I brought up my first GSD on Eukunuba, plus tit bits, meat and veges when available (sorry if I have spelt that wrong). I did so because I believed it would provide him with  balanced nutrition.
He was a picture of health for over 11 years looking half of his actual age until he developed a spleenal tumour. I lost him in October.
A work colleage dammed my choice of diet and virtually said that it was probably because of the diet I fed him that he developed the cancer. This was very upsetting as I always did my very best for him and adored him. The vet strongly disagreed with this.
Since then a neighbour had got a GSD pup and her and her pals hate dried foods and are using a type of natural diet, I belive suggested by Chris Day where you feed  yoghert culture and cerial biscuits and vitamins in the morning and meat and biscuits at night and starvation on the 5th day.

I wondered if anybody has experience of this diet as I would like to have all of the information before I get another pup and decide the best way to go. I don't actually know any really healthy dogs on this natural diet and wonder if the genes overule the diet chosen??

Any info would be appreciated.
Many thanks,

Julie

juli

A natural diet is always best for dogs as well as humans.I am a bit confused on why they are useing "cereal biscuits" as cereal is not at all a natural food for a canine I have not heard of the Chris Day diet???

I wouldnt go so far as saying that the euk. caused the cancer but it wouldnt have prolonged his life either :(
Just as a side note, euk, science diet etc. were/are preserved with ethoxiquin which is a known cancer causing preservative.Vets would disagree as they sell the stuff
Some dogs live long healthy lives on a food such as pedigree,i would say good genes would play a big part in their longevity ;)

If you are interested in a natural diet then you should start reading up on it,there are loads of great websites,a few books i can reccomend are "Natural nutrition for dogs and cats" by Kymythy Shultze "Natural health for dogs and cats" by Richard Pitcairn  "Holistic guide for a healthy dog" by Wendy Vollard.

Even if you choose to stick with a high quality kibble,any bit of fresh food you add to the diet will help,such as,raw meaty bones,fresh meat,fish,fruit,vegies.As much of these as you can get in.

Good luck with your new pup and good on you for researching and wanting to feed him the best :D

Hi Julie :)  Sorry to hear about your GSD - Dont be so hard on yourself, as with humans, dogs can be predisposed to this sort of illness and no matter how you manage it the end result will inevitably be the same :(  Good on you though for considering a more natural option for your soon to be new pup ;)  This diet you previously mention (I wont mention this man's name as it may catch on ) sounds totally innappropriate...Yoghurt and cereal then a fast day every 5th day!!!!!  If vitamins are part of the diet then it is clearly lacking all over the place - not surprisingly!  A good natural diet is based on a prey animal - that is raw meaty bones, muscle meat, offal and a small amount of broken down plant matter.  I also include raw eggs and fish.  You will find that how that diet is presented and its volumes will vary greatly and add to all the confusion :D  But I recommend you read the books suggested by Rose, personally I am becoming more obsessed these day's with natural diet as a healer for dog's and human's and really should put the same sort of effort into my own diet as I do my dog's :D
Sarah :)

As Rozzer says tha use of cereals is not needed in a natural diet.I would also question any diet tha required a starvation day!!
I feed a raw diet...it consists of meat and bone (all uncooked) with veges,eggs,fruit etc.The idea is to try and replicate(as near as poss) a diet that would be eaten in the wild.Its not about a balanced diet each day but about acheiving a balance over a matter fo time....I try to feed a balance over 2-3 weeks.
This diet has its supporters(becoming more and more popular) and its anti 'league.All we can do is what we consider best.My dogs have never looked better and have never enjoyed their food as much as they do now.....so I'm happy.
Archer

actually many of the natural feeding people fast their dogs once a week or so.  I'm on many lists and this is a common theory that since wild 'dogs' would gorge themselves and not eat for days that those feeding naturally (particularly the whole prey theorists) should have a day of fasting for their dogs.

I'm not saying I buy into this - I don't, but just to say that it's a common theory in the raw feeding circles.

Wendy

As I said not one I agree with.A dog in the wild would gorge on food when its available in order to compensate for times when it wouldn't eat ,not eat restricted quantities like we feed our pets and hence the theory IMO is a waste of time
Archer

I've heard that too, Wendy, and I'm very curious about it. Nobody I've asked has yet managed to come up with a reason why it's beneficial for the dog though. It only happens 'in the wild' if the dog's hunting has been unsuccessful that day - I can't believe they do it out of choice. If they do indeed actively choose to fast themselves, how often do they do it - or is the 'once a week' an arbitrary figure plucked out of the air at random?

Probably the same reason that many health food people believe that we humans should fast ourselves on a semi-regular basis - to detoxify and cleanse the system??  I've not heard any reasons that convince me it's worth while.  I do know that some who do it give their dogs a big huge knuckle bone to keep them busy during that day (so I suppose it can't be considered a complete fast).

I don't know really for sure - as I said I don't buy into it - and heck if it's 1 minute past 7 boy do we hear about it.  I don't think I could get away with a full day fast if they won't let me forget ONE meal LOL.

Wendy

If I fasted my dogs once a week, then I would need to give them a larger meal for the other six days. I don't really see the point :) The eyes would get to me eventually :D Likewise with humans, the general reason for having a de-tox day is usually because we eat too much/the wrong foods :) Surely the reason that wild dogs gorge is simply that they don't know when the next meal is coming, so they have to eat as much as they can, while they can ? :)

Daisy

I fast my dogs once a week and have done for some years. I do think it detoxifies the system and I dont feed them any extra either before  or after the fast day. 

I'm told (by a dietician) that a detox fast for humans takes three days of no food (but plenty of water) to have any effect, so whether one day is of any benefit I wouldn't like to say. However, if it suits you and your dogs, then there's no problem.
:)

Hi
Are you referring to Chris Day, the homeopathic vet from Hampshire?  I thought he specialised in horses, but I may be wrong.  He certainly has a strong following in his area.

I would be very,very leary of the latest "fad" diet for dogs some of these can be very dangerous,people think if such and such recommends it then it must be good for my dogs,as someone else mentioned a natural diet for a canine is the model of the prey animal(which you can read about in kymythies book).
I dont want to mention the creator of this diet either,it would be a tragedy if this thing actually takes off!

As for the fasting,2 of my dogs do it by themselves,every week or two they wont eat a scrap for a whole day,then back to normal the next day.

Chris Day http://www.bahvs.com/asociate.html
I have a couple of books by him & nowhere does he say fast every 5dys, he suggests it once a week, as do a lot of h/pathic vets but only if the dog is being fed a raw diet. :)

A piece from an article by Nick Thompson, the whole of it can be read here http://www.dogweb.co.uk/talk/cms_view_article.php?aid=6
*Commercial Diets

In the 1950s, food producers in the United States came up with a novel idea to sell the large amounts of leftover, poor-quality meat, gristle, viscera and cereal by-products that they could not hide in sausages: they put it in tins and called it 'dog food'. For the first time in history, people could buy food specially made for their dogs. The idea caught on, and soon people forgot that they used to simply feed their dogs raw meat and bones and vegetable scraps - a broad variety of foods which, being minimally processed retained their nutritional......*
Hardly what I`d call a fad diet when commercials only been around for the last 50 or so yrs ;) These are vets recommending raw food diets & writing books about it, not lay people :)

Christine, Spain

Christine dont get me wrong,i feed a predomonately raw diet, aswell as a little home cooked plus a handful of eaglepack holistic kibble. I wouldnt feed 99% of the commercial foods that are available to the unsuspecting public :rolleyes:
This guy just comes accross as an extremist,the thing that put me off the most is the cereal biscuits,as we all know dogs are not designed to eat cereal!! I am also in agreement that commercial food is the new "fad",dog owners have been feeding raw and homecooked to their dogs for eons :D

Oh right, sorry Rose :) Yesterday my lot had nearly all cooked food, had so much leftovers left & wanted my fridge sorted so they had the lot, tell you they were licking their bowls for ages & I had a job getting running round picking them up :D

Christine, Spain.

I don't have a problem with cereals. I have been feeding raw for almost 5 years and my dogs have a holistic mixer most days with their meat/veg. They are in fantastic condition.

Daisy

Ahhh Nick Thompson!  I know two dog owners that get nutritional advice from him and they feed predominantly veggies, he recommends two handfulls of liquidized veg to one handful RMB's...However, if your having problems feeding this way he can supply a good plant supplement!  He also has a bit of a thing going on with AMP and often promotes them, he is also on their site.  I feed hardly any veggies myself with no ill effects.  I have read Billinghurst, Schultz and references to Thompson on the net and they all DIFFER in their approach and opinion.  Depending on who you refer to heart is either a muscle or offal   Personally I treat it as muscle, as that is what it is and no food passes through it!  I guess my point is that, I take nothing as set in stone with raw feeding, I have developed a diet for my dog based on a prey animal, she looks fab, enjoys her meals and I enjoy preparing them.  I believe there are more and more people (yes that includes vet's!) that are jumping on the bandwagon, publishing their idea's and thoery's in a bid to make themselves famous and rich ;)  If people want to feed cereal, pasta, chappie, whatever then that is up to them (esp. if the dog is thriving) I'm happy with what I feed and I personally don't agree with fasting every 5th day, once a week or whenever, regardless of what some holistic vet thinks - but thats just me :)

Hi Rozzer, I`ve got a few books by different authors on raw diets & none of them suggest fasting every 5dys. Just want to nip that rumour in the bud ;) :)

Christine, Spain.

Years ago I used to feed tripe and a mixer to my dogs and one of them would always not eat at least once a week.  I could not say to myself no need to feed Jade today as I never knew which day she would not eat.  I put her food down as usual and she would just walk away and not eat anything all day. She was never ill the day before or on the day it was just her - I don't eat today mum!

Sue

Yes Sue, I`ve heard a lot & seen a few dogs who just do it instinctively themselves :)

Christine, Spain.