what to feed pup for max growth?

[skycat 6,174]

Have a look at this site: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php/product/1968

 

I only recently discovered this site, but it shows just how inadequate this type of food is. Firstly, and although dogs have been fed this way for years, and many survive on it OK, it is really not in a dog's best interests to feed it a food which is largely composed of cereals: wheat, soya, beet pulp etc. Dogs do much better if they get what is called first class protein: meat, fish, (even some eggs from time to time) as their bodies are designed to utilise this type of food better. They are more carnivore than herbivore.

 

I'm not saying that all cereals are bad, a small amount provide necessary carbohydrates, but only a tiny amount is needed because dogs get their energy primarily from fat, unlike humans.

 

'Animal derivatives' listed on the side of a bag of dog food can mean anything from gristle, feathers, beaks, chicken feet and claws, intestines: literally all the bits of an animal which are not used when the animal is processed for human consumption.

 

Add to this the fact that many of the ingredients found in dog food will have been passed 'unfit for human consumption', means that they are rotting, and therefore need treating at very high temperatures to kill of all the nasty bacteria. When food is heat treated to a high degree a lot of the good bacteria and useful vitamins are also killed. So the manufacturers then have to add those things back into the food artificially, which doesn't do anyone as much good as eating fresh produce in the first place.

 

So by feeding dogs on heat treated, sanitized rubbish, often sprayed with flavoured vegetable oil at the end of production to make it palatable to dogs, you are really feeding them something which costs you a lot of money and doesn't do your dogs anywhere near as much good as fresh, raw meat and bones and veggies.. It costs me far less to feed my dogs naturally than it would to go and buy bags of dry dog food, and they are much healthier.

 

They don't shit big soft turds which stink: raw fed dog shit smells much less than what comes out of a commercially fed dog. They don't fart, their breath doesn't stink, their teeth remain clean into old age without the need for descaling, because they keep their teeth clean naturally chewing on chicken and rabbit carcases, and best of all, they don't need to eat anywhere near as much in terms of quantity as they would if they were fed a food based on cereals. Do you need me to go on?

 

Actually, something else springs to mind: bitches fed on a well balanced raw diet tend to whelp more easily. Dogs never try and eat their own or other dogs' shit when they are fed on raw: this is because the food they eat isn't full of preservatives and flavourings which tend to make dry food fed dog crap out something which smells much more edible than if they were fed raw and natural.

 

Dogs don't need to drink gallons of water to soften the dry food to a digestible state, and the act of having to chew up carcases and bones actually has a calming effect on the dog, as well as exercising jaws and cleaning teeth.

[skycat 6,174]

Something else: some people think that you need to pack loads of protein into puppies. Yes, they do need protein for growth, but artificially high levels of protein as seen in some of the premium dog foods are actually not a good thing. Those dog food manufacturers realised this a few years ago and reduced the levels of protein from over 30% to around 26-7% which is what you now see on the bags.

 

But you have to remember that the level of protein they are talking about is protein per grams of DRY FOOD WEIGHT. Once you add water to it the protein level 'drops'. Meat 'appears' lower in protein than these high-powered dry foods because it contains water: but it is actually way up there in terms of percentage protein per gram.

Protein on its own won't sustain healthy life: it needs to be balanced with fat, carbohydrate etc. Wolf and fox cubs manage to grow up just fine on a natural diet, so our dogs can too.

[leegreen 2,221]

Found this to be ok with my last couple of pups http://www.feedem.co.uk/dog-c1/dog-food-c2/puppy-junior-c3/vitalin-puppy-plus-puppy-junior-diet-complete-dog-food-15kg-p902 never heard of it before, anyone use it?

Always feed plenty meat, rabbit, venison, hearts, tripe, chicken and what ever comes my way. I have found the above meal to be decent quality and not bad price, I will only fork out that much for the pups though.