Dog Food

Nody

The can's perfectly fine Puca:

Composition
Beef (min 37%), Chicken (min 18%), Potato (min 8%), Carrots (min 6%), Peas (min 4%), Sunflower oil (<1%).

Analytical Constituents
Protein (10%), Crude Oils & Fats (7%), Crude Ash (2%), Crude Fibres (<1%), Moisture (76.5%

Nothing odd or derivatives in there.

Skinner on the other side...

Protein pellets containing beef meat meal, extruded wholewheat biscuits, cooked flaked maize, wheat glucose syrup, baked wholewheat biscuits, cooked flaked peas, cooked wheatflakes, oils, vitamins, minerals and trace elements.

Not what you really want to see in any dog food.

PucaMama

Nody wrote: »

The can's perfectly fine Puca:
Nothing odd or derivatives in there.

Skinner on the other side...
Not what you really want to see in any dog food.

the only reason i feed the nuts was i was told its good for their teeth but i see some people on here only feed wet food?

edit is this any better
http://www.skinnerspetfoods.co.uk/store/working-dogs/duck-rice/

borderlinemeath

PucaMama wrote: »

the only reason i feed the nuts was i was told its good for their teeth but i see some people on here only feed wet food?

edit is this any better
http://www.skinnerspetfoods.co.uk/store/working-dogs/duck-rice/

Nothing better for their teeth than a butchers bone once or twice a week.

PucaMama

borderlinemeath wrote: »

Nothing better for their teeth than a butchers bone once or twice a week.

trip to the butchers so

Nody

PucaMama wrote: »

the only reason i feed the nuts was i was told its good for their teeth but i see some people on here only feed wet food?

edit is this any better
http://www.skinnerspetfoods.co.uk/store/working-dogs/duck-rice/

As Border noted a uncooked bone a week is better then anything else for the teeth but to talk about the food itself first; yes it's better but...

Whole rice (40%), duck meat meal (20%), naked oats, peas, whole linseed, sunflower oil, beet pulp, vitamins and minerals.

Note how Rice is the main part of the food? This should really always be a named meat (not meat products, derivatives, flour etc.). Secondly the beet pulp while quite low is once again something used to fill out food for cheap (it's the mass that's let after they been cooked and emptied on all and any healthy stuff in them) while being claimed to "help them process the food" which is utter BS.

Blazer

+1 for Orejin
I was feeding our dog pedigree as I was sure it was better for him until I started reading all those stories about what's actually in it :eek:
Then did a lot of research into what's best for him (raw food) but since we have a baby around the house I went with the next best thing which was Orejin.
All of the food used in it is deemed "fit for human consumption" and contains no grain.
He loves it now and clears the bowl plus I cut out a lot of the treats and junk I was feeding him.

What do people think of the pedigree joint care sticks? They're getting good reviews but always interested in hearing other people's recommendations.

borderlinemeath

Blazer wrote: »

+1 for Orejin
I was feeding our dog pedigree as I was sure it was better for him until I started reading all those stories about what's actually in it :eek:
Then did a lot of research into what's best for him (raw food) but since we have a baby around the house I went with the next best thing which was Orejin.
All of the food used in it is deemed "fit for human consumption" and contains no grain.
He loves it now and clears the bowel plus I cut out a lot of the treats and junk I was feeding him.

I presume this is because you're worried about germ contamination. From the floor? Or from the dog licking the baby?

If you're worried about germs spreading from raw food onto the floor that the baby is going to crawl on, simple solution is either to feed your dog outside or in a crate. Wipe down the crate base afterwards in case you're worried baby may get in. I actually feed my dogs on a towel as they are pretty insistent on having a soft surface underneath them. Towel goes into 60degree wash, job done.

If you're worried about a dogs mouth being more contaminated with germs due to being raw fed I wouldn't be too worried. The myth that a dogs mouth is much cleaner than a humans stems from the amount of saliva that a dog produces. In human and animal saliva is an enzyme called lysozyme, it basically flushes away all the germs that may be left lingering after a raw meal, a cooked meal, basically anything that gets into the dogs mouth. It's also why dogs instinctively lick their wounds, to cleanse the area (although they can then go overboard and keep the wound open but that's another discussion)

Basically once the dog has been given sufficient time to digest the meal, and let the bacteria killing enzymes do their work then there is very little chance of contamination. I do also recall reading (it might well have been on the raw food thread here) that there is a far greater chance of catching the likes of salmonella (if present in the raw food) from the faeces of the dog rather than the mouth. It's an awful pity that Dogsfirst got banned cos he's a wealth of knowledge on this subject.

PucaMama

Ive started to get scraps from a butcher for our dog. I gave her het first bit today its bone and meat but now shes not too pushed on her own food. A mix of nature menu and dry nuts. So should I half her own dog food when feeding butcher's scraps?

mymo

When I give raw meat and bones I give in the middle of the day and don't give any dry or any other meal that day.
Raw and nuts or wet food should not be fed together, I think it's 5 or 6 hrs between raw and normal food, they digest them differently.

PucaMama

mymo wrote: »

When I give raw meat and bones I give in the middle of the day and don't give any dry or any other meal that day.
Raw and nuts or wet food should not be fed together, I think it's 5 or 6 hrs between raw and normal food, they digest them differently.

Could I give her the raw scraps at about 10am then a small normal meal at 5 or 6pm

mymo

Yes, that should be fine.
Ask your butcher if he has any lamb rib bones, my two love them and they are soft. Beef ribs are good for bigger dog, don't give too much bone at once, I give 2 lamb ribs and some meat scraps. But I don't feed raw daily, otherwise I'd be weighing it for right amounts.
I find my two aren't very hungry after the raw.

PucaMama

mymo wrote: »

Yes, that should be fine.
Ask your butcher if he has any lamb rib bones, my two love them and they are soft. Beef ribs are good for bigger dog, don't give too much bone at once, I give 2 lamb ribs and some meat scraps. But I don't feed raw daily, otherwise I'd be weighing it for right amounts.
I find my two aren't very hungry after the raw.

Mines a smallish terrier shes still fairly thin for her height. The butcher gave me wat I think are ribs and they are pretty small so id think lamb. Im takin in a rescued pug in the next few days will he be able to have the scraps and bones too

mymo

If you need to put some weight on her I got a recipe from my vet, chicken thighs and legs, brown rice and any veg, add water and cook like a casserole, remove bones when cool.
Add a bit of this to the usual food, it put weight on my fella pretty quick, but he wasn't interested in his dry food and was a very skinny pup. He's fine now, in fact I have to watch it or he gets fat.
This freezes great, should be about half meat, the rest rice and veggies.

PucaMama

mymo wrote: »

If you need to put some weight on her I got a recipe from my vet, chicken thighs and legs, brown rice and any veg, add water and cook like a casserole, remove bones when cool.
Add a bit of this to the usual food, it put weight on my fella pretty quick, but he wasn't interested in his dry food and was a very skinny pup. He's fine now, in fact I have to watch it or he gets fat.
This freezes great, should be about half meat, the rest rice and veggies.

Think ill wait a while first shes only 7 - 8 months old yet anyway she might fill out a bit yet