Better Diet For Our Dog?

[PerthMeggles]

Hey guys

We have a Lab x Malamute who is 8 this year and getting old (eek, didn't realise how old he was getting!)

Until now he's just been on a diet of "commercial" foods - Supercoat or some such dry biscuits, and some tinned wet food.

His poos are quite big, he poos quite often and they're often runny-ish as well. This, combined with the fact that he's getting older and perhaps more delicate, and I'd like to look into some better food for him.

He's currently fed once a day - half a tin of the wet food and a cup of dry biscuits. He enjoys it enough - hell, he'll enjoy anything edible :)

I've briefly looked into the whole BARF thing, but am not sure I want to go completely hardcore into the BARF diet, but if you guys could suggest a different way of feeding him or some "better" brands of food or something?

Thanks :)

[Salukifan]

You could switch from supermarket sourced kibble high in indigestible fibre (that's what produces all that poo) and canned food to a premium kibble and raw meaty bones like chicken carcasses and wings. Canned food is mostly water - a pretty expensive way to hydrate your dog. ;)

My guess is you'd notice the difference pretty quickly.

Most of us have our preferred brands of food. I feed Royal Canin. A lot of folk like Advance which is cheaper but still good.

An 8 year old shouldn't be slowing down too much? Is he overweight? Maybe a visit to the vet for a checkover might be a good idea.

[MissMedusa]

Pet Chef in Midvale sell 'BARF' including meaty bones, chicken frames, turkey necks and some beef mince blends. They don't use any preservatives and I think it's all free range. They deliver all over Perth. They also have a very informative website if you want to check them out.

[darlingdog]

Hey guys

We have a Lab x Malamute who is 8 this year and getting old (eek, didn't realise how old he was getting!)

Until now he's just been on a diet of "commercial" foods - Supercoat or some such dry biscuits, and some tinned wet food.

His poos are quite big, he poos quite often and they're often runny-ish as well. This, combined with the fact that he's getting older and perhaps more delicate, and I'd like to look into some better food for him.

He's currently fed once a day - half a tin of the wet food and a cup of dry biscuits. He enjoys it enough - hell, he'll enjoy anything edible :)

I've briefly looked into the whole BARF thing, but am not sure I want to go completely hardcore into the BARF diet, but if you guys could suggest a different way of feeding him or some "better" brands of food or something?

Thanks :)

Hi....I too have an 8 year old. He is not a great eater and I struggle to keep weight on him. His coat was looking terrible, really awful and I started to look at better food for him. The past 5 months he has been getting Black Hawk Holistic kibble which he loves, fresh chicken wings or lamb flaps, a little yoghurt and sometimes some tinned food in with his kibble. He now looks great and his coat is wonderful. I highly recommend the Black Hawk combined with the fresh food. He also has great poo and a lot less of it !

[Red Fox]

Easiest way is to switch to a good premium dry food - Royal Canin, Nutro, etc (personally I'd avoid Science Diet though) and swap the canned crap for roo and/or chicken mince with the occasional meaty bone thrown it - chicken frames / wings, roo tail, lamb flaps, etc.

Otherwise VAN complete mix. Make a months worth and freeze it.

[Mason_Gibbs]

I feed fresh meat from VIP pet meats in Midvale and Vets all natural complete mix

[Staffyluv]

Easiest way is to switch to a good premium dry food - Royal Canin, Nutro, etc (personally I'd avoid Science Diet though) and swap the canned crap for roo and/or chicken mince with the occasional meaty bone thrown it - chicken frames / wings, roo tail, lamb flaps, etc.

Otherwise VAN complete mix. Make a months worth and freeze it.

Yep totally agree with this...

We use Nutro with human grade minced meat and we have barf patties I the freezer for a few nights a week... Raw meaty bones but be careful with the marrow bones, I made the mistake of giving to many. So now we use turkey necks, chicken frames and brisket bones...

They have a can of sardines every second day with their morning kibble and their meat of a night with some kibble and a bone during the day..

[Nekhbet]

your dog is used to a highly processed diet and for a long time - so he will take a while to get used to better foods or raw even as his digestion will be 'lazy' for lack of a better word.

Start slowly, I love the vets all natural diet and a few people I know have noticed a big difference with it as well. A few smaller meals a day with some yoghurt should help him no matter what you choose. And you will see some big sloppy poos for a while after the change, just make sure he stays hydrated in the process.

[PerthMeggles]

Thanks SO much for all of your replies guys, you're all so super helpful on these forums :))

[PerthMeggles]

An 8 year old shouldn't be slowing down too much? Is he overweight? Maybe a visit to the vet for a checkover might be a good idea.

Oh he's not slowing down. On the contrary - he's utterly nuts. So much so we've considered Prozac or sedatives hahaha. I just meant that he's old and his digestion and body may need something more :)