But you could say the same for chocolate or cake Muddy. They love the smell. They are as bad as humans for loving the things that are bad for their health.
I would never offer a dog chocolate or cake I meant food suitable for a dog .
There is no difference between the digestive system of a wolf that that of a dog .
Wolves eat raw meat and raw bones .
They donât eat kibble.
But, of course. However, a diet of steak on itâs own would not provide 100% of what a dog needs (particularly a puppy). Also there are not many people who can afford to feed their dog steak as a regular diet and some people find it complicated to work out an optimum âfresh/rawâ diet.
IMO a good quality kibble (the best one can afford - and having regard to the ingredients) is not a bad way to feed the majority of companion dogs. Jazzi may wish to try fresh - raw or cooked - later on, but for the moment her vet is advising and on Monday will have a stool sample for analysis, just in case there is something untoward with Holly which needs treatment. I think Jazzi should stick with the vet advice for the moment - thatâs what she is paying for.
Just to clear up a point I am not aware that I said a puppy has to be persuaded to eat (at least not a healthy one). I do know that animals who are unwell generally donât eat - please donât teach me how to suck eggs. Also it is not actually known if the kibble is the source of the problem - Holly was weaned onto Beta (which I think is agreed is not the best of kibbles). She has tried two different brands of food and the vet has now given Jazzi a Hills prescription diet to use. Personally, I think this is enough change of diet for the moment with a small puppy, particularly in view of the fact that Holly came to Jazzi with loose bowels and the vet is trying to remedy the problem.
I always get a bit riled at the idea of human foods and dog foods, all foods are food. If you really want you can live on dog food a man lost in a wilderness did just that and was quite healthy. A dog can eat human foods, until we got Elsie all mind were fed a hand cooked diet using meat vegetables and carbs that we ate too. All healthy far healthier weights than some I saw fed kibble.
I tend to start pups on what the breeder gave then see what suits them best I have a few foods I believe in can be used to keep them healthy along with various left overs and foods I cook especially for them. If I do chips they have potato peelings cooked to a crisp and they love them as a treat. If I do mince they have a portion of that rice pasta etc I made a risotto yesterday they had it for supper and what was left for breakfast. They are happy healthy right weight. Vet is happy with them.
There kongs I fill with various cheeses, cream cheese, peanut butter, chocolate spread. They love it but itâs a treat not everyday.
Pups have one meal a day of porridge and I always soak kibble so they can digest it better.
With Elsie not being able to eat when we got her it was a battle to hand feed her and keep the food in her mouth used to go in at the front and fall out at the side she was obviously not weaned properly but we kept going got her eating.
Pups I also feed at least five times a day dropping down to three at about six months. Never less than three all their lives.
I always look at them before I feed them and judge portion sizes, Betty has put a few ounces on because she hates walking in mud so little less in her bowl this morning Elsie loves cold weather walking so has lost a pound or two and had a bigger breakfast, and Iâm making spaghetti Bol for lunch so she will have a nice portion of that, gluten free pasta is brilliant for her.
Dogs are like humans they have likes and dislikes Betty wonât touch fish or anything in gravy just wonât touch it, Elsie likes gravy and fish so we build diets around their likes.
They both have kibble but with other things, too much kibble I find makes them either runny or stops them going. They get bored with it too.
Jazzi will find a food that works but Iâm hoping she wonât think human food versus dog food because it is all just food.
They never have cake etc though fruit is fine for them Iâve found.
[quote=âAerolor, post: 1291977â]
But, of course. However, a diet of steak on itâs own would not provide 100% of what a dog needs (particularly a puppy). Also there are not many people who can afford to feed their dog steak as a regular diet and some people find it complicated to work out an optimum âfresh/rawâ diet.
Dogs need meant and rawbones and some green ( grass )
They donât need carbohydrates and most kibble has carbohydrates . Yes of course most people canât afford steak that was just an example .
However when I was a child the pet shops all sold frozen horse meat which people bought for their dogs .
Dogs had less allergies then now they have all sorts of allergies probably from the additives put into processed dog food today
[quote]
IMO a good quality kibble (the best one can afford - and having regard to the ingredients) is not a bad way to feed the majority of companion dogs. .
Certainly itâs an easy way .
Suck as many eggs as you like .
I wasnât addressing you particularly
The breeder had no business letting a puppy go that was unwell in the first place.
May I just two things here - one is there is not always a division between human food and dog food.
I feed my dogs fish for a change sometimes, and always have some in the freezer incase anyone is poorly, or if recovering from surgery.
Is that classed as human food or dog food?
I sometimes give them a small cube of cheese as a training treat - human food, yes, but a couple of small cubes have never harmed them.
And what about cooked rice? Another âhumanâ food.
I have always fed either a hard boiled egg or a scrambled egg as a treat to one a bit off colour too.
Again âhuman food.â
Those things + occasional cooked chicken (no fat), are all âhumanâ foods but harmless to dogs.
I also occasionally cook them liver or rabbit as a treat. More human food.
My point is, not all âhumanâ foods are harmful.
Itâs just when idiots start feeding things like cake, grapes, curries and things like that it is so foolish. Even most gravy made from granules has too much salt in it for dogs.
Before I go, I would also like to add my thoughts on bones for dogs.
I never, ever, give a cooked bone. Chicken bones especially, will splinter and can pincture internal organs or do damage when trying to pass them out again.
Mine only ever have raw marrowbones, or none at all.
100% agree with that Muddy.
It is impossible not to have known, assuming he cleaned up after them!
I did say to Jazzi what a pity she doesnât know where the rest of the litter went. It would be very interesting to find out if they were all the same.
As I said before, the breeder denied her having diarrhoea before she came to me. I specifically phoned to ask him this, in the days after I got her, and was told (by his wife) it was perfectly normal.
Also in those first few days I was very ill myself, and thatâs why I let her go to a foster carer. It was the day after I got her back she did the really watery poo at puppy workshop, and I got her seen by a vet in the hour afterwards.
When l have had puppies, l have fed them on Chappie, scrambled egg and even cornflakes in milk!
When they were fully grown, l fed them on good quality food like Burns. The vegetables, meat and gravy left over from our dinners.
They have all been really healthy, only going to the vets for minor things or a broken dew claw, spaying and castrating.
One of my Flatcoats had an under active thyroid but that was hereditary.
My last two dogs, l didnât have them inoculated again after my poodle collapsed outside the vets after having his booster. I thought he was going to die.
Artangel, I no longer have my dogs innocuoated either. I did have my old Lab vaccinated against Kennel Cough, and she still got it. I think vets make a packet out of the annual jabs and believe that dogs are over treated. My little rescue dog was innoculated by the Rescue Society when I got her almost four years ago, but I have not had her done since.
Due to number of rescue dogs we visit, both of mine are testers for reaction of new arrivals, we do inoculate but we stop at between 8 and 10 years old getting them tested each year after to ensure they are still covered. Only had one needed a booster after that age and one booster at 12 did the trick.
CeeCee, l didnât have them inoculated for many years after their initial ones and early boosters. The vet never said a word when l went there, so maybe he was of the same opinion?!
I did read that many breeders only had their dogs inoculated for so many years due to the cost.
I read studies on it too and lots of people were blaming the inoculations for causing other problems in their dogs.
To be sure and keep my dogs safe, l never took them to the very popular dog walks/areas just locally where not many dogs frequented.
I think foxes can carry a lot of things which means I inoculate too.
I may be wrong, but the main things a fox can pass on to dogs is worms and mange. Neither of which vaccinating will help.
My vet does a 3 year licenced vaccine, he stopped vaccinating annually a few years ago. The only one needed each year to my knowledge is the Lepto one because it doesnât last long.
Mine have their puppy jabs, followed by the first year booster, then thatâs it.
I do however, use a homeopathic combination oral âvaccineâ on them which I buy from Ainsworths Homeopathic pharmacy in London.
I vaccinate every year, partly because I donât want to invalidate any insurance but also just as part of a routine annual check up. It doesnât seem to have harmed the animals. The vet I am with now is lovely, doesnât charge that much for it and doesnât pressurise me to over-treat. The old vets were terrible. They would insist on seeing the animals if I ran out of advocate. Everything was about money and it was very expensive.
Sometimes annual vaccine is only time a dog visits the vet, personally I think itâs worth that at least to check a dog over. If worms etc are all foxes carry Iâm amazed though.
Do dogs/cats get that close to foxes? I know dogs roll in the poo, but can it make them sick? We have lots of foxes in the garden but they never stick around when the dog is outside.
I said worms and fox mange are the main things to my knowledge Julie.
What were you thinking they could pass on then?
As I said, my vet wonât vaccinate yearly because of the vaccine he uses. It last for 3 years, except the Lepto one, which is a separate annual one.
I wonât have the new Lepto 4 because I have read too many incidents where it has killed dogs. I ask for the old Lepto 2.
Even then that only covers 2 strains of the disease out of nearly 200, so I canât help but wonder what the point is.