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Curious - feeding 4 month old puppy

Chamberlain

Well-known member
Hello Everyone-
I was wondering what kind of dog food everyone feeds their Cavalier. cavtiny



Thanks!
 
Homemade, raw food -- chunks of meat, ground vegetables, occasionally some cooked grain, and supplements to balance it all.

Thats another question I have, what supplements do you use? Chamberlain is only four months old, so I am not sure when to start ect or what to buy!
 
Hi

Raw meat ie lamb neck ,breast and chops and beef mince and chicken wings and steamed fish plus vegetables and supplements such as a vit e ,omega 3 ,garlic and seraquin or glycoflex capsules/tablet.:)
 
lindylou

hi
i feed my louie on cesar( chickin and turkey) and bakers complet dog biscuits chicken with veg he's a fussy eater
 
Hi lindylou

Pls check the ingredients on your Bakers I don't think its highly thought of by many here ,consider Burns or Royal Canin or JWB the content of these and other similar foods is better. :)
 
My Cavie Lola is on Orijen fish. She also has Yumove and green lipped muscle tablets for her joints, cod liver oil and plaque off so she doesn't get tartar :)

My others are on raw as well as Orijen, but Lola's stomach doesn't agree with it :/
 
Coco is eating NOW!, however she does not seem to be a fan of that food. I am starting to mix in Orijen, she seems a little more interested but not terribly. I am planning on switching her to Ziwi Peak when I am done with this bag. From the reviews I have read, most dogs think this food is a treat!

I would love to feed raw, but I just do not have the time to prepare it. I hardly cook for myself hehe...:cool:
 
Thats another question I have, what supplements do you use? Chamberlain is only four months old, so I am not sure when to start ect or what to buy!

We, who fed raw, home-prepared meals, follow advice about supplements from the experts. There is information about raw diets at http://www.cavalierhealth.org/diets.htm#Home-Prepared_Diets Our supplements include bone meal, which is essential to off-set the phosphorus in raw meat.

I suggest starting out by reading the books listed on that webpage.
 
Jasper my 10 yr old has always been a picky eater so he has tinned food, cesars, butchers senior and fresh chicken and small bite mixer, Ollie my pup is not a bit fussy and eats anything, I wanted him have dried food and he was on Royal Canin until I found out on here it causes cancer so he has now gone on to JWB with no problems, he also has a small amount of raw mince and butchers puppy food as present. Both always have their sunday dinners of fresh chicken veg etc which they love.
 
If you want to feed raw I suggest you do a lot of research first - the books recommended by Rod's website are very good - and join a group such as Yahoo's Britbarf - their documents about feeding raw are very helpful, but be careful about some of the posts as they are totally dismissive about feeding veg. #see below

Adult dogs need about 2-3% of their body weight in food per day, depending on age and activity levels - mine seem to need 3.5% to maintain their weight as they are very active.

Puppies will require up to 10% of their present weight at about 8 weeks old, tapering down to about 6% whilst they are still growing.

This is a new supplement but looks good as it would be easier than giving lots of different things and struggling with amounts. http://www.petplus.info/index.htm made by a vet.


I give about 25-30% veg and fruit mix - obviously no onions, leeks, citrus etc.. Sweet potatoes and squashes I lightly cook first. The rest is minced or pureed in the blender. They do also have cooked potato - they love mash!!They have vegetables and fruit in season, I aim for 2/3 of a banana per week for potassium, in 2 portions. Usually at least 2/3 veg and 1/3 fruit, berries in season. Root vegetables soldify poo, above ground veg loosen poo, so you need to find a balance to suit your dog.

Also 1 dessertspoon of natural live [BIO] yogurt per day - 1 tsp for a pup - not the fruit ones.


I obtain raw meats from my local supplier of Durham Animal Feeds - mine have lamb, beef, turkey [I try to avoid chicken as turkeys tend to have a vegetarian diet and better welfare - I would not like to feed battery chicken], tripe [which is great for the stomachs - I particularly give it if they have a stomach upset] In the summer we are lucky to be given locally shot rabbits which I have learnt to dress myself!! I don't feel Cavaliers are capable of dealing with a whole rabbit, so I gut it and remove the head, paws etc. I'm actually vegetarian so find it a struggle but have learnt - they weigh about 1kg after dressing and other wise they just bin them which is a dreadful waste. We've had about 20 this year - If freeze them and ration it out as it's the dog's favourite.

I do occasionally buy better welfare, vegetarian fed chickens, which I mince myself.

They have cottage cheese and raw egg occasionally [my own eggs so I know they are free of salmonella etc], obviously only free range eggs if you are buying them.

They also have oily fish about once a week, mine won't eat raw fish so I lightly cook it - they have tinned sardines, very occasionally tuna [but that can be high in mercury so it's a very rare treat], mackerel, salmon trimmings [Morrison's are good for these, I cook it and then strip of the meat. You can bake the skin on a low heat until dry for a treat] Whitebait - whatever is on special offer or reduced!!Sometimes white fish - if you have a good fishmongers, you can occasionally get trimmings free from them - here it's a fight to get them before the lobster fishermen as they use them as bait!!


There are various companies now supplying ready made diets - Darlings prepared a food specifically for your dog's needs, which is excellent - several board members are feeding this very successfully. http://www.darlingsrealdogfood.com/



Bones should form around 5-15% of the weight of the diet. Muscle meat, which for raw feeding purpose includes the 'offals' tripe, tongue and heart should be around 60-70%, and glandular organs such as liver and kidney from 10-20%. Mine will only eat this very finely mince or lightly cooked. I hate the smell of kidneys cooking - and one morning when I was doing that, I thought "I would never have done this for my husband - but I'm doing it for my dogs!!!" I give a max of 10% liver/kidney.





Lots to think about...if you are going to do it, you have to do it properly and not just throw them a chicken wing and hope for the best...


If you want to feed chicken wings, use rose pruners [kept for the purpose!] to break the bone into smaller pieces, so they don't choke on it - in the last couple of years several King Charles and Cavaliers have died from choking on chicken wings, sometimes in front of their guardians


You can also give lamb ribs, you might be able to get those free from a wholesale butcher. I give chicken carcasses occasionally, rabbit pices too.


Supplements - Luposan do an excellent bonemeal supplement which we give twice a week, http://www.luposan.com/en/biomineral.html

Lupoderm http://www.luposan-arabia.com/lupoderm-product.htm alternate days with Salmon oil

all obtainable from http://www.markusmuehle.de/en/


who, if after reading all this you decide to go back to kibble!, do an excellent kibble!!!

James Wellbeloved is also very good, then Burns.

Bakers is high in colours and poorer quality ingredients. Orijen seems to very rich and many Cavaliers cannot tolerate it.
 
Our breeder feeds her puppies Artemis Fresh Mix puppy food, so that's what our new puppy is getting for now.

She recommended NuVet vitamins as well.
 
Phew...I always feel so overwhelmed when I walk into the dog food aisle. I also feel like what you are feeding them is a big debate within the dog world, I am always so nervous that someone is going to pick a fight with me over what I am feeding him!

I know that I will not being feeding "raw" to Chamberlain at this time. But thank you for all the above posts. The information has been really helpful and I am going to save it for future use!

Does anyone know of a website that lets you compare dog food brands against each other? I want to make sure I am feeding him the best, but I don't want to just buy the most expensive brand because sometimes that isn't always best.
 
I am a bit alarmed that anyone would have stated that Royal Canin causes cancer!!! :yikes can you let me know the thread? This is patently not true or it would not be on sale - I have not read any study suggesting anything of the sort and it is actually libelous for such an unproven claim to be posted and I wish to remove it. :eek: If anyone has any documentation for this type of claim - which means a published, formal study or published article and not an anecdote or a post on a website that also had no documentation for such a deeply serious claim- then I am fine with something like that being posted. (y)

Nicki and others have some good suggestions. I fed Royal Canin, James Wellbeloved, raw and various other things over many years. On raw, along with various caveats, some raw-feeding good breeders, such as Laura Lang of Roycroft, do not believe puppies should get a raw diet- she has more details on her Roycroftcavaliers.com website.

I always fed an adult kibble from puppyhood onwards, I like to make home cooked stews etc as well or supplement kibble with 'real' food or a quality tinned. I understand one of the prepared raw diets is also now available in Ireland so may start getting that occasionally.

I like to feed a variety of meal types with a good though not premium-cost dry as a central part. I feel James Wellbeloved is great quality, simple ingredients. But think that's just a European brand. In N America people are spoiled for choice as there a so many kibbles, raw diets, good tinned foods etc!

Btw you are right, some of the biggest dog owner debates are based around diet choice! I always say, just keep informed, don't be bullied into feeling you must feed one thing or another, and consider rotating around foods anyway so that a dog isn't on one dull dry thing for life. :) not keeping several bags at once but feeding one thing for a while then maybe trying something else or a different flavour of the same brand. I do this and have no fussy eaters! :lol: There are lots of ideas for home cooked meals in the library section plus Rupert's Cookbook fundraiser available from Nicki is packed with good recipes too!
 
Btw yes there are a couple of dog food comparison sites, one is well known and someone likely has the link (can't remember it offhand and am on the ferry with my iPad, a bit tedious to try to hunt down). but a caveat is the well known known one has no clear explanation of how they make decisions except based on their own assumptions about what makes a good food, and also don't give their own names or qualifications which I find really unacceptable as why should anyone trust a mystery source? I ink some of their reviews are nonsensical and because the. 'allergy ingredients to avoid' affect so few dogs I cannot imagine this matters much for the vast majority of dogs. It would be like making children avoid large numbers of food groups simply because they sometimes cause allergies in some children... And oddly though dairy products are one of the leading causes of allergy, you find people who promote this site often giving yogurt etc in diets... :lol: Personally, I'd avoid soy and artificial preservatives and colourings, but other than that think most foods work perfectly fine. :) Supermarket foods are generally the most indifferent in quality but that said our family had dogs and cats live to great age on supermarket foods when I was a kid!... :p
 
I'm feeding solid gold, and Guinness and I have both been very happy with it. Other brands I would look for are Addiction (they make a kibble, and dehydrated raw), and there was one that's like Holistic Selects or something, we were given a sardine kibble as a trial that was reported to be delicious.

Foods I would avoid: science diet, and beneful. I'm pretty sure the main ingredient in beneful is food coloring, it's a rainbow!
 
Foods I would avoid: science diet, and beneful. I'm pretty sure the main ingredient in beneful is food coloring, it's a rainbow!


:rotfl: So true!! I have been feeding Chamberlain Purina Pro Plan, Small Breed Puppy.... So far I like it, but I would like to compare it to other dog foods to see what is best for him.
 
All dogs are very different and what works for one doesnt work for others.

I have aways fed Burns and I truely beleive it is a fabulous food- the only downside being that it expands a great deal in water which means when they eat it it can expand 4 fold in their tummys. I always put water on it first though to stop it happening and some flavours are better than others. The duck and brown rice is the best for that.

Ruby started off as a puppy on the mini bites and she grew very nicely with it and developed a lovely coat. They are small enough for tiny mouths and has all the goodness needed for a growing pup.

Once she hit 8 months I put her on the adult food. Once she was spayed she ballooned (completely my fault for not adjusting her intake) from 9kg to 11.4kg and at that point she went on the High oats variety which is their diet/senior variety and went back to 10kg which was lovely.

Both my 2 now have a mixture and I buy the Natures Menu frozen nuggets which are a mixture of fruit and veg and tripe or lamb or rabbit which I defrost.
Its very cheap at just £2.98 a bag in Pets at Home and one bag lasts me 3 weeks.
They have half kibble of Burns and 2 nuggets each per meal and they are maintaining a lovely weight.
They also have Yumega oil and Salmon Oil supplements.

I have always avoided brands available in Supermarkets and read up alot of detail. If Burns is unavailable I give them James Wellbeloved and they tolerate the quick change very easily with no upset tummys at all.

He should be on a puppy food till around 6 months and then weaned on to an adult food. The only difference really is the content and puppy foods are higher in Protein I beleive which helps growth and gives them all the energy they need but once they stop growing so much the extra energy in the puppy food will just store as fat.

Correct me if Im wrong someone!
 
Bailey and Dylan get James Wellbeloved lamb and vegetable kibble plus one pouch of James Wellbeloved wet food between them per day.
 
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