Can anyone advise on quantities and foodstuffs suitable for 18 month old male Rottie?

We all have different ideas on which is best but at the end of the day its whatever suits your dog,you and your pocket!!
I feed raw meats and would not change.It is slightly more work but the dogs look better than ever before ,its cheaper and the dogs actually enjoy their food
Archer

It all depends on your preference. Would you prefer to pop x amount of dry food in a bowl twice a day and put down fresh water, or would you prefer to spend ages preparing it, keeping an eye on them while they eat anything with bones, cook it if thats what you prefer to do?
I feed Autarky Adult to mine and they love it. They enjoy every mouthfull and they are very happy on it. Not all dogs like a raw diet anyway.
I will be raising a litter on the puppy food later this year ( not advertising waiting list full thanks Admin) and im sure the pups will do very well.
GM

GM
I don't do whats easy I do whats BEST for my dogs and if it takes ages(which by the way it doesn't) I will do it.I'm sorry your dogs aren't worthy of you spending more time on them....
No one told anyone to feed raw....I said whats best is what suits your own dog...and for me its raw!
Archer

Hi Archer

Thanks for reply.  I actually don't have Rotties I'm asking for a friend who is a little concerned that her dog is going hungry.  She was feeding once a day on complete food, adding left over veg. and extra protein (canned meat) but the dog always seems hungry.  She has checked for worms - none present, so wonders if diet is lacking in some way.  I suggested going back to two meals and feel there should be enough protein in the complete food as she is feed ing a good one but without knowing what quantities a adult male Rottie should have I can't advise further.  Any suggestions/guidelines would be appreciated.

My dogs always think their hungry.  I know pelenty of people who have come home to sogs telling them they haven't had theri tea only to find when their other half gets back in that they had theirm dinner not an hour since.  Most dogs will eat anything they are offered.  It is natural for them to be happy to gorge as in the wild they woudl eat as much as they could when they could as no idea where next meal woudl be coming from.

Most pet rotties I see are far too fat, so unless he is skinny how hungry he looks is irelevant.

I could easily eat 3 times what I need, that is why I have had a weight problem all my life.

Like Archer I feed a natural diet, however, I do have Rottweilers.  Not sure what quantities should be fed with regard to a complete meal so your friend would have to read the bag, since I have never feed one. I have a two year old male at present who has 3lb of meat a day, which can range over a week from tripe, meat and tripe, a meat and veg mix, hearts some liver plus bones and a natural holistic mixer and the occasional natural dog cake.  Quantities depend upon 'lifestyle' ! If a dog is stuck in a kennel all day or a coach potatoe then he would need less but if outside and taking good exercise and 'on the go' as some dogs can he would need more. Perhaps your friend should speak to her breeder who should be able to advise her further.

Thanks Rugrott

You have confirmed some of the things I thought and suggested so feel a bit reassured!  I don't feed complete to mine (but they're not Rotties) and suggested Tripe, minced chicken and beef etc but had no idea of quantities of fresh meat a Rottie would need.  I also checked thickness of covering on her dog's ribs  and didn't personally feel the dog was too thin but the wanting to eat anything and everything is a recent new behaviour for the dog and so posed a question/problem for her owner.  It is also hard to offer an alternative diet sometimes as you don't want to offend the owner but after changing from complete food to totally unprocessed on my own and seeing the difference I would NEVER go back to complete food and I was trying not to let my own preference cloud the issue.  I also split daily quantities  between two meals as I think one large one can be more uncomfortable and harder to digest than 2 smaller ones.  The dog is no couch potato but gets well walked, trained and exercised.

I will pass on all suggestions so thanks to all for quick responses.

I too have dogs that are always hungry...esp one who will steal anything he can get his grubby little paws on. I'm afraid its just the way some dogs are.However it might be worth making his food last longer by maybe using a kong? or a treat ball.
Archer

Nice and below the belt once again Archer, well done!!!

I do not feed raw as my husband prefers dry. i do feed the odd raw item (behind my husbands back), such as chicken wings, a bit of steak here and there, liver, heart, raw bones are a must to keep them busy if we are both out at work at the same time and the dogs have to be left. And i suppose i am the crualest person in the world for leaving my dogs alone while i work as well. Unfortuately not all of us are millionares and need to work in order to live comfortable lives and tend to our animals' every need.

Not everyone likes to feed raw, it does take time and many many people live busy lives and do not have the time to trawl suppliers looking for suitable raw foods for their dogs. I am one of those people, and again that must make me a very bad dog owner.
Complete foods are designed to feed a dog every nutritional requirement they need, some people are happy with those foods. I am one of them.

Now, just because i do not feed raw all the time does not mean i do not have time for my dogs! Such an allogation was unkind of you and i am bitterly disappointed with you Archer! Your behaviour discusts me!
GM

GM
If you re read my initial post you will see I gave impartial advise(to feed what ever suits) and then said I feed raw cods it suits me and mine.
Now re read yours and YOU said the reasons for not feeding barf is because it is time consuming and a hassel....not as you now mention for personal reasons.
Not everyone likes to feed raw with the increasing theories of it being the cause of an increase in bloat,cancer and infertility in dogs....and also decreasing life span.
I am also working ...I work a full time night shift,look after my 4 children.. 2 of whom are disabled/have medical conditions and look after my house and husband.....so a millionaire with time on my hands I am not.
I DO NOT try to persuade people to feed raw when they ask which feed is best but give advice and then say what I feed...Raw as you say is not for everyone....but the person shouldnot be put off by giving incorrect
Archer

I have always worked on the theory that if a dog is being over fed it will have loose motions and under fed would result in constipation.  Our first rottie we've had for 2 wks is on a combination of complete and barf, she was on complete at the council kennels so we're slowly weaning her off that onto a full barf diet but it takes time and of course mixing the 2 doesn't allow you to be precise about the quantities so I keep an eye on her motions to make sure I'm not over or under doing it and adjust accordingly, like all babies she don't like raw Liver mum and spits it back at me lol.

Mine dont like raw liver either Schip - I sin by cooking it for them ;)

I always believed that you could change a dog straight on to BARF with no ill effects and it was only changing between commercial foods that you needed to do gradually - it is known for me to be wrong though :D :D :D

Thats what I was told and did with no ill effects...no need to wean onto raw .
Archer

I actually changed mine from Burns to raw, and straight away his poos firmed up and within a week he had put on a nice amount of weight (he was underweight) now I feed mostly raw but sometimes feed a bit of complete or nature diet, both of mine are so fussy it is unreal and its so difficult getting them to eat although the pup has maintained a good weight my older one (who really is still a pup at 10 months) is really thin :(

BB...do you fed trotters? very good for putting on weight...as well as tripe of course
Archer

I havent fed trotters, my butcher doesnt really butcher meat as such but we do have a farm shop locally so I will pop in there and ask thank you.  Would you class this as food or recreation ?  I do feed tripe which they do eat (if they are in the mood) and also goats milk (I know this isnt very pc when it comes to raw feeding ;) ) but the dogs love it and never refuse it so it helps in putting on the weight and one of mine isnt keen on bones so it helps his calcium too.  I have also cut down on Fagan's (the older of the two) off lead excercise as being a setter he loves to run but unfortunately he doesnt eat enough to be able to afford the calories :(

Trottes are a meal...RMB ...may take a while to get the hang of but worth perservering with
Archer

Thanks, at the moment they have ribs, chicken parts, turkey necks and "stock" bones (not too sure what sort of bones these are but they eat them all the same :) ) I will expand into pigs trotters then :)

Any other hints would be greatfully received (although I do have the books, but havent yet managed to join the yahoo group) I always find it easier to hear what people who are feeding it feed rather than reading from a book.

Sorry for hyjacking this thread :)

Try lamb breast or minced lamb,aswell as the tripe and trotters.Pork strips....the fatty ones for grilling also go down a treat
Archer

I buy alot of AMP stuff, so they have the different minced meats plus breast meat/tripe chunks/heart/liver/beef chunks.  I will see what the farm shop has to offer, thanks for your help :)

I normally just swap too but she won't eat if there's no complete in there very odd behaviour chicken wings, rabbit she's fine but just tripe or fish forget it she'd rather starve so we're doing a weaning program, suppose she had to have some odd habit or other couldn't be such a doll and end up wandering the streets just before Xmas.

Schip that's different,she wont eat if there's no kibble mixed in,it's usually the other way round,most dogs wont eat if there is even a trace of kibble mixed in :) Like mine :rolleyes:

I have tried pig trotters with my guys on numerous occasions,they will not eat them. It's also a little off putting seeing a piggies foot sitting on the floor I ask the butcher to saw off the toes,it's a litle more aesthetically pleasing to the squeemish folk of my family,including me ;)

Let us know if she like them.

I don't feed any pork so it's not an option, jewish grandmother became a bit of a habit not to eat pig and these days that includes bacon very rare I eat that too lol.

When I move I'm going to grow my own veg, ok my disability will pay a man to come do the hard work when I can't along with the kennel helper and a carer for my bedridden days but I'm working on the theory if I've got access to fresh organic home grown produce and less stress my health might improve, so I've decided to grow my own dog food too, can't rear chickens too built up for a gobby cockeral so rabbits, quail and guinea pigs will have to do and be free range on a garden of 30 ft x 12 ft, the guy next door is happy to do a cull for me once a mth for the freezer as long as he can have some for his Shepherds and lurchers and he will bring me rabbits from his lamping sessions cool lol.

Mine always eat the toes first!!! But it did take them a few goes before they got the hang of them
Archer

Guinea pigs???? Please dont tell me your'e going to feed your dogs guinea pigs :(

Its only the same as feeding them rabbits or chicken...
Archer

They are a food animal (for humans) in their native country, Rose, so there's no logical reason not to. I wouldn't have thought they're a very practical proposition for dog-feeding because they have such small litters and would work out quite expensive.

Ahhh....but JG...how many times have we seen on animal progs people that have brought 2GP's and ended up with hundreds in a VERY short time.They are sexually mature at a very young age I believe
Archer

They may be sexually mature then, but they're not big enough to eat, and that's not when they're killing them. 2 or 3 babies (which in my experience tend to be male, especially if you want females!) every 9 weeks or so would probably work out quite expensive. But (ideally) free range and organic, so that would be a benefit!
:)

I can just imagine all those little GP's running round Skips land....and lots of dogs stood licking their lips!
Archer

Rose in a word YES lol a guinea pig is a meal for a schip and they eat everything but they might have to be skinned like the quail so the girls don't get upset when the come avisiting, never used to bother them eating the geese off the garden or the chickens when little but now they're adult it's a different ball game lol.

See Rose it's all about recycling, free range and organic, although composting might be an issue and my wormery has gone out the window unless they'll do with just the onion skins and egg shells the rest will be going to the furries to top up their diet.  Admittedly the only reason Guinea pigs got put on the list is their rate of production and the fact that a local pet shop has asked me to supply him with small furries such as pigs n rabbits so any not sold whilst still little will come back for the ermm program if you like, quail got put on coz I've a curfew incubation for the first 2 wks incubation and a 2nd one to hatch and brood in and I just can't stand the idea of not having sommat go in the things now the parrots aren't an option and I can't get a cockeral de crowed if you like lol.  One rabbit will feed 6 schips the way I joint them or 1 rottie but the quail and pigs will be a meal for the schips so 1 each they'll be chuffed but of course madam rottie will need several.

Schip, the thought of raising guinea-pigs to kill them and feed them to dogs is horrifying to me I suppose because they were beloved childhood pets BUT I can clearly see that there's no moral or ethical difference between that and a chicken... I guess it's like getting all hot under the collar when people eat dogs when we don't mind tucking into a pig.  I am curious though whether individuals are allowed to cull animals themselves - do you need a license or something (what with bureaucracy going crazy) and, I suppose, concerned that your neighbour is expert at doing this with minimal distress or suffering caused to the animals involved...  I'm not trying to be critical but am genuinely interested...

No, you don't need a license.
:)

No you don't need a license and as they are for animal consumption and not a commercial operation it's ok to do it yourself, the only reason I'm not doing the killing myself is because my hands wouldn't be able to cope with more than a couple bit of a waste really dogs would be upset if I could only dispatch 2 a week lol.  Also you can buy humane dispatchers for various life stock that don't included electricity so safe, clean and very quick which is what it's all about.

I can understand people feeling odd about the guinea pigs but having grown up on home reared meat and killing even the pigs as a child, helping nan boil the blood n fat for pig pudding, making sausages etc but we were not allowed to eat it as she was jewish but had compromised she said by marrying out to a gentile, mum still gave us the black pudding when dad n nana weren't about but I still don't eat pork or feed it to the dogs weird how things stick.

Thanks for explaining :)

I think its a good idea Schip, sadly I don't have the space for it.  I know lots of people who rear Rats and Mice for their Snakes, I see no problem with that, and in a way I think its better.  At least Schips dogs will have food that has been properly reared and looked after, which is more than we can say for a lot of food we eat ouselves.  Good on ya!
Dawn.