I only have one boy of unknown parentage as he is an adoption but my guess is that they probably do "know" family by scent if not sight. Their differing reactions to "family" probably relates back to the "pack" mentality. A female may have two daughters that she treats completely differently due to her perception of their ability to challenge her as "alpha" female in the future. I would guess it is similar for males. Time together as a "family", as with humans, is probably also a factor. Just my thoughts.
You guys know it all!
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Just remember too, that although quality kibble is expensive per bag, it's really not over the long run. One bag quality = 2-3 bags cheap crap since you feed less.
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Wizard is right, and I am a firm believer that you can control, to a certain degree, the amount of vet visits in a dogs life, depending on what quality food you feed it. So you would essentially save on that front as well.
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My Baby Maya came to me having been fed Pro Plan puppy food and cooked chicken as a treat. I feed all of my dogs a mostly raw diet so i changed her over onto that. I do still give all of mine a complete food, perhaps 3 or 4 meals a week they will have complete dry food.
Maya has royal canin complete. But most of her meals are raw. her favourites are chicken wings/carcasses, raw tripe, raw lamb/beef mince and she also has cooked liver/heart/kidney but only occassionally as i tend to use that as bait for the showring so thats only ever given as a special treat.
They tend to get any leftover veg and stuff from meals and she does seem to like that. I think she does really well on that diet, she LOVES her food and certainly looks healthy enough
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I feed all my dogs on Royal Canin dry food. However, they do also get salmon oil, garlic tablets and some other herbal remedies mixed in. They also get raw tripe, raw lamb, raw mince beef, raw veg, raw eggs, scrambled eggs, cooked veg, cooked meat, tinned sardines etc etc. The list goes on…... It gives them a bit of variety and keeps them interested in their meals.
Vicki -
I don't know if this is known, but of all the dog food manufacturers out there, Royal Canine does the most research behind their products.
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Many thanks for the informative replies.
My lucky B is gonna eat better than me!!!!
Alan
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Hello there! I work at a Holistic dog bakery and food carrier so I fancy myself sort of a "specialist" in the area of canine diet.
My suggestion: AVOID grains. While they are not necessarily harmful they definitely don't contribute anything specifically wonderful to the diet.
There are great goods that are grain free. My two suggestions are to look into Innova's EVO line. It's my favorite food; totally grain free and outstanding protein/fat. My Shango eats it and it's done wonders for him; skin/coat, weight control, and productive energy.
Also, Solid Gold's Barking At the Moon is a great food to look into that not many people know about. The price is fairly reasonable whereas Evo gets a bit expensive.
Overall, holistic (no wheat, corn, soy, by-products) is the way to go. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
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Also, Solid Gold's Barking At the Moon is a great food to look into that not many people know about. The price is fairly reasonable whereas Evo gets a bit expensive.
Andrew, that is interesting…here in Maine, I've found Barking at the Moon to be equal or MORE expensive than Evo. All the other Solid Gold foods are cheaper, but not Barking. :rolleyes:
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Thank you Andrew,
Appreciate the 'inside' feedback.
Alan
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Andrew,
What an awesome job. I love baking, dogs and healthy living..I envy you. -
I've got mine on Challenge, which is salmon & potato based. They've been on it since Christmas and I've been very pleased with the results, super coats and excellent body condition, and universally 'firm and small'! The old lady is keeping her condition very well and they all gobble it down like it's going out of fashion. It's not that expensive either, about thirty pounds for a 15 kilo bag. I have also had excellent results with imported grain free foods like Orijen and Solid Gold but the availability was erratic and the cost of shipping makes them very expensive here.
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Andrew, that is interesting…here in Maine, I've found Barking at the Moon to be equal or MORE expensive than Evo. All the other Solid Gold foods are cheaper, but not Barking. :rolleyes:
That is QUITE interesting! Here in Indianapolis, all I've found is that EVO is much more expensive by about 5-9 dollars!
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Andrew,
What an awesome job. I love baking, dogs and healthy living..I envy you.Yes, it's a great job. I (and Shango ;-P) love it. He comes to work with me each day!
BUT….you have a brindle, so there is mutual envy
