dog food..

[Nocinaus]

I was wondering what everyone here feeds their border collie pup.

[muggs]

My 17 year old is on Nutro Natural Choice Senior -it seems to be very easy on his digestion. He has always had a sensitive stomach. I also have a 16 week old BC which I started on Nutro puppy but he didn't seem to like it very much, so I'm slowly switching him to Innova after reading old posts on this website. He seems to love it. He also seems to have an iron stomach so far!

[Miztiki]

Here's a recent thread asking that very same question.

[colliemadcraig]

My bc has a delicate digestive system so i have to be carefull what i give her,after trying alot of diffrent foods when she was younger i have found the best food is lamb and rice kibble(dry food) with the occasional added cooked chicken pieces....and other days grated cheese mixed in which she loves!!! any other food ie tinned meat etc just runs straight through her along with table scraps.Even gravy is dodgey on her lil belly,god bless her!....

[karrie]

currently Iams... breeder had him on it so I continued it ( unless I find something better ~ and no I'm not going raw... EWWW...lol got to atleast cook it).

[Betsy]

Try searching the archives for something like "Innova" (one of the 'good' foods) and you'll get loads of results! Here's a good one:

 

Dog Food

[tildy]

what ever she will eat..she is the pickest eater..neighbor loves me..give her sooo much dog food..from Iams ..Pro plan..Euk..

[Carson Crazies]

We have been feeding Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul. We decided to switch to Wellness Super 5 mix, lamb and rice, but sheesh both dogs are just itchy, itchy, itchy. We may go back to the Chicken Soup. We'll see. The higher protein seems to spaz them out a tad. Whatever you decide, find yourself a good quality premium food. It's worth it. You won't really find premium foods in the grocery store. Go to your local Petsmart, Petco, whatever and go from there. Good luck!

[Shelby Kennels]

I had tried a couple of months ago to switch my dogs over to Wellness. Some did great but we have two dogs it was just too rich for. About a month ago we switched over to Praire by Natures Variety which has a bio coating of raw freeze dried meat so you get some of the benefits of feeding a raw diet in a kibble. All my dogs love the taste and all seem to be adjusting well to it. With as many dogs as we have I attempt to make feeding as simple as possible so look for the food that fits all.

[Pippin]

Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach Formula. I switched Lily to it from Bil Jac after she got diagnosed with allergies as it contains no common allergy ingredients and is formulated to be good for dogs with sensitive skin or itchy skin from allergies. It's made with salmon.

[border_collie_crazy]

my guys are on RAW and before we switched we fed purina one(only because it was the only kibble shadow could eat, everything else made her throw up 5 times a day)

[tildy]

what exactly is RAW?????....

[sea4th]

Just what it sounds like. A diet that you put together yourself, more of a natural diet, includes, raw meat, raw bones, organ meats, a wide variety of food.

 

Here is a link where it was discussed here not too long ago. It also has other links here that you can check out:

 

http://bordercollie.heatherweb.com/cgi-bin...t=005684#000000

 

Also, if you do a search on these boards, you'll see where it's been discussed---A LOT.

[steve clendenin]

I know I'm going to get beat up for what I'm about to post about dog feed.

A deceased vet friend of mine that had quite a few doctorate degrees in veterinarian told me to buy the cheapest low protein dog food that had the right vitamins and minerals in it. Feed my dogs about 3 cups a day adding 4 tablespoons of cooking oil, adding the oil a little more each week until you get them up to the 4 tablespoons. If the dog's stool become loose reduce the oil until the stool is firm. Then slowly increase the oil again. It might take a couple of months to get the oil up to where it belongs.

 

The fiber in the dog food keeps the fiber up to control there stool.

 

Dogs don't need neer the protain that most people think they do. A diet high in protin is one reason there has been a increase in kidney disease.

 

Please don't give you dog 4 tablespoons of oil the first day or you will have a mess to clean up.

 

He wrote an article on this subject in the American Border Collie Magazine a few years back I have been looking for my old magazines but since we have moved to the new house on the farm I can not find crap. We will get ever thing unpacked in the next 5 years. I have ask a friend of mine that keeps his old magazines to look up this article. If he finds it I will post what issue it is in. If I can get my wife to type it I will post it on the board unless it is copy written.

[border_collie_crazy]

what exactly is RAW?????....

like sea4th said its a diet made of raw foods. there are doffernt typs of the diet, I feed BARF, which is raw meaty bones for one meal and pulped veggies with organ meats or fish or ground beef mixed together for another meal, and absolutly NO grains. many people also feed prey model with is mostly the leat part of the diet with veggies only a few times a week rather then every day, pretty sure there are no grains in this one either. and lots of other types that I dont know much about lol its basicly just feeding totally fresh human grade foods, and lots of variety.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

The only thing about super cheap dog food is it contains really nasty things these days. Chemicals and stuff, and really gross stuff from automated mill floor sweepings. This hasn't always been true by the way. In the old days even "animal digest" was pretty good food for pets, but since the advent of automated meat and grain processing which is much more efficient at seperation, and forced feeding of corn rather than forage, and antibiotics and hormones: the lower the quality the protein source, the higher the exposure to yucky indigestibles.

 

With that said, I definitely agree that dogs, and especially Border Collies, don't need that supercharged high protein feed. When I first started feeding pets, cat food was around 24% protien and dog food was around 16%. Now it's almost impossible to find dog food less than 20% protein. It's insane. That's one reason I switched to raw. I had one "hot" dog that cooled off markedly when I switched from the premium food to raw meaty bones and, well, ground up kitchen trash basically.

 

I used to council adoptive homes to look for a good quality food and feed the "senior" version. If the dog lost weight on a reasonable amount of food, then find something with a bit more protein/fat.

 

I hear of an awful lot of IBS these days - I'm sure it's the crazy super concentrated food that is out there. I thought for a while about what to feed my guys and have settled on something that approximates the best of what the shepherds' dogs would have gotten in the days of the breed's development. They get oatmeal in the morning with some other non-wheat grains (millet, rye, etc) mixed in for variety (shepherds would have had hard whole grain breads to share). They get eggs, complete with shell, too, which only well-off shepherds would feed but it's a mild protein source that I have readily available (fresh duck eggs). I base my amounts and supplementation roughly on the Volhard approach.

 

The evening meal is raw meaty bones, which again only the most well-off shepherds would have but I'm looking for optimum health not perfect historical accuracy. Every few days they also get organ meats, and twice a week they get fish (also from a historical hint - shepherds' dogs ate a TON of raw fish scraps). I used to have sensitive tummies galore and have never had a problem since switching.

 

It's cheap, too - they get about a third of their calories from their morning cereal, then the meat is about 30 cents a pound - with the dogs consuming about a pound and a half each as an average (my red dog mutt eats only half a pound and Jen eats THREE!). Three cups of normal dog food weighs about a pound, so you can compare that way.

 

Anyway, my point is that shepherd's dogs bacially ate crap and thrived on it. But in those days it was high-quality natural crap. When I hear of a Border Collie that has a problem with super premium food, I recommend going to something cheaper - or with more filler (beet pulp, flax seed, veggies, etc).

 

Something else that works well is putting a can of plain unsalted green beans in the bowl - actually start with half a can and then add to it until the stools firm up. Pumpkin - canned ground, not filling with spices and such - works well for this, too - the dogs like it better but it's more expensive.

 

Then you can beef up the calorie count with a vegetable oil as Steve suggests, if needed. That way you don't have to feed your dog euthanized pets, and still get the effect of all the fillers.

[border_collie_crazy]

ya know we tried the whole oatmeal thing based on that same reason, but it gave my dogs really bad gas lol but this is the first time i have heard this oatmeal thing from anyone else lol

[laurie etc]

I feed raw,too... Thinking about what the Shepherd's dogs would have eaten...probably a lot of scraps and "waste-food" from the shepherd's family; whatever rabbits, mice, birds, other small prey they could catch themselves, along with carion from deceased sheep and other livestock... At any rate, almost all domestic dogs were "scavengers" until the dog food companies came along in the mid 1900's. I always joke that my dogs eat better than I do, and other than an occasional hamburger bun on the road, I'm sure they do.

[tildy]

duchess turns her nose up to raw chicken...can't imagine her eating RAW..

[sea4th]

Don't underestimate Duchess, Tildy. Once a kibble fed dog "get's it", you just stand back and watch in amazement.

[tildy]

been reading a few websites on it..but we are talking about a dog that won't eat pig ears...or rawhide treats..or just about any treats you buy for dogs......her favorite food is ground beef and rice...(cooked)...

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

I had one that wouldn't eat the raw meat. I started by lightly searing the meat (still raw inside), which releases extremely yummy aromas. Then I gradually reduced the searing over the course of the next couple of weeks until the meat was pretty much raw. She eats it ice cold from the freezer now and isn't the least bit picky. Raw feeding is a great option for the picky eater - I think chewing up meat, ligaments, tendons, and crunchy bones is so interesting they forget to turn their nose up at it.

[sea4th]

They get oatmeal in the morning with some other non-wheat grains (millet, rye, etc) mixed in for variety (shepherds would have had hard whole grain breads to share). They get eggs, complete with shell, too, which only well-off shepherds would feed but it's a mild protein source that I have readily available (fresh duck eggs).

Too lazy---plus I'm at work----to check out Volhard's recommendations, so I'm asking you, Rebecca----your dogs' a.m. meal of oatmeal---how much do you give them? I'm thinking oatmeal, jack mackerel and/or eggs---and curious as to how non-wheat grains enhance this a.m. meal.

 

Thanks.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

The grain mix is seventy-five percent oats and the remaining 25% divided between two types of a wide range of milled grains - Volhard has some kind of voodooish recommendations of balancing "sweet" and "acidic" and "cooling" and "warming", which I don't really follow. Sorry Wendy V!

 

Anyway, the amounts are 3 oz for a 50 pound dog, plus a small egg every other day (my duck eggs are one every three to four days). Then it's a drizzle of the molasses and veg. oil, plus various supplements as you choose (Volhard recommends C, B, and E - I use only B and E because there's a lot of C in the chicken skins and bones and veggies I feed with dinner). I always recommend supplementing with E - especially if you work your dogs - it's vital to breaking down oxidants which can cause eye damage very quickly. We've got a dog with FMR and don't want him to continue down that road.

 

Yogurt is nice but expensive, so sometimes I include it with this meal and sometimes not. Depends on whether they are working hard or not. It's not vital with my version because I feed raw whole meat and bone, which contain or encourage the development of lots of nice enzymes and probiotics.

 

I went this approach because frankly I was finding it expensive to supply my dog's coloric needs strictly with relatively expensive meats. I do have one dog that does not eat grain in any form, and another that gets gas and gains weight too easily so neither of them get the morning meal. Neither of them work anyway, so fortunately the ones that do the most work eat the cheapest.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

By the way, in case you all are just lost in admiration (or disbelief) at the apparent work that goes into daily meals - it's an illusion the way I wrote it. I have a recipe for a week's worth for the whole crew which I make up and dsitribute each day. They do not eat one day at all (unless they are ill) - which is the day I mix up the meals for the next week.