bella boo the giant?

[Maggie111]

i think it's easy to try and believe it's not cruel because it Is so convenient. Who can possibly know? Only the dog. And lots of dogs try and get at any food that's going - maybe because they are so bored and crave something actually tasty!

If the oil is that tasty then it still makes the food delicious. I imagine it's like toast, boring without the butter When we got Boo it was my intention to give him everything in the world he would want to eat, but all he had was kibble. I was told not to worry, that some pets are like some people and they don't want variety. And he eats it because it is appealing to him. When I gave him one meal of £5 worth of fish he sauntered past it - he didn't even believe it was food.

And I know 2 labs who are fed dry food and you couldn't wish for better behaved dogs who have never ever snatched food. (Well, there was one occasion in 5 years involving some quality street ). They never "counter surf", never beg at the table and when the kids drop food it is left on the floor (They have like the opposite of the 3 second rule).

Considering I know that some dogs eat stones, and others think dog poo is delicious I'm not too worried about how awful biscuits must be to their tastebuds!

[DiSet]

I'm also a cruel person, my dog may disagree though as he laps his dried food up with gusto, and no I don't add REAL food. In an ideal world I would feel raw but I already have two special diets to cope with (nut allergy and dairy intolerance with my sons) so I don't fancy having to cope with extra freezer space, the worry of getting the right balance in raw food diet, and making sure my kitchen floor is clean after every feed. If my children were grown I probably would give it a go.

So I guess I'll have to carry on being cruel a bit longer to my dog who is a very fit healthy happy boy!

[lynnd]

I have to agree, dogs won,t starve. Our two are totally different, Dolly will eat anything, anytime , but Alf is picky some days he will eat, some days he won,t or he may just pick at his food. Infact the most enthusiasm he has shown is for CSJ champ. He isn,t underweight and is full of life, so we just leave him to it now.

He would prefer to be hand fed chicken, liver, fish or any other fine food, preferably whilst sitting on the couch

it,s a dog`s life being a Doodle, sooo misunderstood

[Bid]

I certainly know that with cats - most of them prefer dry food - whatever they put in it is extra tasty as opposed to the wet.

My cat actually prefers the wet food, although I give him both. However cats get most of their water from their food, as they are not driven by thirst and so are a different kettle of fish.

I do tend to agree with Liz - not about it being cruel to feed dry food, but that it doesn't seem fair to give a food to dogs who don't like it, when there is an equally convenient alternative available, because our dogs don't have a choice - they have to eat what we give them. I wouldn't starve if I was fed a food that I didn't like day after day, but I wouldn't be happy either.

I agree that variety is good too - there are more and more dogs with allergies these days, and one of the contributary factors is thought to be the lack of variety in their diet.

[kirst4]

once i discover a dry food bella will eat i do intend to add variety by giving fish/chicken/liver ect with the odd meal just not every meal and also left over veg when we have it

im sure we will find a way that suits us both eventually

[Maggie111]

However cats get most of their water from their food, as they are not driven by thirst and so are a different kettle of fish.

Sorry, I'm not saying that dogs and cats should eat dry food - I'm just arguing that it's probably not true that dry food is bland.

[Liz!]

[quote="Maggie111"(Well, there was one occasion in 5 years involving some quality street ). [/quote] Lol!

I have to admit, our cat will not eat wet food. So we give her all sorts of small different treats to give her variety, and change the flavour of her food so she gets two different types a day.

[Maggie111]

(Well, there was one occasion in 5 years involving some quality street ).

Lol!

I have to admit, our cat will not eat wet food. So we give her all sorts of small different treats to give her variety, and change the flavour of her food so she gets two different types a day.

I was so excited the first time Boo ate a bit of cheese! I phoned my husband up at work to tell him!! Up until then he could only lick tasty food

[Rowan11]

hi - luna is fed dry food too. i did try a bit of raw with her twice but it didnt agree with her. are you soaking the food before feeding it ? i soak luna's food in par boiled water which softens it up a lot. ive recently just changed her food to Earthborn Natural Primitive - well, ive just started mixing it in and she seems to really like it. good luck finding a food that bella enjoys.

[JudeinPlymouth]

I didn't reply yesterday as we're away camping - thank goodness the boys will happily eat dry food!

Liz! I've always enjoyed your posts, and love this forum. On the whole, if something pops up that we don't feel is right in our opinion I've always found contributors gently cajole, offer advice and try to persuade a change of view. At first the mediator in me didn't refer to your post specifically, I just talked in general terms. But you've made specific reference to my post so I feel able to do the same.... I feel totally offended that you can suggest I am being cruel by feeding my dogs dry food. You've said yourself that 'who could know' if it's cruel, only the dog knows.

I am fortunate that on the whole, the food choices for my boys isn't driven by budget. But not everyone can afford Orijen and plus toppers.

I refuse to accept that I am being cruel to my dogs and am somewhat offended by the suggestion!

[ArchieBoy]

I cannot see how it is classed as "cruel" for feeding your dog a good quality dried food.

My Harvey was fed Burns Fish and Brown Rice for 11 years and he thrived on it. He had severe allergies and for the first year, before we discovered Burns, he was on a complete home cooked diet. Then when we discovered Burns, he was fed that and he loved it. We added cooked and fresh veg to it, but because of his allergies, it was literally the only thing we could feed him.

We always said that when we got another puppy, we would feed him Burns too - which we are doing with Archie. The breeder had him on Iams Puppy but he was passing terrible wind and his poohs were huge and he was going five, maybe six times a day and it literally was rubbish he was passing.

Since we weaned him over to the Burns Mini Bites, he is no longer passing wind and is down to two, maybe three small poohs a day. He is putting on the right amount of weight, is not at all overweight and our vet is thrilled with him.

I soak it in a little warm water and Archie absolutely loves it. He does the whole body wag while it is being prepared and his tail wags the whole time he is eating. He does have tiny amounts of carrot too, but apart from that, the Burns is all he has. He doesn't counter surf, greed from the table or scavenge for food on his walks - in fact, the only thing he does chase and look for on his walk is leaves, especially if they blow in front of his face

So, my opinion for what it's worth is if your puppy/dog is happy and healthy on the food it has and you and your vet are happy then continue feeding what you are. It isn't cruel to be fed the same food for years - my Harvey was testament to that

Kirsty and Archie

[thepooles]

Liz! I've always enjoyed your posts, and love this forum. On the whole, if something pops up that we don't feel is right in our opinion I've always found contributors gently cajole, offer advice and try to persuade a change of view. At first the mediator in me didn't refer to your post specifically, I just talked in general terms. But you've made specific reference to my post so I feel able to do the same.... I feel totally offended that you can suggest I am being cruel by feeding my dogs dry food. You've said yourself that 'who could know' if it's cruel, only the dog knows.

I am fortunate that on the whole, the food choices for my boys isn't driven by budget. But not everyone can afford Orijen and plus toppers.

I refuse to accept that I am being cruel to my dogs and am somewhat offended by the suggestion!

me too

always good on forums to be mindful that not everyone has access to huge budgets for food

anthropomorphism can be dangerous if it leads to talk of cruelty

[Liz!]

Well, I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this - it is rather an emotive subject... but I can't take back what i said because i really do believe that dry food all the time has to be boring. I am somewhat of a boring eater myself, I eat the same every breakfast and every lunchtime, so am quite willing to admit that some dogs will probably be more than happy on a dry diet forever. But I do occasionally suddenly crave something different, and I have the luxury of being able to have something different - if I was dog, I'd just have to have what was given, certainly couldn't express that I'd like a change.

My view is that dogs are hedonistic creatures - they like lying in the sun, smelling the wind, other dogs' messages (and you!) and eating. It seems fair, to me, to make that experience as wonderful as possible. after all, there's nothing but cookery programmes on TV, we think about food a good deal of the time, and probably, so do dogs. After all, sex has been taken off the menu for most of them!

But I'm sorry if i upset you. i didn't mean to do that - I just feel so much for dogs on this matter. Maybe because my own diet is restricted by being on a diet and being allergic? I know what it is to crave.

I certainly don't think Orijen has to be the answer. Lots of dogs don't like it or take to it. I didn't mean to imply that, just that we use more than one flavour.

[kirst4]

well bella is so far doing ok on the food front

she has turned her nose up to orijen its now down to oscars and fish4dogs, though im happy to combine the 2 if she likes them both but ill give her a couple of days

i must admit its been nice not cooking for bella to add to her food, its a job enough to cook for my 4 children & my mother!

had lots of great advice from oscars (non pushy) so ill see how the next 2 days go

thanks for all of the advice, fingers crossed my lovely dog learns to be a dog & enjoy some doggy food with her occasional toppers

[chris'n'ron]

Over the years we have always fed our animals (labradors and cats) dry food. Admittedly, as they are always fed after us and I do cook fresh food food for ourselves, there is usually some tasty bits to add, if only some gravy. In fact I remember a time many years ago when our Vet commented on the very healthy mouths they had, especially the very clean teeth and asked what we fed them. When we said "Omega dry even the cat has the large size and he enjoyes crunching it", his comment was "BRILLIANT!" We still stick to dry food and I have to say Treacles teeth are often commented on. No sticky wet canned food for us. We are very lucky though Treacle just likes FOOD