MiniMum

Hi reality Good on you for looking for advise. Meat on the bone is the major part of raw food diets for dogs. One of the easiest ways to introduce raw meaty bones into the diet for a small dog is to use chicken necks. The bones are soft and there is a fair amount of meat on them as well. Chicken wings are also good. Other meats you could use are offal, fish and some muscle meat. You can get it from supermarkets, or you may find a butcher who sells it cheap. I look at what is on special/what is reduced. You can feed straight from the freezer if you want, my guy hates it frozen, so I thaw it out. Both are ok. There are a few people on DOL with chis who feed raw, so I don't think size is an issue. A change in diet can cause short term problems if it is done too quickly, so it is best to make small changes, just replacing part of the kibble with raw at first. Do a search in the forum on BARF and Prey Model diets, they are the two main raw diets. You will find a heap of information on a balanced raw diet in here

Thanks koolietas.

Thanks for the replies koolietas and Tiggy. I might try salmon oil, especially since reading yesterday that atopic dogs can have issues with flaxseed oil (which we have been using) I should have explained better, but .... Long story short, he came to use at 7 months with perforated ear drum, chronic ear infections and itchy scratchy skin. His previous owner hadn't had any of this treated. We had him diagnosed and due to his atopy I had had him on a very restricted diet, to try and isolate suspected food intolerances. He had RMBs, meat, a bit of offal and as a treat an occasional slice of apple. He seemed healthy, but his dermatologist said he should be having kibble. Not liking that idea, I made up a BARF mix to add to his diet. I just noticed that his stools were much better (smaller and firmer) when he wasn't getting any veg at all. (This and cheese giving him the runs is what I meant by sensitive tum, maybe that was the wrong terminology?) Okay, I guess I should do more searches in here for PM diet.

Is your avatar your boy? He is very cute. Its a hard one, isn't it? 5 months is still very young. I find having my TD on a table just for grooming helps. I use an old school desk. I have seen where some have a "grooming toy" they can have only when being groomed. When brushing, scissoring or cleaning around his face, you could try gently holding his muzzle. For the rest of him, It helps to place one hand under the belly. I have found that holding TD this way seems to calm him down and helps gently control him. It also helps with the biting thing. Hope this helps

I know diet has been discussed in this thread already (muchly so ), and I don't want to start another bun fight, but I haven't been able to find the answer to my question - could be my lack of search skills We are considering moving TDs diet from BARF to Prey Model. He is atopic (has been diagnosed by a specialist) and has a bit of a touchy digestive system. It appears from our observations that the more RMBs and the less veges in his diet the better his digestive system seems. Has anyone else made this change in diet? Did it help the furkids digestive system? Are there any negatives to consider for an atopic boy?

I didn't know that about flaxseed oil, thanks

Who else is going to be overprotective if Mum's aren't? :D

Hi Willis, Our boy had cryptorchidism and our vet had no problems desexing him when he was 8MO. The vet said that if the other teste hadn't dropped by then, it wasn't goting to. At 14 weeks, I would wait to see if the conditions rights itself.

Hi, we have a boy with skin issues as well. It can be difficult to find what is causing the problem and food intolerance and environmental allergies can go together. Our vet did all he could for our itchy scratchy boy, but advised us to see a specialist for testing. We have been taking TD to a dermatologist in Springwood and we have had helpful results so far. When the allergy season is over we will be doing desensitisation treatment for TD. The dermatologist agrees with my observations that this summer has been bad for allergies in Brisbane. Based on what we have been advised by the specialist, we use Aloveen shampoo and conditioner, it seems pretty gentle. For the areas he scratches and causes scabbing, we use Pyohex conditioner. We also have a different conditioner to use on his legs for his contact allergies. His toiletries bag is bigger than mine . Good luck with the vet's visit.

TD used to pull his paws away when I trimmed his claws. Based on advise I received in the poodle thread about a month ago, he gets them trimmed little and often. Now he doesn't pull away at all when I do them.

He is such a cutie I am not a groomer, just do my own dog, but I think you are doing very well having him behave for that long - he is still very young and just wants to play, not stand still and be dried I don't know what a professional would suggest, I tend to hold my TD's muzzle gently when I'm drying around his face and try and shield his eyes and ears from the air blast. I do give treats after a bath/dry/clip session - TD likes dried meat treats (kangaroo, fish, liver). But most of all he loves praise and attention. With the bite the brush and the hand game I just stop all movement and TD usually stops it. TD has been with us for around 7 months now, and he has been getting better with the whole process every time I do it. I am thinking of getting a stand for the dryer so I can have two hands free.

Thats good to hear felix ;)

I tried lamb flaps, but my little sook couldn't chew up the bones I get lamb neck chops instead - cut them in half for his little mouth to handle, but they get completely chewed up. Then he comes up to us to tell us its all gone - Lamby breath :rolleyes:

Turkey necks?

Am so relieved for you and Zedley Loraine ;)

Best of luck tomorrow - will be sending positive thoughts.

I am finding this a very interesting thread, and very timely for me ATM After months of treatment, TDs ears have finally cleared up enough to be plucked. He doesn't have very hairy ears, but on Wednesday his dermatologist suggested we pluck. Actually, he did it whilst he was suggesting it. I still don't know enough about it to know whether or not I want to keep it up, which way is more likely to keep his ears infection free. So I'll just keep on reading this thread and try to be more decisive

I love the advise I found here on DOL too TD had a rubbish diet before he came to us, so it was a pretty instant change in diet for him. His digestive system handled it fine.

If you are doing it wrong, then so am I.

Have you tried PAW (Pure Animal Wellbeing) Gentle Ear Cleaner? Our vet put us onto it, we found it did a good job of getting rid of junk. And someone from the poodle thread just recommened it too.

Charming!!!!! I think YOUR beagle is broken, now! He's better now, but when we first brought TD home he didn't know what to do with a bone. I cut them up a lot, but I still found a wing tip under our doona

Thanks for the update, have been wondering how you went at the vets. I find it easier to use photobucket to post pics.

Even for an atopic (10kg) dog who can't have the cheapest meat going, its only about $1/day at the most.

Agree entirely. Its about overall balance, isn't it?

Its like slow food for dogs Yes! I do make my own BARF mix, but thats because I enjoy the whole DIY in the kitchen thing anyway.