[auburnkurls]

Hi there - I just adopted a 10 yr old brother sister American Eskimo pair: Cleo and Brutus.

Their previous owners fed them Pedigree Large Breed Healthy Joints dog food. Seems the wrong choice for them... what do you think?

They were also "fed" by leaving out a bowl of the stuff all day long while everyone was gone all day long.

So, Trying to think of the best way to adjust their feeding habits slowly over time. I would like to feed them two meals per day, morning and night with no food avail in the interim. We are home with them 80% of the time. They are alone maybe 3-5 hours per day 2-3 days per week.

Anyway - I bought a small bag of Science Diet Mature 7+ small bites for them and thought I would slowly start mixing this in the Pedigree the previous owner gave me. They seem to turn up their noses at any dried food. They are more interested in scrounging for table scraps... Tonight I finally got them to eat some of the dry when I poured the drippings from our steaks over the food as a treat.

I have also considered homemade dog food, cooking chicken rice ground beef fish or veggies all together for them. What's the best way to go about doing this for them and how cost effective is it? I don't want my husband getting ticked off if I put more effort into cooking the dogs food then I do for him.


When I was growing up, my dad rescued collies. He would always mix raw egg and grated cheddar cheese into Eukanuba or Iams for the Collies... is that OK?

Any feed back on feeding would be greatly appreciated.

[RonE]

Spend some time browsing through the threads on this subforum. There are lots of opinions about dog food.

One near-consensus opinion is that you could do a lot better than Science Diet for about the same money. My choice is Canidae, but there are other premium kibbles.

Dogs who have been free-fed, or given table scraps or canned, will turn up their noses at scheduled kibble feedings but, if healthy (as confirmed by a vet,) will come around in a few days. By feeding twice-a-day with some supervision, you can more closely monitor what and how much each is eating.

Do some reading of the other threads here and then come back with questions.

[rayww]

Is all depend on you ?
You can give them so-called Fresh People Food . Example like fresh chicken and turkey and beef , vegetables and fruits , eggs , rice and oatmeal . This is what we are eating daily . And the same time , can save money .
Or bring your dog to see your vet to get the complate product list which is suitable for you dog . But , you will suffering from nutritionally related problems , and the vet bills can be make you a shock !.

[RonE]

Vets, like human doctors, are not typically trained in nutrition much beyond the basics. Also, most will have Science Diet on the shelves, and not necessarily because it is the best choice for your dog.

Humans and dogs have different nutritional needs because, as much as we might think otherwise, we are different species. (With canines being the superior one in many ways.) People DO cook for their dogs or feed raw, but it's not as simple as just feeding them whatever we happen to be eating.

If you haven't, read this "sticky" at the top of this dog food forum:

http://www.dogforums.com/5-dog-food-...alculator.html (Dog Food calculator)