cazxxz

Tikis_Mum isn't feeding her dog kangaroo exclusively, so shouldn't it be fine? If you are making your own BARF patties, is there a reason you don't want to add offal to the mix? That would probably be easiest. If you want to just feed offal once a week, just work out how much your dog should get for the week. So if you dog weighs 10 kg, you are feeding 5% of body mass per day, and 15% is offal (with twice as much liver as kidney or heart), you would feed one meal each week with 262.5 g of liver, 131.25 g of kidney, and 131.25 g of heart. Of course, these masses don't have to be precise! My scales only weigh to an accuracy of 5 g. So. If you're feeding 70% RMBs, 15% offal, 5% fish, and 10% vegetables and "other" (this is what I do, I can't remember what Dr B's exact guidelines are), because the dog should get BARF mix that is equivalent to 30% of the food for the day, the one offal meal will equal the same amount of offal-free BARF that he'd get on the other days. Sorry if this doesn't make sense! I'm not good at explaining maths :/ probably because it's intuitive to me. I made a BARF/raw spreadsheet to calculate amounts once, I could dig it up if anyone thinks it might be useful. I think there might be online raw calculators, actually. ETA: Chickens are my favourite source for livers, because they're the least work. If I buy lamb or beef offal liver, I have to cut them, and that's annoying. Lamb hearts are a manageable size for my dog, as are lamb kidneys.

You could do that, or you could just feed your dog a meal of offal. My dog gets 200 g of liver once a week, and about 100 g of kidneys and a lamb heart as another meal once a week. This is pretty much a cliche, but I'll say it anyway: The goal is balance over time. Not every meal has to be "balanced and complete." Let me know if you learn anything at the shop! I'm glad you don't have to go too far out of your way to get there, how convenient

What about salmon heads? They don't smell quite so fishy, I think. My dog is a guts, so I haven't had any problems with getting him to eat anything (except Sasha's blend).

Yep. Haha My dog wants to be morbidly obese too, silly dogs. I think our dogs are lucky that we are so careful to keep them at the right weight. I want to be a dog!

Have you tried putting his food in a Kong? They are pretty good. My dog got so good at eating out of his. He'd lick the top to remove the seal I'd made, then toss the toy in the air so that all the food was dislodged when it hit the ground total pro This is a good idea. "Sit" and "stay" before meals is great for many reasons, but it doesn't really address the excitement when it's food o'clock, does it? Or is the training intended to get the dog to relax about mealtimes?

I'm far from an expert, so I don't have any real advice. My dog demands food from other people - the ones he knows will give in and feed him! I am responsible for feeding my dog. I feed him twice a day (sometimes just once), but not at regular times. He is very relaxed about meal times and isn't demanding, despite being obsessed with food. Have you tried varying meal times?

Hi Tikis_Mum, I just PM'd you. It looks as though offal might be missing from the mix, but I can't be sure. It smells so nice, so it definitely has enough vegetables! I know that excitement very well. It's been four years since I changed Jake's diet, and it's still fun!

Has the dog been to the vet yet?

My dog was a fart machine up until a few months ago. I wish I knew what changed to stop the farts, or at least the offensive smells. The only thing I can think of is that I feed him fewer pork bones these days, and more beef bones. I also started using kabana as his treat. It's not very healthy, but he only gets small amounts, and he would do absolutely anything to get the stuff. He has never jumped into the bath so voluntarily. Yogurt works for humans, and apparently charcoal tablets do too. I have seen charcoal treats at pet supply shops. They may cause constipation though. Human vegetarians fart more than human carnivores/omnivores, so maybe something similar happens in dogs?

Welcome to DOL, and to BARF! According to The BARF Diet by Billinghurst, puppies aged three to six months should be fed up to three times each day, and from six months onwards, twice a day. They should be fed 5-10% of their body mass each day in total. Because your guy is a medium sized, the amount each day will be closer to 5% of his body mass. 5% of 9 kg is 450 g. So he should get a raw meaty bone that weighs about 270 g and a BARF patty weighing 180 g each day. The amount to be fed each day will increase until he is fully grown, when the amount should be reduced, then adjusted to maintain his optimum weight. I'm not sure how often you should check his weight to work out how much he should be fed. Pre-made BARF brand patties are way more expensive than home prepared. The nutritional content will be the same because Billinghurst's recipe is used. A grooming shop near me (I'm in Melbourne) sells dog food prepared close to the BARF recipe for $7/kg - I can give you the details if you want to find other suppliers. Downside is a kilogram comes in a big brick, and I have to let it defrost partially, then repackage into the right size meals for my dog. If you have a large enough freezer space or can buy a bigger freezer, being time poor won't be an issue. You could shop once every couple of months and make up a large batch of patties, then just use the rest of the freezer space for bones. I don't bother making BARF patties and just give Jake table scraps as the vegetable content. You will figure out what works for you and your dog after a while

The capsules that I bought have suggested dosages for dogs and cats. Were they based on what humans require? The label says one capsule per ten kilograms of body mass per day. Is the liquid in the Ethical Nutrients capsules the same strength as the concentrated oil?

How are capsules not enough? The recommended dosage is on the container. Do you just mean that the concentrated liquid is more efficient because you don't have to use as much?

What a patient doggie. Umm, I am fortunate to have never needed to express my dog's glands, but if I had to, I would wear gloves!

We have two fridge/freezers, and I have forced my family to accept that I need the entire freezer section in one of the fridge/freezers for my dog's food. (And OK, I may have taken up a shelf in the other freezer too.) I have to shop for Jake approximately once a fortnight. The freezer is never empty! I have heard this many times, but I have never heard anything that could convince me to switch from feeding my dog mainly pork bones. I don't give him any pork offal (but have rarely seen any available anyway). If the pork products are being sold for human consumption, the animals were deemed parasite-free, so that isn't a concern for me. Plus, I am careful with the worming tablets. The only slight concern is the density of the bones - they may wear his teeth faster than, say, lamb flaps and chicken necks. Pork bones were great for his weight loss (and now maintenance), so we are very happy with them. Looks like your pup needs some offal. See if you can get some chicken livers, kidneys, and hearts. Chicken necks are good for small dogs. You should supervise the feeding. Do you have any particular reason for being worried about allergies?

I read that site, how scary. My interpretation, though, is that if we feed raw fish from Australian waters, our dogs should be safe. Crazy Daisy, how is your pup going?

To help with joint issues, I have been giving Jake the same capsules that sas suggested. Most of the resources I have found regarding Omega 3 and 6 say the same thing - that most pet food contains enough Omega 6 but not enough Omega 3. Jake is on a raw diet. Would that have enough Omega 6? One site said that if dogs don't have enough Omega 6 they can have dry skin, and I don't want that to happen. Thanks in advance

"Visit My Website"???Are you the proprietor of the company? Given that highsociety007's first and only two posts so far have been to bump old threads and say positive things about shootag, it seems very likely. How transparent.

Has he been examined by a vet? Did the vet have any advice? Fish oil might help.

I just got an email about free shipping until June 7 with Vet-N-Pet Direct. You have to enter the promo code, which is FREESHIP6 (I checked the rules and decided it is probably ok to share this, but please let me know if it's not! I am a customer, not an employee of that company) Edited to fix date!

Thanks for the suggestions. They are both roughly 45 mins from me according to Google maps, as are some of the other places that were mentioned. I guess we have some driving to do!

Try doing a search in these forums for satin balls. I think people have had good success with these. Maybe you could make a batch and if he likes them, give him one every few days or so. My dog has a tendency to gain weight, so I found the recipe a useful guide to what not to feed him ETA: http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=185629 This thread is probably the best, it has better ideas for weight gain (lamb, sardines etc)

Sorry to be asking so many questions. Have you tried giving him chicken necks or frames? Do they make him vomit? I wonder why he vomits because of bones. My neighbour's Golden Retriever apparently vomits after eating bones, but I'm not sure how many kinds of bones he has been given.

I do give him bones a few times a week but I have to be careful as he often vomits pieces up during the night that he cant digest. I have fed him raw only ( was doing a mix of kibble and meat) for a week now and it sounds silly but I can actually see the difference in him, appearance and energy wise, he looks way better, sleeps better at night and has more energy. I have also given him lamb heart, chicken giblets and lamb liver. It doesn't sound silly! I know that after eating dodgy food myself, one day of eating good food makes a huge difference to how I feel! It sounds like you're giving him a good variety of body parts. Now you can just watch his weight. After a while, if he loses too much weight, increase his food. If he gains too much weight and you can no longer feel a few of his ribs, decrease his food. Are you giving him lots of kinds of bones, or just one kind a few times a week? Are his allergies anything to do with the species of animal he's fed?

Does anyone know of dog hydrotherapy centres in Melbourne's North East, or the inner suburbs? I'll travel to the places already recommended if necessary, but somewhere closer would be better.

As laeral said, it's likely to be the total amount of food for your dog each day. Does the ingredient list include ground bones? If not, you should think about giving your dog raw meaty bones in addition to the food. If you want to feed a raw diet, there is lots of information in these forums to help you. Once you have decided what proportions of each kind of food your dog should have, you can work out how much of the packaged food he needs. Good luck with the new diet. My dog's skin, weight, and overall health improved significantly when we switched to raw, but some people struggle to get the balance right for their dogs.