Feeding..

[maddielove]

There's a bit of a debate going on in my house about feeding the dog.
My dad (who likes to think he's a dog guru - but not really) is spouting off at me saying I am feeding Scruffy far too much.
He's now on two meals a day, not over or under weight and does eat all his meals.
However he's been fussy but gotten a lot better since we moved him onto junior food and will eat this by it's self. He likes to give it a sniff...walk off then come back and eat it a few minutes later.
Apparently this means I am over feeding him

Surely not?

But it gets even worse, we ran out of food tonight so I planned to give him a meal of boiled rice and a bit of tripe. I told my dad this but I came home to find he's been fed soaked bakers mix. I asked him why he fed him this and he answered
"He needs to be fed something normal. He likes this far better and it'll be much better for him

" He's still insistat on this despite me pointing out that one of it's main ingredients is "Various Sugars"
Scruff is now a bit out of sorts and keeps making noises like he's going to be sick...hopefully he'll be fine..

Anyway, ramble aside...surely feeding something like James Wellbeloved at amounts that maintain a healthy weight and growth rate (even if it doesn't go down within seconds) is far more ideal than something packed with sugar that he wolfs down?

Anyway - All I can say is, he's no longer a family pet as no one else will take responsibility for him. Will look forward to taking him with me when I move in with OH

 

[Ashkadog]

My dog is a bit (a lot) of a thief so according to my OH i'm not feeding her enough. I'm sure it happens more than we think but as long as they are of a good weight then there is no problem. Just remind yourself that if you ate all the food you wish you could eat you would turn into a biffa. I did have to take mine off James Wellbeloved in the end as she wouldnt eat it, would nibble and walk off then was obviously hungry so would nibble a bit more and go off agian. She just didnt like it but fine now I have changed. She is on Arden Grange.

 

[Spot_the_Risk]

Arghh, Bakers is cr@p!! If you're Dad will listen, show him the difference between the amount of meat in Bakers and JWB, also the carb source, mainly wheat in Bakers, the colourants and E numbers... rice and tripe would have been far better.

 

[MurphysMinder]

All the colours etc in Bakers are just to make it look appetising for the owners, the dogs don't care how bland it looks and dogs do not need sugar! I have fed all my dogs for years on tripe and they have thrived. Have had to change on to complete now as no longer able to get tripe but am very careful as to ingredients. It is worth paying a bit more for a good complete feed, you are less likely to get the sweepings off the factory floor

 

[haycroft]

some dogs are natural thiefs and will pinch anything that they can

i feed barf diet as much as i can and they look great on it
and never leave food down for long if it isnt gone within 10 min its taken away until next meal time...
hope you can sort it out

 

[KarynK]

I think you will find that almost all processed foods contain forms of sugars, some take the form of complex carbohydrates but basically they are used because producing dried food formed entirely of protein would be very expensive. Plant bulks reduce costs and make the meat go further, regardless of the fact that dogs have not evolved to process the likes of wheat, barley, maize or even the upmarket bulks of rice and oats.

Not only that but processed feeds are cooked and therfore loose colour hence the need to make it pretty by adding artificial colours some of which are cancerous!

I think there is a Canadian brand of dried protein feed that does not contain plant bulk but it is very expensive. The listings on dog feed is usually listed as in human foods with the largest ingredient first on the list!

Personally I cannot see the point in feeding expensive alternatives that are cooked when you can feed dogs on raw meat and bones for a fraction of the cost of any packet feed, and no one has messed about with