hi i am the owner of a labrador puppy and was wondering at the best way to feed him raw or commercial tinned food as my friend has advised me please help

Hi Hicky, how long have you had your pup? I'd ask your breeder/previous owner what they were feeding it and then try and feed the same as you can cause lots of tummy problems by changing the food to soon. I can't advise on raw/canned meet as my dogs are always on dry.

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Mia - Dogue de Bordeaux
Teddy - Dogue de Bordeaux - Qualified for Crufts 2010 Whoo
Amber - Dogue de Bordeaux
Munch & Bunch - Leopard Gekos

A couple of questions What age is the puppy and how long have you had him? If you have just got him I would not recommend changing his diet, I would continue to feed him the same food as his breeder was feeding until he has settled in to his new home. Many people make the mistake of changing foods too quickly and then suffer with trips to the vets, lots of worrying, costs of vet examination (if not insured) and costly "special" foods.

If you have never fed raw I would suggest doing some research beforehand, whilst this is the best diet for your dog it can daunting initially.

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Karen

www.kiskasiberians.co.uk - The home of Hypoallergenic Siberian Cats


www.rawfed.com - Information on Raw Feeding

we have had him about 10 weeks thanks for your advice we got the pup from a rescue they were feeding him dried food, just had a friend ya know the sort, that has put a thought in my head so thought i would come on and get some advice from good owners and this seems like the place to be, thanks again for your advice

I have been recommended Burns Pet Nutrition - Real Food For Pets and I recommend it to anyone with a new puppy. Its just natural meat and full of goodness

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if you want to feed raw the best thing is to get a book call give your dog a bone by dr ian billinghurst, it will tell you everything you need to know.

my dogs love it and i know what they are eating and no rubbish in there dog food, like in dry or tinned food.

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Stryder the Utonagan


www.carolscaninecare.co.uk

http://www.nuadalseurope.co.uk/

I feed my pack of 5 raw, and also my cat is semi-raw and not only is it a healthier diet but I find MUCH cheaper!! It's not something to do lightly though and I did make sure I did alot of research and introduced them very slowly to the diet. I've fed it for 3 years now and have absolutely no intention of ever going back to commerical food. If you are really interested the best place to get help is Brit Barf forum, they don't just advocate the Barf diet and are willing to help if you just want to part feed raw or full feed.

BritBarf | Yahoo! Groups

My GSD pup was raw weaned, so obviously still raw fed. To me it is far more natural than feeding commercial food that has all kinds of additives in it. I am convinced that whatever muck they put into commercial food caused the cancer in my old Newfoundland. She was the first dog I have had with cancer, and she was also the first dog fed on commercial food.

Have a look at this site: | if you go down the page there is a link to Ann's raw feeding site, she has also written a book called The Dog's Dinner which is really good. She would be very happy to help you where raw feeding is concerned if you want to email her, her addy is on her site

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Galaxybears Newfoundlands, GSD's and Cocker Spaniels

I have 2 labs , both coming up for 2 years old , i looked into feeding raw as niether of them had been bred very well and both have elbow joint problems , I know a lot more now about the type of dog to buy and although i wouldnt change my 2 for the world i would sudgest not knowing where your pup was bred or if it was from healthy stock , it may be safe to assume that joint problems may also be a cause for concern at some point in its life .
For me feeding raw gives me the piece of mind that im giving them the best diet possible to protect the joints as natural glucosamine and condroitin is found in bone and cartilage , I would reccomend the same book as recommended already , dr ian billinghurst feed your dog a bone , also there are lots of past threads on here about raw feeding . Research is paramount though ,and a second chest freezer to put all the food in lol we got our second hand for £30 . There are good suppliers of raw food such as Landywoods , i feed 2 adult labs for about £40 for 8 weeks , thats the meat side there is also veg pulp you can prepare yourself cheep again cos you can use leftover fruit and veg all raw just blended down , i then bag it in portions and freez it . It may sound like a lot of hard work but all i do is make a phonecall order the food await delivery put it in the freezer , remember to take food out the nigh t before and bobs your uncle . I may also spend 30 mins once every 2 weeks doing all my veg pulp and bagging it .

If on the other hand if you descide its not for you then if your happy with the food your pup is on then stick to it , most dry food change overs i would recommend doing over the course of a week , but swapping to raw should pose little or no tummy trouble so an imediate swap should be cool .

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