DIET AND WHAT TO FEED YOUR PUPPY
Updated February 2020.
With so many food brands sitting on the shelf, and adverts tempting you to feed this or that, we may get a bit confused as to what is the right diet for the dog. Especially when everyone tells you their product is the best one. So here are some tips where diet is concerned.
With so many food brands sitting on the shelf, and adverts tempting you to feed this or that, we may get a bit confused as to what is the right diet for the dog. Especially when everyone tells you their product is the best one. So here are some tips where diet is concerned.
BARF - Biological Appropriate Raw Feeding.
Although this diet came to the forefront with Dr Ian Billinghurst, this diet has been around for centuries. In the days before world war 2, dog food was simply tinned meat or scraps off the table. When world war 2 happened, steel became short and they had to come up with other packaging ideas. This is really when the dried food companies were born.
Raw feeding however which had been used for centuries seemed to have more health benefits than dried feeding, and that is why our dogs are raw fed. I can honestly say our dogs never go to the vet for illness. They all live a long life. No doubt because they are not spayed or neutered as well has a big part to play. If they are spayed and neutered it is well after maturity, which is key now to not having cancers in your dogs and other health issues. So read my all things natural page for more info.
Raw feeding was used because dogs stomachs are designed to dissolve bone, fats, and it goes back to the days of the wolf. Okay dogs are domesticated now, but they still do much better on raw foods and have less allergies than cereal fed dogs.
We must remember that dogs are carnivores, as well as herbivores. Carnivores have teeth to tear flesh and chew bone. Dogs will also eat fruits, berries, and some root veg.
Although this diet came to the forefront with Dr Ian Billinghurst, this diet has been around for centuries. In the days before world war 2, dog food was simply tinned meat or scraps off the table. When world war 2 happened, steel became short and they had to come up with other packaging ideas. This is really when the dried food companies were born.
Raw feeding however which had been used for centuries seemed to have more health benefits than dried feeding, and that is why our dogs are raw fed. I can honestly say our dogs never go to the vet for illness. They all live a long life. No doubt because they are not spayed or neutered as well has a big part to play. If they are spayed and neutered it is well after maturity, which is key now to not having cancers in your dogs and other health issues. So read my all things natural page for more info.
Raw feeding was used because dogs stomachs are designed to dissolve bone, fats, and it goes back to the days of the wolf. Okay dogs are domesticated now, but they still do much better on raw foods and have less allergies than cereal fed dogs.
We must remember that dogs are carnivores, as well as herbivores. Carnivores have teeth to tear flesh and chew bone. Dogs will also eat fruits, berries, and some root veg.
Silvestre puppies
All our puppies are started onto raw food. They start with a weaning food which is minced so fine it looks like a paste, and we add milk in with the meat. Once they are eating the food and up to 3 meals per day, we change the texture of the food to a courser mince with bone. As they get to week 6 I introduce a small amount of offal into the mince. I also give vitamins and minerals so that I know the puppies are getting everything they need to grow properly. Weaning starts at 3 weeks of age approx. I try days earlier and sometimes they are ready and sometimes not. I am always relieved when puppies start eating well as it takes the strain off mummy dog then. All puppies should be thoroughly weaned before sale. No-one should sell puppies that are still just drinking milk off the mum. Make sure your breeder has weaned the litter. Most illegal imports aren't eating solid food yet.
We used to promote a raw food company and give their puppy vouchers, but recently I have found them most unhelpful. So I will no longer promote their food. So we have ditched the voucher scheme and now I am providing in a plastic tub for each day 5 days worth of food for your puppy. The food will have a sealed lid, and inside will be a variety of meats which the puppy has been eating. Included in the food will be a multi vitamin and mineral supplement. You can not purchase this food as this is home made food for our dogs. We can however recommend a raw company that really thinks well on raw diets. Which is www.cotswoldraw.com Cotswold have a few variety of puppy food including tripe. This is the closest diet on the market to what your puppy will of been fed.
Bring a cool bag with you when you collect your puppy as you will be given 5 days worth of frozen food. All food should be frozen before consuming as it kills all the parasites in raw meat. Each puppy requires 10% of their body weight in food per day. Adults require 2%, unless they are Vizsla who may well require double. Some of my adult Vizsla eat 4LB of raw foods per day. Where on the chart they should be eating 2. Why? Because they are active, run about. Working dogs also require more food per day than a pet dog.
Just because we like raw doesn't mean you have too! We totally understand that we have vegetarians buying a puppy who cant handle meat. We also have clients who can not store frozen dog food, then we have clients who just hate the whole idea of raw food. This is absolutely fine and we do not take offence if you change the diet. But the one thing we say is change GRADUALLY. If you change gradually you won't have problems. If you change quickly your dog will be lethargic, sick, diarrhoea.
So what dried food would I recommend? Their is only one and that is Eden dog food. We apply for a sample of their food on your behalf so you can change over to this gradually over the coming weeks. Eden think well in the ingredients in their dried food. Now their are days my dogs haven't had raw. We may be away, we may of forgotten meat, or my order hasn't come in. I feed Eden and have no dietary issues what so ever. My dogs love their moist range. I also use it as training treats.
I do advise you do not change any diet whilst the puppy is in the stress period. This can last up to 2 weeks after leaving the breeders home. Once the puppy is settled and life is easier, then you can think about changing diet, and think about vaccines etc.
All our puppies are started onto raw food. They start with a weaning food which is minced so fine it looks like a paste, and we add milk in with the meat. Once they are eating the food and up to 3 meals per day, we change the texture of the food to a courser mince with bone. As they get to week 6 I introduce a small amount of offal into the mince. I also give vitamins and minerals so that I know the puppies are getting everything they need to grow properly. Weaning starts at 3 weeks of age approx. I try days earlier and sometimes they are ready and sometimes not. I am always relieved when puppies start eating well as it takes the strain off mummy dog then. All puppies should be thoroughly weaned before sale. No-one should sell puppies that are still just drinking milk off the mum. Make sure your breeder has weaned the litter. Most illegal imports aren't eating solid food yet.
We used to promote a raw food company and give their puppy vouchers, but recently I have found them most unhelpful. So I will no longer promote their food. So we have ditched the voucher scheme and now I am providing in a plastic tub for each day 5 days worth of food for your puppy. The food will have a sealed lid, and inside will be a variety of meats which the puppy has been eating. Included in the food will be a multi vitamin and mineral supplement. You can not purchase this food as this is home made food for our dogs. We can however recommend a raw company that really thinks well on raw diets. Which is www.cotswoldraw.com Cotswold have a few variety of puppy food including tripe. This is the closest diet on the market to what your puppy will of been fed.
Bring a cool bag with you when you collect your puppy as you will be given 5 days worth of frozen food. All food should be frozen before consuming as it kills all the parasites in raw meat. Each puppy requires 10% of their body weight in food per day. Adults require 2%, unless they are Vizsla who may well require double. Some of my adult Vizsla eat 4LB of raw foods per day. Where on the chart they should be eating 2. Why? Because they are active, run about. Working dogs also require more food per day than a pet dog.
Just because we like raw doesn't mean you have too! We totally understand that we have vegetarians buying a puppy who cant handle meat. We also have clients who can not store frozen dog food, then we have clients who just hate the whole idea of raw food. This is absolutely fine and we do not take offence if you change the diet. But the one thing we say is change GRADUALLY. If you change gradually you won't have problems. If you change quickly your dog will be lethargic, sick, diarrhoea.
So what dried food would I recommend? Their is only one and that is Eden dog food. We apply for a sample of their food on your behalf so you can change over to this gradually over the coming weeks. Eden think well in the ingredients in their dried food. Now their are days my dogs haven't had raw. We may be away, we may of forgotten meat, or my order hasn't come in. I feed Eden and have no dietary issues what so ever. My dogs love their moist range. I also use it as training treats.
I do advise you do not change any diet whilst the puppy is in the stress period. This can last up to 2 weeks after leaving the breeders home. Once the puppy is settled and life is easier, then you can think about changing diet, and think about vaccines etc.
RAW FOODS
- Chicken mince, including bone.
- Turkey mince, including bone.
- Chicken necks, wings, carcass
- Turkey necks, wings, carcass
- Beef mince, excluding bone
- Lamb mince, excluding bone
- Lamb ribs
- Beef bones
- Duck
- Rabbit
- Pheasant
- Venison
- Salmon
- Cod heads, salmon heads
- White fish
- Sardines
- Offal but not every day
- Fruit
- Herbs
- Green tripe
- Fish oils
- Eggs
- Minerals, vitamins in the way of supplements.
KIBBLE
Kibble is another word for dried dog food. It is a complete dog food in a sack. Everything your dog needs in is the form of a biscuit. It will either be 2kg weight 10 kg to 15 kg weight.
With kibble foods you will need to choose a better quality one. I would advice you check out:
www.edenfoods.co.uk.
You must check kibble foods for ingredients however as many contain potatoes, wheat, maize which does not suit dogs digestion. Rice however is more easily accepted.
Kibble is another word for dried dog food. It is a complete dog food in a sack. Everything your dog needs in is the form of a biscuit. It will either be 2kg weight 10 kg to 15 kg weight.
With kibble foods you will need to choose a better quality one. I would advice you check out:
www.edenfoods.co.uk.
You must check kibble foods for ingredients however as many contain potatoes, wheat, maize which does not suit dogs digestion. Rice however is more easily accepted.
TRAY FOODS
This is my other choice of feeding dogs. Because I go away in my caravan or dog shows and I can be gone the weekend, I need an easy way of feeding dogs. So I use Forthglade tray foods or Nature diet. Both the dogs love and they are easy to store and take away with me. Not frozen so do not require a fridge or freezer.
www.naturediet.co.uk or www.forthglade.com
This is my other choice of feeding dogs. Because I go away in my caravan or dog shows and I can be gone the weekend, I need an easy way of feeding dogs. So I use Forthglade tray foods or Nature diet. Both the dogs love and they are easy to store and take away with me. Not frozen so do not require a fridge or freezer.
www.naturediet.co.uk or www.forthglade.com
More Info
Dogs are very much like humans. You have heard the saying "You are what you eat"! This applies to animals too. So if you feed a poor quality dog food, chances are the dog will have flaky dandruff, dull coats, lack lustre look, not gaining nutrients from food, lethargic. It can also effect the health, behaviour and temperament.
UK BARF group on facebook helps lots of people with advice.
Did you know that you can swap from kibble to raw feeding with no dietary issues. But if you swap from raw to kibble you will do. Your puppy will not cope with the cereal and it will get diarrhoea, sickness.
Did you know raw fed dogs do not get worms any more than a kibble fed dog!
Remember your dog should never be over weight, and it should never be underweight. A fat obese dog is at risk from heart disease just like we are as human beings.
It is vitally important that all puppies are given the nutriments they require in the first year because if you do not the dog will not develop into a fit and healthy adult dog.
Did you know that your dog can get salmonella from a sack of dried dog food just as it can do from raw feeding. Hygiene is everything,
Did you know that a dried sack of food if heated up during the daytime can cause issues in the dogs stomach if eating it later. We lost a dog to bloat on just that reason. The food fermented in the dogs stomach and it caused gas which caused bloat and gastric torsion. Having an autopsy done on the dog that was the result it was the cereal dog food. We were on holiday in the Lake district and I took a dried sack of food for my Weimaraner. The food killed her.
Did you know some dried food companies add in food colourings which can send your dog hyper active.
Did you know that some dried food companies add a chemical onto the dried food as no dog will eat it until they make it appetising.
Dogs are very much like humans. You have heard the saying "You are what you eat"! This applies to animals too. So if you feed a poor quality dog food, chances are the dog will have flaky dandruff, dull coats, lack lustre look, not gaining nutrients from food, lethargic. It can also effect the health, behaviour and temperament.
UK BARF group on facebook helps lots of people with advice.
Did you know that you can swap from kibble to raw feeding with no dietary issues. But if you swap from raw to kibble you will do. Your puppy will not cope with the cereal and it will get diarrhoea, sickness.
Did you know raw fed dogs do not get worms any more than a kibble fed dog!
Remember your dog should never be over weight, and it should never be underweight. A fat obese dog is at risk from heart disease just like we are as human beings.
It is vitally important that all puppies are given the nutriments they require in the first year because if you do not the dog will not develop into a fit and healthy adult dog.
Did you know that your dog can get salmonella from a sack of dried dog food just as it can do from raw feeding. Hygiene is everything,
Did you know that a dried sack of food if heated up during the daytime can cause issues in the dogs stomach if eating it later. We lost a dog to bloat on just that reason. The food fermented in the dogs stomach and it caused gas which caused bloat and gastric torsion. Having an autopsy done on the dog that was the result it was the cereal dog food. We were on holiday in the Lake district and I took a dried sack of food for my Weimaraner. The food killed her.
Did you know some dried food companies add in food colourings which can send your dog hyper active.
Did you know that some dried food companies add a chemical onto the dried food as no dog will eat it until they make it appetising.
Why are people moving away from kibble to raw? Simply the dogs are healthier, have less allergies, smaller stools, good teeth, skin and hair.
How can I tell if my dog has an allergy to food?
Positives to raw feeding.
How can I tell if my dog has an allergy to food?
- Looses weight and doesn't hold weight, not digesting food very well. Other dogs eat your dogs stools as they are still nutritious.
- Stools may have a lot of mucous around the stool.
- Diarrhoea
- Dried skin, flakey skin or wet weeping skin.
- Hives to sores on skin.
- Nibbling at feed, rubbing eyes.
- Over production of yeast on skin, in ears and feet.
- Auto immune disease.
- Immune system can be stressed which can then start demodex mange.
- Swollen eyes, lots of eye gunk.
- Swollen fat ears.
- Smelly wind and lots of it.
Positives to raw feeding.
- No bad breath
- Less Tartar on teeth
- Skin is not dry or flakey, no dandruff.
- Skin is supple and feels well hydrated.
- Coat shines in the sun.
- Eyes are bright and healthy.
- Anal glands self empty.
- Stools are smaller, firmer and easier to pick up.
- Less Stools in the day.
- Food digests slower.
- Less wind.
- Good weight and good muscle development.
- Grows slower, which in turn is beneficial to skeleton growth.
So how do we go about feeding raw food as it sounds complicated ?
Quantity of food?
For the toy breeds, utility breeds, and other they do not use up as much energy as an HPR breed of dog. The Vizsla is so active they burn off their calories, and especially in the winter times as they use food for energy to keep warm. So you may feed far more food to a HPR breed than other breeds.
Dr Ian Billinghurst set out that a dog should eat as a puppy 10% of its body weight in food amount. But an adult dog 2-3% of its body weight.
A true carnivore diet the dog would need 80% muscle meat, 10% bone and 10% offal. Its not always easy to find a company that follows that rule exactly. Cotswoldraw do and I do like the way they think about the food you are giving the dog. We give you a list of companies to look at in our hidden pages when you buy a puppy off me.
You will find many people follow different diets. You must find the one that suits your dogs.
What is the most common question with regards to diet ?
But you do cook this food right ? No wrong, the food is raw. Cooking bone hardens it and increases the chances of bone puncturing the intestine. Never buy cooked bones.
I understand dogs who are fed raw get worms all the time ?
No wrong! Any dog can get worms, and more often than not worm eggs are carried on the back of fleas, so if your dog licks its fur after a flea has touched its skin most likely the dog then will have worms.
My dog is thin why is that?
Your not feeding it enough. All these packets have guidelines only. Some dogs are more active and burn off the calories quickly. So feed the dog double and see if this makes a difference.
My dog is a picky eater ?
Then add brewers yeast to the diet. Which you can buy off www.dorwest.com and this increases appetite.
My dog eats too quickly and is greedy ?
Then buy a bowl designed to slow feeding down. You can purchase them off amazon. Plastic and easy to wash. I have several I use for treats as it takes longer to get the treat out.
My dog has started to guard his food?
Then change your routine in feeding. Open the back door, feed the dog on the patio. Let the dog finish, open the door and call the dog in. Put the dog in the crate before going outside and picking up the food bowl. Simple really as it takes away the problem. Dont give treats to the dog it can save, so use small treats that it eats quickly. If you do not like feeding the dog outside, stop right now. Its a dog, and a dog would eat in the garden no problems. Dont let children run around the dog whilst it is eating.
My dog has lunged at my child whilst eating a bone?
Stop giving the dog a bone. Stop the child running around the dog with a bone. I had this with a Weimaraner years ago, one I did not breed. Someone rang for advice. Their 3 year old child would jump on dogs back and pull the collar whilst the dog was eating its bone. The dog growled. My reply was well I would of growled too! Let the dog have the bone out of the kids way. Its an accident waiting to happen. Wasn't exactly brain science!
My dog is too thin, but I feed him loads ?
Quite often more likely than not its because your not feeding enough fat in the diet. Dogs need fat to make energy. Go to your local butcher and ask if they will make you up a LB of dog meat. They will put in offal, fat offcuts, and some meat. This will build your dog right up.
My dog is over weight, what can I do?
The obvious thing is look at what your dog eats every day. Is it on 2 meals per day ? Are you feeding scraps off the table, if yes stop. Are you giving lots of treats per day ? if yes look at the calorie content. If your dog is on 2 meals per day only then you need to change the diet to meats which have less calorie, so chicken, rabbit, turkey. Lean meats. But add in fruits and veg to fill the dog.
If you feed fats, offal, lamb, beef then your dog will put on weight more than using leaner meats.
Bone
A dog needs bone in its diet to gain calcium and other minerals and nutrients. This is why you will see in raw diets that bone is included in many of the prepared meats. Beef and lamb does not unless it has added chicken/turkey. Bone also creates a nice firm stool. Sometimes however people feed too much chicken bone and the dog can become constipated. To over come constipation you should feed more muscle meat, or add in water to the diet. Water softens the stool and the dog passes it easier. Especially puppies. You can add 1/2 mug of water to each meal. Many people feeding the barf diet do not realise that bone makes up the diet.
Minces
Most dog food is in the form of minces over chunks. The minces are put through a mincer to grind the bone. In the puppy varieties they often run it through twice so their is less larger lumps of bone. So when people talk about feeding minces it does not meat the meat from tesco. It has bone in dog food. Beef and Lamb and Venison doesn't usually have bone in it, unless its mixed with chicken minces. Most minces come from birds and all the carcass goes in the production. This is why you should not eat dog minces.
Can I give my puppy adult food? Yes you can as puppy meat is just run through the mincer finer, but actually the adult minces are good, and come with more variety in food groups.
Offal
Dogs need small amounts of offal to grow properly. Offal however fed in large quantities can cause diarrhoea or black smelly, runny stools. So do not over feed offal.
Fats
Make sure your dog is not eating too much fats, especially if they are older and put on weight easily. Some dogs can not tolerate fats very well, quite often the Pug, Frenchie and breeds that swallow food whole rather than chew well.
Eggs
Eggs are good in moderation. Dogs can also eat egg shells. Eggs are a whole food in themselves, but you can over do giving eggs. Eggs contains lots of vitamins except Vitamin C. They have are a good zinc source. Zinc is used in reproduction.
Herbs and Fruits
Dogs naturally will eat herbs and fruit as part of their diet, again to have the right nutrients in its diet. Dogs enjoy apples, plumbs with pip removed, strawberries and raspberries.
Minerals
In the wild a dog would get a lot of minerals from eating their prey, but also through soil and roots. We noticed that our dogs used to lick the soil certain of the year, until we started feeding green tripe with straw still inside from the cattle. You can feed natural minerals from www.dorwest.com
Iodine
Iodine is found in some food groups, such as seaweed, spinach. If your dog has an under active thyroid your natural nutricionist may suggest your dog eats this as part of the diet.
Fish Oils
Fish oils are just as important in dogs diets as they are humans. Creates good teeth, hair, and skin, joints and many other things as well. It is said it can help the brain also.
Vitamins
You can either include food groups which are loaded with vitamins, or you can add vitamins in the form of supplement powders or liquids.
Fresh water
Water should always be available for your dog. Some dogs can detect the chemicals in our drinking water and may prefer to drink rain water. Some dogs that have allergies may be better on bottled water or rain water.
If your dog is not well, go to a homeopathic vet, as they will help you with the right diet for your dog. They will know what supplement to give your dog to benefit it.
Reproductive
Bitches who are being bred with benefit from Wheatgerm oil from www.dorwest.com usually taken a month before a season, doubling the daily dose a day before mating, the day of mating and the day after mating. Then continue for 3 weeks as it helps stop absorption of puppies. But at this time giving raspberry leaf tablets until 2 weeks after birthing. I prefer to add raspberry leaf even in my bitches diet in and around seasons as it can help with infections and all sorts of things. Bitches food quantity remains the same until the bitch is 6 weeks pregnant then you up the food by another meal per day, little and often basically. When the bitch has had the puppies feed her very well, keeping to three meals per day. Around 3 weeks of age the puppies mum must then be given larger quantities of food to help produce milk in the most draining time of their lives. When the puppies are weaned off you can reduce her food intake and increase exercise. They should not be over exercised whilst nursing puppies.
As for males, stud dogs should be given wheat germ oil as well, and this helps with fertility and sperm production. It is said breeding dogs require more fats than non breeding dogs. So you may want to introduce omega three oils into their diet as well. For us using the raw diet we can add in beef fat.
As I understand from researching bitches used for breeding should have a higher fat content in their diet than pet bitches. I have been trialling this in the last few months and I will let you know the outcome.
Vitamins and Minerals
www.dorwest.com
Also for more artificial supplements
www.zooplus.co.uk
www.hyperdrug.com
Good luck in feeding your dogs.
Remember what goes in comes out. So purchase Poop bags, poop scoops. Find out if your council will allow you to put dog waste in your litter bins, as most answers are no. You could be fined. Use the red boxes provided by councils to dispose of dog waste.
When walking dog not leave dog poop in bags on walks and have no intention of picking them up. This is irresponsible as dog poop carries all manner of hazards. So dispose of it properly. You can purchase a DICKY BAG. www.dickybag.com this bag can clip to your rucksack and it holds several poops. Also a nice air freshener is in side. Once zipped up you can not smell poop on the walk. Then put the stools in the red boxes available provided by councils.
Buy biodegradable poop bags, so that when they go to landfill the bag breaks down, and you are not adding to the plastic pollution of the earth. All my bags are biodegradable.
Dog poo can contain parasites, and especially worms. Contact with this worm for young children or pregnant woman can render blindness. Would you really live with yourself if that happened, so clean up after your dog. If you feed the barf diet your dogs stools will be easier and smaller to pick up.
We use a hotbox which is a natural composter. The heat kills bacteria and was recommended to me by the council. They cost £195 online. The compost can be put in the garden after the bacteria has removed all harmful material. It takes 30 days to turn to compost. You can also put leaf matter in it to speed up the process and water. It heats the stools up to such a heat it removes bacteria. But I have noticed that you must use them correctly. Plenty of leaf matter inside and water if your dogs fed raw food. It comes out just as garden mulch. Its brilliant really.
- You must think storage. Obviously a freezer just for the dog in the garage.
- You will need plastic containers that have sealed lids for storage in your fridge whilst defrosting.
- Food should only be prepared on a chopping board that you only use for the dog food.
- Anigene is a bacterial, fungicidal, virucidal, and sporicidal product which can be brought in 1 litre bottles from Amazon or elsewhere on line. It is something I couldn't live with out.
- Ideally buy human grade animal food in sealed containers which are more hygienic.
- Do not leave the defrosted dog food beside your dinner in the fridge.
- Buy only stainless steel bowls as stainless steel does not harbour germs like plastic or ceramic. This is why in industrial kitchen you will see stainless steel everywhere.
- Do not leave raw meat out so that flies get on and lay eggs. In the summer time, feed the dog and if he does not eat straight away, remove it.
- Always wash bowls quickly.
- Never buy from a supermarket minces and come home and feed straight away. Fresh meat may contain parasites, and should be frozen first before feeding.
- You should have knives and scissors which are just for the dog food, do not mix them with your utensils.
- Buy complete food mixes and they have done the thinking for you. But check, do not assume they have vitamins and minerals in them.
Quantity of food?
For the toy breeds, utility breeds, and other they do not use up as much energy as an HPR breed of dog. The Vizsla is so active they burn off their calories, and especially in the winter times as they use food for energy to keep warm. So you may feed far more food to a HPR breed than other breeds.
Dr Ian Billinghurst set out that a dog should eat as a puppy 10% of its body weight in food amount. But an adult dog 2-3% of its body weight.
A true carnivore diet the dog would need 80% muscle meat, 10% bone and 10% offal. Its not always easy to find a company that follows that rule exactly. Cotswoldraw do and I do like the way they think about the food you are giving the dog. We give you a list of companies to look at in our hidden pages when you buy a puppy off me.
You will find many people follow different diets. You must find the one that suits your dogs.
What is the most common question with regards to diet ?
But you do cook this food right ? No wrong, the food is raw. Cooking bone hardens it and increases the chances of bone puncturing the intestine. Never buy cooked bones.
I understand dogs who are fed raw get worms all the time ?
No wrong! Any dog can get worms, and more often than not worm eggs are carried on the back of fleas, so if your dog licks its fur after a flea has touched its skin most likely the dog then will have worms.
My dog is thin why is that?
Your not feeding it enough. All these packets have guidelines only. Some dogs are more active and burn off the calories quickly. So feed the dog double and see if this makes a difference.
My dog is a picky eater ?
Then add brewers yeast to the diet. Which you can buy off www.dorwest.com and this increases appetite.
My dog eats too quickly and is greedy ?
Then buy a bowl designed to slow feeding down. You can purchase them off amazon. Plastic and easy to wash. I have several I use for treats as it takes longer to get the treat out.
My dog has started to guard his food?
Then change your routine in feeding. Open the back door, feed the dog on the patio. Let the dog finish, open the door and call the dog in. Put the dog in the crate before going outside and picking up the food bowl. Simple really as it takes away the problem. Dont give treats to the dog it can save, so use small treats that it eats quickly. If you do not like feeding the dog outside, stop right now. Its a dog, and a dog would eat in the garden no problems. Dont let children run around the dog whilst it is eating.
My dog has lunged at my child whilst eating a bone?
Stop giving the dog a bone. Stop the child running around the dog with a bone. I had this with a Weimaraner years ago, one I did not breed. Someone rang for advice. Their 3 year old child would jump on dogs back and pull the collar whilst the dog was eating its bone. The dog growled. My reply was well I would of growled too! Let the dog have the bone out of the kids way. Its an accident waiting to happen. Wasn't exactly brain science!
My dog is too thin, but I feed him loads ?
Quite often more likely than not its because your not feeding enough fat in the diet. Dogs need fat to make energy. Go to your local butcher and ask if they will make you up a LB of dog meat. They will put in offal, fat offcuts, and some meat. This will build your dog right up.
My dog is over weight, what can I do?
The obvious thing is look at what your dog eats every day. Is it on 2 meals per day ? Are you feeding scraps off the table, if yes stop. Are you giving lots of treats per day ? if yes look at the calorie content. If your dog is on 2 meals per day only then you need to change the diet to meats which have less calorie, so chicken, rabbit, turkey. Lean meats. But add in fruits and veg to fill the dog.
If you feed fats, offal, lamb, beef then your dog will put on weight more than using leaner meats.
Bone
A dog needs bone in its diet to gain calcium and other minerals and nutrients. This is why you will see in raw diets that bone is included in many of the prepared meats. Beef and lamb does not unless it has added chicken/turkey. Bone also creates a nice firm stool. Sometimes however people feed too much chicken bone and the dog can become constipated. To over come constipation you should feed more muscle meat, or add in water to the diet. Water softens the stool and the dog passes it easier. Especially puppies. You can add 1/2 mug of water to each meal. Many people feeding the barf diet do not realise that bone makes up the diet.
Minces
Most dog food is in the form of minces over chunks. The minces are put through a mincer to grind the bone. In the puppy varieties they often run it through twice so their is less larger lumps of bone. So when people talk about feeding minces it does not meat the meat from tesco. It has bone in dog food. Beef and Lamb and Venison doesn't usually have bone in it, unless its mixed with chicken minces. Most minces come from birds and all the carcass goes in the production. This is why you should not eat dog minces.
Can I give my puppy adult food? Yes you can as puppy meat is just run through the mincer finer, but actually the adult minces are good, and come with more variety in food groups.
Offal
Dogs need small amounts of offal to grow properly. Offal however fed in large quantities can cause diarrhoea or black smelly, runny stools. So do not over feed offal.
Fats
Make sure your dog is not eating too much fats, especially if they are older and put on weight easily. Some dogs can not tolerate fats very well, quite often the Pug, Frenchie and breeds that swallow food whole rather than chew well.
Eggs
Eggs are good in moderation. Dogs can also eat egg shells. Eggs are a whole food in themselves, but you can over do giving eggs. Eggs contains lots of vitamins except Vitamin C. They have are a good zinc source. Zinc is used in reproduction.
Herbs and Fruits
Dogs naturally will eat herbs and fruit as part of their diet, again to have the right nutrients in its diet. Dogs enjoy apples, plumbs with pip removed, strawberries and raspberries.
Minerals
In the wild a dog would get a lot of minerals from eating their prey, but also through soil and roots. We noticed that our dogs used to lick the soil certain of the year, until we started feeding green tripe with straw still inside from the cattle. You can feed natural minerals from www.dorwest.com
Iodine
Iodine is found in some food groups, such as seaweed, spinach. If your dog has an under active thyroid your natural nutricionist may suggest your dog eats this as part of the diet.
Fish Oils
Fish oils are just as important in dogs diets as they are humans. Creates good teeth, hair, and skin, joints and many other things as well. It is said it can help the brain also.
Vitamins
You can either include food groups which are loaded with vitamins, or you can add vitamins in the form of supplement powders or liquids.
Fresh water
Water should always be available for your dog. Some dogs can detect the chemicals in our drinking water and may prefer to drink rain water. Some dogs that have allergies may be better on bottled water or rain water.
If your dog is not well, go to a homeopathic vet, as they will help you with the right diet for your dog. They will know what supplement to give your dog to benefit it.
Reproductive
Bitches who are being bred with benefit from Wheatgerm oil from www.dorwest.com usually taken a month before a season, doubling the daily dose a day before mating, the day of mating and the day after mating. Then continue for 3 weeks as it helps stop absorption of puppies. But at this time giving raspberry leaf tablets until 2 weeks after birthing. I prefer to add raspberry leaf even in my bitches diet in and around seasons as it can help with infections and all sorts of things. Bitches food quantity remains the same until the bitch is 6 weeks pregnant then you up the food by another meal per day, little and often basically. When the bitch has had the puppies feed her very well, keeping to three meals per day. Around 3 weeks of age the puppies mum must then be given larger quantities of food to help produce milk in the most draining time of their lives. When the puppies are weaned off you can reduce her food intake and increase exercise. They should not be over exercised whilst nursing puppies.
As for males, stud dogs should be given wheat germ oil as well, and this helps with fertility and sperm production. It is said breeding dogs require more fats than non breeding dogs. So you may want to introduce omega three oils into their diet as well. For us using the raw diet we can add in beef fat.
As I understand from researching bitches used for breeding should have a higher fat content in their diet than pet bitches. I have been trialling this in the last few months and I will let you know the outcome.
Vitamins and Minerals
www.dorwest.com
Also for more artificial supplements
www.zooplus.co.uk
www.hyperdrug.com
Good luck in feeding your dogs.
Remember what goes in comes out. So purchase Poop bags, poop scoops. Find out if your council will allow you to put dog waste in your litter bins, as most answers are no. You could be fined. Use the red boxes provided by councils to dispose of dog waste.
When walking dog not leave dog poop in bags on walks and have no intention of picking them up. This is irresponsible as dog poop carries all manner of hazards. So dispose of it properly. You can purchase a DICKY BAG. www.dickybag.com this bag can clip to your rucksack and it holds several poops. Also a nice air freshener is in side. Once zipped up you can not smell poop on the walk. Then put the stools in the red boxes available provided by councils.
Buy biodegradable poop bags, so that when they go to landfill the bag breaks down, and you are not adding to the plastic pollution of the earth. All my bags are biodegradable.
Dog poo can contain parasites, and especially worms. Contact with this worm for young children or pregnant woman can render blindness. Would you really live with yourself if that happened, so clean up after your dog. If you feed the barf diet your dogs stools will be easier and smaller to pick up.
We use a hotbox which is a natural composter. The heat kills bacteria and was recommended to me by the council. They cost £195 online. The compost can be put in the garden after the bacteria has removed all harmful material. It takes 30 days to turn to compost. You can also put leaf matter in it to speed up the process and water. It heats the stools up to such a heat it removes bacteria. But I have noticed that you must use them correctly. Plenty of leaf matter inside and water if your dogs fed raw food. It comes out just as garden mulch. Its brilliant really.