Whippetfood

[~JO~]

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A homemade diet could definately contain all the nutrient your dog needs but it can be difficult to get things in the right quantities. If you go down the route of raw feeding then perhaps a book/raw feeding website would tell you how to achieve the correct proportions.

I really can't see why people are so obsessed that the dog has to have the exact right quantities of each nutrient... does everyone do this when they feed themselves or their children?

Yes research is good and as long as you are feeding good quality protein and your dog gets a good quality varied fresh diet covering the main nutrient groups I don't think you can go far wrong :thumbsup:

But don't get obsessed, this idea of having each meal perfectly balanced is dog-food company hype - so that you feel that unless you are feeding a dried 'complete' (which most people add extras too so they don't feel so bad about feeding their dog a bland food - which in turn completely imbalnces the food.... :wacko: :wacko: ) your dog will have an imbalanced diet.

Dogs decades ago (before complete foods were thought of) didn't suffer from huge problem of stomach sensitivites and allergies that they do now...now what is that telling you?

Right, rant over

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I was only saying :lol: I do agree with you though, I give my dogs all sorts of other things as well as the complete food but I do try and balance the food groups. I was just meaning as a rough guide you should try and feed the recommended proportions, and some people find it easier to get this info from a book. Thats all I meant by that statement :thumbsup:

I was only recommending the foods I did because the OP says she would prefer not to have to handle meat, being a veggie.

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Sorry I really wasn't getting at you :huggles: - just I read and hear it so much about people getting themselves so so worried about quantities.. and I always just say to relax and just feed them a nice healthy, varied fresh diet and you can't go far wrong. nothing personal just using your comment as it is quite a typical one made when talking about feeding

Also whatever picture they have on the packet of roasting chickens etc etc we all know the real low quality meat goes into dog/cat food. (Only Burns actually state their chicken is not battery I believe).

 

[jezza]

A homemade diet could definately contain all the nutrient your dog needs but it can be difficult to get things in the right quantities. If you go down the route of raw feeding then perhaps a book/raw feeding website would tell you how to achieve the correct proportions.

I really can't see why people are so obsessed that the dog has to have the exact right quantities of each nutrient... does everyone do this when they feed themselves or their children?

Yes research is good and as long as you are feeding good quality protein and your dog gets a good quality varied fresh diet covering the main nutrient groups I don't think you can go far wrong :thumbsup:

But don't get obsessed, this idea of having each meal perfectly balanced is dog-food company hype - so that you feel that unless you are feeding a dried 'complete' (which most people add extras too so they don't feel so bad about feeding their dog a bland food - which in turn completely imbalnces the food.... :wacko: :wacko: ) your dog will have an imbalanced diet.

Dogs decades ago (before complete foods were thought of) didn't suffer from huge problem of stomach sensitivites and allergies that they do now...now what is that telling you?

Right, rant over

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I was only saying :lol: I do agree with you though, I give my dogs all sorts of other things as well as the complete food but I do try and balance the food groups. I was just meaning as a rough guide you should try and feed the recommended proportions, and some people find it easier to get this info from a book. Thats all I meant by that statement :thumbsup:

I was only recommending the foods I did because the OP says she would prefer not to have to handle meat, being a veggie.

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Sorry I really wasn't getting at you :huggles: - just I read and hear it so much about people getting themselves so so worried about quantities.. and I always just say to relax and just feed them a nice healthy, varied fresh diet and you can't go far wrong. nothing personal just using your comment as it is quite a typical one made when talking about feeding

Also whatever picture they have on the packet of roasting chickens etc etc we all know the real low quality meat goes into dog/cat food. (Only Burns actually state their chicken is not battery I believe).

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I used to worry about what I fed my dogs but then I realised, after I'd seen them picking up all sorts of rubbish in the gutters, that they obviously aren't as bothered :lol: some even eat pooh!!! So they really aren't that fussy are they

I just try and do my best to buy meat which has been reared in the best way (I have been to a battery farm and its not a pretty sight :x ).

 

[Seraphina]

I really can't see why people are so obsessed that the dog has to have the exact right quantities of each nutrient... does everyone do this when they feed themselves or their children?

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Absolutely.

Another problem I see with kibble is can we really trust that the company claims are true? Frankly i do not trust them, and the latest scare with hundreds of brands across USA being recalled just confirms my suspicion. That does not mean that fresh meat cannot be contaminated, but if you buy it from butcher it comes from animals graded "for human consumption" and therefore be as safe as possible.

Just because the kibble is labeled natural, it does not mean that bit of melamine or something else will not get thrown in somewhere along the way. And anyway what is natural? Crude oil is very natural, you would not want it in food.

I found this somewhere sometime ago

HOW IS CANNED FOOD AND KIBBLE MADE?

The raw materials e.g. cattle carcasses are rendered. Pet food manufacturers buy either the meat slurry or the dried meal produced by rendering plants. Canned, dry or semi-moist cat food all contain similar ingredients. The ratio of protein, fat and fibre may be different and the amount of water present and the types of preservative used will differ greatly. Canned food is more bulky which is good for bowel action, but its soft texture means that teeth are not "exercised" which leads to tartar build-up and gum disease. Dry foods are convenient for the owner, but they are compact, energy dense and can cause constipation because the cat's bowel does not get enough bulk to keep throughput smooth. The natural diet of the cat is semi-moist - moist muscle meat and tough skin and sinew.

... Dry food is made with a machine called an expander or extruder. Raw materials are blended and the mixture is fed into an expander. It is then pressure cooked (steam, pressure, very high temperature) into a paste which is extruded through pipes which shapes blobs of paste into biscuits. These are puffed like popcorn and baked or dried, then sprayed with fat, digests and flavour enhancers. The cooking process kills bacteria, but may be ineffective against heat stable toxins or prions (causative agents in BSE). Non-extruded dry foods are baked and are denser and crunchier and may require no coating of fats of flavourings.

Cooking, rendering, drying, canning and baking all destroy vitamins and other nutrients. The by-products used as raw ingredients are poorer quality and contain less nutritional value than the prime cuts of meat depicted on the label. Pet food manufacturers therefore fortify the product with vitamins and minerals.

 

[doris]

I'm happy to feed my dogs a premium dry food, the same as I'm happy to feed my family some ready meals :- "

but the dogs, like the kids, also have fresh cooked meat and veg too :thumbsup:

same as everything in life, its all a trade-off and a variety and a mix

 

[Seraphina]

I'm happy to feed my dogs a premium dry food, the same as I'm happy to feed my family some ready meals :- "
but the dogs, like the kids, also have fresh cooked meat and veg too :thumbsup:

same as everything in life, its all a trade-off and a variety and a mix 

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I do also feed some kibble, but it is good idea to be realistic about it. In this moment I am careful about what i buy and check what is on the recall lists in USA. Nobody knows how long this practice has been going on, and if or when the contaminated kibble could have been exported.

 

[jodillanhn]

Thanks fo all the info folks, it's really helpful. You do tend to worry a lot when you want the best for your dog and since i've never owned a breed like the whippet before i was worried because it kind of looks like a high performance machine of a dog. I guess you always hear human nutritionists talk about eating a varied diet with lots of different foods etc, i think feeding a complete food would be wrong - ok it may hold all nutrients and all the dog needs but it certainly is not a varied diet - or that fun for the dog!! :blink: I've heard the machines they use for getting the meat from the animal carcass are like giant washing machines, they go into a high spin forcing all of the meat off the bone :x :x , not nice!! I forget what you call it - probably a good thing

PS the original poster is a guy :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[jodillanhn]

has anyone used gilpa puppy food?

 

[jezza]

Thanks fo all the info folks, it's really helpful. You do tend to worry a lot when you want the best for your dog and since i've never owned a breed like the whippet before i was worried because it kind of looks like a high performance machine of a dog. I guess you always hear human nutritionists talk about eating a varied diet with lots of different foods etc, i think feeding a complete food would be wrong - ok it may hold all nutrients and all the dog needs but it certainly is not a varied diet - or that fun for the dog!!  :blink: I've heard the machines they use for getting the meat from the animal carcass are like giant washing machines, they go into a high spin forcing all of the meat off the bone  :x   :x , not nice!! I forget what you call it - probably a good thing
PS the original poster is a guy    :lol:   :lol:   :lol:

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Sorry I thought you were a lady :* :lol:

 

[Cleopatra]

I feed my dogs tinned Butchers tripe, ive noticed if i give Billy any biscuit with his food he has a very dicky tummy now So i only give him the tinned food and ellie too other wise Billy steals Ellies biscuits and i can be up all night with him -_- .

Ive also had to stop the family giving any tit bits to him, same effect, they think im unfair but if he only eats tinned Butchers tripe he is fine, also they dont have to get up 5 times a night to let him out

Occasionally i give him and ellie crunchy training treats, no effect as long as not too many also raw chicken wings, if any cooked meat however small is given to him Billy is up all night and so am i

So Butchers seems to be the best for my dogs personally.

 

[kris]

we buy human quality minced beef,add cabbage,spinach,carrots,swede,pasta and cook alltogether in big pan then add either australian diet or a wholemeal biscuit.it only takes a minute to prepare cos we put it all through the food processor to chop it up,or if were feeling really lazy we just buy prepared veg allready cut up for you.a big bag of carrots and swede diced is only 50p. i wont stint on food as i believe any animal will only perform if its fed the best ingredients you can afford and if i was a dog id much prefer this diet to a bland, dry, boring biscuit!ive got a friend who has a fruit and veg shop and she gives me a lot of stuff for free and the butchers and fishmongers in our shopping precinct all buy from us so we get stuff cheaper as we give them discount when they buy from us. :- "

 

[urchin]

I've always done kibble for dogs - always, until recently that is....about 4 weeks ago i decided to investigate BARF feeding. Right now we're on half and half - with chicken wings for breakfast and something (often raw meat, sometimes sardines) mixed with kibble for tea.

I can report:

coats shinier

and

teeth sparkling (judge commented on how white Bloggs's were today) and Dij's breath, which has always been quite rank, is now fresh as a dasiy (no, really, it's THAT good)

 

[jodillanhn]

I've always done kibble for dogs - always, until recently that is....about 4 weeks ago i decided to investigate BARF feeding. Right now we're on half and half - with chicken wings for breakfast and something (often raw meat, sometimes sardines) mixed with kibble for tea.
I can report:

coats shinier

and

teeth sparkling (judge commented on how white Bloggs's were today) and Dij's breath, which has always been quite rank, is now fresh as a dasiy (no, really, it's THAT good)

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I've heard quite a few people talking about feeding sardines to whippets for their coat - and they love it!! Looks like i'm just going to have to cook with my eyes closed :x Good news hopefully, i'm going to see a new place sometime this week (again), hopefully it will be perfect for me and a whippet!! The amount of places i've had to turn down because it either didn't suit me or having a whippet is something i don't even want to count