Feeding dogs

[Gothicina]

To those of you with dogs - WHEN do you feed them their main meal, and WHAT do you feed them? Badge - a Jack Russell - is on dry food which seems to suit her fine, but I imagine could become a bit boring.

I was reading up on the BARF - bones and raw food - diet last night on the Jack Russell forum and a lot of owners use the BARF principles.
http://www.ukbarfclub.co.uk/

My dogs have a mixture of home cooked & barf (not inthe same meal), so I know exactly what they are eating.

They have some cooked because they're not keen on raw mince, it's also easier to add medication to.

I have a local butcher that freezes anything that is getting too gamey for humans, or he has bought too much of, & sells it for pet food.
He also does offal, including lights, poultry giblets & minced chicken (including minced bone), at a reasonable price, & throws in quite a lot for free.
I also buy frozen tripe chunks & occasionally the other AMP frozen meat.
They have tinned fish, pilchards,tuna,sardines,mackerel, or even, when it's on offer, pink salmon, at least once a week, usually in place of a cooked meal.
They sometimes have fresh fish when available at an afforadble price.

I do very occasionally use Denes, Natures Menu, or Naturediet, pouches, trays, or cans only, & usually keep some as a standby.


I refuse to use dried & almost all of the manufactured pet food out there.

Most of the pet food companies also make human food, if I don't trust them to feed humans without all the unecessary additives & E numbers, why would I trust them to provide safe food for my animals?

Although the rules & regs covering what is allowed to be used in petfood are much stricter in the UK than they are in the USA, the manfrs hide behind phrases like meat and animal derivatives, derivatives of vegetable origin, & EC permitted additives. Some of the additives allowed in petfood are banned for humans!!

The only time I ever tried Trouble (my last dog) on some dried food, he had an epileptic fit.

Mine get their cooked (small meal), in the afternoon, their main meal when I eat mine usually during the evening, or sometimes in the summer when it's very hot when I get in from work in the early hours.

[bittymatriarch]

Thanks everyone for your comments - some interesting ones too.

I want to get Badge settled in more before we start changing anything.

I gather from another forum that raw chicken wings given at breakfast time are good, nutrition wise

[phanmale]

Thanks everyone for your comments - some interesting ones too.

I want to get Badge settled in more before we start changing anything.

I gather from another forum that raw chicken wings given at breakfast time are good, nutrition wise

I didnt think you could give a dog chicken bones? they are too soft and can choke the dog?

[bittymatriarch]

Raw are OK; it's the cooked ones that can splinter.

[pearlygirl555]

My grandmother had a dog who got into some pork bones during a naughty foray into the trash. One of those bones punctured all the way through his neck but he ended up to be fine after some surgery.

My dogs have access to dry food and water 24/7. Certainly not an ideal system but we travel enough that this allows me to have simple method for people who watch the critters while I'm gone. That way, if someone misses coming over here for a day, hopefully no one runs out of kibble. Scraps are given out to one and all when I'm home, and I get them cow hip bones for chewtime heaven.

[raindropsies]

We feed ours on dry dog food. It's called Breederpack complete dog food. £7.65 for 15kg and last about 5 week for 2 dogs

[nostalgiacentral]

My Cocker won't touch the dried food. He varies between cans and fresh meat. He's partial to braised liver, which I cook at the same time I cook our meals, but only in water, no gravy. Or chicken can work out fairly cheap if you buy cheaper cuts. He gets wheaty terrier meal with it.
And he definately won't eat anything without his veggies. He sometimes has cabbage, broccoli, or brussel sprouts. When I make it he ignores me but as soon as the iceberg lettuce comes out of the fridge he's up and can't wait to get stuck in. This all keeps his skin in lovely condition.

[JerseyDevil]

Max the Pita eats wet food only....and then according to his whims. He prefers the organic products ( so more $$$$ ) when he doesn't approve of our own main course.
We had chicken stew with home made dumplings over the weekend which he said was fine with him.