What Diet Is Your Dog On?

[huski]

Hi DOL'ers.

Sorry if this topic has been done but I am quite curious, what do you feed your dog? Do you believe in an all natural/no presevative etc diet or will you feed your dog can food? Do you use BARF? We tend to cook mince we give to our dogs, is this bad (ie is raw mince better)? Has anyone had bad experiences with particular brands of dog food?

We use an all natural etc diet for all our animals (cat and dogs). We gave my husky tinned food (My Dog) once as an emergency and he vommited it up, and he has also eaten PAL meaty bites a couple of times and always eat around the red ones Our breeders recommended VIP and Scottys dog rolls as bought food, but we do a big "cook up" of mince and vegies, garlic and pasta/rice for them or feed them chicken necks/wings. They also eat dry food every day. My Tibbie was eating canned food for years before we got my husky, who's breeders informed us about the benefit of an all natural diet needless to say her health changed - her breath didn't smell as much, her coat was better etc.

I am asking because people having varying opinions as to what is good for dogs and what good nutrition/diet is. And I'm also curious

ETA: I had a vet tell me once to stay away from pigs ears as they are full of preservatives, what does everyone think about this? We only give our pups the dried liver treats.

Edited November 17, 2006 by husky87

[KitKat]

I feed high quality/super premium dry food usually with raw/meaty bones/leftovers/meat/mince/sausage/natures gift/etc on the side

My boys love piggie ears...and they have a nice smokey smelling breath after eating them

ETA - i've tried differing ways of feeding, eg raw/barf, cheaper foods, more expensive foods etc...and currently i seem to have just the right balance as my dogs are looking great at the moment and are healthy as can be But again...as it says in my sig... "The best food for your dog is the food your dog does best on! Packaged or Unpackaged!!!"

Edited November 17, 2006 by KitKat

[jesomil]

I think raw is best and i think BARF is the ideal dog diet. I have seen huge differences in dogs changing to a BARF diet.

There is a huge difference in dog food quality out there. Some foods are down right nasty.

I dont give my dogs any of the processed dog treats like pig ears. They get to chew on raw bones instead.

There are heaps of differing opinions about dog diets and heaps of differing levels of experienced people out there. You are best to do as much research as you can and then make a decision.

I personally feed my dogs about 2 nights a week dry, 3 nights a week bones (chicken frames etc), 2 nights a week barf patties. I like to stick to the BARF as much as possible but it doesnt always happen. It also depends on how much work they have done as to what or how much i will feed them.

[Flying Penguin]

All natural dry food - Pedigree Puppy and puppy canned food from Pedigree as well.

[ShesaLikeableBiBear]

We feed Nutro Natural Choice as the base of their diets, we also give chicken wings and sardines.

[Working_Setters]

My dogs were in Euk Performance and I was very happy, except for the price. Tried switching to Bonny Working Dog, wasn't happy, dogs lost coat condition, bigger stools and perhaps not quite as much energy. I'm now trying "Overlander" from the Great Aussie Pet Food Company, as the name suggests it's a local company, I called them up and had a chat, I liked their answers so I'm giving it a go. They also make a lot of food for racing greyhounds, which interested me as I'm looking for superiour athletic preformance from my dogs. At 25% & 12% the Protein/Fat numbers are pretty high, so less active dogs might become over weight on this food. Anyhow will give it a month or two and see how I like it. I also feed lots of RMBs etc.

Anybody interested in the Great Aussie Pet Food Company products see HERE

[J...]

I feed both - would like to do full BARF but so expensive to get any remotely "different" in rural Vic.... $4 for a 15 cm section of roo tail at the closest pet food store As for getting my hands on things like turkey necks, I've got no chance.

So I feed EP Lite and bones (mostly lamb) and vegies and fruit when available. I also give her a dose of Health Booster from Vets All Natural, wasn't completely convinced she was getting everything she needed out of the little I feed her (very very easy doing dog!). I mix the HB in with a small amount of fat-free yoghurt and 3 fish oil tablets for her coat.

She looks pretty good on that, still a little too heavy for my liking so her diet's a work in progress, as always

[Norskgra]

I feed mine mainly Nutro but they also get sardines, eggs and turkey necks, chicken frames etc with their Nutro a few times a week. I also add yoghurt, Fish Oil capsules and Apple Cider Vinegar every day and cottage cheese a few times a week.

[saintlysusan]

Im feeding Boris Proplan and whatever else my kids sneak him lol

He has lots of little snacks too.

[Guest kitakins]

i feed natures gift canned food or cooked mince [kuma cant handle raw], rice and raw veges. an egg and sardines gets thrown in once a week. kuma cant handle dry food either.

[Benji's Mum]

Mine get Coprice Dry Food but they stick their noses up at it unless it is made sloppy with kitchen scraps. They prefer kitchen scraps and fresh bones.

[mita]

I stay right away from artificial colourings & preservatives. Also have to take care of amount of fat because the 10 yr old & 13 yr old Tibbie girls can easily run to fat. And one has a tendency to hot-spot skin allergy, since coming to the heat of Qld.

So, the basics are... Science Diet Dry (for littlies) as a sprinkling, Tuckertime Dog Roll (chicken, rice & veggies) which is only available from vets as a staple, couple tins of tuna in springwater each week added, also sometimes a raw egg yolk (not white). When younger the girls had some Flaxseed (Linseed) Oil added, too.

I also put in a 1/4 to 1/2 Metameucil (spelling?), because vet recommended that after one Tib in particular had trouble with impacted anal glands.

For teeth, I give chicken wings with as much fat taken off as possible. But vet warned me there's fat in the bone itself, so I have to watch that because of weight problems. Lately I've added a Dentabone each week.

For occasional treats & rewards, they had Eukaneuba Treats for Small Dogs...& pieces of dry liver treat.

[New Age Outlaw]

Cleo gets Eukanuba for large dogs with raw mince and Scotties dog roll; Silver gets the mince and dog roll, but because she only has six teeth she gets alternately rice, pasta, occasionally a slice or bread, or breakfast cereal to replace the dry food. Several times per week I add veggies (peas, beans, carrot - whatever happens to be handy) and once a week sardines. They both also are on Joint Guard supplement and a fish oil capsule daily. The combo seems to work as they both look good at the moment (even if I say so myself).

ETA For treats Cleo likes pretty much anything I give her (4X2 biscuits, sometimes liver treats), and Silver gets the odd Scotch Finger biscuit because normal dog bickies are too hard for her.

Edited November 18, 2006 by New Age Outlaw

[Guest Clover]

My guys are on a RAW diet mainly.. Elvis has been getting a cup of working dog dry food a day as an extra to get some weight on him. They mainly eat chicken and beef, but now our food supplier is stocking whole rabbits they will be getting them once or twice a week. They also have vegies/ fruit, glucosamine, flaxseed meal & livamol added to their meals every day.. and fish oil tabs a few times a week.

[RottiesNRags]

My two are on Proplan.

Keisha (rottie) is on Adult chicken

and Bloo is still on large breed puppy.

We also give them some raw mince and treats after dinner.

[t(AD)pole]

I feed my border collie a raw diet. I mince vegies in the blender (cucumber, broccoli, apple, pear, carrot, squash, capsicum etc.) and put that with raw dog meat (mince stuff) food dinner. For breakfast she gets 2 chicken wings or necks or watever i can find. She also gets lots of raw meaty bones.

[kamuzz]

Coda was originally on Proplan, as per his breeder's recommendation. Then he got pano and we were advised to feed him food with less protein.

We've tried Royal Canin and Science Diet, but he kept turning his nose up at the food.

Then we got Misty as a foster, and she wouldn't eat dry food either.

So at the moment everyone is getting SuperCoat with Nature's Gift canned food added.

I'd like to try Nutro, but what if the fuss pots won't eat that either?

[oonga]

i *think* Nutro like the other premium and super premiun foods,

come with a money back guarantee,

so if they don't like it you can return the leftover contents and get your money back.

otherwise you could always try to get a sample and see how they go with it?

There is an advertiser for Nutro on this webpage, one of the flashing banners up the top.

[goldielover]

I've recently switched from EP Natural to Eagle Pack Holistic and am very happy with the results. I also feed a bit of raw as well... chicken necks, meaty bones, raw mince, yoghurt, cottage cheese, sardines in oil and the odd egg. I do add a couple of things at times, such as Kelp, Omega blend and Apple Cider Vinegar.

[enna]

I feed Sasha (dalmatian) around half dry food/half fresh. The dry food is Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Organic Formula. I add and rotate organic chicken mince, chicken necks & wings, lambs necks, eggs, yoghurt, sardines in olive oil, fresh fruit and veges (pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot, spinach, bok choy, brocolli, green beans, apples etc).

I've tried a few different ways of feeding her and this seems to suit her best. She has a lot of energy but isn't hyper and it keeps her weight just right and her coat shiny!