ravensmyst00

Atlas is healthy, vet checked, and still eats his own poo from time to time

i just dont let him lick me anymore

Dogs that eat faeces are usually searching for essential vitamins and minerals either missing from their diet or they are unable to process what is available in their current dog food.

Can you tell us what you are currently feeding your dog as this may provide a clue as to why your dog does this. Another question for you - do you find that your dog eats dirt and rocks as well?

For 8 months my mother in law came over to feed my Bullmastiff his lunch and to let him out for a play. Now that he is on 2 meals a day she still comes over to check on him daily and play with him.

Out of curiosity.... I ownder if the BARF feeders also look at their own diets as intensely?

I can honestly say my dog eats better than I do. Its sad really! And yes he is on a form of BARF diet.

Price comparison with Priceless Pets has been around $30 cheaper on Sentinel Spectrum when compared to my vets price. Now I use Revolution and that comparison is about the same amount of savings.

Priceless Pets responded via email within an hour of faxing through my order and the product arrived within a couple days. I have been quite happy with them.

I have been recommending them to everyone - now I just need to find some where that sells cheaper all wormer tablets and I will be very happy.

No, but I certainly believe that some vets will recommend that their clients feed the specific dry food that they sell at their veterinary surgery.

If you've ever attended a puppy pre-school at a veterinary surgery you will see what I mean, they always recommend that the attendees feed their puppies the brand of food that they sell.

Some vets may not do this, but in my experience 90% of them are guilty.

The vet that I with currently is the first one that hasnt pushed Eukanuba or Science Diet on me. Its also the first one that has said not to use Drontal all wormer as well. They have it at their clinic but neither of the vets recommend it.

All other vets I have been to have pushed X - brand dog food and have pushed the use of Drontal. Why because unfortunately they do get kick backs which usually go towards equipment for the clinics.

The same thing applies for your local GP.

Thanks all. Your advice is fantastic. I really did listen to my vet as said she is trained in this. After reading all different forums i started to question her advice. As far as i am concerned she is my baby and wish to look after as i would my skin kids. My skin kids were never fed jar food and always fed a balanced home cooked meal due to preservatives and such c*#2p so why the difference with my fur baby. Can you please inform me on what sort of foods you feed your own babies (fur kind) and what would be best for my baby. I really want to do what is best for her to help her grow strong and healthy always. When it comes to skin kids i know but fur kids it is all new to me. I'm getting there but good advice never goes astray. I will deffinately bo looking for a new vet.

You can have a look at my website which has a run down on what I feed my boy. The only change is he is now getting 3 cups of the Phuds instead of Science Diet. And he recently put himself on 2 meals a day. (I need to update my website).

Xanders website

Hope this will give you a general idea.

We started on Eukanuba puppy and mixed it with her old food. She just picked out the meat and left the dry, we then tried Hills Science with the same result.

We were advised to stop all other food and just feed her dry until she gets used to it, ("she will eat it when she's hungry enough" they said). She eats a few mouthfuls of the dry and stops.

I found my bullmastiff turned his nose up at Science Diet - his breeders dogs did the same thing. You can try adding a bit of chicken stock to the dry to soften it a bit. But I agree put it down for her if she doesnt touch it in 5 minutes take it away. You will soon find that she will begin to eat it.

I am getting a little confused here. Now let me explain my cofusion. In reading other forums on diets, the majority of breeders are recomending a raw diet am i correct? Now on a visit to my local vet she was asking my diet for my pup. In telling her i feed her a raw diet she was utterly disgusted. Lectured me into feeding her processed food. Told me to give her bones, chicken necks and just dry food, as my pup was fussy not liking canned food. Now to me just dry food never seemed enough, so she eventually got a taste for canned food. Was i completely stupid listening to my vet, i mean she is a vet and trained in this area so why not listen. She told me until she turns 12mths old i have to feed her canned food after that she doesn't care what i feed her. Being breeders can you please give me some advice on a diet that will be healthy for her and she will enjoy.

Personally I would have looked for a different vet. But that is just how I am. I have been lucky enough to have a vet that highly recommends and supports the feeding of a raw diet.

Its hard not to listen to a vet as you tend to look at them as an expert in their field and you trust them.

Currently I feed my boy - 800grams of mince and 3 cups of a product called Phuds (similar product to Vets All Natural) and I have no problems with him being on that. Mind you my boy is a growing bullmastiff. My vet loves how I feed him.

I would look at putting your pup back over to the raw diet. Just introduce it slowly and watch how the general health of your dog will improve. I would also look for a new vet if possibe.

That is my personal thought on the issue.

Poor boy! Hope it goes well for him! I guess I have been lucky there!

But how many dogs would have to have surgery for this reason? Is it better to not routinely desex, unless indicated medically?

Or at least wait until the dog is physically matured for his size and breed, as mentioned in the article?

Every male dog that I have owned (with the exception of my show boy that I currently own) were desexed after the age of one. Why some people may ask - because every dog that I met that was desexed before that age had an infatuation with either a guests leg, a blanket or what ever they could wrap their legs around and do the old "doona dance" (sorry guys I just cant use the correct word not knowing what age our readers are).

I never had problems with my boys as they got out of the need to "doona dance" before I had them neutered. Not only that they also got out of the puppy phase. Many dogs neutered at an early age I found never matured mentally. As long as you get them neutered after 12 months I think that is fine especially if you have no intention of breeding or showing. It stops their need to roam and unwanted accidents.

I stopped feeding raw meaty bones a few months ago, because my girl broke them into shards, and I worried that she'd puncture her innards or break a tooth. (I was a bit late- today she had a broken tooth removed because it had gone bad).

I give her fresh chicken frames and necks and frozen turkey necks- I freeze them to stop her swallowing them whole but have often wondered if she is missing out on anything important by no longer having those meaty bones. Well tonight I found this article which dissects the nutritional content of a raw bone.... http://www.thepetcenter.com/xra/bonecomp.html

its interesting reading

I have to say I am lucky enough to have a vet the actually supports and has pushed me to ensure that I put my bullmastiff on the BARF diet. Unfortunately because it maintains such a lean dog I am not able to feed him totally on BARF and I have to add kibble.

I read over this article when I was researching the BARF diet. I dont totally agree with what this guy is saying as it appears to be out of the US and I believe someone else pointed out it is the birth place of "man made processed food only for your pets". This has only guaranteed that the vets in the US end up with very thick wallets and you end up with very sick dogs and very large debt in the end.

There is always a risk with feeding bones as with any food. Hence the reason why I ensure that I am there with my bullie from the moment he is given the bone till the moment he is finished. Marrow bones (aka dinosaur bones) are only given cut in quarters so my boy can gain access to the marrow once that is eaten the bone is removed. Too many dogs choke on the knuckles off the marrow bones because they fracture and get stuck in the dogs throat. Something my in laws dont understand as its their thought that a dog should be tossed outside with a marrow bone and allowed to do what they want with it. The other bones my boy gets are lamb flaps. I have been lucky enough to find a butcher that will leave all the meat on the lamb flaps as it saves him close to an hours worth of work if I call him first thing in the morning on delivery days. Chicken carcasses are given as well but I find they tend to go off really quickly so I dont give them all that often.

In the end if you wish to feed your dogs bones - Go for it!. Just supervise them at all times. Make sure you have pliers on hand incase one gets stuck and remove any bones that are either too small or are showing signs of chipping.

You are going to find all sorts of articles stating the pros and cons of bones etc. In the end its up to you the owner to decide what is best. In the end it is best to go in with all knowledge so you can make the best decision.

Just my opinion.

I would like to start My doberman and red healer on this particular diet. But I am finding it hard to get any documentation on getting that "balanced" meal and what weights to feed each dog.

Is anyone able to help me? At the moment they are on Coprice Family dog biscuits they are in great condition but I would like something more natural.

Please anyone??

Check out the following

Xander's website

I've got my boy's diet listed on there. It gives you a general run down on his mince meal - he's not fully on Barf as it keeps my bullmastiff a bit too lean but the mince meal is about as balanced as you can get it.