I am sorry to hear about your friends dog. A v sad way to lose them.

We started with kibble only but my pup really wasnt keen. Ended up with tum upsets etc. and it was always hard to get her back onto it whereas she tolerated wet no problem. In the end, I put her onto mostly wet and recently - all wet.

My preference is a food that contains plenty of water. Wet, raw or a combination of wet and kibble. At least if it's all kibble, I would want it well moistened and not rely on my dog drinking enough to compensate.

I used to have a horse and as they cant be sick, you have to b v careful and avoid anything that may cause tummy ache. I automatically take the same care with Heidi.

Dogperson there are some excellent wet and dried foods available. Just as there are plenty of rubbish ones. Likewise, a raw diet is excellent but no good for your dog if it's not properly balanced.

Goblin I've frequented this section like a rash since I first joined and I'm sure there are lots of other non raw feeders who do too. Perhaps the reason for more replies from raw feeders is because most of the threads here relate to raw these days so the rest sit back a bit a bit

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"Life is mostly froth and bubble, Two things stand like stone,
Kindness in another’s trouble, Courage in your own”

I would disagree there, even when it comes to non-raw topics raw feeders tend to answer more topics and it can give a false impression and make people feel guilty for not feeding it. Yes there are some non-raw posters here but they are simply not as common. You only have to look at a comparison between How/Why did you decide what to feed your dogs? (in this section) and Wet/Dry/Mixed or Raw ? (in main chat) to see an example of this. It's important people realize when they see so many people feeding raw that it is not the only acceptable method of feeding and many people have healthy dogs feeding high quality kibble and wet food as well. It's all about making informed choices, not being influenced by numbers.

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I can only speak personally and re-iterate what I already said - because of the raw monopoly atm I would rather take a back seat. It's only been in the last 6 months or so that it's been like this. Prior to that, my name and lots of others were commonplace on food threads. (they havent all left).

There were times when I put forward the benefits of wet food only to be shot down in flames with the "raw is best" attitude. Fair enough, for me wet is better but if that's not what people want to hear, I definately dont want to argue about it - been there.

A year ago, all types of food were discussed openly here. People put forward their views without prejudice. I thoroughly enjoyed it and have a much interest is food/nutrition as the next person. Times change but my interest in food remains

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"Life is mostly froth and bubble, Two things stand like stone,
Kindness in another’s trouble, Courage in your own”

I agree with Mum2Heidi. I read the Dog Health and Nutrition section every day but rarely post anymore. I'm currently feeding Naturediet and recently added Natures Menu raw blocks into the mix. To me, this is a great routine, to others it may not be, but I'm afraid I don't want to spend my time justifying myself to others anymore as it's certainly felt like that at times.

Have to admit. I feed raw and still feel a tad like that. Because I use pre made minces, add veg, potato and shock horror, a little rice.

There is the attitude by some posters (not Golblin, always thought Goblins posts were very balanced) that prey model is THE only way to go and will go onto any food thread and ram raw down the OP's throat no matter what the original question was.

I'm obviously pro raw, but please tell me I don't ram it down people's throats?

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I agree with what you say there!

Looking back a year or so ago there was loads of different topics concerning foods and all very interesting,but now i see posters looking for advice only to be replied with,i feed raw and thats the best!

Other members"i do not mean all"but if you feed raw thats your choice,but give other posters a proper reply rather than advancing to raw!

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There is the Sticky thread on bloat that would be worth your time reading.

I've seen one dog that had bloat, it died the following day during treatment.

The dog in question was a small toy breed, it was fed home-made wet food in an environment of food competition and I considered that as the "cause".

Bowls exist to slow down fast eaters - you might find out if the dog was a speed-eater?

I have a friend that feeds her big dogs from bowls on a raised platform to prevent bloat - but have also read that this increases the risk of bloat?

Ditto here - I used to post a lot about food but threads seem to get over-run with raw feeders so I don't bother so much any more because I feel like what I have to say just lets lost. This isn't a criticism of the raw feeders at all, it's just how the balance of feeders is.

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It's a shame to see how many people sit back rather than post on this section atm.

Like Staffybull says, if you go back a while there was a selection of threads relating to wet, dry and raw. Now when you look down thro it's all raw.:nonod

I've nothing against raw but it would be great to get all the options back up there again. I really miss it

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"Life is mostly froth and bubble, Two things stand like stone,
Kindness in another’s trouble, Courage in your own”

Bloat (Gastric Dilation) and Torsion (Gastric Dilation and Volvulus) is something which some breeds can be predisposed to including GSD. The risks of this occurring increase/decrease with breed, certain lines in breeds (thought to be familial), time between exercise and feeding, stress etc.

And I have had a dog die as a result of having a GDV.

There is no peer reviewed scientific research which conclusively proves that the feeding of dry food increases the risk of GD/GDV per se.

Please do not be bullied into feeding raw or feel somehow inferior by the accusation of some who imply that all commercial diets are made from cheap ingredients, that is not true and many people feed commercial diets successfully and their dogs do well on them.

There is also no peer reviewed scientific research that proves that feeding raw and commercial foods together increases the risk of GD/GDV. In fact many thousands of people feed commercial plus raw very successfully.

So, what is the answer?

Well unfortunately there is no guarantee that ANY regime of feeding, exercising etc will PREVENT GD or GDV.

I followed all the rules and still have experienced 1 x GD and 2 x GDV.

So, feed what YOU feel comfortable with and what you think is best after research.

Feed twice a day (same amount, just split between two meals)

Leave a minimum of one hour between feeding and exercise.

There are appears to be little difference between raised and lowered bowls, I try to follow nature……….

And if buying a pup, ask what the history, of any, is of GD/GDV in the breeding stock.