Dog food

[JLH]

Thanks, I never even thought of kisses just handling the food.

My DD#1 figured out that her dog was gluten sensitive and feeds Hund n Flocken now and has seen such an improvement in her dog.

So far, I've seen that Canidae has a score of 10 out of 10 but I haven't looked at them all, yet.

[JLH]

Here's the link http://hubpages.com/hub/Dog_Food_Review

I will NEVER feed Purina after following a link to a class action suit. The disgusting stuff they put in that brand of food is truly sickening.

[mbeezie]

Joan,

Thanks for the info. The Duck and Potato one I buy is 10/10 but I was surprised to see so many recalled items. The local pet store where I buy my pet food is like a Whole Foods for animals. They now have a refrigerator section . . I love my dogs but OMG, the price on that stuff is ridiculous.

Mary Beth

[JLH]

Checked out Hund n Flocken on that site and we won't be feeding that either! Sent the info to DD.

[crranch]

I have only fed a raw diet for most of the 22 years that I have showed and coursed our whippets. I get raw chicken and beef from a local grocer on the day it out dates and freeze it for them. At 39 cents a lb, it's a very high quality source of protein and very cheap. Right now, they are eating organic chicken and ground round...not a bad dog food, mixed with raw egg, raw milk and a little organ meat and a few herbs mixed in. But no grains what so ever.

Even the higher quality commercial foods have some issues. Diamond, Dick Van Pattons Natural Balance, and Canidae have all had recalls due to problems. If you feed commercial diets, keep an eye out on all recalls, to make sure your brand isn't the latest one having problems.

C

[mbeezie]

I never entertained the thought of cooking meat for my dogs, but I like your ideas. Heck, I already feel like Alice Waters in the kitchen cooking for my family, why not do it for the dogs too:)

Mary Beth

[JLH]

Thanks, Carrie. I just don't know what I will feed. Seeing that blog about Diamond, which she is getting now, having aflatoxin scared me.

I'll probably look for 10 out of 10 ratings, pick one and pray a lot.

I can't find out the background of Susan Peters who does the ratings. I know she has done one heck of a lot of research.

[crranch]

If you go the homemade route, remember to feed it raw, no dog is genetically programed to eat cooked meat, cooking changes the amino acids and makes it much harder for them to digest with those short carnivore GI tracts. There are some good books out on how to do it, but after many years of different recipes, I finally settled into the one that I use now, and it has raised puppies up nice and healthy and kept my oldsters going strong at 16 years old.

There are some very good raw diets that are being made commercially now, that use human grade products. One is called Ziwi and it is air dried meat only diet from N.Z. I have used it as a treat before in the show rings, it is all human quality meat and I know a woman who went there to tour the factory and said that it was better produced than most human food in the US....it is expensive, but you feed so little of it, it balances out in the end. It is pretty much the only commercial food that I would ever think of feeding my guys....

C

[mbeezie]

Thanks. Actually raw makes it much easier. I guess a meat based diet is a bit more expensive but cheaper than premium commercial food, vet bills and medicine. We had to take our dog with the autoimmune problem to a vet school - lots of visits and lots of meds.

A few questions: Do you stick to chicken and beef or just go with whatever type of meat is on sale? And then cut it up and add milk and egg and seasonings? What seasonings do you use? How much do you feed them? I could see the potential for overfeeding - my dogs would gobble up raw meat so quickly and want more. Do you have a reference on where I can look up some info or did you just figure this out by trial and error?

TIA
Mary Beth

[Matthew]

Hey all

Have you ever read Dogtorjs sight

He is either a celiac or has gluten sensitivity and has done lots of research on feeding dogs an all meat diet.

http://dogtorj.tripod.com./

Also lots of stuff on feeding humans in that he eats a gluten free diet .

Very interesting to read in that it goes along with so much some of us have learned over the years .

Any article in the left hand column is worth reading. Hope you enjoy reading his site.

Love to you and your dogs.

Matthew

[tex]

Matthew,

Good thinking. He has to be one of the best sources for that information, and he may well be the best source, for all I know. I have a lot of faith in him. I believe that it is his wife, who has celiac disease, if my memory is not playing tricks on me.

He moved his website away from Tripod, though. (I couldn't get any of the links there to work, when I tried to access his article on his recommendations for pet foods). On the new site, the links all seem to work:

http://dogtorj.net/index.html

Thanks,
Tex

[mbeezie]

Matthew/Tex,

Thanks - I visited the site and got some of my questions answered.

Lemme just say, sometimes I think my head is going to spin off. I have been doing this now for 4 months and every day I realize there is something more I need to learn or change. Our lives have been turned upside down (for the better) but it's a bit overwhelming at times.

Mb

[crranch]

Here is a good start for learning about the raw diet, they feed very similar to what I do....basically raw chicken makes up the majority of my guys diet, whichever cuts that I get from the grocer are that weeks feed. You have to include the bones or you will throw the Calcium and Phosphorus off in the diet. I also recently have been added ground round,chuck and beef to make up for some of the chicken, but that is mainly because the grocer has had surplus and not had as much chicken to sell me.
In the mornings, they each get a raw egg and about 1 cup of raw milk, a little fresh parsley and a sprinkle of psillium seed ( all those bones can be constipating for some dogs, a little fiber is a good thing ) then the afternoon meal is chicken and beef, adjusting the amount for the needs of each dog, they get chubby, cut down, getting a little ribby, add more. Take into account age also, my 12 year old greyhound eats all he wants, because he is on pred for old age issues and needs the extra calories, my 11 year old whippet, gets very little, due to the fact that he is a couch potato and an easy keeper. They will tell you how much they need...

http://leerburg.com/pdf/feedingrawdiet.pdf

Good luck...it is not that hard to do, and in the long run, your dog will be much healhier.

C

[JLH]

Thanks all y'all.