diet

[amandapyman]

hi all, i am new to this forum and new to irish setters, what is the best diet for setters, i have a vizsla who is on arden grange large breed puppy and my setter who is 8 wks old is on beta large breed puppy, which is the food the breeder gave me.

thanks

amanda, holly and alfie

[ursula wilby]

Not wanting to be everybodys darling is fine by me.

But what you are doing with these sweeping statements concerning how dogowners that give dried food to their dogs behave towards their dogs (based on NO FACT whatsoever) just makes me wonder about the rest.

Do you actually believe this sweeping statement yourself?
Do you actually believe that feeding dried dog-food totally excludes feeding marrow-bones for instance?
You have one dog getting bloat from bisquits (so you think).
This to you, proves a point.
I have fed dried dog-food for the last 35 years without bloat, and dont for one second think this proves that bloat can be prevented by feeding dried dog-food.

Also you try to put across the point of people feeding dry dog-food are doing this becourse they are too mean to do anything else. Let me assure you that I do not feed dried dog-food out of meanness!

Yes, do discuss manufactured dog-food compared to making your own, but please try to keep the discussion on a believable level.

[Catherine Carter]

Having followed that discussion, I would like to include this link into the conversation...I received this last year from a breeder in Ireland.http://www.thedogfoodconspiracy.com/dog-food-secrets.php?hop=wanger

[ursula wilby]

I have skimmed through the information given on this link and would just like to add a quick comment.

The adding of pets/died farmanimals (dying of sickness etc) was banned in Sweden after a huge uproar in the 80's.
So that part no longer applies. This rule applies to IMPORTED dried dogfood as well as home-produced.

There is also a big section on the fact that the there is "poop" contained in the food. Coming from slaughtered animals. Of course nobody wants to have this as an additive, but stop and consider...if one of our dogs would kill a rabbit...will it then go: OHH my dear..there is poop in these intestines...blaa!!!! I certainly dont want to eat THAT!
If we are going to be all natural...lets be honest.
The dog would eat the whole rabbit.

Just as my dogs at times eat the whole mouse brought to them by my cats. Mouse-poop included. We also have another discussion going where lots of setterowners speak openly about their dogs eating poop. And not even poop with meat-matter surrounding it.

And no, I am still not against feeding dogs on a natural diet. But for me the dried dog-food works and I still feel that a HEALTHY animal will do well on a number of different diets.

[Carmel Murphy]

I think everyone should feed their dogs on what suits the individual! If you want to give raw meat or cook up your own thats good too!
Sometimes time and money are an issue. I think dry food is very good as long as you find the one that suits your dogs.I have gone through quite a few over the years and now am very happy with a particular dry food from Sweden!! This food doesnt swell up when wet and I dont need to soak it( I add a little water just before I give them the food) My dogs get a meat meal in the mornings(a natural/holistic food with vegetables,rice and herbs from the UK) and the dry food in the evening. They also get bones to chew for healthy teeth and gums!