Hi

Just took our new puppy home today. On puppies diet sheet we have goats milk mixed with weetabix for supper - I take it semi skimmed goats milk is ok, or is whole goats milk preferable? I got sent down the shop to get some and was faced with a choice for either, now my wife is saying "ohh, but maybe you shoudlve got whole milk?? What if he has belly ache?"  Aghhh!!!!

TIA!

I use goats milk, but just give it as a drink rather than on anything
the stuff i use is not from the supermarket (i use landywoods) and as far as I know they don't pasteurise the milk so would be full fat. certainly looks full fat in the bag as it is really creamy.
if you are at all confused the best person to ask would be the breeder where you got the pup. They will know what the pups routine has been and which milk etc to use.
good luck

If you're going to give milk at all, give full fat. Even whole goats' milk isn't as rich as bitch's milk - although as your puppy's weaned and has left mum, milk isn't really necessary at all.

Thanks for the replies all.  We didnt ring up the breeder as we felt it was such a silly question (we worry far too much) and didnt want to bother her, but we did anyway and she was a great help, the semi skimmed was fine.

Agree with Jeangenie, milk isn't necessary at this stage.

IMO it isn't appropriate either - it's only humans that have this weird habit of drinking the milk of another species even when weaned! :-)  You can all jump on me for that.

Agree it's the weetabix syndrome. Given that a lot of dogs have wheat allergies
It's surprising the number of breeders recommend weetabix, high in salts and sugars mixed with milk IMHO IS encouraging dog from an early age to eat foods high in salts and sugars I would keep it simple Once weaned use a complete puppy food with a high meat content .Stick to a firm routine when feeding place food down for 10-15 minIf not eaten remove and then repeat at next meal time ,-jo  

Always give pasturised, and never, ever, be afraid to call your breeder up to ask a question, that is what we are here for. :-D  Infact it makes my day that my pups owners will call me to ask 'silly' question (there is no such thing as a silly question by the way, not where a pup is concerned)because it shows they care and want to get things right.

I agree with the weetabix comment, never used it, never will, the goats milk would be better served making some scrambled egg or as a nice drink with an egg yolk. :-)

Hi Daz,

Was only thinking of you the other day and thinking must nearly be Gordon Setter puppy time for you!

Hope Hamish is settling in well (as you know I too have a Hamish!) and I look forward to reading his blog!

Would love piccies when you have any!

All the best,

Rachel and all the Setter Gang

Hi Rachel

Hamish is settling in well - I will try and post some more pics on his blog today if I can, I must have taken about 200 so far on the digi camera!!  He is adorable (as all puppies are) although very trying at night!  It is just soooo tempting to go to him and make a fuss when he is crying!

Hope all your Gordons are doing ok!  I really hope Hamish wants us to show him next year, we will no doubt bump into you on the "show scene"!

Daz

I have had a good giggle at your Blog :D

You are new parents Trying to do everything to make sure he is ok

Goats milk semi of full fat will be fine ;)

Lucy
xx

Blogs great, Hamish is a gorgeous! Lot's of fun to come.....

In response to giving Weetabix, I totally agree that its not good for dogs who may be suseptable to wheat allergys. I was just wondering if this new cereal called Oatabix, which is the same but made from oats, might be a better thing to give to puppies. I know there are still a lot of people with puppies who like them to have a milky cereal meal, even though I agree with whats been said on here, its not necessary.
what does anyone else think?
anne

I am giving my puppies Oatabix and they love it. I used to give ready brek but now I don't have to bother with the cooking bit. In the old days, we used to make up huge pots of oatmeal and barley for the dogs, boiled for about 4 hours with some linseed added for shiny coats. As to the milk debate. You know that special smell that puppies breath has, that is because they produce a substance called rennin in their stomachs with makes it possible for them to digest dairy fats. If they didn't produce this, even their mothers milk would give them diarrhoea. It is the same substance that is added to milk to turn it into cheese and in the old days, when farmers wives made their own cheese, it was taken from the stomachs of calves. When your puppy's breath loses that special smell, that is the time to stop giving milk.

I've never given weaned pups any sort of human breakfast cereal. I stress weaned, here because I've never bred a litter and all my pups have been around 8 weeks old when they came home with me. Instead, I've given them scrambled eggs with a little milk beaten in, either at breakfast or lunchtime.

I've never used any sort of human food for weaning or growing out puppies. They are weaned onto a quality puppy food whizzed into a porridge with bitches' milk replacement. As they get older the milk and whizzing get less and by the time they leave at 12 weeks they are on dry puppy food split into 3 meals a day.

I cannot see any point in giving weaned puppies any form of human breakfast cereal?

Nothing in life bar humans consumes milk post weaning, puppies do not need milk they get the nutrients found in milk elsewhere, apart from the fact that dogs are not designed to metabolise any sort of milk except that which comes from bitches!

Puppies have teeth, so why give them pap?

Give them proper food designed for dogs!

No puppy needs milk post 7 weeks old!

What worries ME about feeding weaned pups cereal based mush though is this....

If the pup NEEDS four meals a day and i doubt anyone would dispute this, where is the benefit in giving a pup one or two of those meals when they consist of nothing beneficial to the dog at all?

If they need mushy food (and as Tohme so rightly says, they have teeth, beyond the weaning stage they dont NEED mush), simply mush real food with water.

My last two dogs, since they are the only two i have had from pups, never had any need of cereal or liquid food at all, if a 6 week old pup can chew up the meat and the tip off a chicken wing (albeit in several hours lol), he isnt incapable of chewing! Even if he was, i still feel that a minced chicken wing would  be more suitable than a cereal made slushy with milk - i note that wild canids and even domestic ones, dont nip to teh shops for some oatibix and milk.... they chew up their food and regurgitate it.....is this not the same as mincing it and adding a dash of wter?

Em

Oats are extremely good for dogs, as they are for humans. I feed my puppies oatabix mixed with scrambled egg and skimmed milk, though not enough milk to make it sloppy, more a crumbly mixture. I feed it simply because they like it. I use skimmed milk because it has the calcium and vitamins but not the dairy fats. I feed all my dogs a varied diet with homemade veg soup, (see GREEN thread), apples, bones, tripe, chicken, grated cheese, complete feed, eggs. I've always exposed my puppies to a wide variety of different foodstuffs from an early age and in a breed notorious for dodgy digestions, I've never had any tummy problems.

Nothing beneficial to the dog at all?
Weetabix, Oatabix Protein, carbohydrates, a bit of fat, vitamins.  Don't see why someone shouldn't include a little of this in a diet particularly if they are concerned about too much protein for their breed. 

Thanks very much Isabel. You're quite right. Oatabix is a very digestible form of carbohydrate, and low in protein, just what I need when I'm also feeding scrambled eggs. They are 97% wholegrain oats, with malted barley extract and a quarter of a gram of sugar per biscuit and 0.03 and a half grams of salt, which is infintessimal, and anyway, all living things need SOME salt. Maybe it isn't NECESSARY for puppies to have a milky feed. It isn't NECESSARY for me to have chocolate, or chardonnay, but it sure as hell makes life more enjoyable.