Breed specific food or not ?

We still have no staff but have been trying to educate myself on the best way to feed the dog when he/she comes home. There's so much info out there I just cant decide.
Raw food or dry? Meaty or meaty and veggie together?
There are so many differing opinions all claiming to have the best diet for their dog.

I think I'll try a breed specific food. I know from my sisters westie that there is a food by Royal Canin made specifically for westies and other breeds too.
I have looked but canot seem to find a food specific for staff's. The only thing I can think of is to use the boxer food and alter the ammount according to to the dogs weight. I was thinking of the boxer food because its also a high energy dog with a lot of muscle and the feed is worked out with a handy mesuring cup with increments according to weight.

What do you think?

Here is a link that should help.

http://staffy-bull-terrier.co.uk/feedingyourstafford.html

The website also contains recommendations for dry food and information on raw feeding. As long as your dog is getting all of the required nutrients there are many different options and comes down to what works best for you.

Moo was initially on RC, it was a really good food and know your right they don't do one specifically for staffs. It is quite expensive and I do suggest you buy it over the internet as it works out a lot cheaper.

Raw is an excellent diet but doesn't suit everyone, I for one don't have the space or the time to feed Raw.

Mine is on Fish4Dogs, previously beforw James Wellbeloved and both are great, just took me a couple of years to find a food that suited

I feed raw for my boys and it is very cheap and easy if you put the time to research it initially.

We feed Vlad kangaroo meat (in abundance over here lol) for his breakfast mixed with a little bit of dry (Eukanuba... it's been really good) and he has a couple of scrambled eggs and a little bit of dry food for dinner. He's a good solid size (approx 20Kg) , good teeth and a really shiny coat. We give him a bone to chew on too... usually a big beef shin bone.

P.S We sometimes cook some extra veges so he can have that with his roo meat in the morning instead of dry... so far he has not turned his nose up at any vegetable! He's eaten carrots, peas, broccolini, silver beat, and pumpkin... it all goes! Loves it!

There is food out there specific to Staffys which I saw once in Pets At Home, please see the link below:

http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?q=food+for+Staffordshire+bull+terrier&hl=en&output=nojs&cid=6542369818545681236&ei=281yT6S0FczK4gbRxJnABg&ved=0CAgQ8gIwAA#p

This was a few weeks ago so not sure if it is stil available there.

Vegetables aren't essential at all to a dog's diet.
James wellbeloved, Burns, wainwrights, barking heads, arden grange and fish4dogs are all excellent complete foods.
Breed specific food isn't needed unless you have a very small or giant breed as long as its premium quality.

pero do a breed specific food for staffs that i find good

Thanks for the help.

We feed "Whole Prey" - 80% meat, 10% bone, 10% offal (of which 5% must be liver). Easy-peasy I have come to believe that as dogs' DNA is 98(?)% Wolf it makes sense to feed them according to how their ancestors ate. That is other animals. Dogs being carnivores need nothing more than meat, bones and offal. Rascal has been fed this way since she was 6wks old and despite our vet being initially skeptical, says he can't fault her condition Her teeth are gorgeous, shiny coat, healthy weight, loads of energy (well, maybe we could do with less of that!!!!!) and so far (fingers crossed) no skin issues apart from a tiny bit of redness when she has a bath (about once per month).

Do a search for "whole prey" and see what you think. There's a great Facebook group called Raw Feeding (RF) - lots of info and support. They're a bunch of straight talkin' gals who are 100% committed to the Whole Prey model of feeding. If this is the way you want to go, you'll get loads of support there All the best as you decide
(btw it's Rascal-girl here, signed in under hubby)

That whole prey sounds good but also sounds like a lot of work. I dont mind spending a bit of time preparing food I suppose. It sounds like it would be a lot more expensive too.
We dont call Ireland the rip off republic for nothing you know.

Hehe, not sure how expensive meat is in Ireland I think there are a few members on Raw Feeding from Ireland, there's also a group that provides info on sourcing meat. I thought it sounded like a lot of work at first too, however it really is as simple as giving lots of meat, a bit of bone and a bit of liver!

I'll check it out. Thanks.

Sasha was on james wellbeloved but we soon noticed it appeared to make her itch alot we changed to pero STB and she is looking ten fold better than she was when she was on JWB her coat is so much more shiny

no dicky tummy when we switched her over either she often had runny poo with JWB i couldnt find pero stb in any shop luckily we have a lady who runs a company with a massive range of pet supplys direct to your door!

George wrote:That whole prey sounds good but also sounds like a lot of work. I dont mind spending a bit of time preparing food I suppose. It sounds like it would be a lot more expensive too.
We dont call Ireland the rip off republic for nothing you know.

I feed whole prey raw and it works out at £15 a month to feed both dogs one being a very large dog. It's just about sourcing the meat

Looks like I have a some research to do then.
At £15 a month for 2 dogs, I couldn't argue with that.
Thats a bargain. Do you have to weigh out each meal or do you just do it by eye?

For us, we just do it by eye now. Rascal gets approx 800g of meat per day, plus about 50g of liver (or equivalent every couple of days, ie 150 g every 3 days) and a bit of bone. We just look at her poo for an idea on bone content - chalky, white poo, too much bone, sloppy poo, not enough. The idea being you give about 2%-3% of their projected adult weight. Good luck