I have 3 German Sheppards and would like some advice on feeding them.

1 is 12 years, 1 is 15 months and the other is the other is 5 months.

Any advice and tips would be great.

it would depend on your budget as to what i would recommend,csj 'that'll do' is a good food but needs something added to it, i use it for my house dogs and add minced chicken. the dogs that i show and breed from i feed royal canin.

Not sure what you are wanting to know from your question, as you have a GSD of 12 years it would seem you have been able to feed satisfactorily in the past so I do wonder if one of your youngsters has a problem with their digestion. Can you give more details of what you are actually wanting to know as unless there is a problem GSDs will eat the same as any other dog but they are prone to sensitive stomachs.

Hi,

i have a german shepherd she is just over a year old, i have been reading up on feeding my dog and what would be best for her... would it be possible to help me. Im confused as to whether its better to by food and treats that are made here in the UK or overseas, or a branded product?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! :)

Thank you

Natalie

TBH Natalie all dogs are different, you buy the best you can afford and feed it, if the dog does well then no problem but if they don't then try a different food.

I feed my dogs either Arden Grange or if I am short of money Repnor Gold.

Hi Nova,

thank you for responding :)... i am a big believer of fish for maisie and she does seem to love it!! but worried about some of the reports on facebook about chinese products for pets....

Thanks nat x

There are Nat, thousands of words written about dog food and the feeding of dogs but the truth of it in most cases dogs do perfectly well no matter what the are fed. If you like to feed fish, then fine, that is a good, if expensive, source of protein but don't forget they can't live on protein alone.

In years past many a dog lived on table scraps alone and even to day many in Spain seem to manage on a diet that appears to consist mainly of bread so I would not worry too much but always feed a variety then you have a good chance of supplying all the dietary requirements.

I would first think about wether you want to feed a day complete or a raw diet. If complete there are loads to chose from. My personal choices would be fish for dogs arden grange and orijen butc there are many other good ones eg royal canin ,jwb ,csj. It also depends on your budget.
Generally I would avoid the supermarket  own brand ones particuarly Bakers. Really its a case of you budget and what suits you dog.
My current 5 year old gsd is entirley fed on raw meaty bones / fish  with no carbs worth talking about. My previous gsd we tried everything and finally settled for chappie because that suited her and at that time I knew nothing of raw feeding.
I also would go by the" if it aint broke dont fix it" so if you dogs are doing well I wouldnt worry.By the way if your dog likes fish carry on but I would alos either go completly raw or use a complete as you main food and the fish as an add in.

I have used Royal Canin for my 2 GSD's . They researched the length of their gut compared to the size of the dog and the fact that they have a different PH level , so the food is well thought out .

My GSD's range from 4-9 years old. They are mostly fed on complete, usually a combination of Autarky and any variety of F4D.  Luckily they've got iron guts but sometimes the younger one loses a bit of condition when moulting so he gets Fatboy. The only food one of them can't have is tinned Butchers Tripe, it makes him itchy and he starts nibbling his legs and paws.

Hi,

This thread is really interesting to me. Since Nando (a 1year old GSD) was born he has been fed Beta, with NatureDiet. I was always led to believe that it was a good food, as his breeder had weaned the puppies and also fed the adults on exactly the same diet and we know a few friends that feed the same. However, the ingredients list of Beta left a lot to be desired. Beta wasn't exactly cheap but it's not the most expensive food out there, but to be honest price aside I was never 100% happy with it.

Nando's poos were inconsistent but to be honest that seems to be the same with many dogs and we always put it down to other things he had eaten other than his diet.

I had always wanted to feed a raw diet, and my parents would never really come around to the idea. Anyway, with one thing or another we ended up changing him to a diet of raw the day before his first birthday and we have never ever looked back! Originally we planned on feeding him a mix of one raw meal and one beta meal a day, however since the first day we switched to raw food we have a whole tray of nature diet, and a bag of Beta left completely untouched under the stairs.

His poos are consistently the same (except for the time I was changing over and gave him too much bone meal!) I would recommend it to anyone. You don't have to worry about what ingredients are or aren't in there as it's all natural products. It smells a LOT less than commercial food, and in my opinion their poo smells much better, too.

Josh

Josh I would use up the nature diet as I use that if I get stuck and can't feed raw.

Shame to waste it :-)

Yes my 12 year old is fit as a fiddle and we've fed him on Bakers but was told recently its like mcdonalds for dogs.

Want to know what is best for them, so they can get the most from the food, strong bones, good coats and healthy

Thank you all for your help =)

Am i rite in thinking I can just go by some meat from the buthers and give it to them raw?

How about tripe is that any good?

Oh and thanks for all your comments

> Am i rite in thinking I can just go by some meat from the buthers and give it to them raw?

There's a bit more to it than that. Your best bet to start with would be to read some good books. IMO the easiest to understand is by Kymythy Schultze (Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats - The Ultimate Diet). There are others by Ian Billinghurst or Tom Lonsdale.

Or you could start off by feeding a ready-made complete, such as Natural Instinct, Basil's, Honey's or Wolftucker.

Change the food you give to the younger two but if you have a 12 year old who has all ways been fed on a certain food I leave well alone even if most of us would not choose to feed Bakers if he is doing well on it then leave it be.

On the whole I'd agree with your comment Nova, but I changed a 12 year old dog onto a raw diet and he lived another 5+ years, so it can be done without problems, although it wasn't a switch from Bakers.

The otjher book I like ois the dogs dinner by ann riid yard also nice and clear and concise and she happend to have gsd's

but I changed a 12 year old dog onto a raw diet and he lived another 5+ years

But who knows if the diet helped this or not perhaps without the change he may have managed 6+  :-)

Seriously I think a good deal of fervent words are written about what food is best for dogs and I think most of it has something to do the  personality of the owner, would advocate feeding what you can afford and what is convenient for you and except in the case of dogs with problems most dogs will manage with what they get. Complete food is easy because you don't have to think about it or have any knowledge of what the dogs nutritional requirements are, but again a home made diet will be fine providing it is varied enough or you have the required knowledge to work out what you are giving.

> But who knows if the diet helped this or not

Yes, but it certainly did him no harm! I was trying to point out that age shouldn't put someone off changing their dog's diet if they want to.....

having changed a 10 year old over a raw diet I can say hand on heart it has made a huge change - no more scurfy skin, hot spots or itching, he acts like a pup and is still happily jumping full height at agility with absolutely no problems and I didnt feed a cheap complete either he was on orijen or taste of the wild.