Is My Puppy's Diet Ok?

[jenna]

Hi, new here.

I have a few conerns with my 10 1/2 week old maltese's ( name is Alba ) diet, i have had her 2 1/2 weeks she is my first Puppy. she is only just starting to eat properly now, she didnt seem to like anything i was giving her which was RAW Beef/Lamb Mince (Human Grade) i was mixing that with 1 egg and some rice but she would just cry and run away. So the past 2 days i have just started her on RAW Chicken Mince(human grade) on it's own and she seem to be liking that. she LOVES cooked chicken too.

so at the moment she is getting

Chicken Mince for brekfeast and dinner and Dry food ( Innova) for Lunch which she is just starting to get used to aswell as she wouldnt go near it before, i was even soaking it in puppy milk, or water etc , still wouldnt touch it

she doesnt seem to be eating a whole lot , but its better than what she has been.. she is drnking plenty of water which is good

So my question is , is what i am feeding her ok? Is Chicken mince on it's own everyday ok for her? should i be adding anything else to her diet?

Also i am thinking about changing her dry food , just because i have to drive 30 Min just to get it plus i dont really like getting it from PP . she is only just starting to eat her dry food now so is it a good idea to be changing it??

I havent started her on bones or anything yet as im not sure if she is to young ??

Thanks

[Danois]

Hey Jenna - probably the best place to go for this question is back to your breeder - they will know what works with their dogs and will have advice to ensure that puppy is getting a balanced diet with all the right nutrients and minerals.

[Red Fox]

Chicken mince is fine but you need to buy the one that has BONE in it too, not human grade. It costs around $2kg from most butchers or Leonards and is basically just minced chicken frames. Puppy milk is not really necessary or in fact very good for dogs, you really don't need it at all. If you want to moisten her food warm water is fine.

Other things you can add to her dry to make it more appealing are natural yogurt, sardines, raw eggs, minced fruit/veg etc. Whatever you decide to add do it gradually, one thing at a time and in very small portions so as not to upset her tummy.

And no, she is not too young for bones at all. Try her with a small chicken wing or neck and see how she goes

Oops, forgot to say welcome to DOL! and Danois is right, if you got her from a breeder you should be following their instructions first before trying anything else.

Edited September 5, 2009 by SecretKei

[Sandra777]

In addition to the above, which I won't bother repeating be wary of chopping and changing her diet because you'll teach her that if she doesn't eat one thing you'll give her something else - probably something tastier! - and so teach her to be a fussy eater.

She's a very small puppy so probably doesn't need to eat very much food, so don't be surprised if she only eats a little bit at a time, she only has a small tummy!

What did the breeder's puppy info pack say about feeding?

[jenna]

Hey Jenna - probably the best place to go for this question is back to your breeder - they will know what works with their dogs and will have advice to ensure that puppy is getting a balanced diet with all the right nutrients and minerals.

Thanks, i spoke to the breeder and she was feeding her mince/ rice/ vegies which i have tried, so i just assumed it was her settling in to a new home, but she still isnt eating those foods, but seems to be happy with the chicken mince so far

[Danois]

Good that you spoke with the breeder.

A dog does not need rice.

[Sandra777]

Thanks, i spoke to the breeder and she was feeding her mince/ rice/ vegies

hope that's pet mince with bone in not "meat mince".

Glad you've got back to the breeder, just don't get stressed out about it. The food is there, it's fresh, a healthy dog will eat when it's hungry.

[jenna]

Thanks, i spoke to the breeder and she was feeding her mince/ rice/ vegies

hope that's pet mince with bone in not "meat mince".

Glad you've got back to the breeder, just don't get stressed out about it. The food is there, it's fresh, a healthy dog will eat when it's hungry.

Thanks for that , well i shall go buy some Pet mince then, i assumed human grade mince would be better

cause she only getting used to ger dry biscuts now, should i leave them or will it be ok to change the brand do u think? i just dont want to change things to much like you said, maybe mix a few of the new dry with the old??

[Red Fox]

If you change her dry food just do it gradually by mixing the new with the old. You can phase out the old completely over a week or two period.

I can understand why you would think that human grade mince would be better, the problem with human stuff though is that is doesn't have any bone in it and growing puppies need the calcium that the bone provides. If you buy you pet mince from the butchers it will be of good quality so nothing to worry about there.

It doesn't hurt to feed a little plain mince every now and then but you need to make sure your pup is getting enough bones too. If you are interested in feeding raw I'd suggest you get a copy of the Ian Billinghurst BARF books. Also check out the health forum here at DOL

[monica666]

Hi, new here.

I have a few conerns with my 10 1/2 week old maltese's ( name is Alba ) diet, i have had her 2 1/2 weeks she is my first Puppy. she is only just starting to eat properly now, she didnt seem to like anything i was giving her which was RAW Beef/Lamb Mince (Human Grade) i was mixing that with 1 egg and some rice but she would just cry and run away. So the past 2 days i have just started her on RAW Chicken Mince(human grade) on it's own and she seem to be liking that. she LOVES cooked chicken too.

so at the moment she is getting

Chicken Mince for brekfeast and dinner and Dry food ( Innova) for Lunch which she is just starting to get used to aswell as she wouldnt go near it before, i was even soaking it in puppy milk, or water etc , still wouldnt touch it

she doesnt seem to be eating a whole lot , but its better than what she has been.. she is drnking plenty of water which is good :D

So my question is , is what i am feeding her ok? Is Chicken mince on it's own everyday ok for her? should i be adding anything else to her diet?

Also i am thinking about changing her dry food , just because i have to drive 30 Min just to get it plus i dont really like getting it from PP . she is only just starting to eat her dry food now so is it a good idea to be changing it??

I havent started her on bones or anything yet as im not sure if she is to young ??

Thanks

hello

i also have a near new puppy. he is a little pug and he is nearly 6 months old. now, i'm no proffesional breeder

, and he is also our first puppy,so we were also worried what to feed him.

i started him on can food. this was a huge no no., so then i did the human grade mince with pasta and vegies, and

was advised that human grade mince has lots of preservatives in it ( hey, but we eat it !!!!!).

so now i am giving him chicken mince with the bones minced in with the pasta and vegies.

i work at Lenards in sydney, and we have so many customers that buy our "pet mince". it's only 2.00 a kilo.

and it's made up of the chicken carcass, put into the mincer, so it has nothing added to it.

i was a bit worried when our pug was little to give him the chicken mince, but he loves it.

and he is only now starting to like his dry food

if your little puppies poos are firm, that's usually a good hint that the food is ok.

cya

[puggy_puggy]

If you feed dogs, especially growing puppies, meat without bones you are going to end up with massive imbalances and problems. Bone deformities is just one of them.

Educate yourself on RAW, BARF, PREY MODE etc feeding. There are many good website and books available. Young pups should be fed 10% of their body weight three times a day.

Grains, which include rice, are not required by dogs. If you choose to feed veggies and fruit then they should be pulped/food processed to break down the cellulose walls.

Many people feed pups bones from a very young age.

Puppy BARF Diet

Approximately 10% of their body weight daily

70 to 80% of which should be Raw Meaty Bones and 20 to 30% vegies, offal & dairy, divided up into 3 meals a day.

Breakfast & Dinner Puppy mince(minced chicken carcasses) & veggie slops (small amounts of fish, kangaroo, beef, offal, youghurt etc can be mixed in on alternating days)

Lunch raw meaty bone

BARF SLOPS INGREDIENTS & METHOD

Things I always include:

- container of alfala spouts

- bunch of spinach (roots cut off)

- bag of carrots

- bunch of celary

- 4 zuccinis

- 3 to 4 oranges (peeled)

- 1 pumpkin

- 2 to 4 apples (pips taken out)

- 2 to 4 bannanas (peeled)

- bunch of silverbeat

- 4 oranges

- 8 to 10 eggs (whole including shell)

- flaxseed oil (approx 250mL) (some people choose to not include this and add to the food daily)

- kelp (approx 100g)

What else you can put in:

- 1 to 2 green capsicums (stalk cut off & seeds out)

- 1 to 2 red caspsicums (stalk cut off & seeds removed)

- turnip

- squash

- 2 to 4 pears

- half to 1 pinapple

- brussel sprouts

- brocoli

- cauliflower

- bag of beans

- Apple Cider Vinegar

- Vitamin C

Chop up then process up in blender/food processor so that things turn to slops. Put each blender batch into a big bucket. Usually leave the eggs & flaxseed oil for things that don't blend very well like the pumpkin and carrots. Ingredients should fill up a bucket. Mix bucket with big ladel till all mixed through then put into take away containers & freeze untill needed.

Edited November 9, 2009 by puggy_puggy

[jenna]

Thanks for that

i am going to go get some chicken mince from lenords today. Ihave already been mixing raw blended up broccoli, carrot, and coliflower and egg but i didnt know they could eat all those other things .so will have to try some more vegies.

With the bones, as she only a maltese and 11 weeks old what bones would you suggest? and do i go to a pet shop or supermarket to get them?

I know i can give her chicken necks just wondering what else

thanks

[puggy_puggy]

The basic principles if you choose to feed vegies & fruit is that the majority are green leafy ones.

Softer non weight bearing bones are the best. For two rescue pug puppies I fostered last year lamb bone offcuts were my choice. There were fed these from the time they came into rescue at approx 7 weeks old.

[Sandra777]

With the bones, as she only a maltese and 11 weeks old what bones would you suggest? and do i go to a pet shop or supermarket to get them?

I know i can give her chicken necks just wondering what else

thanks

ANY bones are fine provided the dog can consume them in one sitting (for a puppy, call it 30-45 minutes). The only exception won't affect you even when you're girl's all grown up - dogs with powerful jaws can destroy consume canon bones in this time frame and IMO these sorts of bones are no good for any dog.

As a starting point - chicken wings are great - they have a variety of bone density and are a slightly more "interesting" shape than a neck. Small lamb offcuts, a pork bone, beef soup bones aren't necessarily great (generally too hard) but veal would be and ribs - beef, pork or mutton would be fine too. All these things would require you to trim off a lot of the fat, and with chicken wings pull off some of the skin too. A chicken back, or buy a carcase and rip it into pieces.

Introduce one sort of meat at a time especially with one so young and small. Pork disagrees with a some dogs, and some breeds have a tendency to be sensitive of beef, so slowly and cautiously in all things, and observe what changes to her diet do to her.

For a little dog like that I would buy all food from a butcher or supermarket - won't cost much and will avoid the very faint possibility of getting something dodgy from a "pet food only" source. Avoid anything with preservatives!

[Red Fox]

i started him on can food. this was a huge no no., so then i did the human grade mince with pasta and vegies, and

was advised that human grade mince has lots of preservatives in it ( hey, but we eat it !!!!!).

so now i am giving him chicken mince with the bones minced in with the pasta and vegies.

Not all human grade meat is full of preservatives. It depends a lot on where you buy it from. Butchers who keep their mince on display will almost always spray it with preservatives to stop the meat from going brown, however supermarkets who mince fresh daily in store and then pack in trays often have preservative free mince. I would not buy mince with preservatives for either my dog or my family -ever. IGA sells preservative free mince, I think Coles and Wollies/Safeway may do so also, if it doesn't say preservative free on the pack I suggest you shop elsewhere!

Now back on topic

I do feed my dog beef mince meat mixed with his BARF slops on a night but plain muscle meat only makes up around 25% of his diet. The rest is RMB's and small amounts of offal, dairy and fish. A typical day might be 600g of chicken frames for brekkie and then 200g of beef mince mixed with a little liver, 1/3 cup of vegie slops and plain yogurt plus 200-300g of chicken wings or necks for dinner. Another night I might add a can of sardines instead of the liver or an egg instead.

So plain mince isn't necessarily bad as such, it just depends on the amount you feed it in and what else you are feeding it. If you are only feeding mince as an occasional addition to dry/commercial food every now and then it's not really going to matter all that much. However if you are feeding it in large amounts every day or your plan is to stick simply with mince and veg (without including sufficient amounts of RMB's to balance it out) then ALWAYS use the pet mince.

Also remember that there is a HUGE difference between the pre-packed pet mince you will find in your supermarket -usually contains just beef or roo and offal with some supplements- and the minced chicken frames (pet mince) you can buy from Leonards. If in doubt then ask your butcher to mince up some fresh wings and frames on the spot so you KNOW what you are getting

Grains are a whole other debate. Some people feed them some don't. Most commercial foods contain grain but dogs don't need it to survive. Everyone here will have their own oppinions of whether you should or shouldn't feed grains.

Personally I do feed rice, oats or pasta very occasionally, normally when there is a bit left over from tea and no more than once or twice a fortnight. I sometimes feed my dog soaked oats mixed with yogurt too. I feed these things because I know my dog enjoys them, not because I think he needs them.

The thing is though that there are better things for your dog to fill up on and gain his energy from than rice or pasta

*forgot to add- Puggy Puggy's recipe^^IS EXCELLENT!

Edited September 7, 2009 by SecretKei