laneka

Glad I can help. I am a food Nazi too, I feed my dogs twice a day and every bit including bones is weighed out. That way I know exactly who needs what. All the bones are bagged up and named. Some people think I am crazy but I am happy with that. I do try to give my dogs the best I can and keep them as healthy as I can. If I can help anymore just yell.

All mine are grazers too. I laugh and call them Aberdeen Angus. Looks funny 5 Rotts grazing.

Hi rajacadoo, because each of my dogs eat different amounts and sometimes I have to increase or decrease meals, I decided to keep the veges and meat seperate and weigh out individual meals each day. Okay here is what I do, every morning they get veges and meat. Every second night they get veges and meat. On the alternate night they either get beef brisket bones or chicken carcasses. I try to alternate the bones so they do not get the same type in a row. Just to give you an idea, my 9mth old male weighs nearly 45kg for all his vege and meat meals he gets 200gms veg and 300gms meat (this could be minced beef or minced chicken). He gets 1kg of bones. In his meat/veg he gets one of the following, cheese, this can be grated cheese or cottage cheese, sardines, eggs (shell ground up) or yoghurt. He also gets a product called power blend, this has all the added vitamins, minerals and kelp also cold pressed flax seed oil. Hope this helps. To start with it was a bit of hit and miss with the amounts to feed. Two of my girls put on weight just looking at bones so I had to really reduce the amount of bone. They get around 300gms. I find it a very individual thing. Veges I use, All types of green leafy except cabbage Carrot Pumpkin Sweet potato Tomato (small amounts) Broccoli Cauliflower Mushroom Zucchini Parsley (both types) Broad Beans Raw Beetroot (my dogs don't particularly like this so I only use a very small amount) Bean spouts, all sprout type veges must be sprouted. and just about anything else I see. I do not feed onions of any sort Fruit, Apples Pears Oranges (all) I do not use many Bananas Kiwi Fruit small amount of Grapes ( these must be seedless) All stone fruit and berries It is a matter of what is in season at the time and cheap. If you have a good market you can go to find out what time they close on a Sat and see if they sell off stuff. Two books I have found fantastic are The Barf Diet by Dr. Ian Billinghurst and Raw and Natural Nutrition for Dogs by Lew Olson PhD

I have a 500ltr chest freezer and by the time I get 50kg beef mince, 30kg chicken mince, 30kg briskets, 36kg frames and then all the veges there is not alot of room for our food. We do have two fridges and those freezers seem to be ours

I have only ever made my own. I tried the patties once and not only did my dogs go YUK but I did too. I prefer to do fresh.

Nekhbet, do you sell the bunnies? Also do you sell the skins? The skins make fantastic bait for the showring. Dogs can eat it too.

Thanks, we decided to go bulk as we did not want to do it all the time. We actually bought another food processor so that halved the process time. So cheap when you go to the markets. That lot cost us under $50. It took us 2 hours with the both of us doing it. That is from the start of chopping till the end of tubbing.

All tubbed up ready for the freezer

I go to the market on a Sat just before they close. I buy all my veges and fruit then. It is then chopped and put through a food processor. It is then put into containers and frozen. I then feed it every second meal with either minced beef or minced chicken. For the other meals they get either beef brisket or chicken frames. With their meat/veg meal they get either cheese, sardines or yoghurt. My guys love it and have never been so healthy. Their stools are half the size with no smell and no flies. Have attached a pic of the vege fruit mix, this amount lasted my 5 Rotts a month.

Happy Birthday Grumpy :D . What a fantastic age. I hope you have many many more. Hugs and licks from us and our mob.

Thank you very much for a very informative yet funny thread :D . I love ferrets but my dogs would love them too. I don't think I could wring a neck, too much of a softie but sure admire you guys. Once dead mind you, I can skin and gut with the best of them. Just can't bring myself to kill.

Maybe he is getting too old. Also why would his prices go up so much? Particularly if he has not updated his equipment to read digital.

I was very interested in the Antler till I read the price. With 5 Rotts, way too expensive. Might just have to visit a local deer farm.

Trina, I have gotten nice fine collars from a saddler. They use bridle leather. These collars are light and loose. Something to grab hold of when needed and they do no leave a mark on the neck.

I have just stumbled across this beautiful story. I had tears in my eyes while reading about Andrew and Sapper, then to read the wonderful update with photos I just cried and cried. So beautiful and I so feel for our soldiers and so admire them. I salute and thank them for keeping this wonderful country safe.

I have a 6 year old bitch who I am sure was anorexic. The only way we could get her to eat anything was to lock her away and hope for the best. When she was 10 weeks I made the comment to my OH 'don't be surprised if she is dead in the morning'. She was skin and bone. Anyway to cut a long story, she hates dry food of any description. Since feeding raw, she is ravenous and I have never seen her so happy.

That is such a gorgeous photo. What a lovely Mum. Can you please keep us updated with pics as they grow. I wish you all the best with them.

You can buy direct. When I was feeding it, I would buy 20 rolls at a time.

Hope all goes well with your babies. Won't be long before those pups are bigger than their new Mum. Any pics please?

I adore Rotties! I always wonder if I am strong willed enough for one though but I simply love them so much!!!! They would definitely be a breed I would have if I ever thought I was suitable/good for them! If you do eventually get one, get a bitch to start with. They are much 'softer' than a full blown male. They all need obedience and socialising but then so do all dogs. Because they are a natural guard they need to meet as many people and other dogs as they can, not just when they are young but all through their lives. Again I believe, so do all dogs. Oh and the other thing I like about them is a well bred, well socialised dog is a very easy dog to live with. I prefer the males but that is me.

I like their size, their brain, their mental strength, physical strength. They are loving and energetic. Yet they love to laze the days away with you at the same time. They are wash and wear. Do not cost the earth to feed. Overall a very easy dog to live with and they have a great sense of humour. I have tried a couple of other breeds and their temperament and character does not suit me.

While I agree in part with being able to show a docked dog, I also think it is unfair on those who show tailed (traditionally docked) dogs. I don't know how many times I have seen a beautiful tailed dog being defeated by a docked dog who really should be a pet. It is the judges who put these dogs up and while this happens there will be a call for the ban of showing all docked dogs.

I have always gone by this rule. If you exercise before feeding then you wait 1 hour. If you exercise after feeding then it is 2 hours or more. I have always gone by this rule and not had a problem so far.

I have done this mating except it was father to daughter. All pups strong, healthy, good hip scores and now nearly 7 years old. As for temperament, both parents had exceptional temperaments and all progeny have the same.

Forgot to add that in the stable area for dogs, we have a small hot water service, a hydro bath, a washing machine and a drying ramp with a doggie dryer. All of this makes life so so easy