Hi newbie to the forum, and in last couple of days had some lovely replies to my questions, thankyou.
I wonder if any of you can air your views about Butchers Tripe in tins for my 12 week old gs.
She is on Ped chum puppy food at present but a friend has told me that when she is 6 months old i should only have her on 1 meal a day and this Butchers is best for a shepherd?
I am not at all sure, she is being fed 3 to 4 times a day and included with her food she has small bite mixer,  
Any advice please, mainly because i think to change her diet now would upset her tummy not to mention her toilet, especially as now it is solid.
thanks

My girl has 2 meals a day consisting of JWB (for junior large breed) mixed with anything like tuna, cheese, fresh mince, etc.
My dog hates butchers tripe but my other friend with a dane gives it him all the time and he does well on it.
(She is 10 months).

Before we got our gs girl we read alot about puppy food and things so we could at least be prepared before we brought her home.
It is very difficult knowing what is best with so much advice from the breeder, the vet, other shepherd owners and the experinced dog owners, We only want what is best for her and its very hard opting for the right road to take so she gets all the vitamins and things to help her bone growth and development.

It is very very daunting all this food lark ;) I guess you may be best to see what your dog likes and if your going to change foods then do it in stages so you should avoid the upset tummies.
My girl to date has been on at least 3 different brands till we found one suitable for her breed and taste!

Hi,

I find the the tinned Butchers tripe and raw fresh tripe good at putting "body" on a youngster especially in a male but thats about all in the tinned stuff.

Briony:-)

When we first brought her home she was 6 weeks old, her front paws are really huge she's like a bear cub.
We put her on the ped chum and for a couple of days she has bad runny pooh, we then fed her boiled rice and chicken, and boiled rice and fish [fed better than me].
The runny pooh stopped and we slowly introduced the chum again, she seems great now she's doubled in sizw and the vet says shes doing brill;
Yeah good girl but she does have awfully bad windy's.

If you hang around there are loads of GSD owners here that will advise you better, i'm unsure about p.chum you see.

Hi,

I have always found that Pedigree gives my dogs wind.  As for Butcher's Tripe, I would feed a good complete diet and add some Butcher's to make it more interesting.  But to be honest, there are as many answers to your question as there are dog owners.  Try to make sure you feed a balanced diet that suits your dogs tummy, breed and nutritional needs and that your dog likes.  Sounds a lot easier than it is in practice.  Try looking at some of the posts about BARF too.  But beware, they may confuse you even more!  I think there is usually more than one way to feed a dog.  As long as it suits the dog and you it must be right.  Good Luck!

GL

Hello gsd sam,

I fed my beloved border collie cross Butchers tripe (tinned) and he was a very healthy dog, to the ripe old age of 16.Lost him last June. I found Butchers very good although I now have a Labrador who I rescued last year and she is actually on Burns complete food. She is prone to put on weight very easily (in fact its an ongoing battle!) I haven't tried her on Butchers but it would be my next choice, without doubt. My lovely collie had a beautiful coat and had no reason to see the vet during his whole life (I had him from 12 weeks old until 16yrs old).

I'm not sure what would be best for your puppy but I know my Labrador was on the Pedigree puppy food at one time and did ok on it. It's all so confusing! I do wish you lots of luck.

Best wishes,
Val :-)

Hi Sam, think Butchers is a food most dogs like and do well on, more concerned about the one meal a day, think if you can manage to fit 2 meals a day into your life style I would keep her on the 2 meals. After I had bloat in one of my GSD's I always fed twice a day, as at the time the vet told me the smaller meal would be less likely to start off an attack of bloat.

Expect others well tell you they always feed once a day and have never had a problem, can only say if you can fit in 2 meals you have nothing to lose.

Hi J.
sorry it was a friend who told me 1 meal a day, i feed her 3 times a day as was told to me by the vet.
I am lucky as the vet is a breeder of gsd's so i will follow his feeding advice and not my friends.
Sorry i should have stated this more clearer in my post
thanks anyhow j

Sam, will you just stop saying sorry, you are contributing toward interesting threads and if I or anyone else questions a point it is because we are aware you are open to suggestions. Following an experienced vets advice is a good idea. :)

i personaly like butchers my other dogs are fed that
but my dane suffers from the runs  with that food and had very bad wind.

Hi

As you can see, opinions vary hugely, mainly decided by what people's dogs like, or what their tummy's can cope with.  Many dogs can't cope with tinned foods - that's why your dog had runny poo.  If you want to feed tinned then Butchers is a good choice as it's full of less revolting chemicals and things than many of the brands.  But it is quite rich, so you'll have to introduce it gradually into your Pup's diet and see how he gets on with it.  Don't get any of these 'puppy' foods, they're a waste of money and tend to make your puppy grow too quickly potentially putting them at risk of joint problems in later life.  Raw food - someone mentioned BARF - is what I feed my lot, it certainly stops with wind problem out!

I'd keep feeding your pup as often as your vet recommends. I think one meal a day for a 6 month old definitely isn't often enough in my opinion.

Good luck

Jen