Home made dog food

[AMY22]

I agree with Amy22; I've done a bit of nutrition studies for vet, and its all really quite interesting, and damn pet food companies can be bloody sneaky!

There are so many ways to distinguish crappy supermarket brands, and the genuine premium brands (e.g. Hills Science Diet, Royal Canin, Advance- Personally, I do NOT consider brands like Iams to be a genuine 'premium' brand, for certain reasons; namely that they don't run feeding trials). Heres a bit of a tip for trying to find some genuine premium brands;

There's 'groups' I suppose you could call them that aid in a kind of classification of pet foods. The lowest would be the ones that don't reference AAFCO anywhere- these companies can virtually chuck whatever they want into the pet food. Then you get companies that will say "formulated to meet AAFCO requirements"- these foods have the theoretical quantities of the different nutrients animals require, but they are only CALCULATED and not actually tested. Say for example a cat needs "X" amount of calcium in its diet; a cheaper company can just use the cheapest substance/formulation that provides "X" amount of calcium, and then claim it meets AAFCO standards- which is true, it does, but not all of this calcium may actually be absorbable by your beloved pet. The best level/group is when they say something like "Nutritionally complete based on AAFCO feeding trial." These brands have conducted feeding trials to establish/prove that "X" amount of calcium is actually ABSORBED by the pet, if that makes sense. Royal Canin, Hills Science Diet and Advance have all conducted feeding trials, whilst brands like Whiskas, Iams etc have not. Different sized animals, different breeds, animals at different life stages (e.g. puppy/kitten, young adult, adult, elderly, lactating/pregnant etc) etc have different requirements for protein, energy, fats and other nutrients (calcium, magnesium etc)- there is an important balance between these nutrients and if the quantities are stuffed up, then your pet may get ill. Many cheaper brands don't factor for these, either

Personally, my cats are both on the Hills Science Diet- Oral formula

Anyway I apologize for taking things off track from the home made diets. I just thought I'd try to give a tip to those who are still using commercial foods and are trying to figure out which ones are good.

Ha don't get me started! Pet food was something that was just so intruiging to me, that and animal behaviour. I could lecture all day on pet food...

There are so many things that people would find suprising (for example that Advance is owned by Mars, the same people who make such dodge foods as Mars Bars, Pedigree and Dolmio sauces, and Hills is owned by Colgate/Palmolive).

And with the different requirements, there is such a huge range in premium foods that you just don't get with cheap stuff. Different ages, sizes, activity levels, diseases, even foods made just for specific breeds.

There are basically 3 levels of pet foods- your really crap stuff that is only ever sold in supermarkets, but never in a petshop or vet, then your moderately good stuff that is sold in the supermarket and in petshops, but not at the vet, then your really good stuff that is never sold at the supermarket but is in petshops and vets. That's a good way to know the quality you're really getting.
Another thing is that the top premium foods don't advertise on tv, etc. because they want to spend the money they earn on making the food even better. Although a few weeks ago I saw an ad for Hills in a magazine! :O *gasp!*I was suprised, nobody else cared though...

 

[Macmilliam]

that would be useful............. sob i dont have a dog

 

[Choco]

AMY 22 and xshadowx:
As it seems we all still feed some dry food, Can you comment of any experiences on the dry foods in stock feeds shops (some are also in pet shops). A lot of working dogs get fed on these and their owners seem to swear by these in regards to dog health, coat, hardiness, etc. Brands I talk about are Supercoat, Bonnie, Cobber, Dog Pro, etc. Dog Pro apparently were contracted to make the food for one of the top quality brands but, once the contract expired, decided to market it themselves seeing the company they made it for were now charging so much for it.

Cheers,
Allan

 

[Opalsdad]

My Bull arabs are gutses, They get a mixed diet with some dry bits every night along with various other fresh meats, Sardines and dog sausage ocassionly. They are quite healthy. I put peanut butter in there Kong toys and it does them no harm (they love it). They will also eat fruit like apples, Mandarins,Bananas and grapes and they have never been sick? They have healthy coats and no skin problems or infections. Variety is a good thing but I must admit that they get Macca's Pancakes and syrup every Sat morning..lol Spoilt buggers

 

[Kristy_07]

I love rolling up to Macca's with the dogs in the back of the ute, and telling the drive-through girl to throw a couple of quarter pounders in the back

 

[AMY22]

AMY 22 and xshadowx:
As it seems we all still feed some dry food, Can you comment of any experiences on the dry foods in stock feeds shops (some are also in pet shops). A lot of working dogs get fed on these and their owners seem to swear by these in regards to dog health, coat, hardiness, etc. Brands I talk about are Supercoat, Bonnie, Cobber, Dog Pro, etc. Dog Pro apparently were contracted to make the food for one of the top quality brands but, once the contract expired, decided to market it themselves seeing the company they made it for were now charging so much for it.

Cheers,
Allan

Hmm, I'm sure I 100% understand, are you talking specifically about these brands, or on dry food in general? I don't know about these brands other than Supercoat (they in the middle of the quality range of pet foods).

If you are talking about dry food in general, or if it helps your question at all, dry foods tend to be better than canned food for animals that are more active. Canned foods can be up to 70-80% water so aren't really great nutrients wise in comparison to dry food. If you have an animal that is overweight wet food is better as it fills the animal up but doesn't have as much FOOD in it (if that makes sense) so they burn of weight better without eating too many calories, etc..
You'll also find that a lot of premium brands will have a huge range of dry foods but not as many canned foods.

Working dogs burn off a lot more energy than an indoor or less active animal so require more in their diet to keep up with the energy they burn, therefore dry food is the way to go.
Dry food has a lot of benifits- it's better for dental health, the animal tends to have to take a little longer to eat than if it's canned, the ingredients are denser and there is less water.
As I said earlier the better quality foods tend to use chicken and chicken meal as a main ingredient as it's a denser source of protein, and in dry foods they can pack more nutrients in than wet foods. Working dogs burn of more energy, so dry is the best option for giving them all the requirements they need.
There are foods made specifically for active dogs which cater for their energy levels, if you fed a regular food they'd have to eat more to keep up, otherwise they would lack a lot of what they need.

Hopefully that answers some aspect of your question?

 

[Kitah]

Pretty much what Amy22 said some people argue that all biscuit diets (I know you said you're feeding biscuits in addition to other presumably moist foods) can be bad for the animals gastrointestinal system because they're not adapted to consuming such dry products. I don't really agree with this, provided the animals have access to heaps of fresh water- the animals natural homeostasis mechanisms kick in to maintain the correct hydration levels. If you provided a type of food that swelled in the gut/when moisture was added, that would be a different story as it would cause an obstruction.

I don't have any experience with the dog foods you mentioned, as I tend to focus more on cat foods at the moment as they're more relevant to me for the time being. As Amy said, dry foods/biscuits are more concentrated, so often better suited to active or energy demanding dogs (e.g. pregnant/lactating, working dogs)- if you use a type of food with very high water content, often the animals cannot eat enough to consume sufficient energy to maintain them (i.e. their stomach can only fit so much in it a day). I think Amy explained it pretty well, so won't expand on it further

From what I briefly looked up about the foods you mentioned, none of them have conducted feeding trials for the feeds, but Cobber and supercoat at least meet the AAFCO nutritional profiles. This doesn't guarantee the dogs will actually absorb the precise quantities of nutrients they require, but it should be relatively close, and if your feeding other food types as well I don't think you'd run into too many issues. If you can, perhaps ask your veterinarian if/when you next go up, as to which working dog formulation they recommend. Believe it or not, they do sometimes have at least a general idea of nutrition

 

[Kristy_07]

I have found supercoat to be a good medium quality food, particularly for working dogs - I feed my dogs have supercoat and half home recipe, and it seems to be a good mix. I also found out that Julius dog food, which is sold at Aldi, is made by Supercoat, but is a little cheaper again.

 

[captive_fairy]

Thanks for that, Ill give it a go...do you find it affects the dogs weight though? I have an overweight ridgeback (who absolutely loves her food, she inhales it, im not sure if she even tastes it), so Ive had her on light food but it doesnt seem to do anything anyway...I've also got a staffy x retriever

 

[whiteyluvsrum]

Raw meat, bones & veges for my boof heads

 

[Kristy_07]

hi captive fairy, i would take some stuff out of the recipe at the start of the thread for an overweight dog, like the peanut butter and sour cream maybe switch for some sardines minus the oil. super coat has a light biscuit range, and i've seen food bowls online that are segmented=harder for the dog to eat from=slows down their eating.

 

[LullabyLizard]

I have a rotti x german shep and a whippet, their 7 months old The Whippet (Minka) loves stone fruit! Clover (rotti x german shep) loves pasta and rice. We feed them prodominantly on supercoat for pups, with a raw egg once a week and a cows' leg bone every month. The dogs get the pasta ect when we have leftovers. They had a nice meal of bolognese last nght!

They both have the best coats ever, and when we went to the vets to get them desexed, they passed their heath check with flying colours

 

[Vixen]

I have a rotti x german shep and a whippet, their 7 months old The Whippet (Minka) loves stone fruit! Clover (rotti x german shep) loves pasta and rice. We feed them prodominantly on supercoat for pups, with a raw egg once a week and a cows' leg bone every month. The dogs get the pasta ect when we have leftovers. They had a nice meal of bolognese last nght!

They both have the best coats ever, and when we went to the vets to get them desexed, they passed their heath check with flying colours

I would get your rottix off the supercoat. I've heard numerous complaints from breeders of large breed dogs who have been feeding their young pups that, and noticed abnormal growth spurts which are NOT a good thing, too much protein.

I even got a warning from the breeder of my German Shorthaired Pointer not to touch the stuff. I generally avoid foods labelled for 'puppies' as more often than not they do contain too much protein, especially for larger breeds.

The only dry dog food I will ever touch is from the brands Artemis and Eagle Pack, excellent excellent stuff but expensive.

 

[JasonL]

I feed mostly meaty bones with 2 handfuls of "Bonnie" brand dry food, Sometimes I will get roo mince, chicken wings ect, I just vary it around as much as I can and avoid feeding the same food all the time.... no way in hell would I pay $100 plus for a bag of dry food though...

 

[Vixen]

Haha he's gorgeous.

 

[Lewy]

We do not feed any commercial dog food to our dogs what so every and I just don't know why anyone would.. NONE of it is good!!

Ever since we put our dogs on this all natural home made food we have not needed to take our dogs to the vet not once in now a little over 3 years!! If it wasn't for shop bought pet food vets would be nearly out of business IMO

Its not only cheaper to feed this way and not only healthier to feed this way but also stops having to pay ridicules vet fees too

Our dogs never get sick always poo well never constipated and hardly fart any more.. There skin and fur is always shiny and we have never seen them happier

Lewy

 

[LullabyLizard]

I would get your rottix off the supercoat. I've heard numerous complaints from breeders of large breed dogs who have been feeding their young pups that, and noticed abnormal growth spurts which are NOT a good thing, too much protein.

I even got a warning from the breeder of my German Shorthaired Pointer not to touch the stuff. I generally avoid foods labelled for 'puppies' as more often than not they do contain too much protein, especially for larger breeds.

The only dry dog food I will ever touch is from the brands Artemis and Eagle Pack, excellent excellent stuff but expensive.

Thanks for the info, but when she was little, we got the expensive puppy food, designed for large breed dogs (the vet said we should use it). Now, since she isn't growing as much, we can use supercoat. Clover is the average size and weight, and in great health

 

[scout]

I noticed some people are 'throwing" things in that can be toxic to dogs, onion, chocolate, grapes,avocado, cauliflower, corn can all be toxic to dogs. While occassionally they may be fine, is it worth the risk? Mine get a mix of mince, turkey or chicken necks, tinned mackeral or sardines and a good dry food. I think if you mixed varieties you cant go wrong. Just have to make sure you have suitable ingredients

 

[captive_fairy]

hi captive fairy, i would take some stuff out of the recipe at the start of the thread for an overweight dog, like the peanut butter and sour cream maybe switch for some sardines minus the oil. super coat has a light biscuit range, and i've seen food bowls online that are segmented=harder for the dog to eat from=slows down their eating.

Thanks for that...The bowl sounds like a good idea, but I reckon my ridgey would try to eat through a bowl if it slowed her from getting food...shes like a vaccuum

 

[Aiigaru]

My dog is predominantly fed My Dog canned food (the only canned food that ive noticed to have actual good pieces of meat and vegies in it). he also gets eggs, sardines, some greek yoghurt, etc. he doesnt eat things like chicken necks and whatnot, but loves brisket bones on hot days (i freeze them the night before =D).

He is a very healthy dog. has sufficient energy, isnt destructive, has no allergies or skin disorders, nice stools, etc. I know what i'll be feeding him and any future dogs i have on ;D