What type of Dog food?

[Samson]

Sorry to burn you all , but Eukanuba , Iams , Purnia and science diet , aren't that great ......

Only the BEST for my Samson , no fillers , no undigestables like corn , glucosamine for his bones and joints , and only 22% protein for his LARGE size .

Some of the best Kibble brands are , Wellness , Solid Gold , Chicken Soup .... { is ok } , Innova , Blue Buffalo { if you feed your dog this I bow to your greatness }
I didn't consider raw of barf... there a few others.. Usually some of the least know brands make some of the BEST stuff IMO

[Samson]

raw or barf diets are pretty popular { barf stands for bones and raw food } you make the food yourself w/ human grade ingredients , like chicken , carrots , peas , stuff like that ... RAW THough

[GSD]

Been feeding the raw, or as its affectionatly called the BARF diet, for 4 years now. I've never fed anything else but a lot of dogs i know do really well on Innova, & Canidae, but i'm sure there are others out there.

[Samson]

Originally Posted by doberkim

bowie is raw fed for almost 2 years now. before that, i fed innova. none of the foods listed, save maybe wellness, would be something i would feed a dog, honestly

I like Doberkim's ansrew ... She's done her research

[Rip's Girl]

Southern Girl, raw feeding (also sometimes called the BARF diet) is a species-appropriate diet, consisting mainly of raw meat, raw bones (YES, raw bones are digestible) and organ meats, eggs, veggies, fruits and almost NO grains (which are very difficult for a dog to digest)

Innova was the best food I've found so far, and I still wasn't happy with the grain and veggie vs. meat content in it, which is why I decided to go raw with both my dogs. Raw is easy once you get the balance of things right.

My mom asks me "Well why don't you just feed those dogs DOG FOOD?" and I tell her "I AM FEEDING THEM DOG FOOD".
Dogs, IMO, were not meant to eat 'complete' dry cereal every day of their life. Not only is raw more interesting to my finicky eater but I believe it is better for him and, the proof is in the pudding. My dogs look great.

[moonbaby4885]

Well...I would buy those good dog foods but im not the one who pays for them. I am currently a nursing student and my mom does all the shopping. As of now its Pedigree, Nutro, or Purina. As soon as I start making the $ its only the best for my babies.

[Samson]

I would do raw , but it takes time to prepare each day , and I rarely even cook my own meals

[doberkim]

bowie is raw fed, not on BARF (theres a difference!). he eats primarily raw meaty bones, and if not that, then normally ground RMBs. he rarely gets vegetables, unless its in either 1) one of the grinds that i buy premade or 2) from my leftovers.


there are many ways to feed raw - this week, bowie has eaten chicken backs, a lamb neck, ground lamb, a beef kidney (ok, this he more played with and nibbled), ground chicken, and a whole chicken. im short on RMBs which is why so much ground stuff - i had to make room for all the stuff in the freezer and until i repackage some of it, i am flat out of space - with 175 lbs in the freezer(s) - yes i have more than 1, its hard to believe, but i am.

the rawfeeding is a general term. I use BARF to refer to a more specifi form of feeding after Dr. Billinghurst - I lean towards the whole prey or at least frankenprey, of Dr. Lonsdale.

if you put in BARF dog or raw feeding dog into a search engine, you will get a lot of hits.

bowie is featured here (and no he isnt choking on a pork neck)...www.rawfeddogs.net
check out "recipes" and beware -- RAW MEAT pics.

[Carrie]

What is it about the diet that is making him so overweight? He looks like a sweetie. How old is he? (I looked at that site.)

My Jose and Bonnie have a tendancy to being a tad chunky, so I really have to watch it and cut them back. I know what it is though. They're spoiled rotten and get too many cooookies. So, if you're anything like me, Bowie probably gives you those same soulful looks and you give in. LOL.

[Rip's Girl]

Ugh I WISH I had to watch my dog's weight to make sure he didn't gain too much. Instead I have to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't LOSE weight.. I can't believe there is nothing wrong with him, the vet said that it was a combination of his hormones (And yes he IS going to get neutered, I've decided. I just have to bring it up with my dad, who is not too crazy about the idea of it) and his high metabolism that just burns off the calories and makes it hard for him to keep weight on. I thought it was a thyroid condition at first but apparently not..

[doberkim]

Originally Posted by Carrie

What is it about the diet that is making him so overweight? He looks like a sweetie. How old is he? (I looked at that site.)

My Jose and Bonnie have a tendancy to being a tad chunky, so I really have to watch it and cut them back. I know what it is though. They're spoiled rotten and get too many cooookies. So, if you're anything like me, Bowie probably gives you those same soulful looks and you give in. LOL.

its nothing about the diet -- its him as a matter of fact, this is the lowest his weight has been since i had him...ok not really. i got him at 60 lbs at about 3 yo (starved), he gained weight slowly and then ballooned up to 120-- we got him down to about 105, but he was still heavy. the problem has always been, he cant have consistent exercise - he spent 4-5 months doing almost nothing - in fact 2-3 months were STRICT cage rest. so it became hard to do anything since literally he was allowed to pee, and then had to go lay back down. hows that for inactive hes about 6 years now, not sure though. we just have similar metabolism - as in, next to no metabolism. right now hes at about 95 and could probably still go down to 90-92 and be perfect his tuck up is never coming back...not since he was absolutely emaciated. right now has been the only time in his life hes been active for a long period of time - beacuse he hasnt had to have any surgery or anything like that i dont have cookies in the house (grains), but bowie gets all people food eaten - he also knows not to beg. its just instinctive to put the plate down on the ground for him to lick them. which is why there are plates all over the ground throughout my house...

grace hyperthyroidism is EXTREMELy rare in dogs, i doubt he has a thyroid condition. hes young and intact - its notoriously hard to keep weight on an intact dog simply because of hormones.

[GreenleafGreyhound]

I feed my dogs CSFTDLS and Wysong. I have plans to switch to Solid Gold (or at least supplement with it). Pinnacle and Wellness look nice, too. Thank heavens for Pet Food Express!!!!!

[Rip's Girl]

Doberkim what was it again that Bowie had surgeries for?

I really couldn't tell that he was overweight from your pictures of him.. He looks like he's in good shape.

[Rip's Girl]

Oh and Samson, it really doesn't take much time to prepare a raw diet. Notice how you said "I rarely even cook my own meals", COOK being the key word there. Cooking is what takes a lot of time.
I start thawing my dog's meals the night before, and all I have to do is let them (the dogs) outside and throw the meat out there, and then while they're eating, I cut up the organ meats and put them in a bowl, and crack an egg on top of them. I spend maybe 5-10 minutes a day preparing their food. To me, that little bit of time is well worth it and I can see the results ALREADY in my puppy, who now has the most beautiful, gleaming coat and bright eyes, and his energy doesn't come in spurts immediately after he eats, but rather is balanced throughout the whole day..

What takes the longest for me is monitoring them while they eat. My puppy is a gulper, and when I'm feeding meat with bones I like to be there to make sure he CHEWS the bones instead of just swallowing 'em whole. So, as of now, I'm spending about 45 minutes a day feeding Dakota. Once he is older and wiser, though, I'll be able to just give him his food and not have to watch him so closely.

People see raw feeding as being so complicated when really it isn't.. At first, it is VERY complicated, dealing with 'detox' and ratios (I had a hard time with this, but I've got it down for Ripley and I'm learning with Dakota) and sometimes feels awkward, I worried for a while that the diet wasn't complete, but now I'm 99% comfortable with it, the dogs look and feel great, and as long as I'm in charge of my dog's diet, they won't be fed anything else.

[doberkim]

well, feeding the BARF diet is hard and anything that requires all those darned supplements...and that grinding....and allthe mixing and matching.

i take it out, thaw it the prior meal, and whether its done thawing or not, toss it on the floor for the dog to eat. whats not eaten in 30 minute either gets refrozen, or thrown out.

grace: bowies surgeries? you really up for that?
may 2001- came into shelter. intact male, enlarged prostate, R side perineal hernia
june 2001 - SURGERY - right side hernia repaired, neuter
july 2001 - left side herniates
august 2001 -SURGERY left side hernia repair
sept-may 2002 - both sides gradually re-herniated. as in, 2 months post repair
july 2002 - SURGERY - bilateral hernia repair - internal obturator flap transposition
by 3 months post repair, it was clear both sides were still herniating through.
january 2003 - SURGERY - right side mesh implant surgery - he has a piece of mesh inserted on the right side to act as a false muscle wall. we didnt get to do the left side due to other problems - namely the surgery took too long due to the fact that he has ABSOLUTELY no muscle mass left. note, this is when i started feeding raw. at the end of this month, he is diagnosed with an atonic bladder.
march 2003 - bowie collapses, diagnosed via MRI as intervertebral disk disease, rupture at C6-C7. strict cage rest.
atonic bladder resolved by april after daily catheterization and uber expensive drugs.
july 2003 - SURGERY _ removal of two cutaneous fibrosarcomas.
september 2003 - SURGERy - removal of another lump, turned out to be benign
march 2004 - diagnosed as occult dilated cardiomyopathy
August 2004 - SURGERy - removal of left ear tip, r/o plasmacytoma. ended up being an ulcerated histiocytoma.

thanks for the complements on him - i work hard on keeping him in shape the best i can, since he can only do a few miles at a time hes as healthy as hes ever been, all things considered, and doenst look as sick as all his disesaes say he should be!