What Food Should I Put Bear On?

Well.. I have been chatting to Lei and it has been agreed that Bear would be better off in my care so he is now officially mine :san12:

I think the best way to mark this occasion is by starting a... what food should I put Bear on... thread as it's always the best place to start.. So I am changing his food and wanted to get a few peoples advice on what they think is good food and whether I should maybe go for an all fresh meat diet..

I feed, Taylor on burns and he seems to get on it quite well.. He has now been put on JWB (James well beloved)... But Burns is expensive lol.
How comes he is yours all of a sudden? :scratch:

Awww thats great news Rich :love: :love:

I cant advise on Raw Rich as I dont know enough about it. A lot of people swear by Arden Grange which is a very good food, Marley is on Royal Canin 24 German Shepherd Breed and has had no problems with that, his coat is always shiny and he always looks in good condition, well he did until the events of the past few days but we will get him back.

@Karen He was mine to start with but we decided to see whether Lei could manage with him so he wouldn't have to be parted from Holly but Lei was struggling with having the house, holly and the fish to deal with so it will be better for Bear if I take him on..

Thanks Jude :love: He is sitting on my bed atm looking as pleased as punch at the thought that he is gonna get spoilt :2445:

I have heard a lot of good things about Arden Grange so that is definitely going on the list.. I think judging by how good marley has always looked, the Royal Canin should go on the list of potential candidiates too..

great news rich, i feed my 3 on raw..mince,tripe, mixed with bakers dry. i've only been doing it for about 8 months tho so not in a position to advise really..they are all doing great on the raw, but if i was really honest they did ok on the tinned ped chum too, it's just that the raw works out cheaper for me and the dogs seem to enjoy it more...

I think, it comes down to was suits your lifestyle and Bear's health, Raw is great if you have the freezer space, better if you can find a cheap supplier, TBH, mine are now back on bought ready made, Skinner's, I see no difference in them at all, they still have RAW but not solely Raw, Burn's is another great food, very expensive now, mine do love the variety of RAW, but eat ordinary dog food just as well, Lynne put me onto Skinner's and I will continue with it, it costs half the price of Burn's and they do look good on it.

Have to agree with you sandra,lynne recommended skinners to me
too and mine have never looked healthier.

I'm not majorly bothered about the price tbh.. I just want what is best.. I think bear will be doing a ton of walking as I tend to walk miles and mostly uphill so he will be burning a lot of energy.. Skinners sounds good as does burns.. I will have a google around and see what the prices are like..

ooooh this is great news rich.... :san12:

i have to say... fred today has been to the vets for his worming tablets, and the nurse commented on how good he looks, and so did the lady in the pet shop over the road, this was good to hear as i was always moaning that people commented on him being too skinny....and i now feed fred on cheap complete dried food, and cheap tinned meat ...(i hear you all screaming lol) he is fed this in the morning.... then for his afternoon meal he will have raw meat,nothing in particular, just whatever we have,theres no set menu, and tbh he is thriving on it...he even eats it all with no bother...

but as sandra says, its what ever suits yours and bears lifestyle ,.....

Aww I am glad to hear that Fred is looking good.. I remember you being concerned by his weight awhile ago so it must be a relief to finally get him eating in a decent way..

Bear used to love chicken so I am thinking of bulking out whatever dry food he has with it.. He would eat anything if it was with chicken as well lmao

would be handy if you could find a cheap supplier of chicken... i used to boil chopped chicken for fred and then pour it, water included into the biscuits.....fred loved it...but having to do it for betty too, proved costly...

yea im glad ive got his food sorted now rich, hes gained no more weight, had him wieghed today, but strangely enough he looks bigger though lol.....

Sabre has had a coupleof changes in diet to try to sort this allergy thing, but by far his favorite was raw!! At the moment he's on Royal Canine Hypoallergenic, but this has made no difference to his allergy, so will stick with it another month or so, then maybe go back to raw. Like everyone says just find what works for you and Bear.

James well beloved is the same as what Sabre's on :san33: its hypo allergenic, we used it for my old dog lol

Yer I think it's going to take a little bit of experimentation.. I think the first step will be chicken though.. Seems logical to go back to what worked for him in the past.. Cheers guys.. I am going to try one of those dry foods as an additional food as well.. Just a case of finding one of them at a relatively decent price..

we were adised to use beta complete as a dry option, and its the only one that fred and betty have both liked...

i hope in the future i can change to an all raw diet, but as it is at the moment we havent the resources, and tbh im not sure it worked too well for fred the first time we tried it lol.... its all trial and error, and once you find something that works, no matter what it is , its always best to stick to that i think x

Definitely Shelley.. I totally agree.. I think a lot of stuff with dogs is a balancing act.. It's hard work but when you find that perfect balance it is worth sticking with it..

definately rich,....its taken me months so find the food that fred will stick too and not turn his nose up at.... ideally i would have him on raw, as its 'supposedly best for him' but as it is weve found the perfect combination for now and it works well

Got Keira on Arden Grange and RAW GSD Breeder who Keira went to for training advised me to change to RAW She is a really hyper dog and they said AG was making her more hyper :san41: She loves chicken wings but i can't stand the noise of her crunching them She really likes them though cuz she wont share with the cat who keps trying to steal them Have found a RAW supplier quite local called landywood pet foods that sounds quite good so am going to try their minced tripe and chicken

fred loved tripe, but i found that after a few days he would have runny black poos, so would have to switch his diet around a bit, but he would get fussy.

Ahh Tripe is something that Bear absolutely loved.. It's a shame I
don't have a pets at home near here... I might look into getting some
delivered in bulk.. Actually.. I should get an old chest freezer before
I do that..

Thanks for the advice.. :)

thats something we were going to do, but a second hand freezer and bulk buy! theres a good cheap site that you could try if you were going to go with tripe ...its a company called TPMS ...they are very cheap, i used to buy their tripe from kennelgate, PAH doesnt do the real tripe.

I'm using cheap dried in the morning, a rmb in the afternoon and raw at night.



They are both fine, but Mimi doesnt tend to eat her breakfast anymore.



Try Landywoods for delivery Rich, heard they were quite good and have a website too. Not sure where they deliver though.



There is also Durham Animal feeds, not sure on the delivery but heard good things about both. I know the advertised price is cash & carry price too, slightly higher for delivery.

Yeh Keira is really fussy thats why im feeding her both RAW and AG

so hows it going rich, did you make a desicion?....

my two havent touched their dinner today, i stupidly mixed their complete with cold water instead of hot!! :Booboo:

:2431: I completely forgot about this thread.. I've gone with chicken for now and some mince to add a bit of variety.. He has mince in the morning and chicken at night.. I've chucked a bit of vitalin in with the mince to bulk it out a little.. He's got such a bloody appetite though.. he will eat literally anything you put in front of him..