I was wondering what everyone's mealtime routines were like with their pups? Here is Bob's: Breakfast: 6.30/7am. I come down and let Bob out unload the dishwasher, make a cup of tea and then give Bob his breakfast with pro-biotic supplement. Lunch: 12.30/1pm either at home or in the car. Dinner: 6.30pm ish. I've started giving Bob a 9pm chicken wing or snack for a good SIT, DOWN and WAIT. We feed CSJ Little Champ.. he seems to be doing really well on it Does this sound about right? Would love to hear what your routines are like? I'd be interested to see how they compare. Lou x
Re: Meals About 5am Elsie has a few biscuits, then 8am she has her breakfast. Betty gets up at some point during the morning and has her breakfast. Noon Elsie has her lunch and depending if Betty is hungry she might or might not have any. 4pm afternoon tea and they usually both have filled kongs. 8pm supper they both have that, then just before bed a night time biscuit. What they have very much depends on what they fancy, Elsie will basically eat anything but Betty is more fussy, tinned fish is her passion at the moment so a little of that mixed in gets her started, was cottage cheese a week ago LOL
Re: Meals Up until now, we've had 7-7:45am breakfast, 1pm lunch, 7ish dinner and a kong in her crate around 10pm, or whatever time we eat. Now we have Shadow, I'll be holding off on the kongs for a little while, until they have settled in with each other. Shadow has been fed with the rest of the litter so is a bit protective of food, so that's something I want to work on before putting them in a situation where it may present a problem.
Re: Meals Lou our routine is really similar to yours! Ruby is 13 weeks today and we took her down to 3 meals yesterday. 7-7:15am - Breakfast 12:30-1pm - lunch 6:30-7pm - dinner In between she has training treats and sometimes a dentastick or kong. We are feeding CSJ CP27 - Ruby really likes it and is doing very well (despite the puppy class trainers telling us last night that it was terrible and had really awful stuff in!!)
Re: Meals [quote author=MrsB link=topic=8803.msg124835#msg124835 date=1416310421] We are feeding CSJ CP27 - Ruby really likes it and is doing very well (despite the puppy class trainers telling us last night that it was terrible and had really awful stuff in!!) [/quote] If your dog is doing well on it, then I wouldn't worry. Does your puppy training class sell their own food by any chance?! Ours does and they are very quick to put down anything that isn't raw (as that is what they sell). All dogs are different and they respond to food in different ways, hence all the differing opinions on the subject. I wouldn't worry about it if you have a happy pup and your vet hasn't raised any concerns. x
Re: Meals [quote author=Loopyloo30 link=topic=8803.msg124853#msg124853 date=1416313065] Does your puppy training class sell their own food by any chance?! Ours does and they are very quick to put down anything that isn't raw (as that is what they sell). All dogs are different and they respond to food in different ways, hence all the differing opinions on the subject. I wouldn't worry about it if you have a happy pup and your vet hasn't raised any concerns. x [/quote] Yes they do! They basically said CSJ had too much protein and too much ash but then the sample of food they gave us had more protein and the same amount of ash! makes no sense at all. We have decided they are good trainers but other than that we won't worry too much on their opinions just listen to what they have to say and move on.
Re: Meals [quote author=MrsB link=topic=8803.msg125463#msg125463 date=1416488698] [quote author=Loopyloo30 link=topic=8803.msg124853#msg124853 date=1416313065] Does your puppy training class sell their own food by any chance?! Ours does and they are very quick to put down anything that isn't raw (as that is what they sell). All dogs are different and they respond to food in different ways, hence all the differing opinions on the subject. I wouldn't worry about it if you have a happy pup and your vet hasn't raised any concerns. x [/quote] Yes they do! They basically said CSJ had too much protein and too much ash but then the sample of food they gave us had more protein and the same amount of ash! makes no sense at all. We have decided they are good trainers but other than that we won't worry too much on their opinions just listen to what they have to say and move on. [/quote] Well quite. We're on CSJ and all the (independent) reviews I've seen of it rate it very highly for quality of ingredients / natural sources. And Pongo is thriving on it.
Re: Meals I used CSJ CP 27 and then CP21 from 12 months . My dogs will be four in January (gosh time flies when your pulling your hair out ). They have done very well on the food. Glossy coat, good weight, plenty of energy. I don't plan on changing. There are so many diets out there all with plus and negative points. The high protein your class mentions may be because it's a working dog food which can have a higher protein but I don't think CSJ is that much more than some big brand normal food if it's more at all. My vet didn't think the CP27 was particularly high in protein. If you compare it to other brands you will find foods that are higher.
Re: Meals I would figure that a wolf's diet is pretty high in protein! I'd say feed what suits you, monitor your dog and take all advice with a pinch of salt - especially when they have a vested interest in you taking it!
Re: Meals [quote author=snowbunny link=topic=8803.msg125494#msg125494 date=1416495907] I would figure that a wolf's diet is pretty high in protein! I'd say feed what suits you, monitor your dog and take all advice with a pinch of salt - especially when they have a vested interest in you taking it! [/quote] Yes - good advice, I think!
Re: Meals Bouncers routine is as follows. 7am I get up & go downstairs, Bouncer is always sitting in his crate waiting for me, no whinging but his tail is always out of control, he then goes for a wee outside & I put kettle on & feed Bouncer & Daisy (the cat). I take him for a short walk. Then I go to work. 11.30am my wife feeds him his second meal then goes to work for 2 hours (part time school helper). 5pm Bouncer & daisy have their evening meal. I get home from work anytime after 6 pm. Then get dragged round the block by Bouncer (im kidding he is getting much better on the lead now). He has access to the garden through a dogflap in our back door so takes himself for a wee if he needs it. I take him into the garden about 11pm just to make sure. Then its crate time till morning again.
Re: Meals [quote author=MrsB link=topic=8803.msg124835#msg124835 date=1416310421] We are feeding CSJ CP27 - Ruby really likes it and is doing very well (despite the puppy class trainers telling us last night that it was terrible and had really awful stuff in!!) [/quote] Yup they are talking rubbish. What's awful about any of this? Composition 33% Lamb (includes 17% Lamb & 16% Lamb Meat Meal), White Rice, Corn, Fish Meal, Oats, Chicken Fat, Beet Pulp, Whole Egg, Lamb Gravy, Linseed, Minerals, Vitamins, Glucosamine, Methylsulfonylmethane, Chondroitin Sulphate, Herbs. I have a really simple rule when it comes to evaluating a food. I want the primary meat or fish ingredient to appear first, never a filler such as rice, wheat or oats. And if I can read the ingredients and don't need a food chemistry manual to know what they are, it's worth looking at p.s. the three ingredients before last are joint supplements, found in a lot of quality foods to promote supple and healthy joints. They are the only exception
Re: Meals [quote author=JohnG link=topic=8803.msg125600#msg125600 date=1416522867] What's awful about any of this? Composition 33% Lamb (includes 17% Lamb & 16% Lamb Meat Meal), White Rice, Corn, Fish Meal, Oats, Chicken Fat, Beet Pulp, Whole Egg, Lamb Gravy, Linseed, Minerals, Vitamins, Glucosamine, Methylsulfonylmethane, Chondroitin Sulphate, Herbs. [/quote] Thanks John! They said the Lamb Meal part was too high and was basically the scraps off the floor and because they hadn't heard of Methylsulfonylmethane they said it couldn't be good. Sadly, after Ruby doing so well, she now has an upset stomach. We give her different bits in kongs (cottage cheese, carrots, nat yoghurt, banana, p.butter) but we have been using some different treats made by us and recommended by the trainers, that include tuna, egg and flour (microwaved to make a bread like product) - not sure if this has affected her but we are going back to kibble only today. If that doesn't work it will be rice only tomorrow. Poor pup
Re: Meals They often get a little softer when you introduce a new food. It's nothing to worry about and doesn't mean it's necessarily "bad", you just need to introduce it slowly, and not too many different things at once. When I first started on raw chicken wings with Willow, she was soft for a while, but firmed up again (I did worm her and do rice & chicken for a day to get her really firm, then she had no issues at all afterwards). She's still a bit softer than usual if I give her raw prawn heads, but she's only had those a few times and I know she'll firm up. She's great with rabbit now, but yesterday she had a rabbit head and the next poo wasn't as kickable as normal. It's just a slow process. Don't give up
Re: Meals [quote author=snowbunny link=topic=8803.msg125633#msg125633 date=1416562023] They often get a little softer when you introduce a new food. It's nothing to worry about and doesn't mean it's necessarily "bad", you just need to introduce it slowly, and not too many different things at once. [/quote] I thought it might just be because it is a new food type but the last 2 or 3 poos have been runny not just soft! This morning she even went in the house (which has never happened before) because she obviously couldn't hold it (she had only gone outside about 20 minutes before) - I wasn't there but my husband said it was very very runny. Fortunately she is still eating, drinking and playing as normal so she isn't "poorly" just has a bit of an upset tummy. We are monitoring her very closely for the next 24-48 hours and if no improvement or things suddenly get worse she'll be straight to the vets!!