Fee Posted September 9, 2009 Report Share Posted September 9, 2009 I'm so pleased for Sidney and for you Welcome home Sidney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merledogs Posted September 10, 2009 Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 Absolutely delighted for the ickle chap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyM Posted September 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 Thank you all so much! It's like Sid's always been here, he's great with everyone, animals and humans alike. He even licks the rats through the cage bars - not very typical of a JRT cross lol! Which brings me onto one problem we do have with him - he is an incredibly fussy eater. We are not used to this with Dharma obviously - anything that sits still long enough is food for her. Sid seems to have a very sturdy tum and hasn't had any bother with a change in diet (he was on that really awful chunky cheap tinned food in the big tins). I've been giving him some of Dharma's dry food (Harringtons I think - from ASDA) and he'll only eat it when it's coated in something (eg. gravy or sardines), not even when it's wet with hot water. He is not food oriented at all, he would literally starve rather than eat biscuits alone! I think we're in for some hard work here. Tempted to be quite drastic and put him on raw or Naturediet but will see how he goes, as that would be quite inconvenient with Dharma not being able to have either. Sorry, thinking out loud aren't I lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owl Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 Try getting some smaller tins of chunks in gravy, and mix a couple of spoonfuls in with the all-in-one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Grose Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 The problem with the big cheap tins of food is that they are full of sugars so they are very addictive for dogs. You will need to wean him off it gradually by mixing tasty stuff with the dry food you want to feed him. But you could find that he is one of those dogs that really doesn't take to dry food and he will need a mix of wet and dry. IMHO, an all dry food diet is very hard on the kidneys so it would be better to mix something like NatureDiet with the dry food. But that is just my opinion, so you can ignore that if you wish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyM Posted September 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 No, I completely respect and appreciate your advice! I'm not a big fan of an all dry diet either, but with Dharma having such a sensitive tum and labelling being so pants it's not easy to find safe foods for her. She isn't as bad as she was now though and has toughened up to dry foods that contain rice, it's just whole rice she has a problem with now. Wish Naturediet did one that was oat or spud based! I think perhaps I will use this opportunity to do a search for a dry and a wet food that they can both eat and do the mix. Dharma also gets some raw (chicken wings and lamb ribs mainly) so will try him on them although he doesn't seem to enjoy chewing food (he picks bits out and chews very much like he's never had to before!). He chews toys and his teeth are great, so I know it's just that he's not used to texture in food. He goes crackers for sardines, that's what got him eating the bics the other day, so perhaps that's the way to go although it's quite rich for a little dog to have a full tin, so we'll have to cut it down a bit (he won't eat the bics with just a smidge on). Might try and find a fish and potato food as a base. I think you're right that it's down to the sugars. I think he also needs to get used to enjoying different foods as all those meats are very same-ish and new flavours might be the key to getting his appetite up. Glad he's got a cast iron belly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Grose Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 Well, if it helps, I am currently feeding mine (as we are travelling up and down to France) Orijen mixed with raw mince. Orijen is a dry food that is 70% meat (fish and chicken) and 30% veg and fruit. The veg is russet potato and sweet potato and although it does appear rather expensive on the surface this mix is costing me in the region of £1.10 per day to feed my two - Chloe weighs 20Kg and Barty 27.5Kg (so not little dogs). I buy mail order (free p&p) from Zooplus and if you search for a discount coupon you can just about always get 5% off the price. When I am home I normally feed all raw, but this mix seems to suit both of them extremely well and as Barty is a lurcher - gas can be a bit of a problem on most dry foods !!!! Zooplus carries an extremely good range of holistic foods that come from all over the world but as long as you order enough it is always free p&p. There are some interesting German foods that are around now. Well worth a look, even out of curiousity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyM Posted September 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 Thanks Anne, much appreciated! I think I've found a dry food I'd be happy with them both being on - would love to be able to afford Orijen but Dharma is 53kg, it's sadly out of our budget. I've found one called Challenge that she had a trial of and loved, but I lost the details and have just found them again: http://www.challengedogfood.com/ingredients.html It's the 20% protein salmon and potato one that she had, I think he might like that too and then we could add raw too. I was told when I was doing raw that mixing the two in the same meal was a big no - can't remember why (something to do with digestion rates/needs?). I'm assuming you have no problems with it, as that would be something I'd like to do with these two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Grose Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 Yes, I also heard about the raw and dry in the same meal not good for dogs because they digested at different rates. But ..... having done some research I think it is a bit of an urban myth that grew up to stop people feeding raw. I have had absolutely no problems with mixing the two - they were fed twice a day with raw and the Orijen from the middle of April until we returned on 16th August and for the last month they have been back on fully raw only because Barty's teeth were getting a bit yellow. This has gone now and as we are off back to France this pm, they are back on the dry/raw mix for the next three weeks. I never had one's day problem with stomach's or anything else so have decided that as dogs have been fed meat and biscuits for donkey's years, it was a story put about by the pet food industry. Didn't realise Dharma was so huge - what is she???? Challenge looks good but as Zooplus will deliver to France for free and Orijen suits Barty's stomach I will stick with it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyM Posted September 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 Thanks Anne - Dharma is a bullmastiff, slightly overweight due to a bad neck injury last year slowing her down (she is recovered now but is 7 so is not a spring chicken for a bullmastiff). Ideally she should be 45kg. Getting her down to that is not easy with her exercise being limited now lol. It's funny what you said about it being an urban myth about raw and dry together as the only people that pushed that one on me were a very OTT raw feeding email group I visited a while back. I suppose extremists at either side will manipulate things to their own argument though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Grose Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 Well there you go. I had the discusson on BritBarf about combining the two as I was struggling to feed fully raw (due to cost) in France and it was Derek - the guy who runs it - who said he had never found any research to support the theory apart from one mention on a website that no longer carried it. Seems as you say that there are extremists who will say what ever they want to support their theories. Anyway, apart from Barty's teeth, my two have done very well on combining the two and it is certainly easy enough for me to do while I am travelling. Good luck with the little boy - I am sure you will find something he likes sooner or later once you have educated his taste buds apart from all that sugar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merledogs Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 Kathy why not have a go at making your own version of naturediet at home. Much cheaper and you can bung in what you want! I feed mine kibble but they get my own home cooked food mixed in. I shove in a bag of frozen veg and the cheapest frozen mince from Asda, mixed up in a pan with some garlic powder, extra water (so there's lots of juice to coat the kibble) and occasionally liver. Sometimes I mix in rice, sometimes I add barley or oats. I cook a week's worth at a time (two bags of mince and two bags of mixed veg a week is enough for my five) and I freeze it in portions. It would be very cheap for you to do for one ickle dog and if you microwave it before adding to his food, then coat his food in it and leave it to soak in a bit, I'm sure he'd love it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReikiAnge Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 Congratulations on the new arrival - I thought he was JRT sized atfirst but he looks bigger and made me think of a staffie x collie?Lovely boy :wub: I never had one's day problem with stomach's or anything else so have decided that as dogs have been fed meat and biscuits for donkey's years, it was a story put about by the pet food industry. That's a good point. Our first dog was fed a mixer sort of biscuit with raw meat from being a puppy, on recommendation from the breeder. She had various kinds of raw meat, including fish, and always with some mixer biscuit added I'm sure. If we had the room for a bigger freezer I'd be looking into raw/homecooked, might try introducing a bit of raw anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyM Posted September 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 Thanks all of you. Ange - he's JRT sized with a slightly wider head, not staffie x collie sized. He is JRT x staff, but only a small amount of staff apparently. That photo is really deceptive. I think I'm going to go with the raw/dry mix, thanks for suggesting it everyone! He's on ND for now until I can get hold of some decent dry though. We have another problem which may end up being quite a serious/frustrating one, and that is the noise he makes when we go out for a walk. I started him in a harness today as he pulls so much on his collar, and now his throat isn't restricted (lol) he is literally making hyper chimp noises all the time when we're out. I am certain it's down to frustration, after all he's literally roamed until now without restriction. It might also be exacerbated by a bitch in season up the road who is quite vocal/aggressive when anything goes near her garden. She has a go at him and he starts making that "ha ha ha" (in between a yap and a whine) noise for the rest of the walk. Wonder if a halti would help in that respect, getting the focus back on me. As far as problems go it's a minor one, but it was quite embarrassing and didn't get him many friends at the park! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celeste Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 What wonderful news !!!!, absolutely delighted for you and him, welcome home Sidney Looks very like a JRT X Staffie to me, even his bum looks like a Staffie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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