melbell

Luckily he saw the funny side! Thankyou, I didnt even think of that...if they were fleas it would be all over his body..and mine, not just down one leg. We have also had a friend looking after the place while we have been away, and they have reported no signs of any bites. All this flea talk is making me feel itchy though!

I took some out of the packet last night as a joke and went to put it on the back of his neck :rolleyes: Will have a look for flea bombs today. Thanks Mel

Sorry if this sounds a bit vauge OH has these kind of itchy bites on the top of his leg for about 2 weeks now, they are spreading down his leg...originally we thought it might have something to do with him working with fibreglass. They kept spreading even whilst we are on holiday. I have not been affected at all. He thinks we might have fleas in the house? He has apparently seen them on the sofa??? I have yet to see anything...he is trying to catch one as I type. We are using Advantix on our dog and he is not scratching any more than usual. I have wiped him over with a white tissue and then wet it under water....I heard that if he has fleas you will see red spots on the tissue Can anyone point me in the direction of any other tell tale signs and what I have to do if we have fleas in the house....do I need to call some sort of pest control person or is there something I can do myself?? Thanks in advance Mel

Thanks everyone for that bit of confidence boost as well...I really needed that :cool: . I have been watching this thread closely as we are experiencing alot of dog aggression with our rescue, it has become increasingly worse in the last couple of months. We are going to training and will do everything and anything possible to help him, and I mean anything. Reading this has helped me see that im not the only one, Toby doesnt have any dog friends at the moment but hopefully one day that will change, its hard to make friends when you try to bite them all the time . It doesnt change the amount that I love him though.

I have a 30Kg staffy x and I started feeding the BARF diet a week ago...the same time as little pixie. It probably cost me anywhere from $15-25 a week to feed him. If I wanted to do it a little cheaper I could by cutting out some of the more expensive meat and shopping around abit more.

Thanks Packsapunch. I do remember that part in the book now you mention it...ummm...hard choice. I dont get the pet mince as like you said its full of preservatives and I you cant really be sure whats in it. I just wonder what is the difference from say chicken necks from BI LO and chicken necks at the place which sells them as pet food only. I would love to be able to afford to buy organic chicken and scotch fillet for him...OH would go crazy! I do buy organic eggs though...so much nicer.

packsapunch can I please ask why you dont feed anything that is pet food only? Im just wondering why it could be bad? Does anyone know why it is different to human food, the way it is prepared etc? I dont want to give my doggie something yucky as I went the cheaper option but alos dont want to throw money down the drain. I was giving the lady at the pet food place the 40 questions (she was real impressed) and she said the chicken necks come from a chicken processing plant.

We have been doing it for a couple of days now, mainly chicken necks with a few left over vegies untill I get chance to go the the shops. I found a place today that has chicken necks for $1.10 a kg and chicken carcass for $2 kg, what a bargain. Its only 'pet food quality' is that okay?? I asked the lady if I could eat it and she looked at me very strangely untill my OH butted in with the "just because we are quite picky with what we feed him"...not that we would.

Thanks for the freezer info guys, ive been saving up slowly for a couple of weeks for a juicer and a freezer however the vets bills have put a rather large dent in that. Good idea KitKat about the ones in KMart...layby is my best friend....next to VISA...and the John Howard savings fund aka Tax return How funny that life has done a complete turn since getting a 4 legged friend, normally I would be trying to figure out how to afford that new pair of shoes...now its dog beds, juicers and freezers.

Just got back from the vets, and it is definatley an alergic reaction to something. He has suggested changing his food first and he is on a short course of steroids. So we are going to change to the raw diet first, see if that makes any difference and if not then it would more than likely be environmental so we might need to visit a doggie dermatologist...which apparently is like a million dollars so i might start saving for that one now! I would be chaning to the raw diet regardless as I think it is the best food for him, i dont expect it to fix all problems but it cant harm him. We also got some Malaseb in which to wash him so hopefully that will help. I have this spray stuff which i spray on his bed before i hose it to make it smell good so i will also be cutting that out as well...just in case...and just using the hose. I steam mop the floors so it wouldnt be that. I guess its just a case of elimination, poor boy its been a rough week!

That makes alot of sense, I mean how often do we sit down and think to ourselves "gee I wonder if I am getting all the B group vitamins" well for me its never. Apple cider vinegar hey, I will be trying that one...to be honest if someone told me that if by streaking down the road naked I could clear up his problems I would do it

Ive woken up this morning to find my dog has yet another nasty skin irritation between his front arm and his body, really red and sore looking so another visit to the vets this afternoon...he also has dandruff! I really hope this new diet clears up his skin, i feel like such a faliure as when we got him he was fine and he had been living at the pound for a couple of weeks and before that he was found as a stray Off to the butcher today to stock up on loads of meat! Fingers crossed. We were getting the VIP food for free as OH's stepdad works there, but i figure maybe i will not tell him Toby doesnt eat it and take it to the pound once a week.

Thanks for all the help, I think im ready to start the new diet this weekend! Gee my dog is lucky! So just to clarify it is okay to feed meat only meals and then vegetables every couple of days? Do people feed the vegetables seperatley? I plan to supplement with kelp and fish oil, do you just whack them into the blender too? Sorry for all the questions..i dont want to make him sick!

Wow thanks guys for all the help. I might just wizz up the offal into the veggies a couple of times a week, i dont want to give him a tummy upset. Poodlefan the veggie recipe would be great. Anne just a question if i may, why would you elimate the potatoe? Im thinking of going with a juicer that you can juice whole things, that way i can have juice too. Ewww not to sure about juicing a liver...gross :rolleyes: Allerzeit you must have been at that blender for a LONG time blending for 5 dogs! WOW Ive seen the BARF patties at a store so i might get a pack more for emergencies and if we need to have a holdiay and leave Toby with a family member, less fuss for them. Im scared that I wont be feeding him enough! Just out of interest do people add fruit to the vegies or feed that seperately?

Okay so im ready to give up the supermarket brand and switch over to the BARF diet, sounds like it is the best possible thing I can feed my little boy...so I just need a little advice to get started Ive brought and read the book as suggested - Give your dog a bone and highlighted all the important bits. Ive done a kind of set menu and would really appreciate everyone's feedback and to make sure im not missing a vital ingredient. Here goes:- Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays: Chicken based meal - either chicken necks, wings or carcasus if i can find them mixed in with my vegie mix (see below) Tuesdays and Thursdays: Beef or Pork based meal - chuck bones etc with vegie mix. Sundays: Offal day - kidneys, brains, heats etc with vegie mix Fridays: Fish day - Sardines mixed with some natual yoghurt and vegies. I was going to buy a big selection of vegetables, spinach, brocoli, carrot, peas, potatoe, sweet potatoe etc and put it through the food processor or juicer. Pack the mix into snap lock bags and freeze it, then take a couple out to defrost as needed - would that be okay? I was also going to add a kelp tablet every couple of days. I also give him the big marrow bones a couple of times a week to keep him occupied. Im not to sure on portion sizes...how much should each meal consist of? He is a 1yr old staffy/mastiff x who weighs 30kg. My plan was to keep an eye on his weight and adjust accordingly. Also I dont have a juicer or food processor so will need to go and buy one, what do most people find the best/easiest? Many Thanks Mel

Thanks Haven, Im looking at there website now and it looks good. I take it you use the 'Complete Mix'? So many different choices its crazy!!

Thanks everyone, the advice is really appreciated and its good to know im not feeding him totally the wrong thing! We got a compliment on his coat when we were walking in the park this afternoon so I was quite happy about that. I’m looking into the BARF diet but it seems quite a lot of preparation time. I think we might give the Eagle Pack a go next time with some chicken necks etc. I gave him a huge marrow bone the other day which he really enjoyed…the bone has now mysteriously disappeared, along with my gardening gloves. More VIP food has arrived from the out laws (sigh) but this time its cat food?? I read the label and its pure kangaroo mince, so I mixed it with the dry food and he seems to quite like it…I figure it probably has more nutrition in than the dog roll. I will endeavour to get some pictures of my new baby posted but im a bit of a computer dunce so I will have to get some help from the man.

He He He That has crossed my mind many times! Would give us more room in the fridge thats for sure...i dont know how much they think this dog eats! I think once this bag of supercoat is gone i might try the Eagle Pack as everyone seems to rave about it. I dont mind spending the money as long as it is better food...just wanted to make sure i wasnt being ripped off! I will have to hide the reciepts from hubby, he is always pointing out the 2 bags for $25 of Chum at Big W. Im also going to try mixing it with some chicken necks. Okay here is a really silly question but what will my dog do with the bones in the necks? Will he eat them or spit them out?? Thanks Mel

Thanks for all the advice it’s really appreciated. Chicken necks sound like a good idea and thanks for specifying to feed them raw (I probably would have cooked them!). He really likes the dog roll stuff but when I look at it I have trouble believing that there is any real goodness in there...just looks and smells like rubbish...it’s the VIP dog roll. Problem is hubbys stepdad works at VIP so brings it home for us, so kind of hard to say no...ahhh the politics of it all!! We are off to the butchers this afternoon so will be getting some bones, would I be right in saying these will probably help him occupy his time when we are not home? He is a great dog and the people at the AWL do such a good job, the only probably was choosing - I must admit I had a bit of a cry on the way out, thank goodness for sunglasses!! Thanks again.

Hi Everyone, This is my first post! I have recently become a 'mummy' to a one year old staffy x mastiff. He is approximately one year old and came from the animal welfare league - they had found him as a stray and his owner never came to get him...that’s so sad . Anyway my question is about feeding him. What do people recommend? Once or twice a day? Dry or wet (meat) food and any particular brands? Are the expenisve brands really that much better? At the moment I am feeding twice a day, half dry food (supercoat) and half dog roll stuff from the supermarket. He seems happy with this but I just want to make sure im doing what is best for him. I would be very gratefully for some advice. Many Thanks Mel