I just picked up my pup lab. The kennel raises all their dogs on raw foods. Everything. I don't have a problem doing it. Its just too expensive. Any views regular high quality dry kibble as to this raw diet. The diet consist of vegetables, lettuce, cucumber, spinach, broccoli, zuchinni etc etc. The meat, its ground turkey and raw salmon. All of this is placed in a cuisinart. Looks like green pourage.

I want to get away from this path and go to a dry food. Other method is just too time consuming and costly.

Feedback?

 

I would slowly wean the pup off of the raw stuff...mix it with dry dog food of your choice for a few weeks...less and less of the raw mix over time...to avoid stomach problems.

I feed my dogs Purina Beneful...it's expensive...but not as bad as some of the other crap that's out there,(and has been recalled for killing dogs.)

IMO, Dry dog food is the only way to go.

It's better for their teeth among other things.

 

be careful when you start with the kibbles. my dog will carry the ones she doesn't like to another room and drop them.

 

agway has a great big bag called big red puppy food........ raised one of the best dogs I ever had on that, then went to the adult formula, never a problem. best lab ever.

 

X2 w/ Purina Beneful.

 

Dogs, like folks from the midwest, aren't made to eat vegetables. Their (the dogs) bodies will tolerate certain types of grains and veggies to a point, but it's not what they're created to eat. Their natural diet is meat.

The other crap you're making for the dog sounds like my mom's recipe for meatloaf.

 

The wife here;

Going raw is incredibly time consuming but if you do it right it is a lot cheaper then premium kibble. Raw feeding is just raw meaty bones, meat with no bones and organs. Now barf, which is actually what it sounds like your pup is on can be expensive. Personally I feed my dogs holistic foods like Orijens, Fromm's, Timberwolf, Taste of the Wild, Innova, Canidae, Chicken Soup for the Pet Lovers Soul. A lot of these companies actually make grain free formulas and its like feeding raw without the hassle. I know that people think I am nuts for spending fifty bucks on a thirty pound bag of dog food, but it lasts so much longer. When we first got our Weimaraner he was eating eight cups of Iams a day at only four months, when we switched him to Timberwolf he went down to two and a half cups a day.

Here is a link with a lot of helpful tips on Raw
http://www.bulldogbreeds.com/discuss...ic.php?t=27028

Another one for good quality kibble
http://www.bulldogbreeds.com/discuss...opic.php?t=642

 

We feed our Yorkie both Beneful wet food and dry food. She likes it and its fairly inexpensive. We tried to feed her cheap dry kibble, and she did not like it at all. Didn't want to touch it. That's the first time I've seen a dog be picky over it's food.

It's cheap to feed her too since she eats about 1/3 cup of food a day.

 

I know with my pits its highly suggested to mix hamburger meat with dry food of choice. I plan to do this after I sell my pups, but for now my pups are on a mix of Nutro Max wet puppy food and wettened Iams proactive dry food. If you look in my AnyDay now thread, they are growing very rapidly on this diet. If cost is an issue, dry food will be fine with a steak every once in awhile. Cook the meat to at least human standards, raw meat will cause some wetter stool.

 

Hamburger with some white rice will also help them when they have upset stomachs as well.

 

There is nothing wrong with dry dog food. I have worked with a lady that shows AKC Borader Collies (shes been showin and trainin for 30 + yrs) and uses them for agility compations and feeds them nothing but dry food. You just need to make sure it is a good quility food. Stuff like Old Roy from Wallie World is not good food. Some of the food stated in the other post are not bad at all, it is worth it for your dog in the long run. Like stated above wein the dog of the other stuff by mixing, don't go cold turkey on the pup it will cause some stomch problems.

 

He's absolutely correct! When was the last time you heard of a wolf or coyote rummaging thru someone's garden and eating leaves and veggies like a deer? Hint; dogs came from the wolves and coyotes. Grain products and veggies are the farthest thing from 'necessary' in a dogs diet and can actually be detrimental to their health in some cases. The only thing veggies DO in a canines diet are make their human owners feel better about themselves. There's your feedback!

Now, about the issue of making a post about a Lab and NOT posting a picture... cut his post count in half and bump him back to 'Junior Member'!

chaikwa.

 

I feed Nutro Max. I would be sure to get your dog food from a local feed store or a tractor supply. The stuff that you get at your grocery is junk. Be sure to look at the ingredients - stay away from any corn or corn meal, make sure meat is in the first 2 or 3 ingredients.

The way I see it - I spend a couple extra bucks on my truck for good fluids and filters, may as well do the same for the dog.

 

2X plus...

My better half runs a small working dog kennel. Absolute best thing you can do is to feed a raw diet. Also, deer season is coming in and the local butchers love us. We take most of their scraps for the season, and make freezers full of canine meals.

Advice as follows -

• If you can buy it in the pet aisle at your local grocery, you are money ahead going to the saw mill for saw dust....
  
• Otherwise head to Petsmart, or better yet one of the hollistic stores. We supplement with Taste of the Wild as necessary. If you aren't going to stick with the raw diet, as mentioned, wean them off slowly.

By all means have fun with the new puppy!


Lastly, what do you think that chicken was eating up to the point the big bad wolf came along for his supper? Get it?

 

Pick a quality dry food and call it a day.

My sister is into all the Holistic nonsense. The amount of time she wastes preparing food for her three dogs is rediculous. Those friggin' dogs eat better than her husband.