interesting results

My three have been on raw now for 2 years and I really thought it was the best thing for them until recently.......

Sol has always been a thinker and because of this he gets brain tired in training so sessions need to be kept short. They have been increased as time has gone on and he can manage up to 30 minutes agility before I have to swap him for deef so I tend to change them over while he is still keen (around the 20 minute mark)The week before easter I was running down my freezers so that I could defrost them and we went training on the friday as normal except sol wasn't normal..... He was totally mad, really up for it and fast and confident in a way he isn't normally during a training session. After 20 minutes I swapped dogs and he watched and then we brought him back at the end and he was just as keen which has never happened before, even my trainer commented on it! The only thing I had done differently was to feed them nature diet for a couple of days before. I went to a show over easter and decided to experiment with this and only fed them nature diet over the weekend to see what would happen.... sol was like a different dog. He was still really up for it and mad as ever but instead of queueing and grumbling at dogs next to him that came and got close or flirting with those that he thought might be girlies he was totally focussed on the ring or me. He was much more relaxed in himself on the whole over the weekend. I put them all on arden grange adult the following week and never said anything to my trainer but at his next session he was even more focussed and generally just more relaxed in himself. Sol was floored by another dog at a show in July last year and clubbed by its muzzle and every show since then he has appeared to be a little worried and on edge until Easter. I switched them over to the AG prestige yesterday when my small bags of adult ran out and today we went to our nearest park for a treat. We met a guy with a lovely dogs trust rescue collie pup, a little nervous and unsure but we spent some time with him and I had a good chat to the owner and the result was that his pup had a lovely play with all of mine... Sol doesn't like puppies, he usually grumbles at them so I put him on the lead as I could see this pup was unsure and I didn't want him to be frightened on what turned out to be his first proper walk but as they all seemed so relaxed and he wasn't that bothered I eventually let him run loose and he played with this pup so nicely as it chased him about and herded him without even a dirty look. Now I know that he is now 3 years old and growing up but this was literally an overnight change in behaviour and the only thing different was the food

I now am unsure what to do next, I still think raw is a great way of feeding but now I am not so sure that it is the best thing for him.... I am not anti complete food but never expected to end up putting mine back on it He is generally a much calmer more relaxed dog all round which I am chuffed to bits about. His experience last year was really horrible for him as it was the first time I think he realised that not all dogs are friendly and so it was a bit of a shock I did consider having him castrated after his last show in february as I was beginning to think it might be the best thing for him but after chatting to my vet, trainer and a behaviourist decided to wait until the end of the season and try some other things first. The feeling was that it was as much likely to make a difference at the end of the year as at the beginning and I would have been happy to drop him out of competition at any time and have it done if necessary.

Now I don't mind putting mine on AG as I think it is a really good quality food, they were on Burns previously but as deef was always too lean on that I didn't want to go back to it and AG looked a better option. I don't mind keeping them on this food forever if its the best thing for them (although it goes against the grain for me it is them that matters) and at the moment it seems that it really is the best thing for sol but what I really want to know is has anyone else experienced anything similar? I don't want this to be a raw versus complete thread as I believe that you should feed what suits your dogs but I have to admit I am really surprised by it all

This is a really interesting - and surprising post. I never know what to do for the best for my lot either, I changed them all over to raw about 4 years ago but found although all their coats were shiny the zois didn't have the same quality of coat. For the last year I've fed mine complete with tripe twice a day and raw marrow bones twice a week, chicken wings once a week so a real mixture but it seems to be working. Tchis coat is looking the best it ever has, really thick and soft and shiny.

I suppose it shouldn't come as a surprise to us that (good quality) complete foods contain everything in the right quantities that our dogs need - the manufacturers have done extensive research. Although I do like the idea of feeding my dogs naturally it wasn't the best option for them.

look into genesis, for shows i stick Mav on preformance two days before, it REALLY helps his stamina & concentration.

Genesis is THE ONLY food that flynn has eaten for over 3 months, he LOVES it ,been on it 3 years now.

I now feed Working dog as being VAT free its abit cheaper

I used Burns but stopped because of weight loss and put them onto AG, which I have found excellent. I admire people who feel able to feed raw, understanding nutritional needs of the dog is so complicated that I have never felt able to contemplate feeding raw.

Did once decide that they may like a treat and gave them all a raw chicken wing, 3 sucked at it for a while and walked away never to return and the other was worried and ran away and barked back at it. Good job I feel unable to feed raw I don't think my efforts would be welcome.

Strangely enough their coats didn't seem to improve that much at first although they did look a lot better once their winter coat came through that year (I had changed them in the April). I also had some problems with Kel having really dry flakey skin through the winter which turned out to be too much beef, seemed he could cope with the knuckle bones and tripe but not the mince as once I cut that out he was ok. I had a really good chat to my trainer about it last week and he has a friend that does the same as you mixes between raw and dry which I think I may do as they were looking at me expectantly for their bones today

Sorry Mish but I have looked at genesis and I think AG is a better option for mine, the performance is more expensive and the VAT free one does not have enough "oomph" for my lot. It also still contains synthetic vitamin K, I thought manufacturers were leaving that out now? AG prestige also has more meat in it and a higher calorie level per 100g so in fact more energy genesis also doesn't appear to manufactured in the UK?


Strangely enough I think that deef was the only dog in the world that actually gained weight on Burns but he was on the active and I changed him over out of desperation as he had lost so much weight on JWB. He had gone down to 17 kilos, he went up to 20 kilos on burns and then 22-23 kilos on raw which is much more of an ideal weight for him as he is a fairly big collie. I did have the same reaction with chicken wings though, sol sucked his to death for about an hour and then finally decided to eat it when he was in danger of losing it to kel. Kel was the only one that dived straight in to the bones, deef was never sure what to do with a carcase at first but soon learned, it was so funny watching them though One thing I didn't mention is that sol decided that he no longer liked the minced turkey or chicken from albion and would only eat the tripe, complete or lamb mince He still loves all the other stuff so I am thinking that maybe I could feed some meals raw and others dry, they do really like their bones Best of all though is that sol chews dry food whereas he used to inhale the meat and practically swallow it without any pretense at chewing

its made in canada & imported by one sole importer in the UK.

Never mind ! i wouldnt feed my boys anything else!

( out of interest i need Barf flynn from 8 weeks to 2 years.& he hated it overall, what a struggle to get him to eat anything!!! now if i decide to give him a odd C.wing he LOVES it!!!!!)

I think your experience has shown that there is no one diet that suits all dogs!
Becky

I agree with Pita, I admire those who feel able to feed raw too, but I don't. In fact I have read (with interest) posts on here about raw, but mine don't touch it, they just walk away I feed AG and tinned (which has veg/pasta in) alternatively. We're lucky they have great coats. Mine are focused on what they do...........maybe Colliemad has a point. But as Becky said, It just goes to show there's no one diet that suits all dogs.

At no point would I ever have disagreed with you on that one! If the choice were mine then they would still be on raw but as my recent "experiment" has shown the better option for Sol is a complete food. I haven't noticed any real differences with either of the others, deef is still loopy la la and kel is sensible as ever, still paces himself on a walk so I don't have to restrict the distance we go because of his hips

The biggest and best change is that sol seems more relaxed and comfortable in his skin and I know for a fact there was a bitch in season at the easter show They are still looking for their bones so I don't think I can just stop giving those but they will be getting them as a meal and not mixed with the dry. I can't believe it took 2 years before it became apparent or maybe all the times he seemed to get tired at the end of a show were because of this and not as I thought then due to him being brain fried

Mish if it works for your guys thats great and you have no reason to ever feed anything else Interesting about Flynn.... he is not the first one I have heard of that wasn't happy on raw and I have no doubt that he won't be the last. All of mine were happy and loved their food but clearly for Sol it wasn't the best option. I want my dogs to have the best for them even if it's not the best for me