I'm having a few issues with Loki here. Since we collected him he has been on eukanuba large breed puppy food,he got a little bored with this and wasnt eating it so for the last few months we have been adding a small amouint of sardines and the occasional bit of grated cheese but now he is eating even less. We tried a change to the wellbeloved large breed junior this last week but he shows no interest in this either so i wondering what all the other deerhounds his age were eating (15 months).

They can be very finicky, can't they?!

My 13 month old is eating a mostly raw diet, lots of kangaroo mince, lamb flaps (the rib section) and chicken carcasses and a very small amount of pureed vegetables and fruit. A couple of times a week she gets a tin of sardines or mackerel.

She gets a small amount of Eagle Pack Holistic Giant Breed Puppy kibble. Another good kibble is Artemis. I don't know if you can get either of these in the UK?

Her coat and eyes are shining and she has a nice amount of muscle.

Good luck with Loki!

Thanks Nat i dont seem able to find either of those here and i m,ay just be worrying over nothing as he is eating just not as much as i would like. Its quite hard to keep an eye on how they are doing when you dont have another one to compare them to

They rarely eat as much as you would like them to, especially if there are no other dogs around (competition for food)!!

If you are worried about Loki's weight, try lamb flaps from the butcher. Lamb necks are also great for a fussy eater.

I don't like Eukanuba myself, as it has a lot of corn in it. Dogs find it difficult to digest corn. I try to avoid a lot of grain.

You could try here for the Eagle Pack:

www.postalpetsproducts.co.uk/

The Anchovy one is GREAT for keeping a nice dark coloured coat.

Here is the link for products and prices:

www.postalpetsproducts.co.uk/index1.html

All the best,

N.

Great thanks for the link wonder why i couldnt find it. So you are feeding a small amount of the adult kibble in with the fresh meat/vegetables??

Sorry to ask so many questions bit what sort of fruit and veg are you using?

I feed about 2 cups of either the Adult Anchovy or the Giant Breed Puppy, depending on what I can get (supply here in Australia is inconsistent at best).

She gets about 400gm of kangaroo, with about two tablespoons of mixed veggies/fruit. I cook up a big batch of sweet potato, carrot, broccoli, and apple, with a little garlic and and handful of fresh parsley, blend it to a pulp (dogs find it hard to break down the cell walls of plant/veggie matter) and freeze it in "meal size" portions. I mix that in with the mince.

Cheap and easy! You need to make sure you feed soft bones and occasionally some kidney and liver to keep the diet balanced.

Here is another great grain-free kibble to consider:

www.orijenpetfoods.co.uk/...uppy_large.html

Nat you have been a gret help many thanks

@Vikingxc and @Nat

Very interesting for Yoki and me.
We have for the first weeks a eating plan from our breeder.

I think most of us on here have had eating issues with youngsters. I used to panic and think he was starving himself to death, but it is normal and so are their finicky eating ways. He will eat when he is hungry. Don't do a me and spoon feed!!!

If you are looking for a complete feed that is grain(and rice)free,James Wellbeloved-Lamb and vegetable,Arden Grange-White fish and potato,and Wafcol-Salmon and potato,are all widely available.Rainich has the James Wellbeloved(pre-soaked)with tripe and seems very happy.I wouldn't worry too much if i were you,Deerhounds do seem to go in and out of appetite from time to time.

Righ and Rashie who are about 16 months now have Barking Heads complete food which is very good. Mum gets it delivered from Redcastles in Dundee. Or I think you can also get direct from www.barkingheads.co.uk/. They get this complete food as part of their diet.

Other foods the Cusidhs have used are Burns www.burnspet.co.uk/ and Luath Natural dog food www.landofholisticpets.co.uk/

There's also an article about raw feeding which has many benefits in the news and article section here. All the best. Elise

Mine love Cheese - they can smell it from the outside when I'm in the kitchen opening the bag......they are standing at the window and are drooling already.

I usually cook Turkey Necks, Liver, and Tripe or mixed Innards with sweet potatoes, carrots, peas and other vegetables with a bit of brown rice. I only feed mine once with this type of food and have bowls of dry food out for their leisure. I change dry food occasionally and always mix with the new, when starting a different brand.

Here is a very good link to compare dry foods:www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/

Other than that I make my own treats - I buy duck, liver or any other meat that is lean and use a dehydrator to extract the moisture. Best treats you can use to train them.

Thomas

My Cailean eats mostly raw now, I do keep her used to kibble with sardines and other toppings. I like to be as flexible as possible. I do at least once a week make a hash for her. I buy ground beef, lamb, or turkey- cook briefly with oatmeal (2/3cup oatmeal/ 500grams meat) 2cups water or broth, chopped lettuce at the last minute, chopped red pepper, grated carrots, peas or beans whatever is on hand. She thinks it is fab & licks the bowl clean.
I think its possible boredom is sometimes the cause of fussy eating. Change it up regularly and there will probably be no refusing food.

I have 4 dhs , one a puppy of 18mths now - they all eat mostly raw , some days of the week they get about 1.5 cups of dry food in the morning ( lamb and rice and/or orijen fish , orijen being a wonderful brand from Canada , grainfree , I know it is available in Germany/Switzerland aso , so it might be in England , too ! ) and the rest raw food - lots of different meats , few veggies and fruits , some bones , eggs aso . My 18mths old girlie here eats about 1.5 lbs of meat per day + whatever extra - the older ones go down to about 1lbs or so of fresh meat , depending on the amount of exercise they had - I just give them more veggies , resp. lowfat cottagecheese or so to prevent tem from putting on too much weight ( which they have a tendency to do ). If you want them " fatter " you will have to feed " fat " - my youngest , rather on the skiny side in winter , gets a good tablespoon of sourcream with every meal now (2xday) and also the fattest parts of the meats and oil extra. Sighthounds per se do tolerate a lot of fat in their diets , when they have a lot of exercise they really rather NEED it - I love to feed pork , which at times is almost sheer fat , the girls love it , too.....

Had an experiment last night as Loki seemed very interested in baked beans and so mixed a few in and the food just disapeared.Been out to the local farm shop this morning and got some tasty free range beef mince that me might get later if i dont eat it first.

So if i mix the raw beef in with the kibble and a bot of chopped parsnip and carrot does that sound like a healthy meal??

Thanks for all the replies by the way you have all been a great help

I think , I would at first feed kibble and raw in seerate meals as they are digested differently ( just as canned food and kibble is ) - he might have to build up the bacteria he needs to digest both at the same time . Lots of raw feeders never feed them together , I do , at least a the same day , in the morning one at night . Free range raw beef sounds great - I'd grind the carrots and parsnips or boil them for a few minutes ( easier to digest ) , add them + a dollop of cream or yoghurt ( as a from of calcium , ground up eggshells work , too ) to the meat and see what happens . I usually feed 1/4 to 1/3 of veggies/fruits/extras ( oats are great , too ) and the rest is meat . Do not worry , you do NOT have to get it all balanced every single time( that is a sales strategy of the petfood companies , scare tactics....) - but try to balance it over the course of 1 week is a reasonable goal .

Im probably boring everyone to death by now but just one more question i think...

Any thoughts on quantities for the mince/veg weight wise???

Thanks again for all the help and understanding hope i can repay all the advice with something useful one day.


Going to go with kibble and beans tonight then mince and veg for breakfast and see how it goes



Rich

One more thing Spring can you give me a ring as ive lost your number somewhere you have a pm with mine waiting for you