Greyhound Grub

Nina · Old Hand

Greyhound Grub

FAJ · Enlightened One

Pearly gets Autarky, which is a dry food. It costs £9.99 for a 15kg bag from Costco. She gets a wee bit of stock on it for flavour, and she gets sardines (in sunflower oil - but pour off the oil) mixed through about 3 times a week. She LOVES sardines and the bowl is always so shiney clean that it doesn't need washed (though, of course, I do wash it!!).

If you switch foods, remember to do it gradually by mixing the new food in with the Burgess in increasing proportions till you're totally on the new stuff. Though I have heard that Burgess is very good stuff. Maybe you could stockpile so you don't have to go to the shop so often?

Fiona

ps: I remember Shera from the GALa - she's very bonnie!

Nina · Old Hand

Thanks!! She is very cute!! i'l try the sardines, iam sure she will love them to!!! she loves all food!!! Also how much do you feed yours?? i feed shera the amount her last owners told me but wouldn't like to think i was over/under feeding her!!!

Lorain · Graduate

My gang enjoy CSJ dog food its is a quality food and does not cost a fourtune. www.csjk9.com You can have the food delivered or pick it up at most dog shows in Scotland. There Herb work wonders and are well worth a try they have them for most to help things. Lorain:

FAJ · Enlightened One

She gets a cup-and-a-half in the morning and a cup-and-three-quarters in the evening. Not a huge mug, but bigger than a tea-cup. If you see what I mean! She also gets a couple of Bonios each day, plus a Kong in the afternoon. Usually this is stuffed with biscuits or those munchie sticks. She weighs about 28-29kg and is in very good nick with a lovely shiny coat - if I say so myself!

quote:
Originally posted by: Nina
"Thanks!! She is very cute!! i'l try the sardines, iam sure she will love them to!!! she loves all food!!! Also how much do you feed yours?? i feed shera the amount her last owners told me but wouldn't like to think i was over/under feeding her!!!"

Carol · Master

Hi Nina,

I feed my two dogs Arden Grange food now, after Carole Robinson (from GAL) recommended it. I have to say that it as a really good food and I can see the difference in my dogs since they started eating it, especially in their toileting habits.

It's about £27 for a fifteen kilo bag, but that will last my dogs about three weeks, give or take a few days. The best thing about it probably is that you just phone the rep and he'll bring you a sample to try. If you're happy, phone him again and he'll deliver the food straight to your door!

I usually feed my dogs according to their weight. You can get the vet to weigh Shera and then just follow the guidelines on the side of the pack. I must admit that I tend to feed my pup a wee bit extra as she was underweight when we got her and runs about like an idiot all day.

Carol

Oh, and Shera is a georgeous doggie - I totally agree!

greyflintstone · Master

Hi all!

I thought I would throw in my contribution to this discussion!!!! We have 2 very different dogs - Freddy can and will eat anything, Wilma would like to do the same but has a very delicate tummy. She has a really bad white meat intolerance so we have to be v careful what she can have! For this reason, and this reason alone, she is fed James Wellbeloved Lamb & Rice - it's the only one we've found that guarantees poultry free. We've noticed that a lot of Lamb flavoured food (including all the ones you've all listed on this posting) contain either chicken fat or "meat & meat derivatives"! We just can't risk Wilma's tummy!

Freddy on the other hand has good old Omega! He was on the Supadog Chicken (£7.99 for 15kg) but we found he produced more out of the other end than he was eating! Not v economical then! We moved him onto the Omega and he's been great! He is a big boy - about 38kg, so he has quite a lot of food (about 250g twice per day). Wilma on the other hand is about normal size (26/27 kg) and has 120g food for her breakfast and 240g atnight.

Neither of them really get any table scraps in their dinner - with Wilma we even have to be careful of any leftover veggies or gravy in case its been with the chicken (yes, she really is that bad!). They get hardly any biscuit treats either and I think they're are looking great!

Sharon

glendy · Master

Mmmmmmm sardines! (That was the dogs typing, not me!)

Not for the sensitives stomachs amongst you but most dogs think they're delish.

Our dogs eat anything (literally for some of them unfortunately - even the fluff from the inside of toys) but are currently eating Arden Grange. But anyone who knows me knows how much I like to sing the praises of Burns - simply the best!

bluesmumanddad · Master

A big thank you from Blue. He has just had his first taste of sardines on his dinner. He licked the bowl until it was gleaming and then the floor around the area.......nice!

He has so far revisited the kitchen 4 times to see some more might have magically appeared.

I am fearfully waiting with the room spray to see what effect it has on him!

greyluvver · GAL Membership Co-Ordinator

We have found tinned Mackerel & Tuna are well loved meals too!

Calatria · Master

You all have such big robust greyhounds, while our Belle is so skinny! She weighs just over three stones (about 19 kg). She has about 130g of Burns dried food twice a day, which I've tried increasing from time to time but she just can't tolerate more than this. She'd eat it in a heartbeat, but would pay for it later!

She seems tiny compared to her brother, even though bitches are smaller than dogs. But with the vet pronouncing her healthy, we now think she's just a delicate-looking flower of a girl, and will always be small-boned and dainty

When it's your first greyhound, the obvious ribs and spine can be a bit of a worry. So we now focus on the fact that she has a lovely soft coat, healthy(!) appetite, and that she enjoys her walks, her toys, and any attention she can get from visitors.

Carol · Master

Hi,

If it's any consolation, my greyhound is a real wee skinny minnie too. She weighs about the same as yours at 14 months old and is so dainty that she does in fact, have to wear a whippit collar because the greyhound ones are just too big.

She too is fit and healthy though, and a fair bit heavier that when she first came to us, so yup, I guess that's just the way she'll stay. Anyway, the best things (apparantly) always come in small packages.

Carol

Dave · Enlightened One

Our gang sometimes get fed up eating dried food, when that happens out comes the trusty bottle of olive oil, a wee drop sprinkled over the top of the food and they go mad for it, you could also try some gravy or even soak the food in warm water for a few minutes just to take the crunchiness away!

There's a few other threads about bald Greyhounds on the forum, think we finally came to the conclusion that none of us really knew why!!

cheers

Dave

-- Edited by Dave at 22:25, 2005-03-02

-- Edited by Siouxsie at 00:43, 2006-03-15

greyflintstone · Master

I think I must be really cruel! If either of our two refuse to eat, the food goes back into the bag and they get nothing until the next meal! Usually by the next food time, it gets wolfed down! My brother's lurcher, Leah, will often go 4 days without eating - mainly because she expects to get extra with her dinner! It's amazing how a rumbling tummy will "persuade" a dog that the food isn't so bad after all!

I'll await the barage of comments on how cruel and wicked I am!

Christine Young · GAL Newsletter Editor

Cruel - I wouldn't say so, Greyflintstone! You're treating your dogs the way I treated my son when he was small and didn't eat his dinner (which wasn't often I have to add!). You've taught them that they eat what's put in front of them, or not at all. One missed meal is not going to harm a healthy well-fed dog.

Christine

CAROLE ROBINSON · Old Hand

Since I have Murphy & Belle's sister Rosie, thought I would add a comment re. their picky appetites. Rosie is extremely picky and, just like Murphy, quickly gets tired of different foods whether they are mixed with treats or not. Because she is so small and dainty and looks as if a puff of wind would blow her away, I fell for the "try this, try that" method. Now she is fed on Arden Grange (mixed with whatever is left over) and if she turns her nose up - I quickly offer it to Ruby and Reilly who are drooling in the wings. Usually, this is enough to bring her racing back to the bowl. If she still leaves her food, she goes without until the next meal when, surprise, surprise, she'll eat everything! She also has a bare bum and belly - but the shiniest of coats - and she is soooooooooooo pretty!

Calatria · Master

It's becoming a family reunion here, isn't it?

Unlike her siblings, though, Belle will eat absolutely anything. She's never been picky but, as I said before, has such a delicate digestion that we have to be very careful about what she eats.

She was at the vet's this week, for her jags, and (finally!) the vet agreed that she is showing more ribs and backbone than normal. She was weighed again (our scales at home aren't very accurate) and is 18 kg. She was 17.4 kg last time she was at the vet, so I suppose we're heading in the right direction.

Once again, she was pronounced fit and healthy, if a bit on the skinny side. The vet recommended adding chicken to her food, to try and build up a bit of muscle. We're doing it very gradually (remembering the diarrhoea that follows everytime we try her with something new). So today she had half a chicken breast (quarter of a breast at each meal). It's obviously too little protein to make much difference to her muscles, but if she tolerates this we can increase it.

Does anybody know of anything that can be added to food, some kind of powder or something, which will help build up her muscles? Even if she's OK on the chicken, it's going to take a while before we can feed her enough of it to make a difference. So anything that will get us there quicker, would be bonus.

It's a relief to know that Belle's siblings are all on the small side. It sounds like it's more of a family trait, than anything medical.

CAROLE ROBINSON · Old Hand

I feed Rosie on the Performance variety of Arden Grange - this has more calories than the classic version.

dannyboy · Graduate

Can anyone give number for Arden Grange rep, I'm interested in getting a supply for own dogs?

Dave · Enlightened One

the Arden Grange rep is called Jim Millar, you'll get him on 07821 547194 - mention GAL when you order!!!!

cheers

Dave

Leolurcher · Master

Leo and Flash are fed a mixture of dry complete crunchy dog food with either cooked mince or tinned meat and they get bones to chew. They will eat almost anything I put in their bowls however I have to watch what complete dog food I feed them as some food makes the pigment around their eyes a bit pale. Leo's eye rims change from black to a sort of brown colour and Flash goes from black to pink.The price of the complete food seems to make no difference. At the moment they are doing well on Wafocol chicken.

Anyone else experienced pigment problems with a diet mostly based on complete dog food?

Eleanor

sha · Master

Hi

Another option - BARF diet!! You can look this up on the net. A great book to read is "Give Your Dog A Bone" by Ian Billinghurst. I don`t feed my dogs commercial pet foods, they are fit, happy and are in extremely good show condition. Has anyone else tried this?

regards Sha.

Dave · Enlightened One

Hi Sharon, haven't tried it myself but about 2 and a half years ago we rehomed a litter of unwanted Greyhound pups, one of them was homed to a family in Edinburgh with 2 other Lurchers who were fed on the BARF diet. The pup was put on that diet. We had a bit of a family reunion about 6 mounths after that with a few of the pups and Malcolm, the one on the BARF diet, was HUGE, he was head and shoulders above his litter mates, he certainly looked really good on it...

cheers

Dave

BOWGANG · Master

Have recently adopted our boy, Gambol, and have been reading up on greyhounds! Interested to hear your comments about Arden Grange and the positive effect on toilet productions! Can you give us a contact number for their rep? Thanks

JanW · Master

The BARF diet looks interesting. A the the moment I'm feeding Arden Grange lamb and rice

I've not tried raw meat, but so far Ruby will eat anything (carrot, turnip, potatoe peelings! eggs, cheese, tinned fish, liver) She loves grapes but only if I split them in two for her!

She looks great on it, and no problems with toilet habits. I'm not so sure about giving her bones, can any type of bone be given to a dog? I know they can't have chicken bones, what about bones from chops?

sha · Master

hi jan

i am a great advocate of the BARF diet. i've been feeding my dogs this way for the past 5 years. commercial petfoods , including so-called 'natural' petfoods, are loaded with additives, preservatives, sugars and salts. Check the analysis on the back of petfoods, you will be amazed.

dogs are carnivores. evolution has changed their digestive systems very little. dogs are not meant to eat dry kibble.

my dogs eat only raw foods: meat and poultry including ALL the bones, raw eggs [including the shells], fruit and vegetables. please note bones are only given UNCOOKED. None of my dogs have EVER choked!!

Feeding most commercial pet foods, is equivalent to us eating ready meals and McDonalds. Please read "give your dog a bone" by Ian Billinghurst, it`s my bible. It takes a while to get your head round BARF, but i would not feed my dogs anything else. Try it - you will never look back.

Sha

Janice · Old Hand

Hi there!

Mandy is always trying to steal grapes whenever we have them but I've never given them to her as I'm sure someone told me they are poisonous for dogs. Has anyone else heard of this or have I been a cruel mum denying her this wee treat?

Janice

sha · Master

Hi

Unlike other fruit, grapes are toxic to dogs (can cause renal failure) Chocolate can also be fatal (can cause collapse & heart failure) none of these foods have to be consumed in huge amounts for toxic reactions to occur. I`m not sure if they do now but "Good boy" chocolate never used to list the ingredients - be wary. Cocoa based products should be avoided. Thank heavens humans can eat chocolate - i couldn`t live without it!!

Sha

-- Edited by sha at 18:15, 2005-03-20

-- Edited by sha at 18:17, 2005-03-20

Calamity · Graduate

Hi Sha,

Was interested in the BARF diet but was a little worried about the dogs dragging chicken carcassess and smelly fish about the house. How does that work? Do you lock them in the kitchen until theyve finished or what?

Our Poppy and Sasha tend to bring a little snack into bed sometimes and i was wondering if i should stock up on Febreeze?

Think i'll stick with Arden Grange unless you can convince me otherwise.

skinnydugs · Master

I had one very ill dog recently and all I gave her was a tin of butchers. Now I have them off dry food and on meat and mixer. All shiny clean bowls and contented dogs in this household now.