What Do You Feed?

[Leslie]

Another thing about that article: She says they are seeing diseases in raw food dogs. If that is true, I wonder if it could also be from an improper raw food diet? Raw food for dogs is quite the rage, but to do it properly takes some study and time. I think some feet way too much meat percentage and not much qualite veggie. Do they supplement? It's also true that some dogs do better on cooked foods. Particularly if their Qi (chinese medicine - energy) is very low from sickness or improper immunity. My pesonal observation is that my dogs do better on the raw.

[Leslie]

Oops that should have been "feed way too much", not "feet!"

[eydimork]

Inicole said:

Supplements: The following are ESSENTIAL!

CALCIUM
A dog must have CALCIUM. Very important. Either from bones or a calcium additive. You shouldn't give your own calcium tabs. Find a calcium specifically for dogs/cats.

Or, instead of feeding pure supplements it's not certain your dog's body can properly absorb, you could feed a diet with calcium in it; such as raw bones (or ground bones, if your dog has serious teeth issues)...?

[Leslie]

Yes, from bones or a calcium additive.

I grind bones because I have a very old dog who can no longer chew hard things. I've also read some cases of problems with eating whole bones. Yes, I know, they are supposed to be able to completely absorb them, but I have found bone shards in my dog's poo. I'd rather grind although I sometimes give some chicken parts whole to the young dog. It's a personal preference. The only downside to grinding is the extra time and they don't get the teeth cleaning benefits of the whole parts.

[Cheryl]

Leslie, thanks for the wonderful "recipe" for I totally agree. I use yogurt and cottage cheese plus wild salmon pressure cooked for the calcium.

[rute_paredes]

dear all
this thread has been very interesting. I had never heard of BARF before.
Nevertheless there are still a couple of thing I'm not completly clear on. My Weim Iago is 1-year old and has always eaten kibble. W also often give him yoghurt and cooked chicken/turkey and rice. My question is: does cooking the chicken destroy its nutritional value or is it better for the dogs digestion/nutrition if it is raw?
As for the veggies and liver, same question. Iago has a sensitive stomach and he's very prone to getting the runs. Just to see his reaction, we have tried giving him carrots (refused), peas (refused), mushroom (refused). I fear raw veg would seriously upset his tummy.
I confess that, after so many warnings that bones are dangereous and we should not given them to our dog (according to my well meaning aquaintances and dog-owning friend ), I'm a little afraid of giving Iago the chicken wings and meaty bones that many of you feed your dogs.
Is it too late to giet him started on chicken wingss&necks and meaty bones (beef and lamb, I'm wondering)?
I'd appreciate it if you could shed some light on these questions.
Iago is a fussy eater and I get really concerned sometimes that he's not getting a fully balanced diet
thank you very much
rute

[marjolein]

As a vet nurse, I thought all BARF-ers where mad when I first heard about it. I've seen many dogs from the inside, because we had to remove bones from the intestines. Surely those dogs weren't used to it and there for they had problems digesting the bones.
Since everyone on the UK Weim board where advocating it, I thought I'd give it a try too. I've never looked back and I wouldn't feed my dogs kibble anymore.
Before you start, it's quite difficult to learn how to feed your dog properly, but once you get the hang of it, you will never look back.
Of course your dogs have to get used to this new way of feeding, but once they're used to it, you'll see the intestinal problems they've had every now and then are history.
If you want to try it, don't cook it for the reasons you've already stated!!!
Go on Rute, give it a try!

[lisa33]

Your'e so right Marjolein, I felt excatly the same way about feeding natural when I first heard it but Emmy has never looked so good since I started her on it. Her coat is so shiny and ahe looks so much more healthier. I would never go back to feeding kibble ever!

Yeh rute, go for it!!!

[rute_paredes]

Thanks for the comment and incentive Marjolein and Lisa,

I'm afraid my husband is dead-set against it - he believes the risk of Iago getting some sort of illness/worms from the raw meat is too great. I have to make him come to the forum more often and do some heavy reading.
thanks for everyting ... I havent given up yet!
rute

[lisa33]

Oh thats a shame rute Nevermind, keepworking on it!!

Why not just get the odd raw bone of few chicken wings now and again. As long as you worm your weim and only get meat / bones that are human grade you should'nt get a worm problem. Mine have not yet had worms from feeding them this way.

But I know what it's like if someone is unsure about this type of feeding, it takes much consideration. I'm afraid it's a 'got to try it to see how good it is' kind of thing

Just get your husband to do more reading up on it, I'm sure he will change his mind

[groovydreamyfab]

I've read up on raw feeding quite a bit, and I have decided to stick with kibble. There are even some great companies that pretty much have everything broken down for you, as one of my apprehensions was a balanced diet. I must say that one thing that kind of turned me off about it was the fact that on some other lists, the opinion is put forward, frankly, that feeding kibble is stupid and that the only folks who feed kibble are those who aren't enlightened enough to feed raw. I also think that these same lists are very informative as well, but some folks jump in and try the stuff without educating themselves very much and then have problems, sometimes serious problems. I know there are some excellent books available on the topic and hope that anyone new to raw will read up on it before jumping in.
I still believe kibble is a good alternative, as long as it is of high quality.
Another thing about raw feeding...every single problem that I've mentioned that my weims have ever had (cancer, arthritis, excessive barking, allergies, etc) and I mean EVERYTHING...it never fails that someone will post that this particular problem could be solved if I would only feed raw. I guess I find it hard to believe that raw is the answer to no matter what the question is...that mindset has sort of turned me off. Unlike some other lists, I have found this thread to be extremely informative and I do not feel that anyone is bashing kibblers.
I am enjoying reading what everyone has to say on the topic, as I feel that there are a lot of closet kibblers out there that are very curious but very apprehensive.
Cassandra

[marjolein]

The problem with kibble is, IMHO, that to keep it "fresh", they have to heat it. By heating it, you kill a lot of good stuff. They also have to add preservaties and something colourants and stuff like that. All artificial and they can do harm to some dogs.
I'd say, do whatever suits you. When your dogs do well on kibble, why change?
But you should see them wolving down their BARF, they really prefer it above any kibble available.

[lisa33]

I have to agree with marjolein. There is nothing better than seeing your dog wolving down what is most natural to them.
But I can totally understand your way of thinking. I don't like to see people bad mouthing the way that people feed their dogs. Just because you don't agree with it there is no need to tell them they are'stupid' or wrong. You have to do what you feel is best for your dog, and if kibble is what suits you then thats fine.
I had my doubts about feeding raw at the start and your right that you should research fully before jumping in. Emmy had terrible troubles as a pup and no food would stay in her. We finally found an excellent dry food, Burns, which was fantastic and as close to natural as dried food gets. From this I was really worried to put her onto raw but when I saw her enjoy a raw bone that I got from the butchers, I changed over right away!

She has never looked so good!

[groovydreamyfab]

That's why I think this list is so cool, because I am able to investigate all sides of everything and get great feedback. I'm happy to read about anything the weims may enjoy. It's all about keeping them happy and healthy, right?

[moonbeam]

We all have to do what we think is best for our dogs and if they are happy and healthy what difference does it make what food they eat?

It makes very little difference to Solli what he eats, he has a cast iron gut and food of any sort rarely causes problems. Whisper on the other hand had constant tummy upsets on kibble.

Last year, after much consideration, I swapped both dogs onto raw. The difference in Whisper has been dramatic. He's finally filled out and we haven't been to the vet once with an upset tum.

[vicente]

Hello! i´m new in the forum and first of all i would like to congratulate you on the site..it´s really good and informative. I also would like to know if any of you feed royal canin to your dogs and if so, if you follow rigidly the dosage described in the nutritional guide that usually comes with the food packages. I´m asking because i have a 4 months old puppie and i feed him 3 times a day approximately 140 grams of kibble and sometimes i can´t tell if he would eat more after each meal , since he licks the bowl shinny every time! he weighs 20 kg and i think has good balanced body (so does the vet), but i´ve been told by other owners that i should give him a bit more a day (about 500 grams). Thank you very much

[tasha]

Royal canin is usually recommended by the vet because they get a commission on the food, its very expensive but designed for particular diets. Personally I don't see any reason to pay for a food like that when I can give a much healthier diet at half the cost. Mine get a mixed diet of fish, chicken, beef, lamb, vegetables etc and then I give them a kibble or wet food like Burns or Nature Diet products if we are away and it needs to be packaged.

Best thing to do is to go based on how your dog looks some need more food than others if you can see the last rib defined but the rest a gently covered then I would be happy with that. I put extra weight on bonnie during the shooting season because she has to swim in freezing cold water for an extended period of time after duck but in the summer I like her to look a good weight.

[jai]

Hi Vicente,
Welcome to the forum. I too have a 4 month old pup. We live in Germany and when I first brought the pup home he was on Royal Canin, now we have switched toEukanuba for sensitive stomaches large breed. I was feeding Falko by the rec's but found that he was always hungry and looking for more food. At our 1st vet check, (german vet) she told me that he was under weight.. also she suggested I change foods and add more 'fresh' to his diet. I increased him to 175gram 3x day.. Well, since I have met a hunter from the German Weim Club, who raises weims, he wants me to increase him to 205 grams 3x day so he will be fit for the task of learning to hunt.
Here is a quick breakdown on what I give Falko each day..
am feeding... 175grams dry kibble mixed with mashed bananas, and a 2 ounces of baby food (meat)
afternoon: 175 grams dry kibble
dinner: 175 grams dry kibble, sometimes a fried egg, pieces of fresh meat from our dinner,(fish, steak, chicken, pork) about 2 ounces and a mashed veggie ( the vet told me her dogs love peas, I have not tried those yet.. )
I am careful when I exercise him and I pick the bowl up as soon as he walks away. Breakfast he finishes in record time.. lunch he may or may not finish... but he has a long walk 2 hours before dinner and one 1.5 after his dinner.. he sleeps very well!
just what i have done..
good luck!
jai

[vicente]

hi jai! thanks for the helpfull info! i talked to the breeder just awile and she told me that she was feeding her 4 months old pups 175g 3x day, so i just gave Vicente (the username is the dogs name...mine is Alexandre...i should change it lol) the same amount at dinner and will follow this diet from now on and see how it goes...by the way why did you change to eukanuba? and what´s Falkos weigh? ps: i haven´t tried peas...but i train him with carots as a reinforcement and he really likes it!

[jai]

I changed for 2 reasons... one the baby maxi that he was on was not available here where l live in Germany and I wanted him to be on something comprable for his size and Eukanuba had it And 2nd, my last weim loved it.. so I guess tried and true? Where did you get your Pup?? When is his b-day?