# am i on the right lines?



## andythebus (Feb 2, 2012)

Just wanted to make sure that i'm feeding a good diet to my pooch.
He's a 2 year old heeler x jack russell.

What we buy is:
Tesco value beef(65%)/pork(35%) mince from the frozen counter Tesco Value Mixed veg carrots peas cauliflower and broccolli from the frozen counter
Tesco complete dog food with beef and veg.(1kg box crunchy shaped crap) 
oxo Beef stock cubes.
Highlife chewsday chewsticks.

What we do:
Mixed whilst still frozen the mince (80%) and the veg (15%) and leave to defrost in the fridge overnight. Then add before feeding (5%) complete food and mixed together.Take 1 oxo cube and add to 1/4 cup of boiling water and pour over the mixture. Leave enough time for cooling before serving. Then serve.
Sometimes we leave out the oxo cube and substitute the dripping off a chicken or the drained fat off of beef mince that we happen to be cooking for ourselves. We only feed the complete part of the diet for the crunchiness as we believe that this helps his teeth.
We feed him 3 times a day now to prevent the habit of his eating grass. We dont know why he does this but the little and often diet seems to prevent this.
He gets 2 Tablespoons for breakfast followed by his toilet break and then a chewstick at 8.30 then 3 tablespoons for dinner at 13.00 the 2 tablespoons for supper at 21.00.
He sometimes gets the trimmings of a joint of meat and the odd raw bone(supervised and then taken off him after 15 mins.)
We have given a lot of thought to his diet and exersise needs and we think we are doing a good job. But we would welcome any positive critisisms as we are quite new dog owners.


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## SixStar (Dec 8, 2009)

Hmm, in my honest opinion, no that's not a good diet for a dog.

Oxo cubes are VERY high in salt and one a day is alot for such a small dog, and the Tesco food is absolutely awful, and since you are feeding so little of it, it isn't providing the required vitamins and minerals a dog needs, and the rest of his diet is not completely - it's majorly lacking in calcium, if nothing else. Also, once the veg and meat is cooked, this destroys alot of the nutrients.

You will be better off feeding him a good quality wet or dry food, or a mixture, or if you want to feed a home prepared diet, that's fine but you need to plan it more carefully. I'd vary the meats used and feed them raw, and feed the vegetables raw too, ditch the Oxo cubes and include whole raw eggs (with shell), raw chicken wings, raw offal and a bit of raw tripe too (you can get this from Pets At Home). 

If you are feeding raw chicken bones you do not need to feed any biscuit for the teeth as the bones will clean them better than anything. 

The Hilife chewsticks have a lot of colourings added to them, so I would look at more natural treats such as tripe sticks or paddywack.


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## andythebus (Feb 2, 2012)

SixStar said:


> Also, once the veg and meat is cooked, this destroys alot of the nutrients.
> 
> You will be better off feeding him a good quality wet or dry food, or a mixture, or if you want to feed a home prepared diet, that's fine but you need to plan it more carefully. I'd vary the meats used and feed them raw, and feed the vegetables raw too.


Mince and veg are both served uncooked. Only the dripping and oxo cube are cooked and drizzeled over the raw meat and veg. Sorry should have been more clear on that one.
I'll think again about using oxo cubes. I never thought about the salt content.Thanx for pointing this out.
We use the raw frozen mince and veg combo because of the ease of preperation and cost effectiveness. We normally prepare enough for 2 days and he seems to enjoy it.
Also the chewsticks he gets will be re-thought through and a replacement will be sought.
Raws eggs will now replace oxo cubes.
We dont have a petstore near us at the minute. The last one closed down(acorn pets) so we do what we can from the local tesos. However we dont generally shop for dogfood from the dogfood aisle as they sell a lot of crap. Hence the raw frozen mince and veg combo.
Is there anything else that we maybe able to purchase from tesco as well eggs that would suit a dogs diet without the badness of colouring and salt content. What would you reccommend?


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## SixStar (Dec 8, 2009)

andythebus said:


> Mince and veg are both served uncooked. Only the dripping and oxo cube are cooked and drizzeled over the raw meat and veg. Sorry should have been more clear on that one.
> I'll think again about using oxo cubes. I never thought about the salt content.Thanx for pointing this out.
> We use the raw frozen mince and veg combo because of the ease of preperation and cost effectiveness. We normally prepare enough for 2 days and he seems to enjoy it.
> Also the chewsticks he gets will be re-thought through and a replacement will be sought.
> ...


Are you able to shop online? Have a look through here - http://www.petforums.co.uk/dog-health-nutrition/255727-updated-dry-dog-food-index.html

Like I said in my first post, try to vary the meat used and introduce raw chicken wings, whole eggs and offal as well. Calcium really is what the diet is massively lacking in at the moment, so you really need to introduce some egg shell and raw bone in before any problems arise, if you want to carry on feeding as you are.

But - I would hazard a guess that a high quality dry food would work out cheaper than what you are currently doing, and it'd be complete too, so no worrying about that. You could still add a little mince and veg if you wanted.


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## sezeelson (Jul 5, 2011)

Feeding your dog home prepared food is definately tricky to get right! Definately agree with swapping the oxo cube for raw egg! I always check salt content before giving anything to my dogs. 

You need to add some raw bones to the diet, for calcium. Also, with raw meat and raw bone you do not need to feed dry food for your dogs teeth as the raw stuff will keep them pretty clean.

I don't vary my dogs diets to much as one of them is quite sensitive to this change so i mainly feed salmon, chicken or turkey and the odd heart, liver or ox tail. Ask your local butchers for any off cuts or offal or even chicken necks and things?

I also make my dogs homemade peanut butter or marmite dog treats! Which they love! :thumbup:


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## andythebus (Feb 2, 2012)

Just gave kenny a whole unbroken egg and he just spent two minutes enjoying it shell an' all.
So whole egg or two per day instead of oxo cube it is then. Eggs are cheap as chips which is good news. As for the cost of feeding him the frozen mince and veg mix the cost is very reasonable. 1KG bag of mince £2.49 1KG bag of mixed veg £0.75. This lasts him about a fortnight give or take.
Chicken drumsticks 1KG 2.00 so also good value.
Good food for thought there peeps.:thumbup:
One other thing about diet though as an afterthought. By feeding him the frozen mince/veg combo it was relatively easy to keep an eye on the ammount of food he was getting. We dont want to overfeed him so how many eggs/chix legs per day would you suggest for a dog of his size.He's a small jack russel size of about 6kg.
We'll still be feeding him mince/egg and veg mix with a chicken leg thrown in. So how much food would be the right ammount.?


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## SixStar (Dec 8, 2009)

andythebus said:


> Just gave kenny a whole unbroken egg and he just spent two minutes enjoying it shell an' all.
> So whole egg or two per day instead of oxo cube it is then. Eggs are cheap as chips which is good news. As for the cost of feeding him the frozen mince and veg mix the cost is very reasonable. 1KG bag of mince £2.49 1KG bag of mixed veg £0.75. This lasts him about a fortnight give or take.
> Chicken drumsticks 1KG 2.00 so also good value.
> Good food for thought there peeps.:thumbup:
> ...


One or two eggs a day is far too many - more like two or three times a week is better.

A chicken drumstick/wing a day, with half of the current meat/veg portion he has should suffice.


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## Sarah1983 (Nov 2, 2011)

Calculate

I used that to calculate the starting point for my dogs and adjusted how much they got fed according to whether they gained, lost or stayed the same. I don't get too hung up on the exact percentage each day, he's on around 500g a day but if one day his meal weighs 400g and another it ways 600g that's fine.

Might also want to look at the raw feeding thread on here since it appears that's the way you're going


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## andythebus (Feb 2, 2012)

cheers will keep looking at that raw food thread as a general guidefence untill i feel confident that i've got it right.
Just like to add that kenny is a jolly jack russel character that has a great temprement and in no way do i feel he has been malnourished.He loves all of his food and is not fussy at all. Except for the crap foods that you can buy. When we got him he was on(excuse my French) Ceaser and Bakers !!!
He still gets his begging food but not to much and nothing on the poisons list such as chocolate,grapes etc
Thanks for all the imput and here's to kenny. The best little dog in the world


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## andythebus (Feb 2, 2012)

Just an update really.
Today was the first time we gave kenny a whole chicken thigh. He took it away to hide it so we took it off him again and butchered it into 2" squares and put them into his food bowl. He basically grazed off them taking a piece every twenty minutes to an hour.
tesco basic frozen chicken portions( thigh,leg and wings) £3.75
So thats his calcium supplement catered for. We're going to try to give him a varried diet from day to day. Going to include Liver, raw eggs,chicken portions and the mince/veg mixture that we've been giving him on an ongoing basis.
gonna use the leftover tesco complete for fishing groundbait and the chewsticks we are going to bin.
What's the forum's view on Tesco Healthy Treats "dental sticks"?:yesnod: or rrr: or 
i'll take a educated guess at  as it seems the dog food industry is more about using up the crap that they cannot use anywhere else more than actual dog welfare, But you never know they might be alright. Seems the Theme for manufactured dog food/treats is bad bad bad.....i'm expecting some more bad news about these


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## SixStar (Dec 8, 2009)

Yep, you've answered your own question - Tesco dental sticks are full of rubbish. There are loads of healthy chews available, but you won't find them in Tesco I'm afraid - just a few suggestions;

Pizzle for Dogs - Great deals at zooplus: Rocco Pizzle 12 cm
Rocco Green Beef Tripe at zooplus
Venison Trachea: Bargain Prices at zooplus
Antos Eurostar Dog Chews - From £0.22
Pet Munchies Chicken Strips Treats for Dogs 100g - £2.35
http://www.vetuk.co.uk/dog-treats-fish4dogs-snacks-c-601_617

The diet you have planned now sounds much better, do go easy when introducing the liver though - just thumbnail sized pieces to start with, and try to include other offal too. But _now_ I'd say you were on the right lines - raw chicken, raw offal, whole eggs, mince and veg sounds like a much better diet than previously.


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## andythebus (Feb 2, 2012)

great stuff. Kenny will be pleased...woof woof:001_tt1::drool:


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## andythebus (Feb 2, 2012)

Another update.:mad2:
so. yesterday we tried kenny with some liver. Just an ounce to start as a wee treat. At first he just didnt know what to make of it. Then he licked the blood off it and dropped it on the carpet.
Then i tried to cut it into smaller bits to make it easier to handle and he ate about a 1cm cube of it. We ended up chucking it in the bin as he just didnt like it.
Next week gonna try heart.
Still lovin' the chicken, mince and veg and the raw eggs. Oh and the human food of course
Let you know about the heart in due course


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## SixStar (Dec 8, 2009)

andythebus said:


> Another update.:mad2:
> so. yesterday we tried kenny with some liver. Just an ounce to start as a wee treat. At first he just didnt know what to make of it. Then he licked the blood off it and dropped it on the carpet.
> Then i tried to cut it into smaller bits to make it easier to handle and he ate about a 1cm cube of it. We ended up chucking it in the bin as he just didnt like it.
> Next week gonna try heart.
> ...


Some dogs, even those fed on raw, just don't take well to raw liver - you could always try flash frying it for a few seconds just to give it that 'cooked' smell, this seems to tempt a lot of dogs. But it's probably best that he didn't eat more than a 1cm portion on his first time - raw liver is incredibly rich and needs introducing in such small quantities, and a 1cm cube sounds about right! So I think that worked out for the best. Glad he is doing well on the other bits though.


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## springfieldbean (Sep 13, 2010)

Sleeping Lion passed on a good method to me of cooking liver in goats' milk - this works with Sherlock. He'll also eat raw liver if it's still frozen. He just won't eat it if it's defrosted and raw - I guess it's the texture.


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## reddogs (Feb 6, 2009)

I'm no expert at all but I thought you had to mince up or cook vegetables for dogs to digest them


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## andythebus (Feb 2, 2012)

reddogs said:


> I'm no expert at all but I thought you had to mince up or cook vegetables for dogs to digest them


kenny loves raw carrot.He'll take carrot from the table as long as it's not too big a peice.
The mixed veg he gets is already in small pieces and we just mix them with raw mince(both from frozen) and he always trys to avoid the veg but cant. If anything the veg helps with his digestion ,as just meat and bone seems to back him up.
Just yesterday he had some trouble passing his number twos because he only had a raw chicken thigh chopped into 1" bits (bone an all)but he was back to himself pretty quickly once he had his veg and mince the following day.
Raw veg has got alot of minerals and vitimins that a dog needs that cant be found in large quantities a pure meat diet. Complete foods have these nutrients added by i dont trust alot of this manufactured crap so small veg is the way forward for kenny to get what he needs. It takes a lot more effort to ensure that kenny gets what's required but we are willing to put in that effort for kenny's welllbeing.
I think we are doing Kenny a service by feeding him good quality,healthy food rather than taking the easier option of a complete meal that we dont know what the hell is in it. The trick is to keep an eye on the end product (or byproduct) and most good dog owners are already doing this by bagging the poops.
One other thing that i have noticed since Kenny's been on this diet is the speed of digestion is about 24hrs. So any nutrients that he has yesterday are passed out again the very next day.It's important that he gets the minerals and vitimins he needs on a day to day basis because they are quite quicky eaten , absorbed and then passed. Tis quite easy to see if we are feeding him right because of the quality of the poops he passes.( too solid(more veg),too runny (more bone)etc.)We think by the quality of his poops that a 60/40 meat/veg combo is about right, with the odd treat thrown in(raw egg,a chip,some pie crust etc.)


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## Muze (Nov 30, 2011)

Dogs have a limited ability to digest veg unless it is pureed.

I make Diz fruit/veggie ice cubes. Pureed banana, berries, garlic, ginger,carrot, green veg etc. then put the puree in ice cube trays. 
Frozen treats for a hot day or easy to defrost and mix with mince


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## Gem&tally (Aug 1, 2015)

Muze said:


> Dogs have a limited ability to digest veg unless it is pureed.
> 
> I make Diz fruit/veggie ice cubes. Pureed banana, berries, garlic, ginger,carrot, green veg etc. then put the puree in ice cube trays.
> Frozen treats for a hot day or easy to defrost and mix with mince


I came on here to confirm something I had read about stock cubes being a no no for dogs due to salt I was already aware that vets claim the onion family to be toxic to dogs and so garlic being significantly more concentrated can cause toxicosis. I thought I would point that out as you have mentioned feeding garlic


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## cinnamontoast (Oct 24, 2010)

Vets claim? It oxidises red blood cells, but it would need to be a fairly significant amount. Some people believe garlic is useful in preventing fleas and some people use it with horse's feed to aid the respiratory system.


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## mrs phas (Apr 6, 2014)

I feed garlic to my three
thunders 10 now and still with us
none of them have ever had fleas or ticks despite often walking in deer heavy areas [thetford forest etc]


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## Muze (Nov 30, 2011)

As with most thing, in appropriate quantities, garlic can be beneficial  
If in doubt, don't feed it.... I';ve never heard of a dog dying of garlic deficiency lol


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