Hello
Since my little 5mth spaniel had upset tummy we fed him on the standard chicken and boiled rice... Anyway after a week of this stomach all better and back to normal but... he just won't eat his normal food anymore (ped pub and beta - as per breeder's recs) - he only wants the chicken and rice. Now obviously this wouldn't provide a balanced diet on its own... or is there something i could add to this so it would be stable meal.. He used to love the pedigree but he has one sniff and walks off..

Has anyone any advice on this.
thanks!

Well I would not feed these foods myself.  Obviously your dog has taste and prefers meat and rice to some of the contents in commercial dog food.  I am sure he will like Naturediet which is just meat, rice and veggies you can find it at Pets at Home etc.  If the dog does not eat it just take it away and give NOTHING until the next meal; you will soon find this makes him hungry; no dog starves himself to death.  Offering endless alternatives just teaches your dog to be picky.  These are animals that like to scavenge remember :D

Mmmmmm

Well pups got one thing right, pedigree and beta are rubbish foods (In My  Opinion!!!!!!!!!!!!!)......

Like Tohme says....pick a food, stick to it, and dont give in....healthy dog will NOT starve himself to get better food!

If you want to go more natural, then research the BARF diet, or Raw diets (there is loads of info on this site, so join an search for it) do google searches for both there is loads of info out there.

Or, if that doesnt appeal to you, try Nature Diet.....they do a puppy version....feed it, stick to it, do NOT pander to fussy habits.....or you will be doing so for the rest of the dogs life.....which gets ann oying!

Em

Out of interest, why does everyone slag of Beta food? Is there something wrong with it in particular?

Hi Angelbaby, beta is OK, but the ingredients are mediocre. Basically it's a cheap dog food pretending to be a premium one and so is expenive for what you get. If it suits your dog however, and you are happy with it there is nothing basically wrong with it.

I disagree strongly with feeding BARF and it's variants, especially for fast growing pups, and I don't like tinned foods except as a treat or to tempt a poor appetitie (and then I use tinned cat food, not dog food). But that apart I can't convince myself that there is a vast difference between different foods. I've fed home made (not raw) and various types of complete foods over the years, and I can't honestly say that I've seen much difference in condition. Some dogs do better on one than another, and the output (and smell thereof) is usually less with premium foods. IMO if the dog is doing well and is healthy, the food is fine. I do stick to high quality feeds for pups, youngsters and hard working adult dogs, but I suspect I'm probably doing it mostly to keep me happy. :)

I don't think your dog will get all the nutrients it needs from such a limited diet but I know several dogs who have fared much better on 'proper' food than on commercially produced ones.  You do need to ensure they have all the vitamins and minerals, aswell as correct ratio of fats, protein and carbohydrates if you feed an unprocessed diet.  This means meat, dairy products, carbs - like pasta, potato or rice, fibre - veggies and other supplements.  Its a big committment time-wise but probably worth it. 

My daughter was feeding her 11 yr old x breed complete food and he was overweight, though not greedy, stiff in his joints and losing zest.  She moved back home with us for 4 months.  I feed my dogs 'our' food and hers got the same while he was here.  Result: healthy, lively, shiny-coated dog who lost pounds and gained energy.  She so thrilled she finds time to cook food for him now even though she can't be bothered to cook for herself.

Dogs should not really eat dairy products it is unnatural for them, they have little if any of the enzyme lactase to digest lactose the sugar in milk and some can be allergic to casein the protein in milk.  It is only man that drinks meal and consumes dairy products post weaning :)

Dogs have no nutritional need for carbohydrates either as plugged by commercial makers, again cereal is an unnatural food for them and can cause problems.  Fibre is good for humans but little is needed for dogs, in the wild this would be provided by bone and hair/fur. Fibre is added to dog food in order to make the stools firmer!  Too much can interfere with nutrient absorption

Also cooking food destroys vital enzymes, vitamins and the bioavailability of food for dogs.

Dogs are carnivores and should get the bulk of their diet from meat/bone in order that they have the essential amino acids not present in cereals. 

Dogs, like birds, cats, chimps and humans do best when fed a species appropriate diet :D

Angelbaby take a look at beta's ingredients and then compare them to a premium food such as burns,IMO any pet food that is available in a supermarket is no good,beta is full of unnecarsary fillers and grains,revolting b-products and who really knows what kind of meat???? There is no excuse in feeding an inferior food,there are so many better more natural foods out there to choose from,it truly escapes me how dogs can thrive on some of the crap foods owners dish out to them
Alot of people say "but my dog looks great on this food,or he's surviving,blah,blah,blah" If your dog looks great on a crappo food imagine how brilliant he would look on a premium one,or even better real,home prepared food,surely no-one wants their dogs to just "survive" i want mine to THRIVE :D
I know iff my dogs took ill,it wouldnt be lack of good nutrition(i rarely feed commercial)I wouldnt want that guilt on my shoulders,it is so easy to feed a good food,a little education and an understanding of dog anatomy is all it takes and you will find dogs are not designed to handle large quantities of grains which make up the bulk of commercial foods :(
They are designed to eat raw meaty bones,meat/offal and maybe a few veggies tossed in every now and then.

christine

Ozzie, please dont be so harsh on me! I feed her beta as this is what the breeder weaned her onto and I have never seen it in Tesco's near us, only in the pet shop. The reason I ask is because I was thiking of changing her food as I have recently heard some negative feedback on Beta. I didn't really want you jumping down my throat saying that I dont want the best for my pup!
She is healthy but of course I want the best for her, hence the reason I asked.
There is so much out there so how can i tell the high-priced crap from the high-priced decent food?! Since cheap never seems to be good enough.

Tohme

But dairy products does not consist of just milk it includes cheese and eggs and many dogs can and do eat these.  My book of nutrition for dogs includes these and fibre (veggies) to 5% of the dogs whole daily diet.  And as it works for my dogs I'll stick with it.

Cheese is made from milk and therefore contains both lactose and casein.  Eggs are traditionally grouped into the "dairy" section but as they have nothing to do with milk they are fine to feed; in fact they are the "perfect" food against which all others are benchmarked.

All of us have different opinions on what is best to feed our dogs based on the amount of knowledge and experience we have and what suits our own philosophies.  How one chooses to feed ones dogs and with what is an entirely personal choice.  However hopefully that choice is made taking all available information into consideration and using it to the best effect for each of ones pets.

Many animals of all sorts including us do eat all sorts of things; does not necessarily mean it is wise :D

ps just because something is in black and white does not make it so.  You will also find that a lot of specialist nutrition books such as those by Ian Billingshurst, Lowell Ackermann, Dr Pitcairn, Sue Johnson, Wendy Volhard, Tom Lonsdale, Kmythy Schulze, Juliette Bairacliffe Levy etc have differing points of view.  Reading a wide variety of literature helps one come to one's own decisions on what is best to feed and why.

You could just add a good vitamin supplement like SA37.

Instead of feeding wholesome food you mean?    If only life was that simple :D