I feed a quality kibble Jess...I'm not getting into the brand thing I'm afraid. It was reluctantly I even entered into a diet thread anyway as I've seen how they go in the past.

I think the whole diet issue is a contentious one and I think it really hacks some raw feeders off that there are dogs out there, like mine, who are doing brilliantly well on a kibble diet. My dogs aren't the only ones by any stretch of the imagination, I spend most of my time with identical cases.

There is an evangelism about the BARF diet... which is great for those people who are happy with it for their dogs...it doesn't mean though that BARF is THE way to feed. Nor should anyone feel under attack for not feeding it. Nor should they be patronised.

I would NEVER tell anyone that they should feed kibble. I also don't think anyone should tell me not to.

Everyone, like you said has the right to feed the diet that is right for their dog. That's what I and many other people do when I feed a high quality kibble diet...
I'm sure they would be happy on a BARF diet, they're dogs and to be perfectly honest, will eat anything...but if it ain't broke why fix it? :smt002

What kibble is to me: Largly a filler, cardboard maybe a bit extream but...lol...with a vitamin pill stuck on top.

It's the added vitamins that are keeping the dogs 'healthy' not any of the food included, if you took away the added vitamins dogs would keel over on the ingrediants alone, in my opinion.

So in my opinion a dogs system in most cases tolerates all the fillers and preserves and chemicals and thrives only on the added vitamins.

Now this is getting scary...even our dogs are in agreement.... :smt002

I think if that's all kibble was, if it was only a vitamin tablet keeping my dogs going, then they would be suffering from health problems, just as humans would be. they aren't Mys...they are really well.

Oh so nobody fancies the used nappy idea then? Not worth trying to market then ...?



Just playing.

The biggest change I have noticed in feeding both kibble and then raw to my dogs is the huge difference in the amount of waste and also that one of mine, Keena, finally put back on the extra pound or two in weight that she needed. She lost weight after being spayed and never gained it back and in my opinion she needed to. Also my boy in particular was real 'stinky' on any kibble I tried him with and no matter what kibble I used I was lucky if they ever took a solid poop...lol...In the first week of switching over these things quickly began to come right, that's how I knew I did the right thing for them. However if I had of been satisfied with how they were going on kibble I would have probably not looked for other options to the extent that I did. I exhausted all options with kibble then tried something different and it worked.

Your right Ailsa we all have to make our own choice and as long as we are happy with that everything is ok.

maybe you won't see it's broke until later on, like people riding with tree'd saddles they don't get reg. checked!
Sorry getting off topic...

Please pm me the brand Alisa, if your dogs do well on it, people are always asking me what i recommend. I am sure with your knowledge you are choosing one without derivitaves and all the rest of the stuff one 'needs' to know (it's a headache innit!). Out of interest, do the guide dogs let you feed what you like, or do they recommend something?

I am open to new stuff all the time, and I don't mind if i am getting it wrong and have to change in future. What i do mind, as you are all prob aware now, said it so many times(!) is people not doing their homework and just following everyone else! We are acting on behalf of our dogs and if there is one thing we all probably agree on, it's to do the d.a.m.n. best we can for them.


p.s. I don't use the word 'BARF' when speaking about what i feed... that's a type of diet program like 'atkins' or something! I used the words raw or natural.

Didn't say that's a fact, just my opinion but yes they need 'food' to keep the system moving of course, you can't just pop a vitamin...So with kibble you have all the 'fillers' which they are, no one can deny that...and a side order of added vitamin and it's the added vitamins keeping the dog healthy and the filler keeping the system on the move. In my opinion.

Heck none of us here are nutritional experts, but that's definitely my take on kibble.

If my OH eats fish with batter on...he's up with stomach ache all night. I love batter...just not the fish obviously.We are all different. We have different taste sensitivities and different digestive system peculiarities. I think dogs, are the same. What works well for one, may not for another. It may be that your dogs wold have improved on a different kibble...there are so many out there, some specifically designed for sensitive tummys..and for adding weight etc...but you tried raw and it worked. Fantastic. Brill for you and brill for your dogs.
My lot have 2 small poos a day...not particularly smelly...no more than most dog poo...
All dogs are different all people are different...there is no 'right' way here...just informed choices..that's what we've all done. That's all anyone can ask...

Kibble to me is how I see 'space' food...you know the little dried packets of food you think of spacemen/women having up in space.