What food do you feed? I need help :(

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

Isn't putting Waitrose 'ready meals' in the oven, cooking ;D

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

[quote author=JulieT link=topic=8881.msg126377#msg126377 date=1416860143]
[quote author=Stacia link=topic=8881.msg126369#msg126369 date=1416858479]
JulieT a girl after my own heart, I shall attempt to take a leaf out of you book after Christmas. Didn't Shirley Conran say 'life is too short to stuff a mushroom' ;D
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Do I now have a reputation as a nerdy geek who doesn't cook?
[/quote]

I've never thought of you as nerdy.

With Christmas - just throw a couple of family sized Hawaiian pizzas in the microwave. They contain ham. That's festive enough.

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

[quote author=JulieT link=topic=8881.msg126377#msg126377 date=1416860143]
Do I now have a reputation as a nerdy geek who doesn't cook?
;D ;D ;D
[/quote]

Well, if you don't want that title, I'll have it! My sister (affectionately) refers to me as the 'packet queen' ;D ;D ;D

I am so far from baking treats for my dog! Really, I think fish-4-dogs does deserve to stay in business ;D

Christmas? Well, you could have pizza I suppose, but really there's huge amounts of lovely yummy stuff from various retailers with no need to slave over the hot stove. I've smiled sweetly each time my mother says 'lovely roast potatoes, Kath' for years, without a hint of guilt ;D

I'd rather be walking the dog

Oh, yes, dog food, sorry! We've had great success with P@H's own Wainwright's actually. We do a combination of kibble and 'tray' food, and supplement with raw lamb bones (ribs etc).

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

[quote author=Merla link=topic=8881.msg126419#msg126419 date=1416869301]
My sister (affectionately) refers to me as the 'packet queen' ;D ;D ;D

I am so far from baking treats for my dog! Really, I think fish-4-dogs does deserve to stay in business ;D

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;D ;D ;D

If my buying habits are anything to go by, fish4dogs are quite safe! ;D

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

You two are almost making me feel GUILTY at planning a pre Christmas dog biscuit bake for the neighbourhood pooches!!

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

[quote author=drjs@5 link=topic=8881.msg126447#msg126447 date=1416902077]
You two are almost making me feel GUILTY at planning a pre Christmas dog biscuit bake for the neighbourhood pooches!!
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Not just me, then? I'm planning Christmas menus for the ferrets and all the dogs we'll be with at Christmas.

I'm thinking it's going to start off with scrambled eggs (raw for the ferrets) with a tiny bit of smoked salmon. For main, ferrets get raw turkey, the dogs? I'm not sure. Either a raw turkey drumstick each or some nice warm roast turkey with carrots and broccoli. Then carrot cake for dessert.

I think I'm putting more thought into theirs than our own

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

Fiona....stop it now or you are going to have several unexpected house guests me included ;D

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

Hah, I think five dogs and two ferrets is probably enough!

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

Waitrose is doing my Christmas lunch this year and Boxing Day with all the rellies is going to be cold cuts!

I don't have the energy or the inclination this time round ;D

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

WillowandLottie, I hope you feel you have some answers about feeding your dogs.....

Or at least have a few ideas for what to serve if any of your Xmas guests are of the ferrety variety

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

I'm usually not a huge fan of cooking at Christmas...

But this year, it's organic free-range goose!!! With all the trimmings!!!

Poppy says she cannot wait...

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

A goose! Aren't they huge? Lucky Poppy!

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

Will Poppy have retrieved it?!?!

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

[quote author=bbrown link=topic=8881.msg126536#msg126536 date=1416919183]
Will Poppy have retrieved it?!?!
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If so she needs a medal

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

[quote author=Penny+Me link=topic=8881.msg126362#msg126362 date=1416857825]
As others have said you will get a ton of different responses each recommending something different - you could try all the foods suggested here and still not find something that would agree with your pups! It really is a huge minefield.

As you are already planning on switching to pro plan sensitive I would carry on with that idea until their tummies settle - even when changing over properly (eg doing it gradually) switching between so many foods in such a short space of time could cause a tummy upset. If the pro plan sensitive seems to suit them then there's no reason you can't feed that long term. Unfortunately sometimes we can't feed our pups what we want because it upsets them and you just have to compromise and go with what they can tolerate!!

I feed Arden Grange because it's gluten free and they do do a grain free one too; it's a personal choice though as I seem to be one of those lucky people with a dog who will tolerate anything!

You mentioned the royal canin Labrador breed specific food - you can get a junior version but you would probably have to get it online, however at six months your pups would probably be fine on adult food if there's no alternative.

Just thought I would mentioned it as I don't think anyone else has - over feeding. This is one of the biggest cause of loose poo and is definitely worth investigating, especially as you mentioned you have trouble keeping one of your pups at a normal weight. I would say the vast majority of us on here only feed a percentage of the manufacturers recommended amount for our sized dogs. For example my Penny is 19kg and Arden Grange recommend that a dog that size should be fed about 330g of food per day (I think, I haven't looked at the exact amounts recently) however if I were to give her that much she would be fat as a house within a week!! She only actually gets about 150-200g per day and this keeps her maintained at 18.5-19kg (she's only a small lab so this is a perfect weight for her size).
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Thanks everyone for your comments - lovely to see all your discussions about doggy Christmas lunches hehe!

I am careful not to over feed - its crazy how much they say on the bags!! our girls are 20k each so chunky. I am cutting down their feed next week due to the lack of activity they'll be doing.

Thanks all, lots to think about but reassured it's just a case of trial and error.

 

Re: What food do you feed? I need help

I've never understood why the dog food companies over estimate the amount of food that you should give to your dog on their recommended allowance tables... You'd think surely that the dog's health should be one of the main priorities for a dog food company so why put the amounts so high?! It's obviously so that you get through the bags more quickly and they make more money, but it just doesn't sit right with me at all.

Bob is on CSJ Little Champ and is doing brilliantly on it... it's one of the cheaper foods (15kg / £14.60), I think it has a high amount of grain in it. Anyway it seems to suit him so we will stick at it until the need to change up to a food for older dogs. He does also get 3/4 raw bones a week in the evenings. We've just had him weighed and he's 9kg at 15w.. the vet was really pleased with his overall appearance, said he coat was lovely and shiny.

Lou x