[Dylansmum]

However it is well worth remembering that dogs didn't evolve to eat cereal at all and some dogs are at least intolerant and at worst allergic to cereal. That might be what Betty is trying to tell you indirectly. Maybe you could see if she is better with a convenient cereal free dog food? Just a thought.

Applaws is cereal free. I researched it before I tried it, and it is pre-biotic and hypo-allergenic. It is 75% chicken and 25% veggies and natural extracts. Ingredients are: dry chicken meat, dry potato, poultry oil, fresh chicken, poultry gravy, salmon oil, beet pulp, dry whole eggs, cellulose plant fibre, brewers yeast, cranberry extract, yucca extract, citrus extract, rosemary oil, seaweed extract, chicory extract, alfalfa extract, thyme extract, carrots, peppermint extract, rosehip extract, paprika extract, turmeric extract, carob extract, fennel extract, dandelion extract, oregano extract.
So you see, it's one of the best kibbles in my opinion and if Betty likes it and it suits her tummy then I think you've cracked it Jules

 

[Jukee Doodles]

Applaws was the first dry food I tried for Dylan when I first got him. The ingredients are pretty good - it was the best I saw until I came across Orijen, which is a bit better. Dylan ate it ok (he eats everything!) but for the first few days I had him he had a bad tummy which I was trying to clear up, and the Applaws seemed to make it worse. It wasn't until he went onto Natural Instinct that his tummy cleared up. But it's definitely one of the better kibbles. Hope it works for you.

Thanks for all your info on food products. It gives us much more options with weaning our puppies, because of the convenience we've previously had to use a puppy kibble with cereal in. We have now joined Orijen Breeder Programme so can give their puppy packs with each pup and we can tell new owners about Natural Instinct. This leaves is free to experiment with weaning our pups straight onto a BARF/Orijen puppy diet from now on. We're really chuffed about this. Thank you!

 

[Dylansmum]

Thanks for all your info on food products. It gives us much more options with weaning our puppies, because of the convenience we've previously had to use a puppy kibble with cereal in. We have now joined Orijen Breeder Programme so can give their puppy packs with each pup and we can tell new owners about Natural Instinct. This leaves is free to experiment with weaning our pups straight onto a BARF/Orijen puppy diet from now on. We're really chuffed about this. Thank you!

That's great. Everything we can do to give our gorgeous dogs a healthier, more natural life has got to be worth it. They deserve it! :twothumbs:

 

[embee]

Thanks for all your info on food products. It gives us much more options with weaning our puppies, because of the convenience we've previously had to use a puppy kibble with cereal in. We have now joined Orijen Breeder Programme so can give their puppy packs with each pup and we can tell new owners about Natural Instinct. This leaves is free to experiment with weaning our pups straight onto a BARF/Orijen puppy diet from now on. We're really chuffed about this. Thank you!

I would be very happy to have a new puppy that had been weaned onto Orijen, so great that you'll be doing this.

I think the only downside of weaning a puppy onto BARF is that a lot of new owners wouldn't maintain them on BARF and might put them straight onto a cereal based kibble on arriving home. This might mean you would get lots of calls from new owners experiencing tummy trouble with their new pup as it was moved from ideal BARF to kibble with cereal that could upset their tummies. Weaning a puppy onto non cereal based kibble, like Orijen, seems a good option and would also encourage new owners to feed a 'good' kibble in the long term.

 

[Jukee Doodles]

I would be very happy to have a new puppy that had been weaned onto Orijen, so great that you'll be doing this.

I think the only downside of weaning a puppy onto BARF is that a lot of new owners wouldn't maintain them on BARF and might put them straight onto a cereal based kibble on arriving home. This might mean you would get lots of calls from new owners experiencing tummy trouble with their new pup as it was moved from ideal BARF to kibble with cereal that could upset their tummies. Weaning a puppy onto non cereal based kibble, like Orijen, seems a good option and would also encourage new owners to feed a 'good' kibble in the long term.

Yes I agree with your thoughts, BARF is too extreme for 90% of people. So an Orijen based weaning programme is our preference too.

 

[Dylansmum]

Yes I agree with your thoughts, BARF is too extreme for 90% of people. So an Orijen based weaning programme is our preference too.

I agree that a lot of owners are reluctant to feed BARF, but hopefully with companies like Natural Instinct, it may encourage more to do so. It's just as easy and convenient as feeding any other food now, and it's nice to be sure that the diet is complete and balanced. That, for me, was always the worst part of feeding BARF - having to add supplements and worry about deficiencies and now I don't have to think about that. Also, at 60-70p per day, I think it's quite reasonably priced and it actually gives me pleasure to see Dylan enjoying "real" food rather than little brown pellets! Illogical, I know!

 

[JulesB]

Not sure if this is common or not but Betty had been getting more and more fussy over recent months with food. She was spayed a week ago and other than for the first 4 or 5 days when she wasn't that bothered with food, she now seems way less fussy and has been eating Applaws dry food or Natures Diet wet food whereas before she's only eat wet food! Its great to see her much more excited by her food though so am not complaining!!!

 

[Dylansmum]

That's great Jules - I'm glad it's getting easier. Just one thing to watch though - after Dylam was neutered he put on quite a lot of weight. I think it was more that he had stopped growing rather than the neutering and it was time to lower his quantities to adult levels which I was a bit slow to do. Now I've decreased his food by about 40%. So just as Betty is eating better, you may need to keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't gain too much weight!!

 

[JulesB]

Yeah I was told to watch for her putting on weight too! I've only let her eat a bit more for now as she had lost a bit of weight when she was weighed before the op from the last weigh in (back in January) and as she barely ate for 3 days she was starting to look a bit scrawny!! What I want to do with food going forward is give her dry Applaws food in the morning and Nature Diet in the evening so that way if she gets fussy with the Applaws again I know she's at least having one meal a day she is eating.

I think I do underfeed her in general because she was so fussy it was a waste to put the full amount down that I got used to only giving her a bit. With the Nature Diet she still gets only 200g a day when they recommend 300g as I don't want to not be able to give her treats or have her get chubby!!

 

[Sarette]

Goodness, this is all really interesting! I shall have a read up on the foods mentioned here, I would like to feed my dog a natural, good diet, with no cereal if that is best for him. So much research to do!!

 

[JulesB]

Sarah there is so much to read and so many choices!! I went for Applaws as a dry food as it didn't have cereal in it and started feeding Natures Diet as my dog is quite fussy and this is the closest to BARF I can get without going down the BARF route which I don't have the freezer space for so wouldn't be easy for me to do.

The irony is that you can give the dogs the best food possible and then still some of them are such fussy buggers they will only want to eat the cheapest junk!!!

Don't be fooled into think that just because a bag of food costs a bit more for 2kg that it costs more to feed your dog as sometimes the quantity of what they need to eat each day is less so keeps the costs down. I've tried a number of foods now before finding what works for Betty!

 

[Sarette]

Thanks Jules, We have a large freezer, and also a smaller one in the garage, but with 3 kids it's usually stocked full as it is! I will certainly look into Applaws.

The funny thing is, when we had a dog many years ago, my mum would never let him have chicken bones, as she said they were too sharp for him. I have always assumed this to be correct, and am now freaking out slightly about feeding them raw chicken wings!!

Sarah xx

 

[Dylansmum]

Thanks Jules, We have a large freezer, and also a smaller one in the garage, but with 3 kids it's usually stocked full as it is! I will certainly look into Applaws.

The funny thing is, when we had a dog many years ago, my mum would never let him have chicken bones, as she said they were too sharp for him. I have always assumed this to be correct, and am now freaking out slightly about feeding them raw chicken wings!!

Sarah xx

It's cooked bones that you must never feed. Also not recommended are weight-bearing bones like thighs. The best raw bones to feed are wings, necks, spines, ribs and carcasses. If you have some freezer space then take a look at http://www.naturalinstinct.com as an easy, convenient BARF diet. The minimum order is 5kg so that's not too bulky, but I usually order 10kg at a time.

 

[Sarette]

It's cooked bones that you must never feed. Also not recommended are weight-bearing bones like thighs. The best raw bones to feed are wings, necks, spines, ribs and carcasses. If you have some freezer space then take a look at http://www.naturalinstinct.com as an easy, convenient BARF diet. The minimum order is 5kg so that's not too bulky, but I usually order 10kg at a time.

Thanks Helen, I think I will have to start taking notes down into a book!

 

[JulesB]

A friend told me about another BARF diet supplier called Basils Dog Food. The website is www.basilsdogfood.co.uk

May be worth a look for those of you doing BARF. I only have a tiny freezer so would have to find somewhere else to put a new freezer if I was going to try it!!!

 

[embee]

A friend told me about another BARF diet supplier called Basils Dog Food. The website is www.basilsdogfood.co.uk

What do you think Dylansmum (compared to Natural Instinct)? You're our resident BARF expert so would be interested in your opinion as I would like to switch Flo in next few months (once I can sort a second freezer!)

 

[Dylansmum]

What do you think Dylansmum (compared to Natural Instinct)? You're our resident BARF expert so would be interested in your opinion as I would like to switch Flo in next few months (once I can sort a second freezer!)

Thanks for the link. I've had a look, and my opinion (for what it's worth ) is that Natural Instinct still seems to have the edge. Firstly Basil is a little more expensive, at £3.60 per kilo against £2.70 for natural instinct, although they do supply beef and lamb as well, which would push the price up if you bought those varieties at NI. Personally I only buy chicken and turkey, but to add an occasional beef or lamb would still work out ok price-wise. The constituents are very similar, but NI include sea kelp and salmon oil which i think are quite important supplements. Basil recommend adding biscuit/mixer and giving usual treats which I find very bizarre, as the whole concept of BARF is to be cereal free and pure.
NI also guarantee not to use battery farmed chickens. They give an explanation of what each ingredient is good for and seem to be a bit more clued up and more doggy experts. Basils appears to be a bigger operation, with a meat processing plant and butchers. They also only despatch on Tuesdays, whereas NI despatch Monday to Thursday.
Really, I'm sure that either would be great in terms of diet, but I can't see a good reason to switch from NI.

 

[embee]

Natural Instinct still seems to have the edge.

Thanks - NI it is then. Have started to replace the odd Origen meal with 2 chicken wings and will switch once I sort the freezer - presumably you either have a very big freezer or another just for Dylan?

 

[Dylansmum]

I have a fridge freezer and a small chest freezer in the utility room. It doesn't take up that much room - a pile of 5 x 1kg packs is about 8.5 x 7 x 9 inches and that is the minimum order and will last over 3 weeks. The only thing is that you pay a bit more for delivery if you buy smaller amounts, so I buy 10 packs at a time. To be honest, the thing that takes up more of my freezer is the bones. I buy them fresh and freeze them and they are everywhere!

 

[Sarette]

I really like the look of Applaws, and can buy it locally. Natural Instinct looks good also, but I don't really have the freezer space. Would it be possible to feed mainly with Applaws, but with the occasional Natural Instinct meal (I'd only buy a few packs at a time), and chicken wings, bones etc?

Also, what can be put into a Kong? I've heard of them, but don't know much about them!

Thanks all! Your help and advice is invaluable!

S xx