laffi

Ohhh I missed this one When is the next one? Is there some set training time in Sydney area?

I never feed my dogs wet food (or cooked for that matter). So I don't think that's a main concern I would have regarding your breeders diet. I also would not waste my money on puppy milk. Why don't just feed her Royal Canin (the best one out of the 3 you are to mix)? There is a lot of threads about proper nutrition for puppies. I think your best choices would be dry super premium only (like Royal Canin, Eagle Pack Holistic or Artemis) or raw only diet (do a search for raw, BARF and prey model). Whatever you decide to feed your dog, make sure you make a very very slow switch to the new diet.

Where can I find more info about it? Thanks!

I couldn't find anything about the seminars either

puppies with allergies? How is that from commercial food? I mean that as people we have allowed all these different breeds to exist because we have supported them and their perpetuation. Wolves survive through natural selection - individuals with allergies or intolerances died. I agree that the additives in commercial foods express themselves in allergies - christ we didnt call it PAL skin/ears for nothing at the vet clinic *shudder* but I'm talking away from cramming every artificial chemical down the dogs throat. Agree 100% with this. Allergies are not a result of commercial food. It's in the genes. Nature uses natural selection - survival of the fittest. Allergies are genetic and atopic dogs are continuing to be bred with. I feed mostly a prey model diet (with what meats I can with my dog's allergies) but I also give fruit and veges and a little rice in his diet as well as offering to him to free feed from. Personally, I believe dogs are scavengers and can survive quite well on almost anything. I think people stress waaaay to much about what percentages of this and that they feed their dogs. I've known of people who've fed solely meat and also people who've fed just chicken frames and never had any problems with their dogs. Sorry this thread is going on a tangent . I asked my question to get some ideas what else I could incorporate in my dogs' diet. I don't obsess about the percentages either. I just want to learn what other people feed. I don't want to argue here why dogs have allergies or whether they should be eating fruits or veggies. So far ox tongue is something I would like to try. I am sure there is heaps of more people with different diets, so keep them coming

I think it's totally inappropriate.

Sorry edited my first post as I forgot about the eggs. I feed them once or twice a week.

And the average age of a wolf is 8 years, thats what gets me. As I said I'm just a little worried about the difference between the theory of the whole thing, which I see where people are coming from, and the whole practice using commercially prepared meat. That and we as humans have changed the dog quite a lot since the wolf as some dog breeds are showing allergies to meats - which you would think is fundamental to the health of the animal? Yes they might have similar teeth and digestive systems but the physiology has somewhat changed with linebreeding. Can you please tell us how the digestive tracks of dogs changed with linebreeding? I mean I would like to know specifically what changed not just some vague statement about evolution. Allergies are a different problem all together and most of them stem from using commercial foods .

Dackel and Tiggy, would you mind posting what you actually feed (which edible bones, what muscle meat, what organs, what are the proportions etc)? I am asking as it's sometimes hard to estimate the meat to bone ratio. I try to feed very very meaty bones as the main part of the diet but it's so hard to estimate how much meat to bone there is on a wing or a drumstick. Thanks!

Sorry but there seems to be a little confusion here. LP is a guru when it comes to variety of dog treats for training so she is not asking for any recommendation of dog treats good for training. She is asking for something specific. Imagine a situation: you are training your dog good manners while outside. Let's say for the dog to lie on their bed outside during the day. You need treats easily available, that you can have around the house as the training will be ongoing during the day. You will be treating every time during the day for good behavior. So you don't want any raw meats lying around, that's why she is asking for dry food. She needs something big enough that she can throw in the garden and the dog will find it straight away (not sniff the grass for 5min forgetting why they got rewarded in the first place So she is asking: what are big enough dry foods to accomplish this task.

BARF is based on raw meaty bones, offal, fruits and veggies, supplements and food scraps Prey model is based on feeding your dog a whole animal (so ideally you would just feed whole chicken or rabbit, but it's pretty hard so you try to mimic it by combining different parts together).

RC giant breed kibble has big enough pieces for sure

I think it's a good idea :rolleyes: Btw I buy them frozen (as they are much cheaper) and just microwave them.

Well what worked for us was steamed baby carrots They are soft, healthy and easy to swallow. Although I am not sure I would use them every night.

Examples please ? Thanks!

Well with Midge I mostly use toys in training so she just gets raw. With Laffi I do use treats about three times a week (so it would be less than 5-10% of her diet). At home I use Artemis Maximal Dog, in the club I use the mix of Artemis and some diced lean sausage, for trials I use Chicken Chunkers or 4 Legs.

OK I will start. This is my plan for a 20kg dog: Sun: Turkey drumstick, raw egg Mon: Salmon head Tue: 3 chicken wings + chicken or lamb hearts Wed: Roo tail, raw egg Th: 3 chicken wings + chicken liver or lamb kidney Fri: Roo tail Sat: 8-10 chicken necks (or chicken mince, or beef mince) + chicken or lamb hearts

Corvus, I think you live in the Shire... would you like to schedule a shaping session one day? I LOVE shaping!!!!! It helped me heaps when someone actually showed me how to do it (thanks LP ). Btw I do think what you are trying to teach is pretty advanced (as you are asking for a very small variation for the dog to understand) so maybe try with something easier to shape and come back it it later when you are more comfortable with shaping.

Hmm not sure if I can compare crazy handler oriented Kenzie to super laid back Diesel. They seem to be VERY different.

How old is he? Does he have moments during the day when he is really focused or excited about something (other dogs, toys, running, sniffing....). If he has these moments it means there is hope. If he just is blah (sort of 2/10 excitement level) all day long, then I would say it's going to be hard work.

I would say Kavik is pretty far away from having this problem . My girls are like yours Ness but it's because they don't get any food without training

I totally agree! as a matter of fact I would hand feed him 100% of the time from now on

Do you use a clicker? This is what I did with my golden ages ago: The easiest would be to clicker train it. C&T for paw on the the square board and then C&T for any back paw movement. ETA I don't have a cue/command for this behavior.

I have been thinking about this a lot and would like to hear your opinions. I am well aware that the performance dogs should be well socialized, especially if they compete in sports like agility or flyball (a lot of excitement and running of leash). However after talking to a couple of fellow competitors, most of them do not visit dog parks (which were labeled as 'where accidents are waiting to happen'). So if you do compete with your dogs (any off leash sport counts), would you mind sharing with me how you go about socializing your dog? And if you go to the dog parks or not. Thanks!