Hi all, My lab pup Digby has been with us for just over a week now. As I said in my Introductions post he has been a real dream. I could not believe how calm he was. I did however notice that his coat was not shiny and black like you often see but quite matt and almost dusty looking, with some doggy "dandruff". Anyway, when I visited my vet last Tuesday for his first jabs she was hugely unimpressed with his diet. The breeder, although very lovely and experienced, had him on what can only be described as a very "old school diet". Wheetabix and milk twice a day, and then tripe and puppy biscuit mixer for the other 2 meals. I was advised by my vet to change his diet straight away over the next 3 days to a good complete food (something I was planning to do but much more slowly). She recommended a couple of foods and I decided on James Wellbeloved as I can buy it at my local shop. Wow - what a difference already. First of all his coat is already looking much more shiny, quite an amazing change. As for my unnaturally calm pup.......where on earth did he go? I now have the mad half hours where he turns into a crazed crocodile and he is SO much more bouncy....the labrador pup I was expecting and had read so much about. He doesn't seem to have experienced any negative effects of changing his diet so quickly so am very pleased to have listened to my vet. Not easy to know what to do for the best - I have a lot of respect for the breeder who is EXTREMELY experienced so its hard when you have conflicting advice from folk who both know more than I. A relief to have obviously made the correct choice for my pup in this case.
Re: The importance of diet Thats really good to hear, and you`re right, diet plays such a massive part , you get out what you put in . My dogs have always enjoyed tinned sardines or pilchards on a regular basis , just added to the dry food and another really good food for a shiny coat
Re: The importance of diet Hello Sersi Food is so important. It's great to hear Digby's doing well on his new food and charging about like a typical crackerdog lab pup! My tribe have been on eukanuba for years but recently they've changed the formulation (yet again) and I'm not so happy with it, Hebe runs 'hot' and I'm constantly topping her up with extras. I was really unhappy when they got rid of the puppy stage and introduced 'puppy and junior'. I'm thinking about changing, if I can persuade the family I'm heading in the 'natural rearing' direction - a bit like Pippa's RAW but with added herbs, eggs, fruit and veggies. Kate, how do yours cope with the oily fish? Mine get the runs after just half a fillet (well the little pieces in the cans) they're OK with white fish either raw or cooked. In fact I use oily fish as a laxative for them when required! Kerryn
Re: The importance of diet Sam adores the oily fish with no ill effects Kerryn I only give him half a small tin at a time, sometimes tuna in spring water too . Living near the coast at Looe means that we have fisherman friends and often get mackerell for free, those go down a treat , only draw back being fishy breath afterwards : Sam also eats most veg and some fruit , he helps himself to the blackberries in the garden :
Re: The importance of diet It is of course logical that a good diet is important - for dogs or any animal (ourselves included). For people there is generally a good understanding of what are healthy foods or otherwise, as well as the balance of each food that we need, and most people are in agreement. For the new puppy owner though it is less clear, I looked at various websites / forums to find out what the best thing to feed would be - probably a little foolish as it is a complete minefield. RAW / BARF / Kibble etc - and even if you choose the most common kibble route there are SO MANY foods and SO MANY opinions as to which is the best. Not to mention the variation in prices. I do like the idea of a more natural "RAW" type diet like you Kerryn - but am both far too concerned about getting the balance right, as well as having the time to do it (9, 8 and 2 yr old demanding plenty of mummy attention). Although I do like the idea of a bit of variety and hadn't even thought of tinned fish - would that be OK for a puppy?
Re: The importance of diet With my first puppy we followed the instructions on the packet to the ounce - yes, we weighed the dog and the food every week! But several dogs later I tend to let my instinct guide me and watch how the puppy or dog is growing and filling out, how much energy they have, what their coat looks like and so on. If you're not sure, find a food Digby likes and follow the packet instructions but if you're not happy with how he's progressing then change it, if you're not certain about how he's getting on then I'm sure your vets will be happy to talk to you and look him over - ours even have puppy parties so that they can get used to surgery noises and smells making future visits less stressful for all concerned. My girls get whatever is available / left over - in moderation but not any fatty greasy food (that can upset the pancreas so don't overload with the leftover Christmas turkey and roast potatoes!). Although the same rules apply of introducing new foods a little at a time and in moderation pups are a little different in as much as you have to take more care. Mine have been given little portions of raw veggies and fruit (not grapes) from quite young about 12 weeks or so, usually as a treat so I can watch what they do with it, consequently they eat just about anything. Having a pack of several dogs means the pup 'steals' from the adults and so introduces itself to a multitude of foodstuffs. As I said my girls don't do too well on oily fish so I'd be a bit wary of giving it to a pup, perhaps Kate can help. Pippa has some articles on converting to a RAW diet on the main site, even for puppies. My vet has said that there are some companies that will prepare a RAW / BARF diet to your specs (we were looking at a complicated digestive complaint and wanted to know exactly what was going in) and deliver it to you in portion packs, so that might help get round the time aspect and maybe even help with the diet balancing too. However I have no experience of that so it might just be pot luck. Whatever you do enjoy his bounce and energy, there's nothing quite like a small bundle of labrador fur bombing about under your feet!
Re: The importance of diet Hi Sersi tinned fish should be ok with your puppy but try a mouthful at a time - each dog is different! When I got Barney as a rescue the behaviourist recommended a great quality kibble called Trophy - well I tried every version they had and a few others and they all gave him the runs. I switched to "raw" on the advice of a several friends but not what Pippa would call raw as it's actually a complete raw food called Natural Instinct. It comes frozen so I brought an extra freezer on ebay (you need freezer space for any type of raw feeding) once I realised that Barney was thriving; and like you I saw a dusty, mat coated underweight dog transformed! Before I got the NI stuff though I'd tried "fish 4 dogs" snacks and treat and supplements and it turned out salmon oil was making him worse!! Now he's healthy he's fine with salmon oil though - it just didn't sit well with the other food. So do experiment a little - if salmon disagrees try mackeral. Tinned tuna has no omega 3 as the canning process destroys the fragile oils - the ones in mackeral & salmon etc are more robust and are ok in tins. NI is stocked in some pet food suppliers but I buy in bulk direct. I mix this with a meaty bone meal 2 a week of a rabbit (free from my neighbour who ferrits ) or chicken back (50p from the butcher - bargain dinner!) (by the way if anyone wants to try the natural instinct ring up and order if you mention me you get £5 off and so do I - well every little helps!) The downside is that it's a lot pricier than kibble which is very noticeable now I have two to feed They also (like children) change as they get older - Rusty couldn't tolerate rabbit for ages but now it's absolutely fine.
Re: The importance of diet Great info, thanks all. It's really interesting to read other's experiences.
Re: The importance of diet I moved Poppy to a raw diet at 4 1/2 months (now 7 months old). Apart from the very occasional 'hiccup' (such as when we gave her a whole raw mackerel, instead of introducing it a piece at a time over several days :) it has been an absolute dream. My old dog eats commercial food (sensitive tum and too old to switch), and I so much prefer feeding the natural, raw food. AND - it's cheaper!!! AND the poos dont smell!!! As far as I'm concerned, there is not downside that I have come across; once you get over the initial nervousness. I found this book very helpful: Raw Dog Food for You and Your Dog by Carina Beth McDonald, as it is very simple and easy to understand. This in addition to Ian Billinghurst 'Give Your Dog a Bone'.
Re: The importance of diet Cheers Karen - I'll take a look. What do you do if you go away with your dog? We go camping as a family and I obviously wouldn't be able to take a freezer with me! Do you think switching to kibble for a couple of weeks would be a problem here and there.
Re: The importance of diet Well, we went on holiday a couple of weeks ago and were staying in a little chalet with a kitchen, so I just took frozen portions of chicken... No, I am sure doing a week or so on kibble wouldnt be a problem - you'd just have to revert to picking up smelly, voluminous poo for a week! I really am one of the absolutely converted as regards raw feeding, but I do understand it's not for everyone or for every dog, either. But I think it's worth a go...
Re: The importance of diet We raw feed, and I have to say, I'd rather trek to the local tesco once a day for a punnet of chicken wings, if I went camping, than go back to smelly poo for even a few days!
