Hi

I have 2 staffy's one of 18 months and one of 14 weeks of which I feed pedigree chum complete and my older dog has taking to eating the puppy food rather than her own i think its because I mix it with a small amount of warm milk/water but have noticed over the past few days that they have not eaten all by the next meal time I am leaving the dish down all day rather then taking it away through out the day, this is because I am not always there throughout the day when its meal time.

I have been told that they may like tripe better a change them but always through that tripe (fresh/Frozen) was smelly but I have been advised that they do washed tripe which does not smell.

Comments please!

NikiH

Washed white tripe has no goodness in it so is not suitable for dogs, it must be green tripe, it you dont want to use tripe why not put them on to Nature Diet that is meat and veg.

Thanks for your comments is this dried or meat and can I get it from local pet shops and how much should my dogs have per day

Niki

Hi Niki, Nature Diet is a moist meat with cooked veg it comes in sealed tubs and some pet shop sell it the big ones do if not go on to there site.

Hi Niki.
I have a Staffy pup aged 6 months
I feed him Nature Diet and he loves it. It comes in a few varieties, one being puppy. I buy it from Pets at Home, it's 58p per carton, My pup Toesy roughly gets 1 1/2 cartons per day.
I have also started giving him tripe but only 2 or 3 times a week, I also buy that from Pets at Home, I get that in frozen mince form, and it is smelly so a couple of hours before he is due a feed I pore some in his bowl and leave it outside (well covered) to defrost then add some dog biscuits, and he wolfs it down.
Where are you from Niki, I'm in the North East.
What are your Staffies names, and what colour (just being noesy)
I have 2 red Staffies, mother & son. (Ruby & Toesy).
Michelle.

Hi Michell

I have 2 Staffs Ruby 18 months pure red and Murphy 14 weeks red/white previously had Jake red and white who died at the age of 2 years 11 months from fibrosis lung disease which is not treateable.

I might try the naturediet feeding them on pedigree chum puppy complete which Ruby has decided she would rather have than her own food, I feed them both together as they eat out of the same bowl but perhaps when they have meat this may be a different matter.

I am from Redditch in Worcestershire

Niki

If you are adding water/milk or anything like tripe to complete it is not safe to leave down for hours especially in warm weather. Are you leaving them together to eat this food as I think, if you are, you are taking a very big risk leaving them to sort out who is eating what, it could prove very nasty for the puppy. At 14 weeks you really should be there for his meal times at the very least.

Thanks for your comments

I only add mile/water to complete food as they seem to like it better than dried, but I am thinking of changing to tripe or naturaldiet, My older dog has always been around another staff infact we had another one who died recently at the age of 3 and never had any problems so far with food infact they both eat out of the same bowl even though I put 2 down and then once they have finished that one hey go to the other but obviously always cautious.

Niki

Its fine adding things to complete but these sorts of foods will allow bacteria to multiply, particularly in hot weather, if left out for long periods dogs seem more able to cope with this than humans but stomach upsets do occur. I still think you are taking a big risk leaving food down if you are not there to supervise my two get along fine but I'm always there to check someone is not stealing someone elses ration, particularly important with a growing pup. You may have had amiable dogs in the past but as this pup grows you may find he will want to stand him corner if his food is constantly being pinched if you are not there a squable could turn into a disaster.

Hi Nikki

Order your Naturediet direct from the company (naturediet.co.uk), its much cheaper.

White, washed tripe has no goodness left & is bleached. The tripe you get in packets doesn't smell bad, it's just tripe, however if you don't let it get warm you won't notice it.

Dogs LURVE tripe:)

Julia & tripe fed hooligans

I give mine washed when I just can't stomach (ha ha) the green. The green is better, and they seem to like it more, but the smell...

The woman who I bought my horse off was telling me that she used to go get the stomachs fresh from the abattoir and hang them in the tree and jetwash them . I think thats what they mean by "washed". *hurl*

Thats what I do, except I wash them over a bin and chuck it down the drain :D

Bit like buying a christmas cake, taking the icing of and throwing it in the bin then eating the dry cake, you're washing the best bit away, dogs cannot break down the cellulose in plants that is why they go for green tripe or sheep, cow, or horse muck.

You mean you like icing and marzipan? (Those are the bits I always leave - they're so sweet they make my teeth ache.)

No! just an illustration if dogs had their way they would not wash their tripe.