in a chicken carcass is good too. I prefer to wait until around 6 - 8 months and then move onto beef necks. Lamb necks are good but make sure they are not cut across the bone or there will be a bone disc in the centre that is very dangerous if swallowed. Depending on your feeding, they really don't want much more that 10% bone. So they don't need to crunch much to get this. Too much calcium can bind zinc and is not a good thing... well for Huskies anyway. But either way with a growing puppy you don't want to throw out the calcium:phosphorus ratio with too much bone :) If you are primarily a kibble feeder, I would be inclined to add a bit of red meat which will be high in phosphorus to balance the additional calcium added to the diet through bones :) Check the stool consistency as this will give you a reasonable guide on whether you are feeding too much bone. Unfortunately it is much harder to check the nutrient balance until it is too late.