I intended to buy a Beagle but came home with this....
Discussion
I don't like pedigree they chop and change their foods too much and the quality is not as good as they make out but for now it's more important he eats well esp as he is sl underweight.
I've done a LOT of reading into dry foods and the good ones are as follows
Applaws
Orijen
Lily's kitchen
Barking heads
Ziwi Peak
These are foods with very high quality meat ingredients and either no cereal or cereal of very good digestibility.
Lots of dogs do very well on many diets (Royal Canin, Hills, Proplan jwb, burns etc) and many seem to do well on the cheap and nasty diets (dogs are good scavengers and they can cope surprisingly well with rubbish but many don't and most of us want to feed decent foods to our friends to promote good health, not just hope our dogs will do ok on rubbish.
The science diets etc do put a lot if research into their foods to find the best balance of bits, mins etc but the very basic ingredients are not always of the quality you'd expect. (well I don't think so anyway!)
But those I have listed work on keeping the diet close to what dogs find easier to digest. The drawback is they are pricey!! However you can usually feed a lot less than other foods.
If we ever get another dog I'd want to feed the Lily's kitchen range, they also do a book on home cooked foods. My Jimmy loved the Salmon Bake
I've done a LOT of reading into dry foods and the good ones are as follows
Applaws
Orijen
Lily's kitchen
Barking heads
Ziwi Peak
These are foods with very high quality meat ingredients and either no cereal or cereal of very good digestibility.
Lots of dogs do very well on many diets (Royal Canin, Hills, Proplan jwb, burns etc) and many seem to do well on the cheap and nasty diets (dogs are good scavengers and they can cope surprisingly well with rubbish but many don't and most of us want to feed decent foods to our friends to promote good health, not just hope our dogs will do ok on rubbish.
The science diets etc do put a lot if research into their foods to find the best balance of bits, mins etc but the very basic ingredients are not always of the quality you'd expect. (well I don't think so anyway!)
But those I have listed work on keeping the diet close to what dogs find easier to digest. The drawback is they are pricey!! However you can usually feed a lot less than other foods.
If we ever get another dog I'd want to feed the Lily's kitchen range, they also do a book on home cooked foods. My Jimmy loved the Salmon Bake
Edited by bexVN on Saturday 15th June 16:58
rumple said:
Thanks for the info, last time I had a dog it was the days of Sunspot, Chum and/or tripe
Tripe would be good. Raw if you can get it. Also raw beef, raw chicken (wings and carcasses to clean up the teeth(, heart, liver (though offal in small amounts for now). Raw lamb bones are also good but do not give ox bones.
Snoop has had his second vacation and been microchipped today, he is a strong willed little chap, after two weeks he still is trying to get his collar off, the wife at first was intimidated by his biting, but has set about training him with a passion, he is at a stage where he won't eat without being told, all this she has done with rewards not punishment, we squirted him with water out of a sqeezy bottle which has largely cured the biting and we are introducing him to everyone we know because of his terretorial nature.
He is enrolled in obedience classes and is now a happy little chap and part of the family.
Update, Snoop has settled in well, he has been vaccinated and microchipped, the biting problem has been solved and he was housetrained in about 8 days, he is going walks now, he can be a little sod on the lead, part stuborness part insecurity, we feed him on royal canin dry food and he will have an oily fish with that a couple of times a week, he has a bone from the butchers twice a week and we haven't had any problems with chewing yet.
Snoop also came second at the school fete dog show, he is now apart of the family and it would be hard to imagine not having him around, he starts domestic guard dog training in a week, and my daughters are now getting on with him, at first he intimidated them with his biting, the only bugbear with him is he is a very reluctent walker, but that will come with time.
rumple said:
Snoop has had his second vacation and been microchipped today, he is a strong willed little chap, after two weeks he still is trying to get his collar off, the wife at first was intimidated by his biting, but has set about training him with a passion, he is at a stage where he won't eat without being told, all this she has done with rewards not punishment, we squirted him with water out of a sqeezy bottle which has largely cured the biting and we are introducing him to everyone we know because of his terretorial nature.
He is enrolled in obedience classes and is now a happy little chap and part of the family.
You can replicate this yourself, by yelping if the bite becomes too strong. It's what some folk call soft mouth training. We have done it with all our dogue de Bordeauxs. With mastiff breeds unless your keeping it as a working dog I would recommend doing this. If the dog is ever in pain it could mean the difference between a mouthing and a serious bite.
Bite inhibition can be re-enforced after the dog comprehends soft mouth training.
Edited by m4tti on Tuesday 9th July 22:52
bexVN said:
Still it's not a problem if they've stopped the biting. Far better this when young kids around, than still being an issue in a couple months. We see far more problems with pups continuing to play bite than those that don't.
Yes it could well be a problem as the canine has not gone through a process where it understands biting and bite intensity. There is no reason that play biting can't be managed. If it understands the nature of soft mouth, your vet may thank you one day when handling the dog if it ever got in a situation of pain.
Same applies in situations where the kids may accidentally close the dogs tail in the door. It's the difference between mouthing and an instinct pain response reaction. There's tons of papers written supporting this.
JEA1K said:
Paddy_N_Murphy said:
Good on you OP
You sure you want him up on the furniture - he will be there for life now, and as you said big mother fun steer to share with.
He'll turn into a 'couch dominator' which is what we have, all 8 stone of him. You sure you want him up on the furniture - he will be there for life now, and as you said big mother fun steer to share with.
We went to a family BBQ last night, dark and ate loads, Snoop had a big fuss made of him, he spent the evening playing with the in-laws staffy, everything looked rosy, we didn't know what was to come later......
I got up this morning to be greeted by a river of s
t, its everywhere, I have spent a solid hour cleaning it up, his bedding is in the washer, his crate has had to be hosed off, there is a small settee next to the crate, that got it, the dog has had to be bathed because he was covered in dried st.
This is because people thought it was a good thing to feed him sausages, he only has dry food and never treats, to say his stomach is upset is an understatement, he seems ok in his self but is now off his food, forgot to add I have also had to clean up sick because the wife spewed when she let him out, I must admit I am very strong stomached but I was dry heaving, all in all a great start to Sunday morning.
I got up this morning to be greeted by a river of s
t, its everywhere, I have spent a solid hour cleaning it up, his bedding is in the washer, his crate has had to be hosed off, there is a small settee next to the crate, that got it, the dog has had to be bathed because he was covered in dried st.This is because people thought it was a good thing to feed him sausages, he only has dry food and never treats, to say his stomach is upset is an understatement, he seems ok in his self but is now off his food, forgot to add I have also had to clean up sick because the wife spewed when she let him out, I must admit I am very strong stomached but I was dry heaving, all in all a great start to Sunday morning.
Next time send a very firm message to everyone. Tell them what has happened. Makes me so cross when people do this to other people's dogs but you need to be vigilant aswell.
I went to one party with Jimmy and someone tried to feed him a slice of pizza!! I said tried because I stopped them in time.
Keep a close eye on pup today, this could make him feel quite poorly. If he's still not eating later or diarrhoea is worse phone your vets for advice. Ensure he is drinking. Pups can deteriorate quickly and in this weather can dehydrate quickly. Fingers crossed he'll be a lot more settled by lunchtime once he's cleared his system!
I went to one party with Jimmy and someone tried to feed him a slice of pizza!! I said tried because I stopped them in time.
Keep a close eye on pup today, this could make him feel quite poorly. If he's still not eating later or diarrhoea is worse phone your vets for advice. Ensure he is drinking. Pups can deteriorate quickly and in this weather can dehydrate quickly. Fingers crossed he'll be a lot more settled by lunchtime once he's cleared his system!
Paddy_N_Murphy said:
Yup, happens with too much human food.
I had that pleasure on a Boxing Day morning after too many trimming treats.
Paddy, the mess was overwhelming, ive never seen as much crap in one place, poor little sod must have had explosive diarrhia , the wife was hurling, I was hungover, it wasn't good.I had that pleasure on a Boxing Day morning after too many trimming treats.
rumple said:
You have a good point there Doc, this morning I found out a child had given him an enormous piece of chocolate as well, he has picked up around oneish, he hadn't eaten or drank in that time, I was getting worried about him, he is getting over it now though.
Doesn't matter if a dog has a varied diet or not chocolates potentially toxic to any dog due to theobromine in it. Gassing Station | All Creatures Great & Small | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff