http://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/

This is where my breed originated ;)

Also thinking about diet the original dogs must have had fish as one of the staple diets ;) We feed Barf ( twice a week fish is on the menu )  and so that diet must have an importance on the breed ?

I think if you look at how we have progressed with complete foods but look at getting back to basics

Discuss :D :D

Lucy
xx

My breed retrieved fish etc and we have noticed recently as a few of us have started giving our dogs food containing salmon oil and you should see their coats etc.  Marley who a DW photographer has has salmon oil put on his food and I've never known a coat to grow as thick or fast as his has done since he was started on it. 

A Spanish rescue was started on a diet with salmon oil when he came to England.  When he left Spain his coat was really bad and patchy you should of seen his coat within three months, it was now a proper black, shining and no patches.

Unfortunately it's quite expensive but when I had Anton on it for a short while he bodied up and everything and at the moment he has a great corded coat.  Will be starting it again once we have run out of the food that they are on at the moment.  Now this ones a fish based one but unfortunately has well and truly gone straight through poor Lastar!

Interesting about the salmon oil as I was in Holland and Barrett yesterday to re stock my fish oil and garlic tablets and thought about getting some but decided against it :)

I have spent some time with the breed I own in Sweden (Hamiltonstovare) near Blidsberg. Found that in the Elk season the hounds are fed some of the elk! off the menu here though. :-)

Pam

Yes tad difficult to harpoon a few seals for your sled dogs in the UK, catch your elk for your elkhound or boar for your Weimaraner etc.

People appear to cope well with changes of diets when the move I am sure dogs can cope too.

Yes I agree but look at the complete diversity in human diet according to region and the effect it has on the health etc. :)

Absolutely. If one of us were to eat an Inuit diet (for example) we wouldn't be very healthy! The diet is designed to suit the lifestyle.

And until I have evidence that dogs catch fish for themselves, I can't believe it's a part of their natural diet. That's not to say it's not good for them, but it's not natural.

My dogs tried fishing in our pond and I'm sure they didn't just want to weigh it and throw it back :D :D  its true I had to put a high caging around the pond :) just sharing a light hearted tale there, I know what you meant JG

Ha would have loved to see that!

Newfies were fed primarily on fish originally because it was a cheap resource for the fishermen to use...having said that Storm has chased a red mullet(I don't think it was very well and struggled to evade capture!) when we were fishing and she was swimming in Colwyn Bay!:D

The Yorkies now....does that mean I have to trap rats for them???!!!

My dog actually caught a fish in our pond - he didn't eat it though just dropped it flapping into my lap as I was sitting quietly in the sun reading a book

He has been known to catch a squirrel or two as well

http://www.wolfcountry.net/information/WolfPrey.html

Bit in here about a person observing a wolf catching and eating fish :)

Interesting thread. I feed my Newfie on raw meat and fish diet with the odd bit of veg thrown in too.

An old friend of mine who lives in Alaska owns 2 lovely Newfies and her dogs catch Salmon when they come up to spawn in her local rivers. They even eat the dead salmon on the banks.
While we think of them jumping in the water to catch fish the above is evidence that her Newfies jump in the shallow water after the salmon that have returned to spawn so by doing so they do catch fish as part of their natural diet.

Her dogs also have thicker coats than ours due to the colder climate. Lovely dogs and huge too

I have Alaskan Malamutes - they insist I should feed them ice cream at least twice a week :)

It was a one off, I suspect, but about 3 weeks ago the fish were breaking the surface very frequently for whatever reason of the river when I was walking the dogs.  I guess it was the movement that caught the boys eye.....but he was in there and sheer fluke but one ended up VERY quickly in his mouth.  However, that was the incentive for him to spend the next 45 minutes experimenting - incuding head right under the water! - and it resulted in two more catches.  God knows what they were - don't do fish - silvery about five inches long is all I can tell you.  He went back in the river the next time we walked there, but as there was no activity soon lost interest and we've not had a repeat performance since.

Should add that this is a dog with an extremely high prey drive.