[MiriMaran]

I have a friend who is wanting to make all the food she feeds to her two Bearded Collies.  Does anyone here do this and if so what do you do please?

[doganjo]

It may not be a balanced diet. The proprietary ones are created by expert nutritionists.  I wouldn't use the barf raw diet for that reason - you can't know exactly what your dog is getting of each nutrient.  If she really wants to do this she should look at the ingredients of a number of complete dog foods.

[xnbacon]

Would suggest she googles Barf diets, this is one link I've looked at:

http://www.thehavendogtrainingschool.co.uk/html/barf_diet.html

however, from reading around I get the impression it's a bit like feeding your children (or even yourself!) - everyone has their own ideas! 
I personally don't get hung up about how 'perfect' the diet is as long as you have got the basics right, which does require researching the dietry requirements for the dogs.  After all, many humans have lived perfectly adequately on a less than perfect diet.  Also I have found with my two dogs that processed food doesn't seem to agree with them as well as raw.

[doganjo]

A friend of mine had a litter of 7 week old puppies die from salmonella because she fed them raw chicken wings (human grade form a supermarket) so I never recommend raw feeding.

[sagehen]

Why does it have to be raw? My OH's late mom owned kennels and fed her greyhounds on boiled sheep's heads - the meat was taken off and then minced, and she also fed them a mixed diet with vegetables in as well. Not sure how balanced that would be considered in this day and age, but her greyhounds were sleek and fit and bred for the tracks.

[xnbacon]

Doesn't have to be raw, given Doganjo's post I might be reluctant to continue if it happened to me, but thus far no problems. I've just found my dogs seem healthier on it - seem to digest it better and don't smell so much.  Only anecdotal evidence, I'll admit, and possibly doesn't suit all but does me and mine.

[doganjo]

I must admit I don't stick exactly to just feeding out of the complete bag, but it is the staple of what my five dogs eat.  I add in extra tasty bits like meat or chicken if any of them goes off their food, or reduce the kibble and add in vegetables if they are putting on more weight than is good. I've just bought frozen tripe in an attempt to get the 5 month old to eat - seems to have worked for now but who knows what tonight will do. I rather think it's because his canines are coming in as he went off a wee bit when his molars were coming through.  I sure hope so.

So what I am saying is if you are starting to 'make' your own food for your dogs it takes a lot of knowledge and information.  I have a lifetime of experience and I sometimes get it wrong

[Daisys Mum]

Many many years ago I had an Afghan Hound and one of the books recommended feeding raw meat so I did for a bit without having any bother until one day she was running along and collapsed, she quickly became unconscious and had to be rushed to the vet for emergency surgery as she had twisted her stomache so I never fed it again.

[MiriMaran]

Thanks everyone.  She did mention the Barf diet, but is in the process of finding out about it.

[fifixx]

I feed my pointer and jack russell raw meat and some veg.  I buy Forthglade packs of rabbit/chicken/fish etc and whizz up carrots, broccoli, lettuce etc a couple of times a week with the meat.  I also give them chicken wings once or twice a week for the bones which they love.  They look great - my pointer had terrible skin problems and now is fine. 

It works for me as I don't mind the extra work - I have to make sure the terrier's is mixed well as she doesn't really go for the veg!!  It probably costs a bit more than canned or dried food - I work on £1 per day per dog (mine are active too) - but as we eat good food I am happy for them to eat it too!

Tonight however, I ran out - so the lucky things had cooked potato, lamb breast which had been in the freezer for a year or too and an egg!

[RUSTYME]

not 100% sure , but I think that Afghans are susceptible to twisted gut (torsion) , as are Weimaraners , which I have one of . Other dogs susceptible are Greyhounds , Dobermans etc . It can be brought on by vigorous exercise after a large meal , so better to feed two smaller meals per day , than one large , and don't allow the dog to run about immediately after eating . The content of the meal matters little , ie  complete dry or raw meat or even cooked . It is just large quantities and then strong exercise that can cause it .
 However , a dog allowed to eat raw meat in large chunks would cause problems possibly ,  as would allowing a dog to eat a large amount of complete dried food !!. I doubt that the torsion was caused by eating meat ,( raw or otherwise ) , as after all , dogs are meat eaters .
 I haven't seen that many wildlife programs with wolves opening a bag of complete , well balanced dried dog food !!!
 Up until about the mid 1970's we used to feed our dogs on food brought round in a van , there was tripe , bones and all sorts of other cuts and bits of meat . Before the van it came round on a wagon pulled by a horse . I can remember that until I was about 10 or so , then he got a van as his horse got too old . It is only a relatively modern thing that we can go and buy bags of dried dog food , that we are told are complete and well balanced and needed by all dogs . We are told this by the companies that make the stuff ? mmm
 My dogs are no healthier now than our dogs were all those years ago . Our dogs were always healthy and well fed on a variety of food , as were most other people's dogs .  
 I also worked in a rendering factory that supplied all the major dog food companies . You would not buy ANY dog food from a shop if you knew what went into dog food either tinned or dried and bagged.
 Just as what we ourselves eat differs , then so does what we feed our dogs . Whether you chose to feed tinned with biscuit , or complete dried , or meat either cooked or raw with veg , matters little really , as long as you feed enough and as varied as possible, you can't do much more for your dog .

cheers

Russ

[MiriMaran]

I was thinking the same about the twisted gut thing - its more to do with exercise straight after food that what was fed.

[fifixx]

I bought one of the eye-level feeding stands you then slot the bowl in as it means the pointer is not having to lean down to eat - i was told this would help digestion/no twisted gut etc.

[doganjo]

Yes, that's correct.  The main reason for tortion is air getting into the gut with the food and turning to gas, causing bloat.  Anything that slows down the rate of consumption will help.  Another method is to feed many smaller meals but that isn't always convenient.

[Jackie]

I used to make most of my own food for my dogs, I don't now cos I'm lazy and the heads are hard to get now and green tripe really stinks!

I used to feed minced green tripe (minced it myself from huge sheets delivered to me in a wheelbarrow straight from the slaughterhouse) and home made dogs biscuits made from pigs and sheep's heads plus I fed raw carrots, cooked cabbage, raw apples and every now and again boiled eggs. Up until a year old each pup had 1 pint of goats milk too.

My Grandad used to feed his dogs maize flakes (like cornflakes) cold tea and the odd bone from the butcher and leftovers from shooting.

No way on Gods earth would I feed raw chicken to my dogs, as with Annie I too have a friend who lost dogs from salmonella and bone splinters perforating the gut.

If a dog has already had one episode of torsion they are likely to get it again so I would suggest they hand feed that dog. It takes 10 mins to do and YOU control how fast the dog eats.

I don't hard exercise my dogs prior to feeding as well as after feeding.