Aso Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 Hello everybody, My name is Cath and would like to ask for your help, pretty please :-) We are picking up our gorgeous Dogue de Bordeaux boy in 3 weeks (he'll be 9 weeks old) and are starting to get a lot more excited & nervous as the Day close in on us. We saw him over the weekend at the breeder and he's nearly doubled from the pics that she sent us less than 2 weeks ago! He's so goofy and is definitely the pick of the litter (a BIT biased, can you tell?)! I was wondering if anyone may have any recommendations, especially Local ones, in relation to a trusted & knowledgeable vet and puppy school? We are also going to be feeding our boy the Raw Meaty Diet as prescribed by Dr Tom Lonsdale, and was wondering if anyone knows of a butcher that is good with raw meaty bones? Thank you so much in advance everyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda K Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 congrats on the impending new arrival, can't wait to see the pictures. What are you going to call him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 unless your breeder has prescribed the raw meaty diet I would avoid it for a dogue. Yes raw meaty bones ARE required and healthy BUT you have a growing giant breed that needs quite specific nutrition. BARF diets (such as Dr Lonsdale suggests) are fine IF you have experience in proper nutrition for your breed. I am surprised his website has little in the way of valuable information on proportinos etc. I would err on the side of caution and go Eagle Pack, Nutro, Nutrience, Royal Canin etc giant breed formulas topped up with raw meaty bones. and just to show I'm not a raw poo pooer I prefer to feed whole (intestines out of course) instead of what the butcher chucks out oh he caught this fish himself by the way from one dogue owner to another, welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aso Posted August 23, 2010 Author Share Posted August 23, 2010 Linda ... we're naming him Tonka ... we're still thinking of his "bad dog" name :-) Nekhbet ... your Dogue is gorgeous! We are getting split views about feeding raw from 9 weeks and we are still leaning on raw (which also include raw "blended" vegies & fruits) but are definitely cautious about the idea. I just can't see how any form of kibble can be better for him. From what I've read & seen, puppies do not overeat when on natural food and as long as we feed the correct variety and monitor his growth with our (yet to be found) vet and breeder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TsarsMum Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 what does the breeder recommend? you may find they ask you to feed a certain diet (thats what my sis inlaw neo had) I would be asking the breeder. i think unless you absoulutly know what you are doing i think you could get it very wrong and in a large breed that could mean all sorts issues. thing is with kibble as its been balanced and is easy for people who are not full bottle on dog dietary needs. I would really be asking what the breeder what they feed there pups. and start with that (so not to upset the pup too much) the breeder is your first port of call on your pups diet IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aso Posted August 23, 2010 Author Share Posted August 23, 2010 what does the breeder recommend? you may find they ask you to feed a certain diet (thats what my sis inlaw neo had) I would be asking the breeder. i think unless you absoulutly know what you are doing i think you could get it very wrong and in a large breed that could mean all sorts issues. thing is with kibble as its been balanced and is easy for people who are not full bottle on dog dietary needs. I would really be asking what the breeder what they feed there pups. and start with that (so not to upset the pup too much) the breeder is your first port of call on your pups diet IMO. Hi dogluva, our breeder use Pro Plan for large / giant puppies. We have spoken to our breeder about changing Tonka's food and even though they wouldn't change what they feed, they are not against it and have offered to monitor Tonka's progress with us and our future vet ... And we love them for it :-) so far we have heard from other owners & breeders who have been feeding their large/giant size dogsraw from puppyhood with huge success ... And also kibble fed puppies with no problems at all ... Ugh! The responsibility Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucylotto Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 Hello everybody,My name is Cath and would like to ask for your help, pretty please :-) We are picking up our gorgeous Dogue de Bordeaux boy in 3 weeks (he'll be 9 weeks old) and are starting to get a lot more excited & nervous as the Day close in on us. We saw him over the weekend at the breeder and he's nearly doubled from the pics that she sent us less than 2 weeks ago! He's so goofy and is definitely the pick of the litter (a BIT biased, can you tell?)! I was wondering if anyone may have any recommendations, especially Local ones, in relation to a trusted & knowledgeable vet and puppy school? We are also going to be feeding our boy the Raw Meaty Diet as prescribed by Dr Tom Lonsdale, and was wondering if anyone knows of a butcher that is good with raw meaty bones? Thank you so much in advance everyone Hi, how exciting! I live inStanwell park and took mine to hanrob. I found the class a bit too big for us at the time so only went a couple of times. I did notice that Heathcote vet have classes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 (edited) From what I've read & seen, puppies do not overeat when on natural food and as long as we feed the correct variety and monitor his growth with our (yet to be found) vet and breeder. oh puppies will eat until they pop! It's up to you to monitor input and make sure theyre not getting too much protein or nutrition and end up with problems. You also need to monitor if theyre getting too chubby and cut back the food otherwise they're putting too much weight on growing joints As for kibble, I have raised my dogs on premium kibble (Dogue was on Eagle Pack, others were raised on Royal Canin) adn I'm glad I did. My dogue took a little longer to grow but he's solid, very fit and active for a dog of his build. He;s even been lure coursing and caught the lure! I dont like pure all kibble diet, only my opinion - a base of dry food and then add raw meaty bones in there. At least you know your dog is getting everything he needs but like I said thats just what I recommend :D My dogue had growth issues from a poor diet (collapsed wrists and very flat feet) and this diet fixed him up nicely. As well as his massive skin infection ;) Now out of growing phase they get Royal Canin as a base food, then whatever I have hunted, bought or left over. see he was one heck of an ugly pup Edited August 23, 2010 by Nekhbet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aso Posted August 24, 2010 Author Share Posted August 24, 2010 ha! Sounds like me ... Given half a chance I'd eat til I pop too! We have made an appointment with Natural Vet at Russell Lea, which is a bit far but it's the only natural vet we can find. Also, can anyone recommend a good puppy school / obedience training place? Tonka's going to be a big boy so we want to start as soon as we can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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