noisymina

Nah - my dog gets to grind her own chicken frames. ;)

You do??? Shouldn't have too much trouble with the liver and brains, then. At least your dog has learned to let you take stuff from him/her if you need to - not aggressive at all. But, I tell you, I'd never take that sort of stuff off my dog - if the dog grabs that stuff, she can have it. I will, however, rescue them when they get a Macadamia shell stuck on a tooth. Have levered them off a number of times now - with a kitchen knife!

Are you planning on including a few finger bits for flavour?

NEVER! Brains are too good for the dog - and too expensive. We'll eat them, thank you.

I'm having a giggle here. If there are "problems" handling chicken necks, what are you guys going to do when it comes to liver and kidney?

Vehs - where are you?

In babies, we used to soak the affected area in baby oil, leave for a bit to soak in - sunshine helps - then shampoo. May need to do it a few times, but it helps to gently lift the scaly stuff without being rough on the skin.

;) Not being very concise, am I? I mean thatt I leave the meat out of the BARF mix altogether - with the exception of, perhaps, a bit of ground liver or kidney, or some sardines - I usually put a little of both in with the veges. The meat component as then fed in the other meal - eg chicken frame, lamb ribs (the leaner ones), Chicken thighs or necks, turkey necks etc. Sometimes, I add a little roo or beef to, say, a chicken thigh if it does not seem quite enough.

I was wondering about the chicken pet mince, too. Now I get the frames instead. Fortunately, a frame comes in at about 400-500 grams - one meal for my dobe - and don't cost any more, takes longer for her to eat - and there are no calories in the bones. ;) Some times there is some fatty stuff included, but that could be pulled off before feeding if necessary. Yep - a cup, roughly speaking, would be about 250 grams. There would be a fair bit of water in BARF, but most of that contains vits/minerals etc. However, commercial mixes contain a lot of calories in the form of cereals and additives which are not necessarily adding to the dogs well-being! Before feeding BARF, the Dobe was getting 400g Pal and one Cup dry kibble a day - 650g. That is, by weight, a little more than she needs in BARF, which weighs in at about 600g max. Including the "water". How would you go with 1/2 cup BARF in the moring (no extra meat added) and a frame at night?

OK - here goes - My 30kg Dobe gets, as a maintence, average diet - approx 2/3 cup veg mix (which I make myself with various additives) and one slice of vegemite toast each morning. At night, she gets approx 500g meaty bones. Sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on weight, appetite and activity level. She's been hovering around that weight ever since we got her 2 1/2 years ago. She's now 6 1/2. If she takes off and starts to bury her BARF, she's had enough and I reduce for a few days. She's had no kibble at all since starting BARF shortly after we got her. Has plenty of energy. Maybe thyroid check should be considerd if dog is lethargic and overweight and a reduction in calories is not helping. (As suggested on another thread recently). :rolleyes:

We had a thread here once - "The Infamous Urine Sample" :D Finally got it with patience and an icecream container, shaped with scissors, to give a shallow pan with section left in tact for a "handle". Boy, could she hold it when she wanted to. ;) Odd thing is, we treated it with meds for quite a while and changed her diet (co-incidentally) then got lazy with the meds and, since it didn't seem to be a problem, eventually stopped them altogether. No problem at the moment, but we may have to resume in the cold weather, I suspect. Vet was of the opinion that we do need to control it, not just for convenience, but because there could be long-term damage if it is not controlled. Good luck.

Dru - what is the long term problem with wool Mix?

I used to use Bay Rum on my Poodle - don't know if it's still around, tho. Very economical! Kaisie, the Dobe, gets a hose down and shampoo if she "stinks" - cause it is not usually possible to "cover up" her stinks And because she is short haired and dries easily! ;)

Well, I'm not sure about Labs, but the Dobe would be fat as a house on that, too. Not that she would actually eat it Maybe a Lab would, which would make it much easier to overfeed them. For weight loss, bearing in mind the thyroid checks out OK, I would suggest 300-400g meaty bones - meat including the bone. Takes them longer to eat and digest, thus making them a little "happier" with the feed, I guess. And only about 100g vege mix. Mine actually gets less than that as her normal ration. That makes a total of 400-500g per day - in two meals. When the desired weight is reached, just increase the meaty bone component a little, and that is all to it.

Wondering if the "meat" component is mince or meat pieces without the bone? If it is, I would sustitute with a meaty bone. My 30kg Dobe survives on 1/3 cup Veg mix (including a little liver, egg etc) plus one slice Vegemite toast. And about 500g meaty Bones each day. Sometimes she goes on less - 300g meaty bone instead -if she is starting to bury her BARF or appears to be slowing down during zoomies or all the ribs start to disappear. One "old fashioned" way to reduce weight in a dog is to include some gelatine in the mix.

Use the search function on this site and enter "BARF" - you'll get heaps.

All of the above! Wish I could find one like that. Specially when the "instructor" makes it clear that they don't like, or seem afraid of, your particular breed of dog :D The unrealistic expectation bit totally put me off the other one I tried years ago. Consequently, almost totally self-taught here! ;) I think a relaxed atmosphere is also important - too much hype etc does not suit all dogs/owners. I guess that translates to some patience being required.

:cool: That means my horse is a sheep too. :D Actually, my DIL has convinced me it's the best stuff for horses, so why not dogs? When I run out of my present doggy shampoo, I'm going to give it a go. :rolleyes:

If it's the water, how about some short play times with small amounts of water - bucket or perhaps clam shell etc with only a really tiny bit of water involved to start - without actually trying to wash her? No lead, no restriction - just getting her used to it on her own terms? Maybe some fav toy could help? Just some thoughts?????

A dog with an unknown past is rather an interestimg experience. Our Dobe had a few "issues" - none serious and not as traumatic, but interesting nonetheless. There is a book called "Getting in Touch With Your Dog" by Linda Tellington-Jones. I found it pretty good in helping to calm Kaisie and help her settle - and stop snapping at me when I was grooming the rear end Now she just loves it all. There are "cues" we have noticed eg we do not have a door bell, but when one goes off on the TV she goes ballistic It's pretty much an automatic reaction. She is also very aggro toward young men - 18- 25 age group. Suspect there is some history there and have to keep a check on her if we know a visitor in that category is due. Not that she has actually done any damage to date. So, I imagine anything could be eliciting the reaction in your dog - as you say, maybe there is something about or in a particular room that he associates with a bad experience. Hopefully, after a while, he will begin to realise that nothing bad is happening and will begin to relax.

I think they are shedding more than usual because of the heat we've been getting. The horse is doing it too. Wouldn't believe the hair I got out of the Dobe this morning. I've been using a grooming block on her after the bath, while still damp - and today I had to rinse her again because of all the hair coming out. The block comes for horses - about $5 from Horseland.

Sort of puts a whole new perspective on "xmas cheer". I noticed that, too, Raz. Don't know about DOLOFA tho.

Mine gets roo mince as part of her diet. Since it is minced and produced in a regulated environment, i don't see any chance of a worm problem. She is wormed regularly anyway. As for the fat content, I actually include it to reduce the total fat in her diet as she also gets pork trotters, lamb breasts or off cuts and chicken - which means she is getting a good amount of fat, possibly a bit too much, so the roo just brings some balance.

I would do a herding workshop with my Dobe if one came up near here. Why? Because she already herds. She's herded ducks and just now brought the horse up for me. What does it achieve - It saves me a bloody long walk What does it mean? It saves me a bloody long walk. What is wrong with trying to learn the finer points and wanting to train her to work with a bit more accuracy/finesse? She could use the stimulation and I would learn somethimg. That doesn't mean we want/need ribbons or trophies or a judgemental bunch of beaureaucrats dictating what we can or can't do - specially since it is happeneing anyway.

Exactly - I think the vet we have now is great - I do not object to taking Kaisie in for the annuals, paying a bit more for the wormers etc and even buy the shampoo there - actually, I don't think they charge all that much anyway - but the attitude, the bond with the dog etc all mean a lot. He also came out to check & advise regarding the horse, which is a bonus cause not all vets will do big animal work as well. He was really interested to see the dog in her "home" environment - totally different he reckoned to see her here as opposed to the surgery. Of course, she was loose and doing zoomies non-stop for him. He doesn't do the foaling side, but they happily referred my D-i-L when she asked. cheers