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The Truth About Your Dog's Food Channel 5 Thursday 9 pm

...has received 99 comments (page 10)
Florence
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03-02-2014, 08:57 PM
Well.. In my humble opinion (and I am no vet or nutritionist but have certainly read up on a lot of nutritional information for canines and humans alike) there is not one single type of food that's good for all dogs.

I feed my dog raw but used to feed a good kibble.
She was great on both, but prefers her raw food now.

As long as the food you feed your dog is good quality and healthy, you should be able to feed dried, tinned, packaged, cooked or raw food, depending on what you and your dog prefer.

If your dog doesn't thrive on the food you give her, you should probably try to find something else.
Dogs can have food intolerances just like humans, and these intolerances can develop at any time. (I for example developed a lactose intolerance a few years ago, but never had a problem before then.)

The problem with most commercial dog foods (and I mean the bog standard ones in the supermarket) is that you don't know what's in it. So if your dog has a slight intolerance towards beef, he could be fine with one batch and not fine with another. Why? Because 'meat derivatives' vary in every batch and there's no way to know. So you could never know why your dog occasionally has diarrhoea, because the content of beef is sometimes higher, sometimes lower and never high enough to make a significant impact.

Anyway. My main point is: there are thousands of people who smoke all their life and who never get any form of cancer. Does that make smoking safe or healthy? No.
There are plenty of people who eat junk food every day and don't put on weight and never have any heart problems. Does that make the food healthy? No.
So, we all know that a massive amount of cereal in dog food isn't ideal, we know that meat derivatives aren't as nutritional as actual meat and we also know that sugar has the great potential of causing diabetes, obesity, hyperactivity and kidney problems in dogs. Just because some dogs don't appear to have problems with that, doesn't make it safe and healthy to feed for all dogs.

So I think it's important to make sure you feed your dog a healthy food, what form you feed it is up to you at the end of the day.

However, when it comes to stuff like ANTIFREEZE in dog food, that's where I draw the line. I don't care what people say, that some dogs have been fine for years on this food etc. You wouldn't feed your child poison, don't feed your dog poison!!!!
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Tang
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Female 
 
03-02-2014, 09:36 PM
Originally Posted by Gnasher View Post
I would not dream of eating junk food and neither did I feed my daughter on it. I do not understand your point of view at all.
Nor do I understand yours so let it rest there.
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Anniebee
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03-02-2014, 09:42 PM
There is no doubt that the whole feeding thing is a huge minefield!

I feed raw, but only because Kibo just didn't thrive on kibble. I tried all sorts, including Eden, which I really wanted to " be the one " and he was disinterested at best, although, I would say disinterested in food , full stop.

The difference in his appetite and interest in food since I changed him to raw was astonishing and I now have a dog that's not a tin ribs any more and enjoys his meals.

So, both of mine are fed on raw, but, hand on heart, Sami would eat anything that I put in front of him.

My heart says raw is best because of no additives and the fact that I know exactly what is in it, but, in complete honesty, when I was a kid, our dogs were fed on Pedigree Chum with Winalot mixer and did bloody well on it. They had luxurious coats and lived to 16 years old. Latterly the old boy had recurrent ear infections, which of course nowadays might be put down to grains in food etc, but, who knows??

We all love our dogs, and feed them what we feel is best for the, but sometimes, that's what's best for us too.

Raw isn't cheap, neither is a good quality kibble, sometimes people just have to go with what their wallets can afford and what their dogs can tolerate.

I see plenty of dogs that are fed on what I would consider to be c**p, but they don't look any worse than my two, or seem in any way miserable. They are fed what their ( loving ) owners can afford and thrive on it seemingly.

Who knows what the ultimate answer is?
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Gnasher
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04-02-2014, 12:30 PM
Originally Posted by Tang View Post
Nor do I understand yours so let it rest there.
Fair enough - if you think it's OK to feed yourself and/or your kids on junk food, that's your affair, not mine

kiss and make up time ...
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Gnasher
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Female 
 
04-02-2014, 12:48 PM
Originally Posted by Anniebee View Post
There is no doubt that the whole feeding thing is a huge minefield!

I feed raw, but only because Kibo just didn't thrive on kibble. I tried all sorts, including Eden, which I really wanted to " be the one " and he was disinterested at best, although, I would say disinterested in food , full stop.

The difference in his appetite and interest in food since I changed him to raw was astonishing and I now have a dog that's not a tin ribs any more and enjoys his meals.

So, both of mine are fed on raw, but, hand on heart, Sami would eat anything that I put in front of him.

My heart says raw is best because of no additives and the fact that I know exactly what is in it, but, in complete honesty, when I was a kid, our dogs were fed on Pedigree Chum with Winalot mixer and did bloody well on it. They had luxurious coats and lived to 16 years old. Latterly the old boy had recurrent ear infections, which of course nowadays might be put down to grains in food etc, but, who knows??

We all love our dogs, and feed them what we feel is best for the, but sometimes, that's what's best for us too.

Raw isn't cheap, neither is a good quality kibble, sometimes people just have to go with what their wallets can afford and what their dogs can tolerate.

I see plenty of dogs that are fed on what I would consider to be c**p, but they don't look any worse than my two, or seem in any way miserable. They are fed what their ( loving ) owners can afford and thrive on it seemingly.

Who knows what the ultimate answer is?
The best diet for any species is that which any particular species is equipped for in terms of dentistry and digestion - clearly a herbivore like a horse should not eat meat, although many enjoy munching on a sausage roll or a hamburger if they can get their jaws on one, mine included!

Dogs' dentistry involves gnashers that are pointed - even the molars - for chopping through meat and bone. Our teeth are a combination of sharp incisors for cutting and tearing meat, and large flat molars for grinding up vegetable matter, nuts etc. - because we are omnivores. You can judge what is the BEST diet for any species by what type of teeth they have and what their digestive tract is geared up for. My dog does not digest raw carrot at all - he loves to eat them and has one every day in his food chopped up small, and also another one fed whole. But the carrot comes out of the rear end virtually in the same form as it went in the front! I feed him carrot merely as a filler rather than for any nutritional function - vegetables have to smashed up into a puree for dogs to be able to get a little bit of the minerals and vitamins from them (although I have been told on Dogsey by some owners that their dogs CAN digest vegetable matter quite well - mine cannot, being of a wolfie type).

Now - the BEST diet for any species does not necessarily mean that any given species cannot live reasonably well into an old age on a totally unhealthy diet. My daughter since she left home seems to live on a diet of pizzas, macdonalds and a load of other **** which I would never have dreamed of giving her, or eating myself! Yet she does not have a filling in her teeth, has good skin and is pretty healthy apart from a couple of inherited problems that she has, nothing to do with her diet. But as I keep telling her, she would do even BETTER on the sort of diet I eat ... no junk food, steady on the carbohydrate, no sugar, but plenty of fresh fish, meat, loads of salad, cooked vegetables and a little fruit.

So it is with our dogs IMO - raw feeding is the BEST, but many millions of dogs, including mine, have thrived into old age on what I would now consider as a "junk" diet of Pedigree Chum and a handful of biscuit. If you can afford it (and raw feeding is cheaper, much cheaper, than a top quality kibble) raw feeding has to be the BEST way to feed any dog (barring unknowns such as allergies etc.). But as I say, there are millions of dogs who are fed a less than ideal diet - just like some of us humans who live on Macdonalds - and live into a grand and healthy old age!

I just choose to do the very best I can for both myself, my husband and my dog - by looking to nature and seeing what our bodies have been designed to eat.

Hope I won't upset anyone with this post - I have tried to be moderate, honest injun!
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Dogloverlou
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 265
Female 
 
04-02-2014, 04:43 PM
Gnasher, you are what gives raw feeders the nickname "the raw brigade", coming across bossy, condescending and very dismissive of anyone else's opinion. It's attitudes like that that I have witnessed before on other forums from raw feeders that makes me run for the hills. Very pushy and looking down their nose at anyone who feeds anything less.

Your dog does great on raw, fantastic. But don't come in here dictating what is right or wrong for dogs as a whole.
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Gnasher
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04-02-2014, 05:46 PM
Originally Posted by Dogloverlou View Post
Gnasher, you are what gives raw feeders the nickname "the raw brigade", coming across bossy, condescending and very dismissive of anyone else's opinion. It's attitudes like that that I have witnessed before on other forums from raw feeders that makes me run for the hills. Very pushy and looking down their nose at anyone who feeds anything less.

Your dog does great on raw, fantastic. But don't come in here dictating what is right or wrong for dogs as a whole.
I have already apologised for my apparent condescension - not meant at all, but it is because I believe so passionately in a healthy diet - for all animals including ourselves, not just our dogs - that I get a bit OTT and I am sure come across as a bossy old bitch! I do not look down my nose at anyone who does not feed raw, I just merely think it is a great shame - unless there is a very good reason for non-raw feeding.

Just as I think it is a great shame that so many people think it perfectly OK to fill their kids up on the most appalling junk food from Macdonalds.

Sorry, but I don't really know what else to say. We are what we eat - every single species of animal on this planet is. And to me, I look at an animal's teeth and digestion to see what the correct food is - which is why I am not convinced that vegetarianism is particularly healthy for us humans, because we do possess a few canine teeth - incisors - thus proving that we do require at least a little animal flesh of one sort or another.
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Anniebee
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04-02-2014, 06:00 PM
Gnasher, I feed raw, but in all honesty it can be misleading to say that it's a cheap way to feed.

I could feed them both much more cheaply on kibble, unless I were to buy Orijen or Eden and then it would be about the same.

I choose not to feed kibble for the reasons in my post which you quoted, but people can feed what they like and sometimes it has to be what they can afford.
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mjfromga
Dogsey Veteran
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 5,680
Female 
 
04-02-2014, 06:23 PM
Anniebee, I'm glad you said that. I am nearly certain that I could not truly afford to feed my puppy a raw diet. My female won't eat it, but if I tried to feed it to him again, it would be too expensive most likely.

I'd probably have to buy everything from a market and pay full prices for it. If I was able to avoid this and get the extras from the market butchers like one of my neighbors does, I could likely afford it. But I probably couldn't.

He is 33 kg and growing and he eats a LOT of food. I can't really afford to pay that much for his food. I don't have a proper job and I also have a cat that has to eat a special diet and I also support my ailing father, who is now retired, disabled and doesn't bring in a lot of money and has lots of medical bills.

I also give money to my brother when he needs it. I have no money to waste and though I wouldn't ever feed my dogs really cheap food, I can't feed them the highest quality food, either. They get mid-grade food. Kibble with no corn, soy, wheat, by products... but usually contains brown rice or something grainy.

Even if I did have a proper job, I couldn't waste that extra money. Vet bills etc. I try and keep a little money on the side for, which can't be thrown away on food. I'll not feed them raw because it doesn't work for them, but even if it did... I'd probably not spend the extra money on it.

All my dogs (only large breeds) have lived to ages 14 + and are healthy up until the end. None of them have ever eaten a raw or super premium diet. If I could afford it, they would! But I can't truly do so, so they eat what I can afford and they do just fine on it.
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Gnasher
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 8,775
Female 
 
04-02-2014, 08:27 PM
Originally Posted by Anniebee View Post
Gnasher, I feed raw, but in all honesty it can be misleading to say that it's a cheap way to feed.

I could feed them both much more cheaply on kibble, unless I were to buy Orijen or Eden and then it would be about the same.

I choose not to feed kibble for the reasons in my post which you quoted, but people can feed what they like and sometimes it has to be what they can afford.
That's what I meant - if you know what you're doing, raw feeding is definitely cheaper than a top quality kibble. Not a cheap kibble, I didn't say that.

I have a 45 kilo dog and it costs us about Ł1 a day to feed him top whack. A superior kibble such as you mention or Arden Grange, Burns, Applaws would be more than that.
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