possibly worth a read!!!! ( dog food!

[kirsty]

Phobe,

Lindsay and I were hoping to take the boys away this summer but linds had a bad xdent and did not have the use of his hand for a nearly 3 months and now the weather is getting colder there is no way he will go camping. I am interested to know how you managed the feeding. Did you keep the cool bag in the car, did the meat survive ok Im thinking of the really hot summer days here, was the dog ok eating it when it had been out of the freezer for a few days? my supplier supplies the meat in 1lb bags and some in large chunks, the blood tends to get everywhere, how did you avoid the mess.

Dana and Calum up at sassy lassie are great, and I know they really look after the dogs well, when I go away for a couple of nights Dana has said I can take raw up, but they dont have the facilities to for any longer, if we are away for a couple of weeks the dogs have to revert back to dry food. At least Dana uses JWB. She watches out for hot spots on Dodge and so far we have gotten away with it - but I hate them eating dog food.

We are thinking of getting a caravan next year to avoid them having to go to kennels at all - that way as well as avoiding the dog food, i can avoid having them vaccinated every year - though that may give me a problem taking them to the training classes - must speak to John about that.

[Phoebe]

Kirsty,
well it was sometimes a bit a mess in the cool bag but the meat as such was okay. We bought frozen lamb things or frozen chicken wings, and they where okay for about 3 days. Than you can have a yogurt day or one day no food at all. So actually every four days shopping is necessary.
Sony is booked in atSasilasy for October as well, so they all together with Diesel and Murphy will have good fun, don´t worry. I´ll feed her natures menu pouches during the stay in the kennels. It´s cooked meat with rice and veg and it´s with no preservatives, coloring, flavoring, artificial flavoring. She likes it very much, so I think it´s a good choice. But for Dodge and Bob together maybe a bit pricey.
Danna and Calum are really nice people, who know so much about dogs, it´s just impressive. You can really trust them, coz you can be sure, I would never leave Sony whith them, if they wheren´t like they are.
_________________
"It is possible to live without a dog, but it is not worth it."
Heinz Rühmann

[suzanne l]

kirsty - owning a dog may may make you knowledgable with regards to them, but i dont think it compares to years and years of hard work and studying that myself and colleagues go through.I do my job for the love of animals, im not paid great money, never will be unfortunately, work purely for my devotion to helping animals. please give vets their due, you never know when one may save your dogs life!

most articles are true??? rubbish, articles can be written that simply represent a persons opinion, nowhere near the truth. in my previous posts, i was referring to the article that opened this debate, the one that claims that dead cats, dogs and zoo animals are put into dog foods, as well as road kill. im sorry, but surely you must realise that it is total rubbish? for the article to then claim that veterinary surgeons know all about this and are involved in the cover up is simply ludicrious!! i have spent the last few days talking to all the vets i work with, some of them good trusted friends, and i can assure you that this is nonsense. i would not work for the profession if i thought otherwise, my whole life has been dedicated to animal welfare, just ask my mum!
why do all the vets i know, including a canine nutrionist feed their pets complete foods? and no they do not receive free food!
_________________
your cat will never annoy by barking at 3am, he wont attack the postman or eat the curtains, although he may climb them to see how the room looks from the ceiling...

[kirsty]

I know you would never put leave sony with anyone who would not treat her well -I know she is a wee rescue dog who now has a very nice life. So knowing that you trust Dana and Calum really gives me peace of mind leaving my dogs in.

We don't put the boys in until the last week-end in october, so Murphy and Diesel come out just as Bob and Dodge go in - they are going in with Abbey the really little GSD bitch that has been in a few times before as we are going out to spain wither her owners.

But this also means you will be back by the time my boys go in and can give them a rub and a scratch for me

[Phoebe]

[suzanne l]

phoebe- vets love their animals just as much as all of you, so surely if they thought that dog foods were all bad, they wouldnt feed them it. dont fancy the effort? im sure they would if the raw diet was better?
_________________
your cat will never annoy by barking at 3am, he wont attack the postman or eat the curtains, although he may climb them to see how the room looks from the ceiling...

[Phoebe]

Kirsty,
yes I know Abbey she is so sweet. She was in last week.
I´ll take good care of your boys. I´m working full time now, so I will see them every day ... and even do the feeding by myself.
_________________
"It is possible to live without a dog, but it is not worth it."
Heinz Rühmann

[Phoebe]

Suzanne,
I never said, they wouldn´t love their animals! Sure they do, they would have the wrong job if not...
Why do you think, I think, everybody who feeds complete food doesn´t love his animal? Just wrong... I wanted to feed Sony complete as well, but she just didn´t liked it so I had to think a bit further.
And well, it is an effort, that maybe not everyone likes to have or just cant do because no freezer is available or anything...
I don´t condemn complete food, I feed it daily to 30 of the most beloveds dogs of my boss. She breeds Poodles and they all are doing really well.
I just love to watch Sony using her teeth properly.
_________________
"It is possible to live without a dog, but it is not worth it."
Heinz Rühmann

[marcella]

[Phoebe]

Marcella,
sure I will. I will walk them, cuddle them, feed them and shovel their ...
I´m away from 13 till 15, the rest of the week full time in.
_________________
"It is possible to live without a dog, but it is not worth it."
Heinz Rühmann

[John Thomson]

Dogs have been domesticated for thousands of years, and have been around as wild animals for far longer........domestic dogs share around 80% of their DNA with wolves!

Comercial dog food was invented around 100 years ago...as time has gone on there is less and less meat content in commercial dog food .......look at the labels to see the contents. if you do not understand the contents.look it up.you owe it to your dog to know what you are feeding it.

Feeding can have a huge effect on your dogs temperament and behavior. A study into children has just confirmed what everyone already knew........E numbers + kids = hyper active kids

Dry dog food was invented in the 1940's...........a while after canned dog food.......again look at the labels....words like 'derivatives' should make you ask questions!

So in the big scheme of things dogs have been around a long time........commercial dog food has not.

Here is a short video which explains why dry dog food was invented.


Link

_________________
John Thomson
www.cumbernaulddogtraining.co.uk

[marcella]

[Phoebe]

_________________
"It is possible to live without a dog, but it is not worth it."
Heinz Rühmann

[kirsty]

Suzanne, you know nothing about me, my experience, my interests and what qualifies me to be knowledgeable or not. Actually 'owning a dog, makes me less knowledgeable about him him every single day'

You do not need to stress how much you care about animal welfare, Most of us, if not all of us on this site do - and many of us are very active in some form of animal welfare work which is not only low paid but no paid.

I am not, and never said I was, anti vet. I have been a pet owner consistently for 30 years and have had a vet save the life of a pet, and also have had on more than one occasion a vet put my animals to sleep. I have known great vets and known extremely poor vets. Within the last month I have had to change practice as when I took an animal to the vet I normally use, they prescribed antibiotics and steroids, diagnosed him as having a skin infection, without coming within two feet of him or examining him in any way - then!!! charged me the full price for a consultation.

What I am is anti additive and anti animal cruelty - hence the reason for raw feeding. Even on JWB which is supposed to be the best food for allergies, one of my dogs was scratching himself raw. I had worked on eliminating as many irritants as I could. In the end once I took him off dog food, his scratching stopped completely within 4 weeks.

Raw feeding is not for everyone, I understand that, and would never attack or belittle another owners choice. I do what is right for me based on very detailed research, trial and error and effective results.

My family came from a very remote part of Scotland where the nearest town was 25 miles by way of single track roads. They did not have the luxury of buying in processed foods for themselves let alone the countless pets they had. The dogs ate what they ate, my uncle was a Forrester and culled and froze venison, had a freezer full of trout and salmon, grew mounds of potatoes, root vet and fruit - these dogs were healthy and lived a long happy life - I doubt they ever saw a can of dog food, and I know unless they were getting left overs we certainly never cooked meat for them, they got the raw scraps. As john said, we have had domestic animals for a lot longer than we have had commercialised dog
food -

As for the truth issue. For many many years I was responsible for collating and analysing data and presenting it to my masters in a way which made my area of responsibility look effective. Often by manipulating the data, highlighting some, playing down others, drawing links between areas I could paint a picture which was the 'truth' but bore no resemblence to what I knew was actually going on - The truth is out there - but there are many versions of the truth.

So why don't we both climb down from our own respective Ar...'s and just accept that this is a very emotive issue - and we should not take is so personally

[sharon]

Mod Edit..........you have ignored my request to update your username and as such will not be allowed to post until this is changed.

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