Advice on feeding

Halfpass

Halfpass

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I have a 16 month old male lab who at the moment is on nature diet. He gets 2 pouches per day but I am going to need to start feeing him more as he is doing more exercise coming out with the horses. This will then mean it is costing me nearly £2 per day to feen him and although this doesn't sound expensive its soon ads up. He does prefer a wet food (a fussy labrador yes) but I would be prepared to try a dry food that comes highly recommended. He also suffers with a funny tummy with some foods. Can anyone recommend a complete food that is as good as nature diet but not as expensive. (BTW have tried BARF and it upsets his tummy)
 
What about trying either James Wellbeloved or Burns food. They are dry foods but you can always moisten them with some water or even a little gravy. They are very suitable for those with sensitive tums as they avoid ingredients such as beef and wheat which upset some dogs.
 
Ohh Nature Diet was costing me a FORTUNE, Finn ( was 4months old) was supposed to have 8 a day!! I was only giving him 6 a day plus biscuits... but like you say - soon adds up!!!!!

I have him on Winalot now... however am soon going to change to BARF, regarding a complete food, James Well Beloved & Burns are supposed to be good.

K x
 
Can't comment on JW but my dog lost tonnes of weight on Burns and my friends dog also, they both looked emaciated on it. For some reason it doesnt agree with all dogs.
 
Chappie complete (dry food) is fine for my lab and spinger who have dodgy tums and other lab and JR who are fussy as hell. I just mix in a little wet feed to add a bit more flavour.
 
I feed my mini schnauzer Burns Brown Rice and Fish dried food. She was funny about it at first but loves it now. And this is a fussy wee b*gger who normally hates dried food. Also good for her as low protein which she needs.

A fussy lab? Never heard that one before
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My boy has nutro and is blooming on it he has it soaked as the breed is prone to bloat/torsion and has all sorts with it from cottage cheese to raw offal/mince, tripe, tins of tuna in oil, even salmon fillets (tescos reduced counter is puppy heaven!) etc. soaking any dry food will make it more attractive as it smells stronger
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[ QUOTE ]
Can't comment on JW but my dog lost tonnes of weight on Burns and my friends dog also, they both looked emaciated on it. For some reason it doesnt agree with all dogs.

[/ QUOTE ]Interesting!! - Have only 'heard' that burns is a good one - however it is one that alot of people that rave about BARF mention - so perhaps it is because it is a close to 'natural' as poss.
 
I wonder if that is because they are not naturally big eaters? It is definitely not the most tempting of foods, so I would have thought if the dog has a small appetite it may not eat enough. Would be great for greedy types though! Must say I have my bitch on JWB and she is a perfect weight.
 
two pouches a day seems alot? But then I don't feed naturediet all the time - my 4 month black lab puppy has 1/4 packet puppy nature diet with some mixer if he has it for a meal.. so he on 3 meals a day - that is only 3/4 pouch per day if he had it at every meal?

I feed a version of BARF (more a fresh food thing). As I understand it they are supposed to get an upset tummy for the first couple of days, then as the bacteria in their gut adjusts it all settles down. Did you try for a while or just a day or so?

Would agree with what other people have said about burns and jwb - but if he prefers wet food why don't you combine dry food with wet? Or add a dry mixer to the nature diet (Laughing dog meant to be the best mixer http://www.ld7.co.uk/ )? That would cut down on the amount of nature diet you need to feed?

Other recommended food that breeders use is called Forthglade http://www.forthglade.com/

my lab went off food when he was on jwb alone (what he came from breeders on
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) - which is also strange for a lab - he loves the new diet...
 
Simple Systems have strated doing 'Dogs Dinner' which is a complete feed - I feed it to my Lab and my 2 whippets - Lab was itchy as H*ll on James Wellbeloved, but has stopped scratching on Dogs Dinner - cheap enough too - 15kgs is £14 + delivery (I get 2 bags at a time and they last me 6 weeks for 3 dogs) I feed 2/3rds soaked and 1/3rd dry - they all love it!
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i feed mine on a combination of 2 scoops of JW and a third of Naturediet carton each I add some hot water and mix it all together - they always eat every scrap and I never have any upset tums- the oldies are on JW Senior light and they all get 1 scoop of dry JW for breakfast.

I have tried the BARF diet but found it too difficult with 6 large dogs to cater for - although I did notice that their teeth stayed beautifully clean whilst on it - I now give them raw meaty bones once a week to help keep their teeth clean as complete foods do tend to build up plaque on their teeth.
 
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