"i have considered raw but like you how would i fill a leo on just wings etc? my main concern is how do i know what to give in the correct quanity when he is still growing? wouldn't this cause problems for him if he isn't getting the correct levels that he needs.i think alot of it is personnel choice as to what you feed but my lad is on large breed pup to ensure his bones etc have the correct amounts to aid growing at his rate (very fast.) he is bigger than the average leo for his age around 6 kg heavier but at least i know he is getting what his body needs.i would sooner him have to much than not enough.
the main concern i have would be how do i know what to give,how much?
  if some one could give me an idea then maybe i will give it a go............but then again wouldn't it cost as much to feed barf to a large dog as a 15 kg bag of food. his is around £40 which last about 4 weeks give or take. "

Marie, no one answered your question on the thread and since its been locked ill answer it here.

Sorry if this gets locked, its not my intention to carry on the locked thread at all.

Personally i would NOT feed a large breed puppy food, to a large breed puppy, as i believe it encourages them to grow TOO fast and put on TOO much weight far too quickly. The evidence for that would be shown in the fact that your pup is 6kg heavier than he should be.

Too much weight on young bones and joints is damaging, and to be honest, being a little underweight at his age would be far more healthy for him in the long run than being overweight.

You wouldnt feed him on just chicken wings on a raw diet, i dont know where the concept that raw diet = chicken wings only has come from.

If you ARE interested in feeding raw, there are hundreds of threads on this forum, and many others about it.

I feed three dogs, with a total combined weight of nearly 60kg for under £40 a month. This includes a dog that needs far more than her size and weight would indicate, as she 'stresses' weight off easily and in horse terms is known as a 'poor doer'.

I have raised a pup on raw as have many many breeders, and although my pup wasnt a large breed, i cant see that its particularly difficult, you just have to pay a bit more attention to it than chucking kibble in a bowl.

Ask your breeder, find breeders of large breeds who do feed raw, there are lots of them around, ask them how they do it.

Dont take feeding BARF to be a cheaper option, it CAN be, if you can buy in bulk, and dont mind doing a lot more of the preparation work for yourself, but dont choose it because its cheaper, choose it because you want to try it out properly.

My dogs eat chicken, beef, lamb, pork, turkey, a wide variety of vegetables, some fruits, eggs, occasionally rice, yoghurt sometimes, garlic, fish and somtimes table scraps, depending on what ive eaten.

Its actually fairly easy to tell if your dog needs more, just have a feel, monitor his weight and growth, slow and steady is the key to growth.
A dog whose bones grow fast and who carries too much weight, is putting stress on his muscles and joints, and on his heart and lungs when exercising. Dogs, especially large breeds, do not fully mature until two or three, and therefore do NOT have adult musculature until that age either.

HTH

Em

just another tid bit of info,you could also continue feeding kibble in the a.m and raw for dinner if your'e worried about balance.Raw chicken necks are a balanced meal in themselves,my 7kilo shih-tzu usually eats around 4-6 necks in one sitting,i'm not sure what kind of eater your dog is but mine stop eating when they are full so it is easy for me to gauge how much they need :)

christine

thanks for your thread,his size is down to genetics all his siblings are big for age and on different diets.his dad is know as 1 of the big males in the club.we was told by the vet that the large breed pup food was best for him due to his breed etc so thats why we put him on it.i have never owned a giant breed before so i took the vets advice regarding food.
i could ask on the club site for other leo owners who feed barf they could give me an idea.
i have given him bits before he likes eggs but also ate the shell,friut his fav is grapes and would help himself given the chance.the other kind i have given him is prize choice but he seemed to go off this after a few days.
he is around 66 kg at a guess and almost 16 months old so his frame and weight is that of an adult approx.
but like you said not classed as adult yet,i have been told to change him at 2 to adult food.

Eating the shell of an egg is a good thing ;)

I would seriously consider getting on the yahoo group Britbarf, which will give you some info.

Please do not feed your dog grapes, they are highly toxic as are raisins; no one really knows why but dogs die from eating them!

Agreed, have a look here : [link http://www.aspca.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=16645&security=2220&news_iv_ctrl=1101]ASPCA Report[/link] on raisins and grapes

Edit : Sorry, it won't do a link automagically :( you will have to cut n paste

ok no more grapes i didn't know,i dropped one 1 day and he ate it so thats how i know he like grapes. :-)
looks like i have home work to do.
food prep doesn't bother me as i am at home all day,cost doesn't matter either if he needs some thing he gets it.just want to do the right thing for him but i couldn't believe it when he ate the shell. this is when he had worked out what it was to start with which was funny to watch.
the other thing is where do you get the meat in large amounts regular?as you said he would get through alot in 1 day.i will need to get a chest frezzer for his food (any excuse) ;-)
i have tried him on apple but he just nibbles it,also carrots but he's not keen at all chew it up and out it comes.
the one thing i did notice is that when he had scatter food he didn't have his nose to the ground as much on walks.

You will need a chest freezer, I have one specially for the dogs; buy from poultry wholesalers, farm shops, abbattoirs etc etc.

I also have people who give me rabbits and pigeon that have been shot/lurched etc :D

Fresh roadkill, I have a neighbour who is called out to dispose of run over deer, he cuts me up bits.

If your dog will not eat fruit and veg whole do not worry, they cannot utilise the goodness this way anyway; pulp them in a juicer or food processor and mix in to meal.

Get yourself some books which will give you the info you need re sources, amounts etc.

Your best friend is your local butcher IF you have one ;) Mine gives me bags of bones and bits for 50p a go :) I also get marrow bones for the mutts to gnaw on, free :)

Keep your eye on the local supermarket for cheapy offer things and grab them when you can ..fruit, veg and meat :) Mine both love pilchards and sardines and I buy them from Lidl as they are so cheap there

I would strongly suggest buying a special freezer just for the dogs ;) I have wee dogs that dont eat much but our freezer is chocko block,you have to hold you arm over your head when opening the freezer door so you dont get clunked on the head when a big hunk of meat comes flying out,i'm embarrased to say there is no room for our families meat I have a bad habit of buying meat when it's on special even tho we dont need it and definately have NO room for it,i always think i can stuff one more kilo of chicken wings in the freezer,NOT!

Speaking of raisins,i was flicking through "Juliette de Bairacli levy's book-The natural Herbal handbook for the dog and cat" and she suggests as a remedy for "thinness/underweight" in a dog to give 3 Tbs. of raisins daily,pop them down the dogs throat as you would pills every morning ,in another remedy she suggests giving grated raw onion mixed with cabbage! The annoying thing is she never explains how or why these certain remedies work. I know before i found out about grapes being toxic,my daughter used to always share her bowl of grapes with my dogs,i guess it all depends on the individual dogs metabolism?? I need to put weight on one of my dogs but i dont think i'll be stuffing 3 tablespoons of raisins down her throat every day :rolleyes:

christine

Hi Marie, I have a leo whos' main food is JWB (she's 4 months) but she also has grated cheese/carrot, pilchards, sardines (any tinned fish), raw eggs, rice pudding, corned beef, chopped ham. All this is mixed with her biscuits, not at the same time tho :) It's just to give her a variety. Also chicken wings and any raw meat scraps when I'm doing dinner. So although I don't feed raw I do think its nice to give her something other than plain kibble, and now she will wait until I've added something before she eats it!