Daily Meals

[nyssel]

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For about just over a week now we have had our two girls and they are such easy dogs. Training and everything is coming along nicely and they are crate-trained and have been socialised well but one thing that I'm not very happy with are their diets.

It is a diet they have had from the breeder - it consists of around 3/4 cup of Purina Supercoat Puppy kibble daily and 2 chicken necks every other day for each, and I cut up about an inch of chilled V.I.P roll and half that for both of them. They're only having one meal a day, which I'm not too sure about as they're both quite young at 9 and 10 months.

I want to increase the amount of raw in their diets and get rid of the VIP loaf completely as even though they have been eating that for all their lives, they are very picky and try to avoid eating it. I found that it made them rather smelly and they had rather soft and smelly poos. Although it is very cheap, I don't really trust the ingredients they put in it and it has a strong odour. I also hope to change the brand of dog kibble as it is not the best and I have been looking at Black Hawk chicken and rice and Advance. Would love some recommendations for good quality kibble brands as it is rather hard without personal opinions and experience of other dog owners.

As for the raw, what are some other good types of raw cuts that are good for Cavvies? Right now we're only feeding chicken necks as our source for raw but as we're hoping to add more raw to their diet, I'm just considering a few other cheaper cuts to add as well as boiled sweet potato, although I am not too sure about that. Planning to give them two smaller meals a day - one in the morning and one in the afternoon. What are people's experiences with feeding mix of raw and kibble? Would it be better just to give dry in the morning then raw later in the day as two separate meals?

Sorry for the amount of questions and detail but we are all dog owners here so I guess the all the diet and poo talk could be withstood! :laugh: I cannot talk to anyone out of the 'dog community' about their toileting habits and fretting about their meals without getting odd and awkward looks haha

[Gretel]

I know some people say to feed raw and dry seperately but I've never had a problem with feeding together. At the moment my lot get a handful of dry (currently grain free cause Lacey does better on grain free) for breakfast and for tea my old girl Ingrid has a handful of dry plus a couple of small necks. The other adults have a wing or chicken carcass or necks. If it's a carcass that is the whole meal. If it's wings or necks they also get a raw egg or some BARF patty or some sardines or chicken hearts or liver added to it.

[nyssel]

Thanks Gretel - I was worried about mixing the raw and kibble as there has been some debate about that. :)

[persephone]

they can have almost anything in teh way of meat ...turkey necks/lamb flaps.chicken frames.our COLES (SA) has cryovac pkts of lamb offcuts - mostly one weightbearing bone ..not often used , and some tails/pelvic bones .About $5 I think? LOVE them, anyhow.

[denali]

I think the not raw and kibble thing stems from dogs who have only been fed one or the other their entire lives and then have a large meal of the opposite one. If that makes any sense

And then their stomach pH isn't quite correct for their new diet which can be uncomfortable.

With yours and the variety they have always had i dont think this would be an issue.

My previous cav didnt do very well on black hawk, never tried advance. he got Royal Canin Cavalier and did very well on it.

Nowadays my guys get raw only, sometimes some ziwipeak in a treat ball.

They eat duck and chicken wings, chicken necks and frames, drumsticks, turkey necks, beef or lamb liver (wont eat chicken livers), kidney, green tripe, mince, kangaroo chunks, they get the occasional 'soup bone' or brisket bone too which usually keeps them going for the day :) I also just buy things on special for them, they got a lamb roast that was marked way down once, i cut it into pieces and it lasted them a month. I cooked one for us humans too. Didnt last quite as long

Just add the organs in slowly if you do. Or with a meal like chicken necks that are quite boney.

ETA: they are fed twice a day unless i give them a big bone for the entire day.

Edited March 29, 2015 by denali

[Gretel]

Oh yes I forgot the tripe. They love that :)

[denali]

Oh yes I forgot the tripe. They love that :)

But i dont

They're lucky i love them!

[Cavstar]

I feed mine Royal Canin cavalier in the morning - 1/3 cup & then at night I feed them raw - chicken wings/frames or turkey wings :)

[nyssel]

Would you have to slowly/gradually add tripe to their diet? :) How much tripe would you normally give them?

Would you just give them one chicken carcass as one meal for the day? It sounds very good - they have very cheap chicken carcasses/frames there and would be good.

I might try Royal Canin as we're going down to Petbarn sometime this week. Cavstar, what time do you feed your dogs their raw? Bella and Dallas currently have their bedtime set at around 8-9pm and they are woken around 7-8am in the morning. What times do everyone normally feed their dogs (if fed twice daily)?

Thanks so much everyone it's been all very helpful! :)

[persephone]

I feed whenever I think of it ! Breakfast can be anytime from 6 to 10 am ..bedtime feed - anywhere from 9 til midnight!

[Gretel]

If mine have a carcass that is the whole meal. Might be best not to give a huge feed of tripe. At a guess I'd say I give mine 3/4 necks to 1/4 tripe. Breakfast is around 7 or 8 and tea about 4.30-5.

[denali]

Mine would as an average be fed at 7am and 6pm. But this isn't exact :)