Re: Kind to be cruel

Much of the meat, fish and poultry that isn't sold at supermarkets because it's out of date is often rinsed in bleach water to kill bacteria and it's then added to animal food chains.

Re: Kind to be cruel

So if they were in the wild with no-one providing dog food, what would they eat?

Re: Kind to be cruel

They aren't though are they they are domesticated animals now. A domesticated dog could not survive in the wild it would die. Cats are different as they are born hunters.

Re: Kind to be cruel

I think their survival instinct would kick in and they would survive. They might be domesticated but they are still, first and foremost, dogs that have not had their abilities reduced as far as we have.

Re: Kind to be cruel

Thats as maybe but I prefer to feed mine a good quality dog food plus some human food to give them a balanced diet. I certainly wouldn't want them to live off my leftovers.

Re: Kind to be cruel

I use beef, lamb and chicken, rice or potatoes and mixed vegetables, little egg too, make milk and cheese biscuits for crunch and calcium. What amongst that is bad for my dogs ? What is dog food if not all those things ?

Actually if the commercial foods aren't made of those things then why would you feed them to your dog ? Human quality just means the beef is good quality rather than mechanically recovered and stuff humans would not touch.

Re: Kind to be cruel

BTW my left overs today have been a little scrammbled egg, a little beef stew and will probably be a bit of mackeral later on. Not something many would turn their noses up at I think.

Re: Kind to be cruel

Depends on the left-overs! If I left a bit of steak and cabbage, my two would jump on it (and not necessarily restraining themselves that much before I'd actually decided to leave it!)

Re: Kind to be cruel

Some of the more primitive breeds would survive easily. A Japanese Shiba Inu once did a runner from its owner in Battersea Park and lived there wild for 18 months before it was recaptured, hunting squirrels, birds, rats etc. When it was eventually caught it was in amazing condition - well-muscled, beautiful coat and happy as Larry. Our Huskies would have no problem surviving in the wild as they are natural predators and, like wolves, hunt in packs (They would miss their sofa though!)

We feed our dogs once a day, combining good quality kibble with raw chicken carcasses. Pups obviously get fed more often.

We get lots of extremely overweight Huskies in to our rescue. A fit male husky shouldn't weigh much more than 24/25 Kilos, but we have had several dogs weighing in at 38 kilos+. These dogs present a much greater problem than the underweight ones. It is relatively easy to build up a dog's weight, but very difficult to get then to lose weight safely. The most recent very fat dog we had in came in at 35kilos and, a year of fostering later, is now down to a healthy 25k.

Re: Kind to be cruel

My old dog who is 15 has eaten 2 small bowls of Iams or eukanbana all her life with tipbits and dog treats as and when I have wanted to given them to her . she is walked for between 3 to 7 hours aday. She has a small back problem which is controlled by pills and walking at the momnet she is fit but her back legs are starting to get weak and her appertite is going which has meant she has lost alot of weight ... at her age with the time she has left she now gets any thing she shows an interest in ...if thats my toast or hubbies biscuits then that is fine ..as I just want her to keep a bit of weight on as I hate to see her getting thin... The vet has checked her out to make sure there is no other reason and says she is in great form for a 15 year old and agrees let her have what she wants now as there will not be any long term affect as she has not long term......