1 year old stafford bitch

I'm wanting to change my dogs diet to a more natural diet. I know there is much debate on whether to feed processed food or raw meat but i want to try and give it a try.
She has been eating nature diet wet food, liver kidney and eggs each day since she was 8 weeks old and she is very muscled, or at least i think she is (she's 1yr old on the 1st of January 2011 and 20.2 kgs) and she also gets james welbeloved kibble.
Over the past few days she has been having a half and half mix of her wet food with raw tripe and chicken mince and she has become alot calmer.
Shes still getting liver and kidney and eggs as well.
Any advice?
I would just like to say that she has very little fat on her body, good shiny fur, bright eyes and bundles of energy.
I will post a pic when i get time.

i just give my dog dry food, but i'm sure somebody will be able to help you

When we first got her she was on just dried food, but she constantly had water infections. After spending a fortune at our vets and not getting anywhere we tried another vet and they said to add wet food to the diet as well, I can't remember totally why she said to do it but she hasn't has a water infection since. I would like to feed her a dried diet but its just not possible. Bit of a long winded answer but its important info.

Edit - The vet said that the dry food was too alkali and thus caused the water infections.

yea right that is interesting i will do some research about more natural diet after christmas for the website

I may be being dim, but why do you want to change her diet? Seems as though you have it spot on

She's not really that keen on her current wet food, Natures Diet, we've tried various wet foods and it's a case of she'll eat it, but only as a last resort, whereas with the mince she's had the past couple of days, she's wolfed it down with no trouble.

She sounds very healthy but also quite big for a one year old bitch. Is she particularly tall? Our girl is three years old and fully grown at 18.5 kilos, which is already considered quite big for a bitch. Bearing in mind that most dogs fill out as they become older I'd be keeping an eye on her size to make sure she doesn't become over muscle bound.

In terms of diet our girl has 100-150gsm of Wainwright kibble biscuits twice a day, which we get from Pets At Home here in St Austell, alternating between rabbit, turkey and duck. We could certainly feed her more and make her bigger but I don't want her to become slower or less agile. We tried the James Wellbeloved and the Arden Grange but she was picky about eating them. The Wainwright kibble is comparable in quality and we've had no problems. She wasn't massively keen on the lamb or salmon varieties though.

At each meal we add a good handful of meat, which is varied at every meal. The choice includes, fish, liver, lambs heart, chicken and for the next few days turkey no doubt. Once a day she has a teaspoon of cod liver oil.

I tried feeding her raw but she just isn't interested, so we now cook the meat in advance and then put it into small bags that we freeze until needed. The portions can be defrosted quickly in the microwave as required. On this mixture we are not having any problems persuading her to eat or any health issues. I wish her coat was a little thicker, but it's been like that since we adopted her a year ago, so I think that's just the way she is.

Our girl is extremely fit and I walk up to ten miles a day but she is off the lead for the most part, so doing at least double that and she could run all day long. Obviously you have to factor in the amount of exercise a dog has when working out how much to feed them. Bailey is good natured but definitely high energy, so
plenty of exercise keeps her happy and calm.

My father was a breeder of bull terriers many years ago and there were other breeders who would feed their dogs substantial amounts of tripe on a daily basis to build them up, but we did notice that they became quite fired up after a while and became a real handful so I'd go easy on the tripe. If you aren't happy using kibble I suppose you can always just mix meat with a selection of varied vegetables.

At last weighing she was 20.2kg and stood at 18 inches tall (To her shoulders). She's very lean with a waist of 20 inches and a chest of 25 inches, she's still got some of her puppy fat, but a very small amount.
We've noticed since feeding her a raw diet, mixed with dry kibble, that she's become a lot calmer, whether this is the diet or just her mellowing out a little, we're not 100% sure, but it seems to have happened quite quickly.
As for exercise, she gets at least an hours exercise a day, this doesn't include running around after toys, playing in the garden etc. Then at least once a week she gets a 10 mile + walk, or a long play on the beach, which involves a lot of running around. And weather permitting she has a long swim in the local river.
At the moment it's a little bit of trial and error as to much raw meat she's going to be fed, we're currently going on the medium dog guideline on the packaging, however if she looses or gains weight, we'll adjust accordingly.
She's full of energy and very playful, she has her off days where she's a little stubborn, but I think that's partially her age, and the fact she's a staffie!
My boyfriend's grandad used to breed Staffies too, no idea what they were fed on, but I know some of them were kept as family pets and were very loyal, and his daughter (Boyfriend's mother) loved them, hence how we ended up with a staffie.

It sounds like you have a tall girl. I just measured Bailey for the first time and she is 15 inches at the top of her shoulder bone i.e. not up to the base of her neck, which would make her 17 inches if that is the way you measured it. Her chest and waist measurements are the same as your girl.

I've seen staffies that are bigger than ours and quite a few that are smaller. In fact Bailey already exceeds the maximum weight according to the breed standard. The vet told me that when a staffie is in good shape you should just be able to make out the ribs and the stomach should be nicely tucked in. Our girl has been spayed which is done with all rescue dogs and if you plan on doing the same be aware that they do tend to put on a little weight afterwards, so you have to be more aware of feeding.

Obviously with a younger dog you need to be a little bit careful and moderate the amount of exercise you give them but it sounds like she is thriving. Don't underestimate the influence of diet on behaviour either, since changes in food really can alter their mood if there is too much protein for example. I think this is also a good reason for making changes in diet gradually. Hopefully nobody on this forum is giving their dogs chemical laden rubbish like Bakers.

At one year old I'd say you are almost bound to get days when they are difficult to handle. Look at any rescue home like Batersea and you'll find it flooded with staffies aged from 6 months to just over 2 years old because this is the stage when they are at their most difficult. I've just noticed over the last few months that Bailey has calmed down a bit so I can always get her to come back or stay close by where she might have charged ahead a year ago.

I've added a few pictures of Bailey to give you some point of reference but bear in mind she is already a fully matured adult. When in movement you see the muscle more clearly. The top two pictures were taken last spring, while the bottom two were just a couple months ago. She is now just 3 years old.