feeding / toilet

by spuker1 Wed May 25 2011, 14:58

I just would like to ask for your opinions on feeding a staffy. I have got a feeling that Mambo's toilet is still a bit out of control. The problem is that he has to poop a lot (4-5 times a day). He knows that he can't toilet inside already but sometimes he simply can't hold it in, so sometimes he poops over night. When we rescued him we thought it might be his feeding in a shelter or his upset tummy (because he ate a lot of grass and he had semi-runs and farted a lot) or possibly some stress. But after a week (I know it's still a bit quick) he seems chilled out and knows what time he has to go on a walk already. He eats half-pint cups of dry food twice a day + some treats, so the runs stopped and he doesn't fart that much anymore. We walk him 5 times a day (a quick one early about 6:30 - 7:00, than about 45minute walk at 9:00, then about 45minute walk about 12:30, then about 45minute walk at 17:00 and then a semi-quick one at 23:30). He still is crazy about munching grass (which we don't let him to do) and he still poops 4-5 times a day, which is every time we go out. It honestly looks like there's more going out than going in.

Any clues? i dont know

by **Aniemother** Wed May 25 2011, 15:03

If there's a lot of stuff coming out the other end it tells you he isn't digesting his food well. What are you feeding him? Most likely it would improve by finding a better kibble (or even better, by going raw if you're up for it). If his poops were runny when you got him a week ago, it might also be partially because his tummy isn't quite back to normal again. So you might want to give him some probiotics or some yogurt and a little time to see if it becomes any better. And if not - try switching the food (transitions between different kibbles should go gradually).

by spuker1 Wed May 25 2011, 15:12

I know that in the shelter he has been fed with Arden Grange and some donated food (which I know one of them was Harrington's). But there was plenty of people walking him all the time and giving him different sorts of treats all the time. First kibble we gave him was Harrington's Turkey and veg and it was much of improvement already. His poops stopped being runny in few days. Now he is on Mad Dog Lamb with Rice and it seems to be even better. The poopers are dark, firm and a bit gritty, but still he does them about 5 times / 24hrs. Also more treats he get's less firm his poop gets.

i dont know

by **Aniemother** Wed May 25 2011, 15:40

Hm.. The poops sounds like they should be (and yes, treats tend to mess up the system a little so it's not weird that they loosen them a bit). Are you feeding him according to the recommendations on the package? They tend to be rather generous, so perhaps he's getting a bit more food than necessary. Just keep an eye on his condition and you'll know in a week or two at least. If he's adult you could try sticking with only one meal per day, that should reduce the number of poops (not the total amount).

by spuker1 Wed May 25 2011, 16:03

I have no idea how much does Mambo weight but people form the shelter I got him from told me to give him about 350g-400g of dry food in two portions per day. We figured that it's a halfpint glass per meal. We also give him Purina Shapes as treats and it says that dog of his size should get not more than 15per day but all he get from us anyways is 5-8. We also use Harrington's Training Treats, which we give him about 15-20 a day when excersise, but they are like little chips of dry food, they are really tiny. That's all. I think we can't give him less than that because even he pooes all the time he is quite skinny. I don't know if it's unhealthy or just his body built, but also I have noticed that he has got very thin coat on his belly and he has practically no hair under his arm pits (leg pits, paw pits?)... I can get photos of that if you wish to have a look...

I really don't know. I want him to start toilet in normal gaps of time but I don't want to starve him... Any more suggestions?

i dont know

by Guest Wed May 25 2011, 16:06

well I can't help you I am afraid..never heard of any of those dog foods here in Australia! Hope he gets on okay though!

by **janey** Wed May 25 2011, 16:17

The only experience I had was when I first got Moo, also a rescue she was having diareah over night in the house and I would wake at 3/4 in the morning and be clearing it off the floor. Not nice. I took her to the vets at first to be health tested and rule out any underlying problems! Having to do stool, samples from a dog with Diareah isn't easy but hay!! Well they all came back clear. So we changed her diet over to 'Royal Canin' sensitivity control, which finally work and there was know more diareah over night BUT her poo's where still as runny as anything! And 4-5 times a day! I then decided to swap her foods again to dry food James Wellbeloved, and I'm affraid they still aren't any better. Now this has been going on for over a year, and I just don't think she'll ever improve! So if you do find a fix be sure to let me know Smile

by spuker1 Wed May 25 2011, 16:17

That's a bit upsetting Sad

Does anyone know about any other way to make your doggy digest food better than just changing kibble and finding out if he likes it or not? Sad

by **janey** Wed May 25 2011, 16:24

Have you ever tried feeding raw? It can really help the dog I believe x

by spuker1 Wed May 25 2011, 16:26

No I haven't I have got him for just over the week now. But I would rather not. I haven't got enough fridge even for our food... Plus it's rather pricy diet and we are constantly on the budget...

by **janey** Wed May 25 2011, 16:30

I know the feeling about space, thats why I won't but its not expensive! Other than that I'm in the same boat I'm affraid. Just maybe give it time to settle x

by burties35 Wed May 25 2011, 16:38

Bodhi does 4/5 number 2s a day as well but I have to say i'm not concerned about it. He is fed Wainwrights in 2 meals about 185g per meal a day his stools are solid and normally formed and to be honest I have never given it a second thought. Our old Staff used to go the same amount of times too. They digest what they need and the rest comes out so I would say as long has he is healthy. Bodhi poos whenever he doesn't mind when just where..lol

by spuker1 Wed May 25 2011, 16:47

I know that it will sound weird since Mambo is with us for just 12days now but he seems quite settled already. He knows where is the time for walk or food. He's relaxed and knows that we are near home when on walk and he knows his way back. I don't think it's a matter of settling Sad

I wouldn't be concerned about that but I'm not too sure if Mambo's healthy or not. He seems skinny to me and as I said before he has got very thin coat on his belly and almost bald patches under his pits.

PS. Also he scratches himself very hard sometimes, the skin on his jaw is very grated. He also has got a patch of short and harsh hair on his forehead. I have been told that they get that because of stress. If anyone could paste me some links to other threads that might regard these concerns I would be very grateful.

by burties35 Wed May 25 2011, 16:53

Hi, when you say skinny can you actually see his ribs or is it that you can just feel them. You should be able to see the last rib just before they 'tuck' in but the others you should be able to feel.
They all have thinner hairs on their bellies, Bodhi having a white belly looks completely bald it does run up into his armpits too. Going to look for some links for you.

by spuker1 Wed May 25 2011, 17:03

I have to go for a walk now, when I come back I will take some photos of mambo so I can show you guys what I'm talking about. But yeah, you can see all his ribs sometimes.

by Guest Wed May 25 2011, 23:35

spuker1 wrote:I have no idea how much does Mambo weight but people form the shelter I got him from told me to give him about 350g-400g of dry food in two portions per day. We figured that it's a halfpint glass per meal. We also give him Purina Shapes as treats and it says that dog of his size should get not more than 15per day but all he get from us anyways is 5-8. We also use Harrington's Training Treats, which we give him about 15-20 a day when excersise, but they are like little chips of dry food, they are really tiny. That's all. I think we can't give him less than that because even he pooes all the time he is quite skinny. I don't know if it's unhealthy or just his body built, but also I have noticed that he has got very thin coat on his belly and he has practically no hair under his arm pits (leg pits, paw pits?)... I can get photos of that if you wish to have a look...

I really don't know. I want him to start toilet in normal gaps of time but I don't want to starve him... Any more suggestions?

A pic would be helpful re: his condition/weight. I wouldn't worry about thin fur on his belly - staffs have a very short coat, and the belly/chest area is often nearly bald!

To be honest, a dog fed on tinned food will poop loads, a dog fed on dery will poop a little less, and a dog fed raw will poop even less! It just depends how much 'filler' is present in the food and how much they can digest - obviously whatever can't be digested will get pooped out!

It could be that his system is still settling in (rather than psychologically settling in, which he sounds to have already done!) & it may take a few weeks for his body to fully settle down to a routine.

spuker1 wrote:No I haven't I have got him for just over the week now. But I would rather not. I haven't got enough fridge even for our food... Plus it's rather pricy diet and we are constantly on the budget...

Raw food need not be expensive, and can work out cheaper than the better dry foods. You can get frozen raw meat from the larger pet stores for about £4 per 2 kilo bags (I think), or blocks of raw frozen mince (all sorts) plus very cheap bones from the butchers or morrisons supermarkets!

by ardvark Thu May 26 2011, 10:10

Our Milo does his no. 2's about 3 times a day. We're switching to raw in a couple of weeks after our holiday and I've worked it out to be actually pretty cheap with the frozen stuff and butchers' bones. As the others have said and from what I've read from the raw diet info. the non raw products do go through them faster. ALso a factor may be his 5 times a day exercise it increases gut motility - just a thought.

Our Staff and our old one are both baldies underneath I shouldn't worry and the skin with sparse hair etc probably is from stress so just wait a wee while and see how he goes, these things can take time to settle and also if his food has been changed a bit it may be that plus if he wasn't in rescue long you don't know how well he was fed before and it probably lacked the essential nutrients he required for essential growth etc. even for his hair!

I know when Milo came to us from rescue his digestion took a bit of time to settle and when he has treats and such it upsets him for a bit.

Best of luck x

by spuker1 Thu May 26 2011, 11:04

Our Milo does his no. 2's about 3 times a day. We're switching to raw in a couple of weeks after our holiday and I've worked it out to be actually pretty cheap with the frozen stuff and butchers' bones. As the others have said and from what I've read from the raw diet info. the non raw products do go through them faster. ALso a factor may be his 5 times a day exercise it increases gut motility - just a thought.

Our Staff and our old one are both baldies underneath I shouldn't worry and the skin with sparse hair etc probably is from stress so just wait a wee while and see how he goes, these things can take time to settle and also if his food has been changed a bit it may be that plus if he wasn't in rescue long you don't know how well he was fed before and it probably lacked the essential nutrients he required for essential growth etc. even for his hair!

I know when Milo came to us from rescue his digestion took a bit of time to settle and when he has treats and such it upsets him for a bit.

Best of luck x

I am aware of that I have to give him some more time to settle. I just really want to do everything right and stop him pooping that much. He stooled inside over night for two nights in the row now... Even he's taken on a walk just before sleeping and 6:30am. I don't think it's separation anxiety or anything of that sort because he's very relaxed and usually if we go to brush our teeth etc. he is already asleep.

On a second thought we can't put Mambo on BARF diet. We haven't got enough storage space/freezer to store raw food for him... We have got just a small freezer in the fridge but it doesn't even work well (f.ex it melts ice-creams). I have found an online shop that sells frozen beef and tripe mince for 15quid per 9kg in 450g packets, which is quite reasonable, but we haven't got anywhere to store it Sad

Here are specifications of food that Mambo is on now:

Lamb with Rice Complete

'A Complete Feeding Stuff for Adult Working Dogs'

Highly palatable, with a High Meat Content

No Animal By-Products whatsoever

High Quality Wholegrain non GM Cereals (No cheap Bakery by-products/waste)

No soya (protein filler)

No Dairy Produce

No artificial colorants and flavour enhancers

Coated with Chicken Fat, no cheap oils or other animal fat

Fortified with Vitamins and Minerals

Ingredients:
.
Cereals (rice minimum 4%), Meat and Animal derivatives (lamb minimum 4%), Derivatives of vegetable origin, Oils and fats, Minerals, EU Registered Antioxidant E321.

Analysis:
.
22% Protein, 12% Oil, 2% Fibre 8.5% Ash.

Vitamin A 12000 i.u./Kg
Vitamin D3 1200i.u./Kg
Vitamin E 120i.u./Kg
Copper 10mg/kg

It's the cheapest kibble you can get from this manufacturer and even it's probably the worst one they do, he seems to be much better than on Harrington's or whatever he was on in the shelter (Arden Grange apparently)

We are actually thinking about giving 3/4 of bag which is left to the shelter and putting Mambo on a top range of food from the same manufacturer. Here are specs:

Hypoallergenic Premium Chicken with Rice Complete

'A Complete Feeding Stuff for Adult Working Dogs'

This hypoallergenic food would be an ideal choice for dogs with sensitive tummies. It is free from artificial additives andis just a fraction of the cost of many similar brands.

Highly palatable, with a High Meat Content (human grade chicken)

No Animal By-Products whatsoever

High Quality Wholegrain non GM Cereals (No cheap Bakery by-products/waste)

Wheat and Wheat Gluten Free

Contains Fish meal and Linseed, sources of Omega 3- great for glossy coats

No soya (protein filler)

No Dairy Produce

No artificial Additives (such as colorants and flavour enhancers)

Naturally Preserved

Coated with Chicken Fat, no cheap oils or other animal fat

Fortified with Vitamins and Minerals

VAT FREE, for working dogs

Cost effective, excellent value for money

Ingredients:

Chicken Meat Meal (minimum 26%), Rice (minimum 26%), Maize, Chicken Fat, Barley, Beet Pulp, Full Fat Linseed, Fish meal, Brewers Yeast, Minerals, Vitamins, Tocopherol Rich Extracts of Natural Origin.

Nutritional values:

24% Protein, 12% Oil, 3% Fibre, 8% Ash
Vitamin A 12000 i.u./Kg
Vitamin D3 1200 i.u./Kg
Vitamin E 120 i.u/Kg
Copper 11 mg/Kg

Do you guys think he might improve much on this food? I have read reviews that this kibble is a James Wellbeloved without fancy packaging. Is it good or bad?

Here are some pics of Mambo so you guys can tell if he's on a skinny side or not, because I honestly can tell anymore Straight Face

by Staffy Thu May 26 2011, 11:57

Meat and Animal derivatives (lamb minimum 4%), Derivatives of vegetable origin, Oils and fats, Minerals, EU Registered Antioxidant E321.

Not good.All meat sources should be named.Same with the veg.
Why can't they be named?What is in there you'll never know.

http://www.husky-owners.com/forum/threads/the-truth-about-bakers-dog-food.23103/

(E321 - banned for use in food in Japan, Romania, Sweden, and Australia. The US has barred it from being ...used in infant foods. So bad McDonalds have voluntarily eliminated it from their products.)

by **Nosipho** Thu May 26 2011, 12:03

I think the second food you described is much better than the first one, however it still contains maize which isn't ideal. He looks the tinyest bit underweight, i wouldn't increase his food though he will fill out now hes not in kennels naturally. Hes probably only got about 0.5kg to gain!

When I used to feed kibble I fed mine on James well beloved lamb and vegetable, its was a greta food no grains or nasties in it. Quite expensive at about £40 a bag but well worth it. Orijen is also about the same price and is known to result in less faeces due to its highly palatable ingredients.

by **Nosipho** Thu May 26 2011, 12:07

http://www.naturalcanines.com/gpage8.html

by Guest Thu May 26 2011, 12:16

ardvark wrote:from what I've read from the raw diet info. the non raw products do go through them faster. ALso a factor may be his 5 times a day exercise it increases gut motility - just a thought.

It's the other way around! Raw is digested in about 4 hours or so, whereas complete takes about 17 hours!

I would imagine that the last thing walk & the early walk are just gentle shorts walks for him to relieve himself? If that's the case I doubt it's that making him poop more.

Nosipho wrote:I think the second food you described is much better than the first one, however it still contains maize which isn't ideal. He looks the tinyest bit underweight, i wouldn't increase his food though he will fill out now hes not in kennels naturally. Hes probably only got about 0.5kg to gain!

When I used to feed kibble I fed mine on James well beloved lamb and vegetable, its was a greta food no grains or nasties in it. Quite expensive at about £40 a bag but well worth it. Orijen is also about the same price and is known to result in less faeces due to its highly palatable ingredients.

I agree with the above. The less 'filler' (ie maize & wheat etc) the less there will be that the body can't use, so the less will be got rid of by pooping. That's why there's generally less produced with raw feeding. You could always buy frozen blocks of dog mince from a large pet store, say two at a time & store them in the fridge. Two would probably last you 3 days & cost around 90p each. Just a thought.

by spuker1 Thu May 26 2011, 12:43

Thanks guys. I think I will order a bag of something better for him than and see how it goes. The only bigger (which is actually THE ONLY one) pet store I have in my area supplies just dry food anyway Sad

or maybe there is some way of feeding a dog with some proper food like getting meat scraps, mincing it and preparing in some way so it can stay in a fridge in a bowl for some time (not in freezer)? What should I ask my local butcher for?

by ardvark Thu May 26 2011, 15:02

Caryll wrote:
ardvark wrote:from what I've read from the raw diet info. the non raw products do go through them faster. ALso a factor may be his 5 times a day exercise it increases gut motility - just a thought.

It's the other way around! Raw is digested in about 4 hours or so, whereas complete takes about 17 hours!

lol whoops stand corrected! I knew one was one way and one was another, made more sense it was the protein as it takes longer to digest....clearly I was wrong!! Does this mean more pooping for us and to the poster, sorry I had forgotten about your storage too!

I would imagine that the last thing walk & the early walk are just gentle shorts walks for him to relieve himself? If that's the case I doubt it's that making him poop more.

Nosipho wrote:I think the second food you described is much better than the first one, however it still contains maize which isn't ideal. He looks the tinyest bit underweight, i wouldn't increase his food though he will fill out now hes not in kennels naturally. Hes probably only got about 0.5kg to gain!

When I used to feed kibble I fed mine on James well beloved lamb and vegetable, its was a greta food no grains or nasties in it. Quite expensive at about £40 a bag but well worth it. Orijen is also about the same price and is known to result in less faeces due to its highly palatable ingredients.

I agree with the above. The less 'filler' (ie maize & wheat etc) the less there will be that the body can't use, so the less will be got rid of by pooping. That's why there's generally less produced with raw feeding. You could always buy frozen blocks of dog mince from a large pet store, say two at a time & store them in the fridge. Two would probably last you 3 days & cost around 90p each. Just a thought.

by spuker1 Thu May 26 2011, 17:10

I went to my local pet store to double check on dog food range and YAY! they do raw food. I have bought him beef and tripe mince.

Hopefully it will sort his tummy out, wish us luck Smile

Massive thanks to all of you people!

thumbs up

by **janey** Thu May 26 2011, 17:22

Good luck, and do let me know how get on!

by spuker1 Thu May 26 2011, 20:39

Ok we just fed him a 226g of raw beef & tripe. He liked it so much that when he was munching it on his eyes looked like they will fall out Big Grin

and when he finnished he was so happy that he couldn't contain himself and weed on the floor a bit! bless him Big Grin

Hopefully it all will be ok. We shall wait for the first brand new pooper Big Grin

by **Aniemother** Thu May 26 2011, 21:47

Just remember it will take him a little time to get used to a new food so his poops are likely to be a little soft the first couple of days, especially if there's no bone in his food. Bone firms it up a lot, so you could give him a couple of chicken wings or something else pretty bony if he gets the runs.

by **Aniemother** Thu May 26 2011, 21:47

Oh yeah - and good luck!

by spuker1 Thu May 26 2011, 22:45

Yes, it has bones in it as well.

by Guest Fri May 27 2011, 10:10

How's he doing this morning?

by Guest Fri May 27 2011, 10:38

aww Mambo was so happy he did a little wee on the floor.. am I the only one that finds that adorable?? Love Struck

by spuker1 Fri May 27 2011, 12:11

I do!

Well suprisingly he didn't have any poop in the evening so we thought that we will have to wake up to a pooper on a floor this morning, but no. He did nothing and in the morning he had a normal regular, firm and heavy dump Smile

It was like a sheep poops but in one piece.

It's a big relief because he seems to digest it all fine and his tummy isn't upset or anything and he seems to love this food and finally it's not that pricy, I pay about 65 - 70p per 452g block of frozen raw meat and bones and they fit well into my tiny freezer because they are relatively small.

I also will try to give him one bone a week from the butcher.

Anyways, YAY!

thumbs up

by Guest Fri May 27 2011, 12:46

Good boy Mambo !!! star

by spuker1 Fri May 27 2011, 20:20

A little update about Mambo.

So, after his second raw meal there was no sign of a poo since early morning today, so we're still waiting for his brakfast to come out I dont want to s

Hopefully that will happen on his last evening walk today. We will give him his dinner around 10-10:30pm (beef and tripe) and go for a walk half an hour after he eats. I hope that he will manage to keep from pooping at night and wait til his walk at around 7am.

He seems to be digesting raw food a bit longer than I initially thought (he kept from pooping from 8pm yesterday until around 6am today, and now there's nothing since his breakfast he got 7:30am). I hope it's ok, after I heard it should take 3-4 hours it seems a bit weird.
He also seems a bit grumpy today but that may be because it's his first day of wearing harness instead of collar - it works really well for us, but I think he's a bit upset that he's not able to lead us Wink

I also think that he may feel the difference with food and digestion process that may cause him to be a little bit sleepy. I guess I am exaggerating a bit tho, as once we came back from app 1 hour walk he happily played with us at home for about half an hour and now he sleeps next to me on the sofa Smile

There's been a lot of changes in his life recently, but I hope he will cope well with everything.

The only thing that worries me a bit more is that I had to leave him for about an hour alone at home and he peed on the floor... I am almost sure that's some kind of separation anxiety, because I took him for a walk just before I left home. So this is something that we will have to work on. He was never left for that long alone at home before, so I guess I could have expected it from rescue staffy that is probably afraid of his owner not coming back home again Sad

by **Aniemother** Fri May 27 2011, 21:04

Even if raw food digests fast it might not give you any visible results of it, so to speak. When my cats ate kibble they pooped twice a day. On raw, they poop every 2-3 days. Because the raw is such a low residue food, most of it is digestible while in kibble most of it is.. well.. crap, it might take a while to accumulate enough to "make" a poop. Big Grin

ETA: Bajas eats 1-2 raw meals per day, and poops almost every day, just for comparison.
Hope everything is okay and that this food will work well for him and you!

by **Aniemother** Fri May 27 2011, 21:09

Oh - and is the food you'¨re feeding now ground? In that case you could try to stuff it into a Kong to give him something tasty to work on while you're out (and even freeze it to make it more tricky), that might help you when you work on him being home alone and relaxed.

by spuker1 Fri May 27 2011, 22:02

when we first got him from the shelter (where they fed him rather better quality dry food but random dog walkers were giving him too many biscuits Sad

) he pooped a lot, 4-5 times a day if not 6! and it wasn't a nice poo...
then we changed his food and he seemed to feel better and liked it more, but he still pooped 4-5 times a day - it seemed like everything was going right through him and out... now that he had his 2 first raw meals, he just pooped once and it was really nice poo if you know what I mean Big Grin

with separation anxiety, we will try to keep him alone for 5 minutes every day, then come back, and gradually increase the time we stay out - hopefully it will work of we'll keep on doing this every day. if not, we will consider crate training. but I think he's got the potential to learn without crate. with good daily routine, regular walks and meals it will hopefully get better in the next few weeks. we'll give him time, he deserves it, being so lovely and generally well behaved rescue dog

by **Aniemother** Fri May 27 2011, 22:16

spuker1 wrote: now that he had his 2 first raw meals, he just pooped once and it was really nice poo if you know what I mean

Yeah!

As for the SA, just go slowly and you'll get there with patience. And love. Love Struck

Crate training has the same principles, so there is no real reason he would take to that more easily (although some dogs prefer the smaller space, but that is particularly puppies or insecure dogs). I do believe crate training can be beneficial in the long run, though (for travels or to reduce the stress if he's injured and needs crate rest among other things) - but that's something you can consider once he's fine by himself. Best of luck!

by spuker1 Sat May 28 2011, 00:08

uhh, just got back from extremely long evening (night!) walk... no poop Sad

hope he will manage to keep it until morning... raw food seem to change his 'habits' completely in just one day!

by **Aniemother** Sat May 28 2011, 10:04

Did he make it? Smile

by spuker1 Sat May 28 2011, 14:22

yes he did! Smile

but he woke my wife up at 5:40am today (she could hear him in the corridor sniffing our bedroom door - he's not allowed in there) so she took him for a quick toilet walk and they both went back to sleep after that - she wasn't keen to stay up at 6am on her day off Smile

it's amazing how quick his digestion changed!.

we went to Morrison's today to buy him some chicken leg quarters - they're now in the freezer and will be ready for Mambo's bank holiday breakfast Smile

by **Aniemother** Sat May 28 2011, 16:08

Yeah, the difference is pretty radical isn't it? I'm so glad to hear it's going so well. He'll sure love the leg quarters - you might want to give them frozen the first few time to make sure he chews them properly (unless you already know he's a good chewer). And his digestion is likely to keep improving for the next couple of weeks as his gut enzymes and stomach acidity tends to increase a bit after the change.

by Guest Sat May 28 2011, 17:09

I know raw feeding isn't for everyone, but I find it quite amazing how dogs seem to thrive so much better on it.

by spuker1 Sat May 28 2011, 17:30

Mambo definitely isn't a good chewer... I will give him these frozen then and keep an eye on him eating.

What type of bones would you recommend so I can feel a bit more sure that Mambo will be k with them - at the moment he's got great apetite and he seems to be able to eat everything (or rather swallow) - that's probably due to the fact that for the last 2 or 3 months his body wasn't really taking any food in properly.

I am really happy that he likes raw food diet and that I can see the results so quickly. I am just still a bit unsure about the bone thing... Caryll, I read your post about soft bones - thanks for that!
Have you got any other bones-related tips for me?

btw, my wife is a vegetarian for over 10 years now but she doesn't mind preparing meat for me or Mambo Big Grin

by **Nosipho** Tue May 31 2011, 17:28

I find that chicken leg quarters are the only bits of a chicken apart from the whole carcass that my girls cant get donw in one. However looks like Mambo is a bit bigger than them so he might not manage it! It is amazing how well they do on raw, I would never go back to kibbles now Smile

by Guest Tue May 31 2011, 20:45

spuker1 wrote:I am just still a bit unsure about the bone thing... Caryll, I read your post about soft bones - thanks for that!
Have you got any other bones-related tips for me?

btw, my wife is a vegetarian for over 10 years now but she doesn't mind preparing meat for me or Mambo

It's mainly trial & error to be honest, but most dogs pretty quickly learn to eat bones properly, you just need to watch them for the first couple of weeks. Just don't give them weight bearing (marrow) bones as a meal cause they get very little from them.

Tell your wife that I've been veggie for about 15 years & it really wasn't nice to be handling meat again, but you get used to it. The way I look at it, although I can tell a human that I won't give them meat, my dog won't understand. As he loves it so much & thrives on it, I just get on with it! Luckily, as it's raw, you don't need to do too much with it! Laughing

by spuker1 Tue May 31 2011, 23:01

Thanks Caryll!

Mambo is doing pretty well on his raw diet, actually I think he loves it Smile

What sill amazes us is that he poops max twice a day, usually once (compare it to 5-6 times on the same amount of dry food!) , depending on how many treats he gets Wink

We went to pet shop with him today to get some more frozen meat for him, and we also had a chance to weigh him - he's 19,2 kg. I guess he will be ok with gaining another 1-2 kilos, so we're working on it now, hopefully our skinny boy will grow a bit more on his new diet.

by Guest Tue May 31 2011, 23:08

He's looking really well on it, anyway!

by Sponsored content