My point is that you do not need to feel as if the only appropriate approach is raw only, or home cooked only, or manufactured wet/dry only.  It is perfectly acceptable to combine all approaches

This is exactly what i'm doing :)
After seeing lots of brands mentioned  with their pros and cons over a period of months ( most i'd never heard of!! ) I decided to feed orijen (thank you Ktee for bringing this unknown (to me ) brand to my attention :) ) but I feed it with toppings - nature diet which he's going off , scrambled egg, cooked chicken- too scared to do raw yet :) forthglade, sardines. Would like to try the minced meats from berrieswoods? soon maybe as the start of a partly raw diet. To be honest, going wholly raw isn't for me but with the mince and a wing or two who knows?
Colleen

Absolutely agree, Cairnmania! My two are fed on a premium complete, but about once a week they have raw chicken wings instead of one meal, and often have extras - they love vegetables and yoghurt especially. I'd like to feed raw, but I work odd hours and don't always have time to prepare it - or anywhere to store lots of meat! Also we're often away from home (they usually come with me), and it's much easier to sort out their meals when feeding complete.

(But I wouldn't feed Pedigree from choice! :()

Thanks again everyone for the new posts.  I have decided that whilst I do some more research, I will continue with my mix of a small amount of fresh chicken and veg, along with majority of the JWB pouches.  I am confused now, but you have all been really helpful.  I have to say that I didn't expect my post to lead to such a lot of information, but I know that I will make a decision that's best for my dog.  When I decided to have a dog I knew that I wanted to do things right and if it take a little more research then that's fine with me.

Thanks again everyone.  I think I will leave this string where it is now and do some more research, join some groups and go from there. 

Sarah

> It is far safer and more responsible for a vet to recommended a manufactured, balanced food than it is to give carte blanche to their clients to feed whatever the heck they want

That is interesting as Mothers are never encouraged to feed their babies proprietary baby food in preference to home cooked, and the baby doctors will never know how much nutritional know how the parent has.

I wouldn't say a dog is any more fragile than a human being that it won't thrive with a bit of variability.

I must say that I do feed complete (and any human left overs), have fed BARF in the past but have difficulty being able to do it economically as I don't have the storage space for large enough quantities to make it cost effective, and also don't drive.

I could not reliably feed four plus dogs on what I could carry home, hard enough to do the human shopping.

i think its safe to conclude that everyone has a diet that suits them and their dogs, and its not for anyone else to judge. we all have our reasons for the choices we make, and as long as our dogs are happy and healthy then its fine.

Hi i used to use anglian meats and found them really good.

I buy rabbits to cook for my dogs.They love it but it's very hard to get the meat off the bones unless it's very well cooked,also the bones are tiny and i worry about that.When you say only partially cook the meat,would that also apply to chicken?

Rabbits would be best fed raw, complete with the bones.

If I was lucky enough to get Rabbits the dogs would get the front end and I would keep the hind legs and loin for us :D.  mmn that lovely delicate flavour you get in the sauce has my mouth watering at the thought.

I pop into my local butchers and order a couple.He goes that night "to bag some for 'e" ,so they're lovely and fresh.What with all the tiny bones (i dont think the pups could cope with raw) and the baby rabbits left in the burrows at this time of yr,i think i might stop getting them tho.

The tiny bones aren't a problem but a positive benefit fed raw.

My pups could certainly manage to eat raw chicken wings and necks (bones and all) from around five weeks of age, and of course have good gnaw at larger bones..

Thankyou for that.In the last hr i have given the pups some raw chicken wings,wow they wolfed them down.Would it be dangerous to give the back end of a rabbit raw to pups as the leg bones are bigger and not as easily crunched i would imagine as rabbit ribs or chicken wings.Thanks.

I would give it, puppies I have found will work on things they cant immediately crunch up and they may well tire themselves out before getting through the bones, or you can distract them and take the remains away when they have had their fill.

Thankyou.

> Hi
>
> Has anybody had issues feeding their pups James Wellbeloved?  My 16 week old Cocker Spaniel has had it for over 3 weeks now and had been on antibiotics for a cough.  She had a really bad bout of the runs after the antibiotics so the vet gave her probiotic.  It didn't improve and I ended up with yet more antibiotics and we put her on chicken and rice.  Her stools firmed up nicely and she is now back on JWB (re-introduced gradually) and the issues seem to be starting again.  She is constantly straining to go and stools get looser as day goes on.  I am thinking of changing to Burns as I have read good things about it on this forum.  Any views?  Otherwise I am even considering cooking my own food.
>
> I have also noticed a change in her behaviour since going back to JWB.  She is back to being snappy and a bit more naughty.  She wasn't like this on the chicken and rice, but that could be due to being a bit poorly.  She is just a puppy afterall!
>
> Any advice welcomed!

I just noticed that you mentioned in a later post, feeding JWB pouches. I dont personally know about what these are like as I've never fed them to my lot but I know Ive never had problems with the dry JWB.

Of course every dog is different and of course things can be different from breed to breed too, but maybe it was just something in the wet recipe that doesnt agree with your pup?

Our litters are raised on dry JWB (soaked when really young and partially soaked from 5 weeks) mixed with Naturediet puppy. This is about a ratio of 2:1 JWB/Naturediet. Their poops are nice and firm.

Dont you just love talking puppy poop! :-D

I have only just notice this post as I am busy with my puppies!

problems with JWB Huh..

I have fed nutro for yonks no problems I get my food delivered and overlooked the fact that I was getting low on stock I order the nutro but nipped out and bought a bag of JWB to carry me over I fed it for a couple of days dogs enjoyed it ,then I noticed flaky skin on one of the girls coats , she then had blood in her poo and developed a rash on her tum she was also vomiting all occuring extrememly quickly, I made an appointment with the vet who was more concerned with the rash than the bloody poo as soon as I mentioned what food I had been giving her she told me to stop feeding it immediately to all my dogs my girl intestines were becoming irritated by the food and it was also causing the skin rash that she had seen it before with this particular food, I came home threw the food away continued with the Nutro (which I had by then but was finishing of the jWB ..big mistake) with in days she was back to normal with no treatment required.
This is why I always question anyone who is having problems as to what food they are feeding.

I think the OP is referring to the JWB pouches   TBF, I've found my dogs find them highly pallatible but they don't necessarily agree with their systems ;)  However I know of several folks feeding pups successfully on them so clearly as with other foods every dog is different.

FWIW one of my own is currently on the JWB adult Lamb & Rice with alternate meals of ND/raw and never looked better nor carried better coat/condition :)  Whereas none of mine would look at Nutro and I'm not impressed with the ingredients or conditions of friends' dogs on it so, again, different dogs do well or not so well on different diets.  It's a judgement call at the end of the day - best assessed by the dogs' preferences and physical condition IMO.

regards, Teri