Changing Food

[tlc]

Hi guys, I have bee debating about changing my 3 younger dogs from a diet of meat and veg to dry only. I just had a few niggling things on my mind that I though I would seek the opinion from other dog lovers and see what they though. First to feed only dry, I would still give them chicken necks wings frames and also bones.

My OH thinks that if they have dry they will get sick of it being the same thing all the time and he can't get his head around it.

At the moment they are fed, human grade beef, chicken,turkey,lamb and vegetables. Usually one of the meats at a time depending what I buy but mostly beef as their main meat, with this they have vegetables different ones, pumpkin,carrots,corn,sweet potato,caulie, potatoe, cabbage, broc, zucchini and rice. A couple of times a week they have bones also chicken wings, necks, frames. Their diet is consistent but varys In that I judge how much they are fed depending on what we have done for the day, for eg if we have had a full on day and they have had lots of excersise then they might get a little extra or if they have done nothing for the day they may get a little less. This works for us and they are all healthy, shiney coats etc. Oh I forgot to add they have a small amount of super coat mixed with their meat and veg, which is probably no nutritional value at all......!

I want to swap them to full time eagle pack, for the ease of feeding, I can monitor better the amounts each one should have (two are on the heavy side ) so I know I should gradually swap them over but should I do this with the meat/ veg mix or just go super coat and eagle pack and forget the meat and veg in the swap over?

I'd be really interested to hear from others if they have done similar and how you went about it. I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks for reading.

Edited June 11, 2010 by tlc

[tlc]

Any advice on the transition from old to new?? I'm thinking maybe half the usual and half eagle pack? And gradually build up to all eagle pack? Or would half and half be to much to quick? Any thoughts greatly appreciated!!

[JulesP]

I do feed super premium and bones. I feed twice a day. 1 meal is bones, other is super premium. I also feed sardines and the odd can of Natures Gift or some 4 Leggs. Currently using Eagle Pack but do think the dogs do better on Pro Plan.

I would swap the Super Coat for Eagle Pack and gradually increase the kibble and cut down on the meat/veggies. They may not be impressed with kibble after yummy meat/veg!

Are you cooking the meat/veggies in a stew? If you are you could try feeding it raw which will obviously cut down on cooking. I used a juicer for my veggies when I did BARF. You give them the juice and the pulp.

[tlc]

Hi Jules thanks for the advice, I do cook the meat and veggies, it was hit and miss with raw feeding, I tried without much success as two were ok ( ish) with raw but two weren't keen at all so cooked was better as I didn't have to fuss about who had eaten what and cook two lots and feed two lots of raw. My oldest is already on full time dry with bones/ chicken as he went days on end with no food due to not eating the meat and veg, at present we are slowly sorting through a blood in pee problem with him ( not sure if it is food related yet) but he is doing well on the dry only, and at least he will eat it.

I tried my oldest on pro plan but he just wouldn't eat it, but the eagle pack he took to right away so I stuck with it.

I hope they don,t Jack up after eating meat and veg with changing to dry but I think if I also give the necks wings bones etc, they will be happy with that. My OH thinks it will be awful for them to be having dry food as their staple each day. He also thinks the eagle pack will work out more expensive but i have done a few calculations and the way I have worked it out it will be very close in price by the time you take into account the human grade mince which you can,t get for much under $5 these days and if it is cheap it is also very fatty. Another reason to change is the two that are over weight I think will be easier to manage with dry as I can regulate their intake with a bit more certainty that they are getting the right quantities, if that makes sense. Also I am already buying eagle pack for Cooper so in the long run I think the cost will be a lot less. The cost is not really a concern it is more the quality and from what I have read and also spoke to the lady ( lexi ) at the company, eagle pack seems like the best one for us!

The only thing I think about the more premium brands is the amount you actually feed, it just doesn't seem like much, for Cooper who is 18 kilos his amount is about 1 3/4 and for the younger ones who are under 14 kilos it will be less. They might think they are on rations to begin with but at the end of the day if it doesn't suit them I can always change back!!

[JulesP]

Petstock have an Eagle Pack special on at the moment - 20% off. Goes until June 20.

[tlc]

as I read your post I was reading the little bone shaped pet stock catalogue that came in yesterdays mail. Edited June 12, 2010 by tlc

[tlc]

I'm guessing there is no need to add the omega 3 & 6 to the dry food? I added this to their meat and veg mix.

[Danois]

You can make the dry interesting if that is the concern.

I feed dry and most days there is something added in - an egg, some grated cheese or parmesan, natural yoghurt, tuna in springwater, sardines in tomato sauce, tinned chicken, left over of a BARF brick (rest goes in his kong).

Have you considered feeding the Ian B BARF?

[tlc]

I'm thinking this is the plan to occasionally add things they have already been having, fish,eggs etc only before it was all mixed in the one mix, they do love veggies so will also get our left overs mixed in too. Tonight was the first night with more dry and less meat and veg, all good but Tully just turn her nose up, she is not big on dry but I'm hoping she will warm to the idea.

I haven't heard of the Ian b barf. Mine all love bones but raw was an issue as I said earlier on. I don't know why Im stressing over it, I just want the best for them. Our old dog had raw meat and veg his whole life and all left overs with a supermarket dry food and he lived till he was 16.

[JulesP]

I'm guessing there is no need to add the omega 3 & 6 to the dry food? I added this to their meat and veg mix.

I wouldn't at first. The food has omegas in it. If your dog has a special need for it then you could later on or you could change to say the Anchovy kibble.

[tlc]

Yep that's what I thought, I think I will stick to the natural and see how we go, I have a few sample bags of the holistic select in the anchovy to try so once we have totally swapped over to EP I will give them a try on it.

[Danois]

http://www.barfaustralia.com/

This stuff - its in the freezer section at pet stores. I pay around $22 for a pack of 12 which can be quite economical for smaller dogs (impractical for me but useful kong stuffer)

Bear in mind the Anchovy Holistic food is recommended (on EP's website) for less active dogs and for weight management.

Edited June 12, 2010 by Danois

[tlc]

Thanks for that I will check it out.

Lexi from eagle pack had told me the anchovy might be an option for Cooper as it has the least amount of protien, but sound like it would not be any good for him as he is very active when we are out and about and hard to keep weight on.

Thanks for the advice!

[ShesaLikeableBiBear]

tlc, we have gone the opposite way.

Our dogs were always fed Nutro Natural Choice. When the US product was pulled from the market here we tried various brands until Nutro became available again as an Australian made product. There was never any question of our dogs not enjoying their dry food. We switched between Chicken and Rice and Lamb and Rice.

Due to the fact that we were not happy with other dry foods we introduced a home-made diet and now feed 2/3rds home made and 1/3 Nutro with Ziwipeak on occasion. The dogs love the Ziwipeak but its very expensive when feeding six, soon to become eight, dogs

Our home made diet consists of minced chicken frames which we purchase from Lenards at $1.50/kg buy one kg get one free. We do not cook it. To that we add pasta, Woollies brand V8 juice (it saves having to blend the veges), Natural yoghurt, minced garlic and apple cider vinegar.

We used to give them sardines in oil but find that salmon oil capsules are much better for them.

[Odin-Genie]

http://www.barfaustralia.com/

This stuff - its in the freezer section at pet stores. I pay around $22 for a pack of 12 which can be quite economical for smaller dogs (impractical for me but useful kong stuffer)

Bear in mind the Anchovy Holistic food is recommended (on EP's website) for less active dogs and for weight management.

My dogs get the Anchovy holistic in the morning and Ian B's barf patties in the evening. That seems to be working really well.

[tworotts]

Thanks for that I will check it out.

Lexi from eagle pack had told me the anchovy might be an option for Cooper as it has the least amount of protien, but sound like it would not be any good for him as he is very active when we are out and about and hard to keep weight on.

Thanks for the advice!

If you are having trouble keeping substance on an active dog, have you ttried ProPlan Performance ?

If you are unhappy after a good trial ProPlan have a "mpney back" guarantee.

Also ALL ADULT dry and ALL PUPPY dry varieties of ProPlan are MADE IN AUSTRALIA.

[tlc]

Thanks for all the replys, it is interesting to hear what everyone else feeds and here is one of the only places where I know people really do care about thier dogs general health as far as what they consume from day to day. If I told some of my friends how much I spend on dog food they would have an absolute fit! So far the new diet is going well (although the dogs are not so sure ) missing thier bigger quota of meat and veges etc. I decided to go half what they were having and add half EP and half SC so thier food is basically half bickys and half meat & veg. generally they would have mostly meat and veg with a few bickys. So I will gradually ween them off the meat and vet and Supercoat and they will have all EP with occasional extras such as fish, eggs and also bones and chicken necks/wings etc. The thing is after tea of a night they seem like they are still really hungry then they seem to settle. I wonder if it is the fact that they are not physically consuming as much in the way of the amount they were having so they may feel like they haven't had enough but once it sits in thier tummys for a while it fills them up?? Is it like humans when they say eat your meal and if you are still hungry wait 10 mins and that feeling will pass. Not sure how they will go when they are on only dry as the amount for thier weight is around a cup (metric) and 1/4 which is not much, I am thinking they will definatley be giving me the evil eye then. One of my girls is not so keen but the rest are going great so far.

[tlc]

Thanks for that I will check it out.

Lexi from eagle pack had told me the anchovy might be an option for Cooper as it has the least amount of protien, but sound like it would not be any good for him as he is very active when we are out and about and hard to keep weight on.

Thanks for the advice!

If you are having trouble keeping substance on an active dog, have you ttried ProPlan Performance ?

If you are unhappy after a good trial ProPlan have a "mpney back" guarantee.

Also ALL ADULT dry and ALL PUPPY dry varieties of ProPlan are MADE IN AUSTRALIA.

I did try pro plan early on but Cooper just turned up his nose, I persevered for a while but he just didn't like it. Eagle pack has been the first food that he has actually looked for which is a big deal for him. So happy to see him actually run to his food bowl in aniticipation for his food.

[luffy4688]

I do feed super premium and bones. I feed twice a day. 1 meal is bones, other is super premium. I also feed sardines and the odd can of Natures Gift or some 4 Leggs. Currently using Eagle Pack but do think the dogs do better on Pro Plan.

I would swap the Super Coat for Eagle Pack and gradually increase the kibble and cut down on the meat/veggies. They may not be impressed with kibble after yummy meat/veg!

Are you cooking the meat/veggies in a stew? If you are you could try feeding it raw which will obviously cut down on cooking. I used a juicer for my veggies when I did BARF. You give them the juice and the pulp.

I practically do what JulesP does. Just that I use Artemis instead of EaglePack.

[Rysup]

Its so much trial and error. A lot of people I know use ProPlan but I wont touch the stuff!

I use Nutro now, after trying Eagle Pack, Artemis and a few others. But I have a special needs dog and thats why I use Nutro, otherwise would probably have stuck with the Artemis a bit longer.