nature diet

[Janice]

Hi

I just wondered if anyone had come across 'Nature diet' and what you thought of it. It sounds good but they all do.
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Janice and Dale

[John Thomson]

Hi Janice,

is this the website?



Why no info about the ingredients?
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John Thomson
www.cumbernaulddogtraining.co.uk

[Janice]

That's the site. The fact sheet talks about the ingredients human grade meat fresh veg and brown rice. The trouble is the price and I'm not sure how the protein compares with the James Wellbeloved I'm using just now.

Dale seems to have gone on hunger strike. He's only eaten about one meal out of the last 6. No extra treats except for last night's scrounging I've put it down left it for half an hour and lifted it. I tried putting .food in a treat ball tonight but he only picked at it. He's never walked away from food for so long before but he's fine otherwise. So wondering about offering a change and I'm sorry but I'm not sure about raw. I've heard bad reports as well as good.

I know I could cook my own but its not handy on holiday and when I did that with Sam it certainly cost a lot. So I was just having a look
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Janice and Dale

[John Thomson]

Janice ,
try not to feel stresed at feeding time as Dale may pick up on that.simply put his food down and walk away..a dog will not eat when the alpha is stressed......it signals danger to them!

A healthy dog will not starve itself............and can go upto 3 weeks on water alone, so don't worry if he is hungry he will eat.

Raw does not have to be difficult......it's not for everyone but emptying some freeflow mince from a bag is easier than taking meat from a tin Do you feed him rib or marrow bones?
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John Thomson
www.cumbernaulddogtraining.co.uk

[Janice]

I know you can get frozen mince etc. so it needn't be difficult ,but I wonder what quality of meat you get. I've a feeling I wouldn't like to eat it . Also I must admit I don't like the smell of raw meat and bones around the house. Bones are best eaten outside as far as I'm concerned. Our l setter wouldn't begin to start on a bone until it was very ripe! And the only times he ever became possessive or aggressive about anything was over bones.

I know of one Westie that had a very nasty bug from eating raw. His owner used to be very keen on raw and now wouldn't touch it. Of course you always hear these stories about everything.

Have you read Barbara Sykes on diet in Understanding the Border collie? She puts up a case for using complete food and not feeding raw. As you say everyone has their own opinions. so far Dale's done well on James Wellbeloved and I kind of work on the 'if it's not broke, don't fix it' system.

I know he won't come to any harm if he doesn't eat for a bit but I'd like him to enjoy his food and up to now he seems to have.

Talking of Barbra Sykes Sorry I know its really another topic. Is there any way we could arrange some sort of club library? Maybe if people listed their books on here they could arrange loans or something? Some books are expensive to buy and you only want to look at them now and again.
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Janice and Dale

[kendal]

Gypsy dose that. i have stopped getting her to sit and stay when i put it down cos she dose it with out saying.
i don't mind to much when Inca doesn't eat as she is heavier set that Gypsy, but gypsy is lean and i think she always will be, she tends to sit on the stairs and i have to encourage her down.

for a bit i am going to start feeding them in separate rooms to see what she eats because Inca is starting to switch between boles.

[John Thomson]

Janice,

Raw dog food is human grade meat.....what is in dog food is not!

'Dog food' is a recent invention......it arrived around the same time that they told us that formula milk was better than breast milk

Dog food was 'invented ' by food manufacturers who needed a way of disposing of waste products that they needed to dispose of, it is full of additives, fillers and highly flavoured just to get dogs ( and cats) to eat it.

Dogs are carnivores.........for thousands of years they have survived on a diet of raw meat , bones and human left overs.....in the last 50 years we have turned this on its head..and in the last 50 years cancer rates in dogs have rocketed......just about the same time vets insisted we needed yearly vaccinations to keep our dogs healthy............anyone who profits has an agenda.....look beyond that and trust your own judgment.
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John Thomson
www.cumbernaulddogtraining.co.uk

[Deborah Hamilton]

Janice. Try not to stress. Mishka has to be the fussiest eater ( or not as is usually the case). Robert has to be the worriest worrier and was even hand feeding her at one point. A dog won't starve itself. They will eat at one point. Ask Robert, he has seen it at first hand. Although he does still worry

[Fiona]

Yeah I agree. Star will never miss a meal that's just him, but Libby can sometimes go a whole day or even two not wanting anything to eat. Then she just starts again. I used to worry about it but as John says she won't let herself starve and I have never seen it effect her in any way, she is always full of energy.

[marcella]

[Cassandra]

I wouldn't stress it either Janice. I would generally only get worried if he started to show signs of illness.

[John Thomson]

Janice,

you say a friends westie got a bug from eating raw....do you know the details?

Dogs digest things very quickly which is why if we ate what they ate we would die!

Dogs eat their own and other dogs/horses.....you get the jist....cr*p without a problem......fresh (or even a little ripe) raw meat will never cause a dog a problem.

I'd be interested to hear the details.

My 2 have now been completely on a raw diet for 7 months....inc. chicken carcassess, legs, dirty tripe, rib and marrow bones.........never even a tummy upset..........calmer dogs, smoother coats, clean teeth, fresh breath.........and stools are about 20% of what they used to pass because they absorb most of what they eat rather than it passing straight through.( sorry for the details!)
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John Thomson
www.cumbernaulddogtraining.co.uk

[kendal]

[Sheryl]

Yeah Kendal I saw it!
They were so used to digesting raw food that when they went out to a resturant and had burgers and chips they were ill. As in tummy cramps and upset tummys.
But if I remember correctly they were Amish or something!
But there parents had fed them since babies and there parents fed them and so on!!!
They kept raw chicken for 6 days left it out on a counter and them ate it!!!
I guess its just what your used to!
But anyway back to the dogs!!

I like the benifits of raw but...... I dont think I could do the chicken part the rest maybe ok, but we dont have a seperate freezer or room for it at the moment!
I did gave them raw beef about three days ago (he he) coz chris and I were having it (once cooked obviously!) and they loved it.
x
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Kindest Regards,
PRINCESS Sheryl, Keano and Coby.

[Cassandra]

all these health guidelines for humans really make me laugh. Especially the guidelines for pregnant women they just soo lack common sense its beyond a joke.

The human species hasn't evolved this far because it needed everything fresh...it may have helped in some areas, but we haven't always had refridgeration.

Admitedly if WE tried to eat that diet now...we would get very ill...but only for a while