Fatten Up The Dogs!!

[Victoria]

CowCop - You seem to know what you are talking about in relation to dog food so can I ask you what a good quality brand of food is? I have been feeding Pedigree to my dog and am concerned that it is not the quaility I would like her to have. Any good suggestions? Of course I don't have the thin dog problem - just opposite. She is a two and a half year old Newfoundland cross and she is a wee bit chubby. :lol:

 

[Farmhand]

Could you tell me exactly where I can find this recommended dog food list? Tried do a search and wow :shock:

 

[CowCop]

CowCop - You seem to know what you are talking about in relation to dog food so can I ask you what a good quality brand of food is? I have been feeding Pedigree to my dog and am concerned that it is not the quaility I would like her to have. Any good suggestions? Of course I don't have the thin dog problem - just opposite. She is a two and a half year old Newfoundland cross and she is a be nice. :lol:

You are correct--Pedigree is not a healthy choice. First ingredient is Corn, then "meat and bone meal ( low quality protein source ), corn gluten meal, chicken by product meal, artificially preserved "animal fat ( from what kind of animal ? ) etc etc, all low cost ingredients.

Victoria, I would love to suggest a specific food for you--but I do not know which foods are availalbe in your area.

So.... a few suggestions:

Here is a basic article about dog foods--there are a series of 4 articles, but this one explains how to read the ingredients on the bag. VERY important.


http://www.pamperedpuppy.com/features/2 ... ngpt2.html

Then you can

Do a search on the Internet for the TOP 10 DOG FOODS

or TOP DOG FOODS

Names like:

Back to Basics
Blue Buffalo
Burns
California Natural
Canidae
Eagle Pack Hilistic Select
Flint River
Fromm 4 Star Nutritionals
Hund-N-Flocken
Innova
Karma
Lifespan
Limited Doets
MMillennia
Natural Balance Ultra
Newmans Own
PHD
Organix
Pinnacle
Prarie
Prime Life
Royal Caini Natural Blend
Showbound Naturals
Timberwold Organics
Verus
Wellness
Wysong

will be mentioned.

Or you can just do a search for the above brand names and get all the iinfo you need from their companies website.

Flint River mails their dog food to your door. Very convenient for us rural folks.

The WHOLE DOG JOURNAL is the leading magazine for higher tech dog info. They come out every year with the Recommended/approved DRY dog foods and the Reccommended Canned dog foods.

They also have the NOT RECCOMMENDED list as well.

Names like

Science Diet
Purina
Alpo
Cycle
Diamond
Eukanuba
Excel
Gravy Train
Iams
Kibbles n Bits
Max &
Pedigree
are on it.
See a pattern here ?
99% of These dog foods are sold IN GROCERY STORES- CHEAP


Farmhand--here is the website for the Whole Dog Journal:

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com

You have to subscribe to the magazine in order to view the articles on line or buy a back copy-- from what I just this moment read about it.
However, you can get an idea of the kind of information they research and release to the public.

Since there are so many websites with "the list" on them, I suggest you search for the list as suggested above.

Another interesting trend is the feeding of raw food and bones to dogs.
It is the hottest selling item at QUALITY pet supply stores and all the stores bought many freezers to store the foods in.
Most of the food comes in frozen 2 lb plastic bags. Beef, Turkey, chicken, buffalo or rabbit is ground up--including bones-- and some include vegetables. There are also 40 lb boxes of turkey necks, chicken bodies etc. All raw. Many advantages to feeding raw to your dogs. Many.

One store has approached me and told me they will buy every animal I raise to slaughter weight.

Since I can't provide them with what they need I am now trying to get other producers to consider exploring this venture with me.

Bez, I wanted to tell you this the other day when you mentioned "cooking" roasts for your dogs.
Cooking kills the nutrients canines need. ( wolves and coyotes don't cook their foods.. ) But I am sure if I told you to feed it to your dogs raw, you would lose repect for me and think I was a dog lunatic.
I thought a friend of mine was a nutcase when she showed me her new feeding methods 8 years ago, but now I have seen about 150 dogs on this new system and have to say they are all much healthier with fresh raw food than with commercial dry dog food. Makes sense.

So..

Read about how you can market your beef and make mucho $$$

Your homework:

Do some searching and reading about:

BONES AND RAW FOOD ( BARF )

Dr Billinghurst started this about 20 years ago.

Hope this subject intrigues you like it did me.

 

[Craig-TX]

If all else fails and they look too poor for your taste, give them to somebody who lives in town. That'll fatten 'em up. Ha.

Craig-TX

 

[Bez]

Cowcop

I have no objection to feeding them raw beef - I just cooked the roast so I could have some for myself!

They do get raw beef handed to them on a regular basis.

Good info here.

Thnx

Bez

 

[9 ER]

Bez,
I have a retriever and a sheperd and a few years back and everyone thought that the shepard was a greyhound because she was so thin. The retriever was also thin so I took them to the vet thinking that they had heart worms. Vet said they were very healthy and asked if they ran around a lot. I told him that chased rabbits all the time and he said that was the reason they were so slim. Never put on the weight until we moved. Not much to chase anymore and now they look great. So, if your dogs run around a lot you may want to pen them up at night. If not, then they always look thin until they get older and their metabolism slows.

 

[greenwillowherefords]

What about Bil-Jac?

 

[CowCop]

What about Bil-Jac?

Are you asking if it is any good ?

List the first 6 ingredients( or all of them if you have time ) and lets see.

 

[milkmaid]

As I recall, Bil-Jac carries two different types, a wet (raw) food and a dry food. The wet food is mostly meat and is alright, the dry stuff is made with BHA as a preservative, and it isn't good for your dog.

Here's one of my favorite sites for articles on everything dog related:
http://woodhavenlabs.com/articles.html

Here's an article on selecting a dog food - lists the definitions of everything that might be in the ingredients list.
http://woodhavenlabs.com/dogfoods.html

And - Ditto to everything CowCop said.

 

[Victoria]

WOW CowCop, thank you so much for all the information you have given me!
I have copied your list and next time I get to town I will see if I can find any of the food you have mentioned. I will also take a look at the website.
Thanks again, I appreciate it.