# A couple of newbie questions!



## Sarahchibird (Aug 5, 2013)

Hi,

So 3 weeks today my baby will be coming home & I'm trying to get organised!
I'm really confused about the food situation! I always thought there was canned dog food & dry dog food & that a mixture of both was considered best?
Since joining here, I've seen a few people have mentioned they feed their dogs RAW (I have no real idea what that really means!) plus I've heard people mention supplements etc - again had no idea such things existed for dogs!
I've tried reading through the stickys etc & not really any the wiser & although I realise a lot of it is going to be own to personal preference, I would really appreciate your opinions!
Soooooo if you were me, what would you be aiming to do diet wise for the new addition?
Ps - She is being weaned on Royal Canin if that helps any?


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## Sarahchibird (Aug 5, 2013)

Anyone?!


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## first_time_chi_owner (Oct 12, 2012)

It depends what your comfortable feeding. We feed raw and personally its the best thing we ever did, but it doesn't work for everyone

If you check out dogfoodadvisor (there's a uk version) it will tell you how your food is rated. I'm also from the uk and before a fed raw we used eden which is a 5* kibble and a uk company. 

It honestly depends if you want to go down a raw, kibble, canned or mixture of all three route

I am by no means an expert but I can see a difference in feeding raw over kibble. Good luck 

Oh and we supplement salmon and coconut oil 


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## Winstonsmum (Jul 2, 2013)

You sound just like me before we bought Winston home! I joined this site 3 weeks before we bought him back so i could get as clued up as possible and be completely ready for him! 

I have looked into feeding raw, and I think it is a great idea, but my personal choice is not to do it every meal, every day. But we havent started doing this yet so i cant really comment too much on feeding raw.

When we first got Winston he was on pedigree wet and dry food (breeders choice). Pedigree and bakers are BIG no goes for dog food, please steer well clear of them! 

I had a look round pets at home, and Winston now has Wainwrights dogs best friend (this is pets at home own brand). I get the wet and dry food and mix it together for him. They come in lots of different flavours to give him a variety. It doesnt contain any ingredients that dogs tend to be allergic to such as wheat or mixed meat proteins. The ingredients in it are duck and brown rice, with a bit of seaweed, chicory root and calcium. I read reviews about it online and has had some outstanding comments. 

What I would suggest you do is get a can of pedigree/bakers and compare the ingredients to something like wainwrights, you will see how much they add that you wont have a clue what it is. I for one didnt want to feed that to my little pup! 

I'm not overly clued up on the supplements but I believe these are just additional things others add to their dogs food to help things like skin, coat, teeth, stools etc

good luck


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## Rolo n Buttons (Sep 22, 2012)

I've never been brave enough to attempt raw. My 2 have a little wet food (purely because they like it and eat it with the kibble, it's seems to encourage them). I changed from Royal Canin (supposed to be awful) to Canagan. Canagan is all natural with no beet pulp or added grain etc. I spent hours researching! The kibble size is a bit larger than Royal Canin but my 2 managed it right from when they were little 


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## Sarahchibird (Aug 5, 2013)

Thank you so much all for replying! I will go & check out the Dog Food website!
I'm so confused right now! Sob! I don't even know what kibble is & thought royal canin was supposed to be good! (sounds the business ey?!) 
I'm veggie so not sure I could stomach this RAW business, am thinking a good quality dog food (whatever that turns out to be) & some sort of supplement might be the best way forward for us at the minute?!?


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## I<3Charlie-chi (Feb 25, 2011)

Another option is ziwipeak, it's dehydrated raw. So basically as good as you can get without having to deal with raw meat. I'm a veggie too and can't stand to touch meat but I would like to sort myself out and feel a little bit now and again just because I know my dogs would enjoy it! Ziwipeak is like little squares of jerky, it costs 17.99 for a 1kg bag which sounds a lot but you don't need to feed much so it works out not too bad! 
You could always email them and ask for a sample to be sent out to you, that's what I did. I didn't want to buy a bag if my two didn't like it! Xx


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## Sarahchibird (Aug 5, 2013)

I<3Charlie-chi said:


> Another option is ziwipeak, it's dehydrated raw. So basically as good as you can get without having to deal with raw meat. I'm a veggie too and can't stand to touch meat but I would like to sort myself out and feel a little bit now and again just because I know my dogs would enjoy it! Ziwipeak is like little squares of jerky, it costs 17.99 for a 1kg bag which sounds a lot but you don't need to feed much so it works out not too bad!
> You could always email them and ask for a sample to be sent out to you, that's what I did. I didn't want to buy a bag if my two didn't like it! Xx



Ooooooh great! That sounds like a good alternative for us! So would you make this say, one of the meals out of however many a day? 
Also, where do you get your supplements from? Thanks again


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## Chi-mom-2B (Nov 7, 2012)

Sarahchibird, something that I like, when it comes to dog food ingredients, is when the ingredient list specifies, what animal the protein or organs come from (for example chicken liver instead of animal liver ...). The more specific the ingredient list, the easier to read and understand, the better the food. The food is only as good as the sum of its ingredients.
When I read the list on Bijou's frozen raw food, I laughingly say that I would consider frying it up for myself ... 

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## Rolo n Buttons (Sep 22, 2012)

I obviously don't know your circumstances but may I just point out that although Ziwipeak is excellent if you want to go down that road it is majorly expensive here in England as its imported in. Canagan was the best quality food I could find for a moderate price. Mine have the free range chicken variety. Ziwipeak was 3 times the price for a smaller amount. I get it from Pets Corner if you have one near you. Another option is Eden, all natural kibble again although mine didn't like as that as it has some sort of fish oil in it and they don't like fish. You can get a sample bag of that if their website for £5. 


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## I<3Charlie-chi (Feb 25, 2011)

Sarahchibird said:


> Ooooooh great! That sounds like a good alternative for us! So would you make this say, one of the meals out of however many a day?
> Also, where do you get your supplements from? Thanks again


I feed 2 meals a day of ziwipeak but you will need to feed a puppy more times a day. I buy my food from petplanet and if you spend over £39 you get free delivery, I also use grizzly salmon oil from here too and just squirt a little onto their food a few times a week. I use a supplement called nupro it's the one in the silver tub and I get this from amazon. 
In the near future I plan to conquer my phobia of raw meat in order to treat my two lol! I know nothing about feeding raw apart from if I feed anything raw it will replace one of the ziwipeak meals xx


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## Sarahchibird (Aug 5, 2013)

Rolo n Buttons said:


> I obviously don't know your circumstances but may I just point out that although Ziwipeak is excellent if you want to go down that road it is majorly expensive here in England as its imported in. Canagan was the best quality food I could find for a moderate price. Mine have the free range chicken variety. Ziwipeak was 3 times the price for a smaller amount. I get it from Pets Corner if you have one near you. Another option is Eden, all natural kibble again although mine didn't like as that as it has some sort of fish oil in it and they don't like fish. You can get a sample bag of that if their website for £5.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


 Thanks for that, we dont have a pets corner near us, had a proper look into Eden & ordered a sample bag off their site. Got great reveiws On whichdogfood.co.uk!


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## guccigrande (Apr 17, 2011)

I personally think applaws and orijen are really good and that is what I use.
I have read up on feeding raw, but I somehow cant get myself to try it.
But if you have a picky little one she may refuse to eat a lot of the brands out there like my prada
The only way she would go near orijen is if it is mixed with other kibble or mixed with wet food


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## Wicked Pixie (Oct 14, 2011)

My advice would be to get a small bag of whatever the breeder is feeding. You will want to change later, (Royal Canin is a middle of the road food, not the worst but there are definitely better options) but for the settling in period it is best to keep to the food and feeding schedule the pup is used to. Leaving mum and siblings and going to a new place or the first time is hugely stressful for a puppy, you don't need the added stress of dietary changes.
When she is settled in you can change her onto whatever you want to feed. Whether you choose raw, kibbled, canned, dehydrated or whatever, you should be looking for the same things: a quality meat based diet that is low in carbs and grain free. The meat should be the main ingredient and come from known sources. Dogs do not need any form of grain in their diet, they are designed to get their energy from protein and fats, not carbohydrates. Grains and other carbs are added to dog food as cheap fillers, something your puppy just doesn't need.
I feed raw, and would never go back to commercial dog food. The benefits are huge, and it doesn't have to be complicated, it becomes second nature after a while. For a puppy and newbie-to-raw owners, I would recommend a pre-made raw complete diet, such as Nutriment or Natural Instinct, with ZiwiPeak as the dry option for overnight etc.


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## Sarahchibird (Aug 5, 2013)

guccigrande said:


> I personally think applaws and orijen are really good and that is what I use.
> I have read up on feeding raw, but I somehow cant get myself to try it.
> But if you have a picky little one she may refuse to eat a lot of the brands out there like my prada
> The only way she would go near orijen is if it is mixed with other kibble or mixed with wet food


 That is my worry! I have just ordered her a sample bag of Eden, so can see if she likes it before I invest in a larger bag, she is coming home with a bag of what she's been weaned on so at least I will have that to fall back on if she isn't keen. 
With the dogs that eat kibble, do they just eat kibble for their 3 (or however many) meals a day? I don't want to upset her tummy by swapping her food around all the time but I'm just thinking I wouldn't be thrilled at eating cornflakes 3 times a day for the rest of my days! Probably not a very good comparison I know, esp if you were getting everything your body needed from the cornflakes (or Cheerios or whatever!


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## Sarahchibird (Aug 5, 2013)

Wicked Pixie said:


> My advice would be to get a small bag of whatever the breeder is feeding. You will want to change later, (Royal Canin is a middle of the road food, not the worst but there are definitely better options) but for the settling in period it is best to keep to the food and feeding schedule the pup is used to. Leaving mum and siblings and going to a new place or the first time is hugely stressful for a puppy, you don't need the added stress of dietary changes.
> When she is settled in you can change her onto whatever you want to feed. Whether you choose raw, kibbled, canned, dehydrated or whatever, you should be looking for the same things: a quality meat based diet that is low in carbs and grain free. The meat should be the main ingredient and come from known sources. Dogs do not need any form of grain in their diet, they are designed to get their energy from protein and fats, not carbohydrates. Grains and other carbs are added to dog food as cheap fillers, something your puppy just doesn't need.
> I feed raw, and would never go back to commercial dog food. The benefits are huge, and it doesn't have to be complicated, it becomes second nature after a while. For a puppy and newbie-to-raw owners, I would recommend a pre-made raw complete diet, such as Nutriment or Natural Instinct, with ZiwiPeak as the dry option for overnight etc.


 Hi, thank you for that, you must've posted as I was typing so I missed your reply. She will be coming home with a bag of what she's been weaned on to so there is no worrys there & I have just ordered a sample bag of Eden to try her with when she's settled (have no idea how long the sample bag is likely to last mind you!) I think Raw is something I will come back to when we are all settled in as a family, it's too much for my poor brain to comprehend right now, but defiantly something I will come back to.
With regards to changing foods over/trying new foods is it better to try one meal a day for a while before switching completely if no problems, do you think?


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## Wicked Pixie (Oct 14, 2011)

I would transition more gradually with a young pup. Just a few of the new kibbles mixed in with the familiar ones, gradually increasing the amount of the new. I would do this at every meal, and change over at the puppys pace.
Raw feeding isn't complicated, if you can feed yourself correctly, you can feed your dog. There is plenty to read on the subject, the article that Huly posted yesterday is a great place to start.


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