Best diet for GSD?
Discussion
a said:
Regarding raw food diets... I've never been a fan of feeding pet dogs raw meat. Even if their stomachs can handle it, they chew and spray raw meat juice all over the floor/walls and then jump up and give me big "kisses" full of festering raw meat bacteria...
No thanks.
For outdoor/working dogs, fair enough.
Never had a problem with ours, it's wolfed down, bowl licked clean in 30 seconds not a single drip.No thanks.
For outdoor/working dogs, fair enough.
Edited by a on Tuesday 9th May 16:57
We're careful with the work surfaces and wash the bowls everyday, keeping the food frozen until the night before. Call me sceptical but I think the salmonella thing is more scare mongering than anything, there's a real negative agenda against raw food yet our dogs are dying younger and younger despite these 'scientifically formulated' diets full of grain that dogs can't even digest.
Plenty of sloppy kisses here and we've all survived food poisoning free.
My 18 month old gsd and 5 year old chocolate lab are both on Wainwright's kibble and have no issues,as has been said,they can be fussy eaters and my boy Mr Frodo certainly is.
The lab,Sam,does suffer from a dicky stomach now and again,probably down to the fact he eats pretty much anything he finds and would quite happily eat the world if he could get it in his mouth,i always keep a packet of arrowroot buscuits in the house as they seem to stop the chocolate rain within a couple of days.
The lab,Sam,does suffer from a dicky stomach now and again,probably down to the fact he eats pretty much anything he finds and would quite happily eat the world if he could get it in his mouth,i always keep a packet of arrowroot buscuits in the house as they seem to stop the chocolate rain within a couple of days.
They've been on Arden Grange for adults three days now, and they love it, empty the bowl straight away. Their poop doesn't seem to have changed a lot, it is gooey to firm, but not diarrhoea at all.
Still not sure of the protocol if they squeeze a gooey one out when we are walking them. We tend to feed them an hour before walkies, then let them out in the back garden as soon as they've finished eating.
Still not sure of the protocol if they squeeze a gooey one out when we are walking them. We tend to feed them an hour before walkies, then let them out in the back garden as soon as they've finished eating.
King Herald said:
They've been on Arden Grange for adults three days now, and they love it, empty the bowl straight away. Their poop doesn't seem to have changed a lot, it is gooey to firm, but not diarrhoea at all.
Still not sure of the protocol if they squeeze a gooey one out when we are walking them. We tend to feed them an hour before walkies, then let them out in the back garden as soon as they've finished eating.
Gooey or not it still needs cleaning up as best you can. It may be better to walk first then feed.More natural for them and reduces risk of bloat that shepherds can be prone to.Still not sure of the protocol if they squeeze a gooey one out when we are walking them. We tend to feed them an hour before walkies, then let them out in the back garden as soon as they've finished eating.
FiF said:
How do mean, not sure of the protocol if they squeeze a gooey one out. You clean it up as best you can, we carry kitchen towel sheets to mop up in case of real issues. Yep it's grim work but has to be done imo. All goes in the plastic bags and then bin it.
We use a small dustpan and a trowel in the back yard, but as mentioned, maybe better to feed them after walking.Handling two large and unpredictable dogs, with main leads and head collar leads, on doesn't leave many hands for carrying a dustpan. We're learning though.
crispian22 said:
I think I read somewhere that it's advisable to feed what's termed as deep chested dogs after exercise,something to do with food getting lodged at the bottom of the chest and causing injury.
Deeper chested breeds are more prone to their stomach twisting and this is more likely to occur with exercise after feeding (not always)An hour after feeding for exercise should be ok but they reckon dogs in general are better walked before food the domestic version of the chase before the meal!
King Herald said:
We use a small dustpan and a trowel in the back yard, but as mentioned, maybe better to feed them after walking.
Handling two large and unpredictable dogs, with main leads and head collar leads, on doesn't leave many hands for carrying a dustpan. We're learning though.
There are sprays available that freeze 'gooey, mess, making it easier to bag uppHandling two large and unpredictable dogs, with main leads and head collar leads, on doesn't leave many hands for carrying a dustpan. We're learning though.
Cannot remember the name but expect you can find it off the shelf in a large pet store
Sounds like these two are in the right home. Love the photos you have been posting
They have yet to poop once in our evening walks. Tonight we took paper towels and more bags, and a carrier bag, just in case, but we did leave their evening meal until after we got back.
I can't believe how much fur I'm getting off this pair, when I brush them. Probably a ball as big as my head off each one. Not sure if they are losing weight, or they were just so thick with loose fur before.
And they have definitely settled in well, taken over the house almost.
Big boy Blue.
I can't believe how much fur I'm getting off this pair, when I brush them. Probably a ball as big as my head off each one. Not sure if they are losing weight, or they were just so thick with loose fur before.
And they have definitely settled in well, taken over the house almost.
Big boy Blue.
Our 3 (4.5 yo Frenchie, 2.5 yo Terrier and 4m old Terrier) are on a raw diet.
Frenchies are prone to digestive issues and moving ours on to a raw diet did her the world of good; when she came to us at a year old she was hyper and struggled to eat, moving to raw calmed her down and she absolutely loves it. The two Terriers love it too and all three always get favourable comments from the vets and other dog lovers, about what great condition they are all in.
We buy frozen already prepared, it's also a darn sight cheaper than a decent kibble, as an added bonus their poos are tiny and hard, (as a consequence the Frenchie no longer has anal gland issues), the poos hardly smell and they don't fart anymore, or at least their farts don't smell.
I was sceptical at first, it was the wife who discovered and pushed to try raw, but we struggled to find a kibble that a) argreed with the Frenchie and b) struggled to find a kibble that both the Frenchie and eldest Terrier liked and didn't get bored of, we wouldn't go back now and any future dogs (the 4m old Terrier had raw from the day we got her) will always be on raw.
Raw also contains tiny bits of bone which is good at keeping the teeth clean.
Frenchies are prone to digestive issues and moving ours on to a raw diet did her the world of good; when she came to us at a year old she was hyper and struggled to eat, moving to raw calmed her down and she absolutely loves it. The two Terriers love it too and all three always get favourable comments from the vets and other dog lovers, about what great condition they are all in.
We buy frozen already prepared, it's also a darn sight cheaper than a decent kibble, as an added bonus their poos are tiny and hard, (as a consequence the Frenchie no longer has anal gland issues), the poos hardly smell and they don't fart anymore, or at least their farts don't smell.
I was sceptical at first, it was the wife who discovered and pushed to try raw, but we struggled to find a kibble that a) argreed with the Frenchie and b) struggled to find a kibble that both the Frenchie and eldest Terrier liked and didn't get bored of, we wouldn't go back now and any future dogs (the 4m old Terrier had raw from the day we got her) will always be on raw.
Raw also contains tiny bits of bone which is good at keeping the teeth clean.
Edited by HTP99 on Thursday 18th May 23:55
bexVN said:
Deeper chested breeds are more prone to their stomach twisting and this is more likely to occur with exercise after feeding (not always)
An hour after feeding for exercise should be ok but they reckon dogs in general are better walked before food the domestic version of the chase before the meal!
18 months ago just before Christmas our GSD bAn hour after feeding for exercise should be ok but they reckon dogs in general are better walked before food the domestic version of the chase before the meal!
h had a twisted stomach. We know a policeman who lost his dog due to this issue so we have always been very aware of it and it still happened to us. About 7pm in the evening she couldn't stand up or keep still, her stomach was like a large rugby ball. As it was after hours we had to rush to an emergency pet hospital Stoke on Trent way. Very stressful as every second counts. They carried out the operation and stitched the stomach to the chest cavity wall. In the early hours her blood pressure fell away so they had to open her up again. She had massive internal bleeding from her spleen which had to be removed. She then had several blood transfusions. Miraculously she survived. It was a horrible experience for us all.Dogs with a large ratio between chest and 'waist' are prone to this I.e greyhound, GSD etc
My advise is never exercise a dog less than 2 hours after a meal.
Never give massive meals all in one go, small meals more often, if possible, is the best way to go.
Get special feed bowls which slow down the dogs eating, our dogs now take about 8 minutes to eat rather than 8 seconds, it's very important.
Hope this helps.
We feed them twice a day, 7 am and pm now, after their walk.
Still not sure exactly how much they need to eat. With Wainrights they rarely finished their bowl in one sitting, but came back to it several times. With the Arden Grange biscuits Blue empties his right away, but Sky tends to leave some, which Blue now polishes off if allowed to.
Sky was a real porker when she first got to the rescue centre, and loves her treats apparently. We don't give them any, maybe a few single biscuits occasionally during the day.
Still not sure exactly how much they need to eat. With Wainrights they rarely finished their bowl in one sitting, but came back to it several times. With the Arden Grange biscuits Blue empties his right away, but Sky tends to leave some, which Blue now polishes off if allowed to.
Sky was a real porker when she first got to the rescue centre, and loves her treats apparently. We don't give them any, maybe a few single biscuits occasionally during the day.
Our female, Sky, has 49kg written on her papers from when she was vaccinated in February. That was when she was put in the kennels and they told me she was pretty fat. They have slimmed her down because she has bad hip/arthritis, so I want to be careful she doesn't start to pack the lbs on again.
I'll take her into our vet for a checkup and a weigh soon.
I heard stories that their owner used to cook them a chicken every day to eat, not sure how true that is.
I'll take her into our vet for a checkup and a weigh soon.
I heard stories that their owner used to cook them a chicken every day to eat, not sure how true that is.
King Herald said:
Our female, Sky, has 49kg written on her papers from when she was vaccinated in February. That was when she was put in the kennels and they told me she was pretty fat. They have slimmed her down because she has bad hip/arthritis, so I want to be careful she doesn't start to pack the lbs on again.
I'll take her into our vet for a checkup and a weigh soon.
I heard stories that their owner used to cook them a chicken every day to eat, not sure how true that is.
Wow 49kg is big for a male shepherd let alone a female. I would imagine she needs to be under 40kg at least. (biggest and very overweight male I knew was 54kg)I'll take her into our vet for a checkup and a weigh soon.
I heard stories that their owner used to cook them a chicken every day to eat, not sure how true that is.
bexVN said:
Wow 49kg is big for a male shepherd let alone a female. I would imagine she needs to be under 40kg at least. (biggest and very overweight male I knew was 54kg)
We didn't get a weight for him, just her. He is a lot bigger than her too, so I guess she must have been pretty damn porky three months ago. If anything she looks/feels a bit bony now, but you can't feel her ribs.Gassing Station | All Creatures Great & Small | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff