Hi!

After my own mistakes and experiences, I've come to wonder why breeders feel the need to add ingredients to the already carefully formulated complete premium dog foods? Why go against scientific knowledge to make our own little recipes? Isn't it risky to mess about with nutrients and "destroying" all the care and effort good dog food brands have put into their formulas?
I'd love your opinions on this guys, as i've always been one to trust reputable dog brands and not wanting to add anything in case that would create any inbalance... But for those who have read my previous threads, you'll know that experience showed me that adding sometimes makes a huge difference in the resulting appearance of a dog (positive difference I mean).

Also, regarding puppies especially : why do breeders recommend to stop feeding a large breed puppy puppy food at the age of 5-6 months old while ALL good manufacturers recommend they're fed puppy food till at least 12 months?

Thanks for your insight! Debate open!

Hi Gaelle

> Why go against scientific knowledge to make our own little recipes?

Many of the 'own little recipes' you refer to have been fed successfully to happy, healthy, long lived dogs for decades before 'completes' were invented :)  In any event 'scientific knowledge' is only as good as the spin doctor designing the packaging IMO.  True knowledge is ever changing, evolving and improving as more evidence is continually presented.  Many who feed home prepared diets or partially so now realise the benefits of ensuring greater variety to include, for eg, FBO, so even us 'home chefs' are striving to keep abreast of improvements required :)

> Isn't it risky to mess about with nutrients and "destroying" all the care and effort good dog food brands have put into their formulas?

only if one believes these formulas are made with the optimum diet in mind for a mainly carnivorous creature.  For example, I see no need whatsoever to feed my dogs on a predominantly cereal diet - they have large strong teeth and powerful jaws made for gnawing, tearing and crunching.  Not a lot of call for weetabix, cornflakes, ricicles etc in this house :)

I have no issues with what anyone feeds their dogs as long as their dogs are healthy, happy and clearly enjoy their food but if specifically asked for advice or, certainly in the case of pups I'd bred, I'd not recommend a 'cereal' diet as a dog's sole menu :)

My mother's side of the family raised Pekes, Whippets, Greyhounds, Lurchers, Boxers and Scottish Terriers for decades - all on home prepared meals.  These dogs regularly lived well into double figures - gotta be something in that LOL

As to the rearing of large breed pups I can't comment not having had a breed in that category but I do personally know folks in a couple of large breeds which have only ever fed raw food and their dogs live long, healthy and very active lives.

regards Teri

We tend to give our pups royal canin baby dog and would add tuna, fish, mince and turkey to their biscuit to encourage appetite.They would also get pupy porridge and scrambled eggs once per week.
In relation to feeding puppies we recommend that they are jept on puppy junior to 15 months..

I don't believe that any processed food contains all the nutrients that the original ingredients contained. I also don't believe that we know EVERYTHING about nutrition either, so don't believe that "complete" foods are actually "complete"!

That's why I will always add fresh foods (left overs, fresh veg, fruit, other bits and pieces) here and there! I use complete dry foods for convenience as the base of our dogs' diet, but I would never want to rely on it 100%... (and I only use high quality dry foods).

Just like processed food for people is not ideal, I don't feel that processed food for dogs (complete or not) is not ideal either.

And re changing from puppy to adult food: dog food companies are not always up to date with research (hence why most senior diets are still lower in protein instead of higher than normal adult feeds!) and after all, they are out to make money, not to provide the perfect diet for dogs! (Sorry for being very cynical here...).

Vera

We didnt swap ours to adult food until over 12 months nearly 18 months to be exact. I only add bits like sardines, fish ect if they have bad tummies or Whistler to make him eat anything.

Hi everyone,
IMO I think that processed commercial foods are a healthy way to ensure you dog gets the right amount of nutrients that it needs- bear with me I know this topic is going off in lots of differant tangents!
I don't think there is anything wrong either with adding a bit of 'extra' to these foods ( as I sometimes do) but if we all look at what we add, it is done for our own opinion that it will benefit the dog- I assume no-one is adding a bit of food colouring here and there!!! ha ha we all have our dogs best interests at heart.
re puppy / adult / senior foods. There are very little differance in these foods, however each one is slightly tailored more towards the needs of that age, as mentioned protein levels, also fat and oil levels will be higher (generally) in seniors. Personally, I feed both a 'puppy' (they are 8 weeks) and also a brand for all life stages, if you want to be cynical ,as i am too!, if a company can get you to feed a dog on puppy and it looks well, you have no need to change your brand for x amount of years.

IMO all the "complete" foods are just a marketing gimick. If they were all so carefully balanced and "complete" surely all the adult varieties (or whatever the "lifestage" happened to be) would have the same protein/fat/vitamin content and they don't.

<<But for those who have read my previous threads, you'll know that experience showed me that adding sometimes makes a huge difference in the resulting appearance of a dog (positive difference I mean).>>

There is no guarantee that had your pup been fed exactly the same way as the one kept by her breeder, she would have the same amount of bone (and I actually prefer the look of your girl!). No 2 pups from the same litter will be identical in the same way children from the same parents don't look the same.

And regarding puppy food/senior food etc, in the wild, whatever age the dogs are, they will basically eat the same diet. IMO its another marketing ploy.

once running out of initial puppy food from the breeder my last boy was reared on raw and adult complete - I never bought puppy food for him and I think he has done very well from it :)

Thanks guys, all very interesting!

Gaelle,

I feed my dogs on a complete food and dont add anything. But on the other hand my breed mentor feeds hers on complete and adds tinned food. Ive never felt the need to add to mine, my dogs do really well on their complete and have never been fussy about eating it.

Ihave one golden that will eat all completes without any meat mixed into it..but i do add meat to it, as i think its nicer for them than just plain biscuit every day..
My other golden wont touch complete without meat or veg added to it, prob my fault, but i would rather give her something she likes than see her go without.

I agree with the opinions on here which question whether the 'scientists' know what a good balanced diet for a dog should be, and that it is predominantly a marketing ploy. Therefore, for a number of reasons I think if you do feed a complete, it can't do any harm to add some good quality extra's in. Aren't dogs entitled to a bit of variety too? especially if it mimics what they would eat naturally.  A huge part of a dog's feeling of well being comes from their enjoyment of their food in my opinion.

Personally i really don't trust a process that destroys all the nutrients in the extrusion process, which then have to be added back afterwards. I also hate the idea of a food that swells up in the stomach.

You guessed it, I'm a raw feeder. If I were to feed biscuit (which may just be a rare treat) I would only ever feed a baked cereal biscuit.

Hi Gaelle,  I breed large breed pups who are prone to hip and elbow problems, so I am very careful about the getting the right protein balance.  I have always been cautious after 6 months on puppy food as high protein can cause excess weight and cause bones to grow to fast, along with too much excercise.  I have followed manufacturers feeding instructions until 14 months before and had terrible elbow problems, since changing my feeding regime I have had good hip, and elbow results.  I do add to meat and sardines occasionally as I found that the dogs get bored of the same thing everyday, wouldn't you?

But we all have to find our own balance according to the breed that we own.  Experience is how we learn.

I feed my puppies on puppy complete untill 12months old, I do add a little meat or fish also. My puppies are not over weight. Fish is excellent for joint problems. How can any dry food be as good as good fresh foods? Is dryed egg as good as fresh. Is frozen food as good as fresh? they add vit. There are some complete food that gives my dogs the runs. We live in a convenient world. On a good side, It may help people feed there dogs better than they might have done.
Don't forget these people are payed to promote there foods. If they didn't they would be out of a job.
If I told you a certain Brown Bread has all the Vits. in, is that all you would eat.

Denese

As far as I am concerned the scientists certainly know more than I do.  I only stick to quality good completes.  They are currently on Genesis in the evening and have wainwrights tinned complete for brekkie.  They do have added bits on a saturday night like sardines and maybe left over veg but thats just because its left over and I dont want to waste it, not because I think the complete isnt good enough.

> They do have added bits on a saturday night like sardines and maybe left over veg but thats just because its left over and I dont want to waste it, not because I think the complete isnt good enough.

You have leftover sardines on a Saturday night? Leftover from the sardine party ;-)

IMO there is no one perfect food. Yes dry/complete foods have vitamins/minerals etc in them. But i don't think anyone here would like to live off packaged processed foods every day, day in day out.
Dogs need and do well on wholesome fresh foods as a part of their diet, just as us humans do.

This thread is 9 years old...

>This thread is 9 years old

Yeah i know, sorry. But old posts still contain interesting info.

I was a member here many years ago, and this was one of the busiest dog forums on the net back then. It has slowed down so much, so to pass the time I'm reading all of the older posts, and sometimes i cant help to post a reply.

You are very welcome to add comments to old threads. Newer members may not have spotted them the first time round and may like to contribute as well.

I've started from the very beginning on the nutrition and behaviour boards around 2001 i believe. The health boards are next 

I can spend hours wiling away time reading about everyones dogs and their problems and solutions, and have gained so much knowledge reading through the old threads, it's also interesting to see how things have changed and evolved over the years.

I am recently retired,  and have way too much time on my hands at the moment! (obviously)