What do you feed your doodle?

[Janette Baillie]

Hi

I am new to the site.  I am wondering what you feed your doodle?  I am looking at possibly making as switch in dry kibble and of course want the best for my dogs.  What has worked well for yours?

[Janette Baillie]

The Canidae all life stages that I am presently feeding my dogs is a 5star on the dog food analysis site. But then they go on to say that it contains grains and fish meal as a minor ingredient, with no statement of ethoxyquin use. I have been doing a lot of reading lately, and the dog food analysis other site, the boxer owner's forum, states that ethoxyquin is used to stablize fish meal, and althought the dog food manufacturer's do not add it in their forumulas, it could be present in any fish meal that is prepared for pet food consumption. So that could be any of the foods that contain fish meal.
It's getting to be very confusing!

[Dan, Judi, & Timbow]

Hi Janette. There are a few pet food companies, such as Fromm & Orijen, that state on their website that their food is ethoxyquin free. It is very confusing though. We had a discussion a few months ago about foods that contain ethoxyquin and foods that don't, I will try to find it for you. :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Ethoxyquin is used as a preservative in fish meals that are shipped to the manufacturers from other sources; some fishmeal producers use other, safer preservatives, but they are more expensive.
And some companies, like Orijen, make the fish meal that is used in their products themselves, so they have full control & knowledge of what it contains. Companies that purchase ingredients through food brokers who in turn purchase ingredients from other companies sometimes truly don't even know what's in them.

[Dan, Judi, & Timbow]

Here it is!

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/i-have-...

Happy Reading. heehee. :)

[Jennifer Goaring]

Hey I was going to post a topic called "what do you feed your doodle?" and here it is already posted! So I am copying something I posted to the naturally living doodles group here about this same topic...

Phasing out the Kibble...

So I am trying out raw feeding... or at least a mixture of raw and well made non-kibble dog food. I was told to check out Honest Kitchen dog food which is a dehydrated version of homemade food that seems like a good middle road for us... makes it something easy for us to do and not quite as messy as handing him chicken thighs and other raw meats every meal. I did also buy some raw rabbit thighs (because the bones looked a bit easier for my 6 month old dog to chew -- what do you think?) and I bought some pre-made raw patties from a company that is local... would have to check the label to see who it is... made in Portland, OR.

My husband will totally NOT get why I am giving up the kibble... but really, every meal we are having to add something to it to get him to eat it and it must not be very good if he won't touch it on its own. It just feels too much like feeding him boxed mac n cheese everyday... and just the idea of eating the same meal every day seems boring also.

(random puppy photo :)

I think I will be feeding the raw meat with bone outside only... I just can't deal with blood/juices/etc/ in the house. He liked the Honest Kitchen stuff -- ate it all quickly an licked the bowl. I think it has a weird herbal smell to it, but oh well. There are many types to try -- but I got the one that said it was OK for puppy-adult and happened to be the only kind our pet store had today. I just looked, what I have is called "Thrive" you could google it and check it out and they have a store locator on the website. I would love to hear about other non kibble foods for dogs that you guys have tried and liked.

I will be mixing kibble in until we use up what we have just because I hate to waste food and it is good quality kibble (Wellness and Evo). We also have a bunch of sample bags from puppy class that we could use up over time or mix in over time... we'll see.

Would love to read more about what you feed your doodles. This is all new to me!

Jen G.

[Janette Baillie]

Good for you Jen. You are more ambitious than me. I am just on a quest for a good quality kibble at a reasonable price that both dogs will enjoy and do well on. All this reading has made me think to add things to their kibble though.
Your dog is very pretty. Is he / she an F1b? It's soooo hard to photograph the eyes isn't it? Sadie's often come out green like that, although they are actually brown.

[Jennifer Goaring]

no he is an Australian Labradoodle... he is really hard to photograph indoors.... outdoors works best or I need some sort of outside light coming in otherwise the light just makes his eyes glow like that... here is a better pic:

so my review so far on the Honest Kitchen stuff is that it rehydrates to something that looks like mush and it smells yuck (I got the "Thrive" variety) so I doubt I will get it again... but we have a box to go through first. He does seem to like it though but I still think maybe it has too much stuff in it... I don't see the need for kelp, parsely, spinach, etc. etc. in dog food. It has more ingredients than *I* would eat at one meal! :) I can see myself heading towards home-cooking... but I am still trying to work out what is lost for the dog in the cooking process and when or why raw may make more sense based on their different digestion processes.

Jen G.

[Nugget's Family]

Jen-

Your pup is gorgeous!

We have an ALD, too. She is 3 years old now (although we're very excited today that she made the "puppy slideshow" We haven't submitted a photo before for that. If you're watching the slideshow, she's the one sleeping on the yellow stuffed animal with the big blue dog bed behind her.) She has been on a raw diet since she was weaned. Her breeder fed it, so we stuck with it. We do not prep our own raw, we feed BRAVO raw diet. You can check out their website if you're interested. Just so you know, we do add cooked meat, fish, eggs and approved veggies to each of her meals from our table scraps. If we don't do that, she won't eat. If I try to put her bowl down without adding something that we're having for either breakfast or dinner, she looks at the bowl, looks at me then looks at the bowl again...then she gives me the look from under the eyebrows that just slays me. Or, she looks at my 9 year old daughter's plate on the table as much to say, "I want what she's having". I'm explaining all of this to you because I think no matter what you feed, your dog will appreciate variety that is healthy for him/her. Nugget has done very well on her raw diet with our supplemented add-ins, but she might be as healthy with a good quality kibble with our table scraps added in, too. I will say, we eat a very healthy diet of locally grown organic fruits, veggies, meats and dairy and healthy wild caught fish. So, Nugget's table scraps are "whole food" table scraps which hopefully is a benefit for her (and hopefully for us, too.)

Keep us posted.

Susan

[Jennifer Goaring]

Thanks for the reply Susan... I know I must be making myself crazy figuring this out and I also wouldn't doubt that I could have a fabulously healthy dog who eats kibble his whole life... but I just feel like there is something to the raw feeding stuff... just have to get past all the fanatics and crazy talk on the web to find it. I joined an e-mail list and am already regretting it a bit because they seem to immediately shoot down anything other than raw being fed to the dog. But here is where I am at now...

-found a great, fairly inexpensive source of ground meat and bones (so something like the pre-made raw but a bit more basic... no added veggies and such) from a local supplier pup gobbled it down this morning

-pup no longer will eat the kibble unless covered in something else (which is what inspired me in the first place to look at other options) we have a bunch of high quality kibble samples we got from a boutique store owner in a gift bag at puppy class... have tried various ones, and pup still has no interest

-I do see the benefit of tearing apart bones... can totally see how a dog's teeth were made to do this and also get the concept of raw meat having amnio acids and enzymes dog needs... so like I said above, I agree with it, just trying to find a good way to do it and not get sucked into the fanaticism that is out there

I spent way too much on the Honest Kitchen stuff which he now won't eat and too much on a supplement which after having read more sounds like it is totally un-needed... so I am frustrated that I am slow to figure this all out and have been making bad choices along the way... blah.

I really do love hearing what others are feeding and getting ideas and I agree that a variety isn't such a bad thing.

Jen G.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

"just have to get past all the fanatics and crazy talk on the web to find it. I joined an e-mail list and am already regretting it a bit because they seem to immediately shoot down anything other than raw being fed to the dog"
This is why we don't have more information here in TFG about raw feeding. Believe me, I have tried for two years to find any kind of information that doesn't make you feel that you have accidently somehow joined a religious cult, with no luck. The few people I know who feed raw for sensible reasons do not participate in those groups. These people feed raw simply because they feel as you do that they want to give their dogs fresh foods, and do not want to have to cook for them.
"I do see the benefit of tearing apart bones... can totally see how a dog's teeth were made to do this and also get the concept of raw meat having amnio acids and enzymes dog needs"
Jennifer, I have a college education in nutrition, and Adina, the administrator of Doodle Kisses, is a registered dietician. Both of us promise you that all meat has amino acids...all protein foods have amino acids, they are made of amino acids. Amino acids are what protein is broken down to during the digestive process. Human beings could not survive without consuming sufficient amino acids, and we eat cooked meat. Most humans get far too much in their diets, in fact. Yes, there is some loss of nutrients when you cook anything, but cooking also makes certain nutrients more available. There is absolutely nothing in raw meat that isn't also in cooked meat except for bacteria & parasites.
Enzymes are also made of amino acids and are produced within the body. There is almost no biological process which does not require enzymes. Nothing could live without them. They are not dependent on the consumption of raw meat.
What you are reading is junk science, and not based on facts. Please believe me, I have no axe to grind here and there is no benefit to me if you feed your dog raw, homecooked, kibble, or table scraps. I just want to stick to facts here, and this much we know as fact. I also would like to help ease your confusion.
There is no reason you can't feed your dog cooked food and include raw bones in the diet as well.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I think that for those who are new to feeding dogs, or who have not been responsible for making these choices in the new "global economy", it's simplest to start with the basics. You can progress as your comfort level dictates, at your own speed. First, you learn which companies are trustworthy and how to read a label. We try to provide that information here. Then you choose a kibble from among those that meet the basic criteria of safety and wholesome ingredients. You learn that you can rotate different formulas without having to "transition". You learn that you can add "people food" to your dog's diet without a problem. You read what others are doing and decide to try a homecooked meal or a raw product. The entire time, you observe your dog's health, appetite, stools, reactions to various products, eating patterns, etc.
Some people will jump into homecooking or raw feeding immediately, for others, it takes more time. Some will stick with dry kibble exclusively. Some will find a happy medium from among several choices. In each case, there is no absolute right or wrong, (as long as you are using products from trustworthy companies which do not contain harmful ingredients) and there is never a need to feel you "should" be doing something that you are not ready/able/comfortable doing. Baby steps!

[Frannie & Callie]

I feed Callie (and Wilbur Foster Doodle) Orijen and it has been good. I am looking for another good food (and wouldn't mind if it was a TINY bit less expensive than the orijen) so that I can switch off - before the advent of Wilbur, Callie was showing signs of boredom with her food (she's so frantic to finish her dinner and then check out Wilbur's bowl that she's become more interested in her food).