chuckandsteve

http://veganpet.com.au/articles/ Thats the website the reason I didn't like it is they also sell it for cats and cats can't be vegetarian

I'm not an expert on dog health, never said I was. The information is very hard to obtain and as of yet there isn't really enough research done on the topic as the majority of the community are against it. Mine dont eat a vegetarian diet so I can't offer that. There is one brand available on the internet if you want to look at that but I can't remember what it was called I found it using google but wasn't completely happy with it hence why they aren't on it. I really just wanted to help huski approach in a manner that would at least allow this lady to listen to their opinion. If its not done right then there are problems and just from what has been said about her I didn't believe she would do it right. dol generally fails to approach controversial topics like this one in a way where the person isn't attacked/upset by the response and little helpful information comes out. The topic wasn't can you tell me what to feed the dog it was how can I talk to this women about it? Respect is the way to approach it, that was all I was trying to get across just because its not your own belief doesn't mean it is wrong. To stay a vegetarian she has got to have a fair ability to block out other peoples opinions as most people seem to find vegetarians offensive thats why we have to spend so much time talking about as other people have said. Get a rabbit, dont mess with nature calling her a fruitloop. She has heard it all before and its cruel, so anyone that says this she is not going to give 2 hoots what they think. But I have said everything I have to say now so to huski good luck

"You're right - I could probably survive on eating powdered food and taking multi vitamins to ensure I got my daily requirements" This is crazy I never said someone would feed them powder and I also said its about what not to feed them as well. But your right I can't argue against that because it would be the doing of a crazy person

I really know nothing about prey drive you could well be right. And huski, 10 points, first person I have seen able to have a reasonable discussion with on this topic without it resorting to insults and "I dont care what you say" tactics. I am happy to disagree, most vegetarians are its just when people result to calling people crazy because their opinions vary that gets me going. Yes road kill would be fine but unfortunately no one sells it.

We spend a lot of time talking about optimum diet for dogs but how many people eat optimum diet? How many eat a good diet? And most people still thrive. If a dog is on a very good diet they will thrive, if the vegetarian diet is correctly done for dogs I would say it would be better than pedigree that most people feed. My dog growing up ate supermarket cat food and we lost her at 20 years of age. Not everything is perfect It is not just simply decided on because the owner is vegetarian there is a huge thought process behind it. Thats what I have been trying to say for most there are hours of thought and research behind it. Simply attacking isn't going to help.

Not desexing results in dogs dying if you believe in dog overpoulation so we desex. Feeding meat results in animal dying so dont feed meat. Are the very basic agrument sorry it wasn't very clear. There is nothing natural about how dogs live now if we are completely honest about it and all the dogs I know would not hunt if sent out into the wild. Some would eat an already dead animal probably most. Sorry I dont mean to keep this going but as other vegetarians have said above as a vegetarian you spend so much time talking about it through no choice of your own you have a comeback for almost everything and yes I relise right now it is by choice

If you are a vegetarian it is to desex and to feed vegetarian diet are very similar. Both result in an animal dying. I had problem I wanted to rescue a dog but I didn't want say a cow to die to feed the dog... If that makes sense (and yes i know it doesn't to most people) As I said though I respect everyones opinions just trying to help you understand her opinion makes it easier to reason with them.

If you get the diet right they should do as well theoretically. Practically not enough research to know. I think this women is an extremest though. I did research it for my dogs haven't gone through with it as I didn't believe I could get it right they eat dry food and my husband will give them wet as I have the gross factor. If you are going to try and encourage her away from it statements like get rabbit won't help nor will telling her they are carnivores because they are omnivores. Vegetarians spend a lot of time discussing their diet so trying to win the argument that eating meat is natural wont help either (virtually every meal I have gone to since the age of 8 people just can't stop asking). I hate talking about it so I am def not pushing my views on anyone. Use statements that are true, their diet is different to ours so the dog can't eat the same diet as her and the research is not there to help her work out what to feed, she will have to cook every meal for the dog its a hell of a lot of work. She will also need to slowly remove meat from the diet so for serveral months she has no choice but to feed meat. These are the things that put me off doing it. 2 things that really annoyed me were the carivore arguement (they are omnivores) and forcing your views on the dog (well my dogs didn't chose to be desexed but they are) Not trying to force my views on anyone just trying to help with an opinion from the other side. Also vegetarians are used to being abused and mocked so that line of attack just makes you think that the person is crazy rather than informed. Talk about not letting the dog have a choice. Resorting to insults is not helping anyone

Preparing to be flamed Dogs are actually omnivores so can be completely healthy on a vegetarian diet. Cats are carnivores and for them its a no no. The problem with the dog question is that people who aren't vegetarian themselves aren't fully aware of the alternatives to meat. I dont see the problem with no meat the problem is with the wrong alternative. So long as the dog likes what it is eating (enjoys it) and is healthy on the diet then I dont feel like they are suffering but it is a lot of work on the owner to get it right. I think this women would have problems with no egg. Vegetarians feel about killing all animals the way most people of here do about killing dogs in pounds. But some meat handling is going to be needed to simply change the diet over. Just to questions above, they are not carivores so its not cruel, and vets have varied opinions although I think most admit its doable for dogs but not cats, but like most dog owners are against it for ethical reasons.