Dexter & Food & the runs(UK)

scuddy · 05-21-2008, 07:29 PM

Hi all,

As you may have read, my partner and i and have rescued from the RSPCA, a Doberman, he's around 18 months old, and has lived at the rescue home, with a limited amount of exercise since March.

We figured that we would feed him on the same dried food as the RSPCA did, in order not to upset his tummy, but, it looks like what they were feeding him on, (WAGG) does not suit him (he has the runs, and goes within an hour of eating his food) - Now you will have to forgive my ignorance as far as Dobermans are concerned and their diet, I know that fresh is best, but, I simply cannot afford to feed him fresh meat.

So, whats the best thing to feed him, thats gonna cost around 30 UK pounds a month or so....

Ive had dogs before, (X breeds, - Lab mix, Husky / alsation - springer Spaniel, and Alsations) and Ive nearly always fed wet meat and mixer, but I have been advised to give Dexter, Complete dry food, - Kibble Im guessing, - so any advice given will be gratefully recieved to stop his runs (Chicken and Rice maybe to calm his stomach down, has worked before for me with other breeds?)

dobes4us · 05-21-2008, 08:01 PM

Sorry about Dexter's problems. I have alway used boiled hamburger and rice for upset stomachs. Just enough burger for them to eat the rice. I don't know what you have available in the UK but here is a great site that Linda K has turned us on to.....Dog Food Reviews - Main Index - Powered by ReviewPost This may help you decide on a good quality dog food. Good luck!

**BlackandTans** · 05-21-2008, 08:24 PM

Chicken and Rice has worked GREAT for both of my two... We had problems with my girl getting the runs cause she had food allergies and we were changing her food around a lot to find one that would not cause her break outs. Cottage cheese is another good one too...

Sorry he is having problems....

**brumwolf** · 05-22-2008, 02:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scuddy

Hi all,

As you may have read, my partner and i and have rescued from the RSPCA, a Doberman, he's around 18 months old, and has lived at the rescue home, with a limited amount of exercise since March.

We figured that we would feed him on the same dried food as the RSPCA did, in order not to upset his tummy, but, it looks like what they were feeding him on, (WAGG) does not suit him (he has the runs, and goes within an hour of eating his food) - Now you will have to forgive my ignorance as far as Dobermans are concerned and their diet, I know that fresh is best, but, I simply cannot afford to feed him fresh meat.

So, whats the best thing to feed him, thats gonna cost around 30 UK pounds a month or so....

Ive had dogs before, (X breeds, - Lab mix, Husky / alsation - springer Spaniel, and Alsations) and Ive nearly always fed wet meat and mixer, but I have been advised to give Dexter, Complete dry food, - Kibble Im guessing, - so any advice given will be gratefully recieved to stop his runs (Chicken and Rice maybe to calm his stomach down, has worked before for me with other breeds?)

I have found that feeding raw worked out cheaper than the dried food that we were feeding,now remember i have 4 to feed we were paying out over £100 a month for kibble the raw usually comes in at about £45 sometimes a little more but that is because of the extra treats that my wife orders(boxes of pigs ears and their own brand of marrowbone etc,)but never more than £70 a month.here is the website for my supplier Landywood Pet Foods : Home I go to collect from them as they are only 40 mins away from me but they do deliver all over the country.

Santa · 05-22-2008, 02:50 AM

Yep, my rescue Dobe had food allergies. He was skin and bone and nothing, but NOTHING came out solid. I feed him now on Burns Holistic, which is available in the UK, and it's absolutely brilliant. He's now fit and healthy, plus he loves it.

**voodoolizard** · 05-22-2008, 03:23 AM

Deffinatly get him off WAGG that is terrible food, only cost about £8 for 15kg and being that cheap cant have anything good init.

the runs might also be due to a little upset about moving.. even though he is so happy to be with you.. change can upset the tummy.

best to go to your normal pet food shop and look for a kibble where meat is high on the list of ingredients.

i quite often change kibble to whats has a special offer.

my 2 are on pets at home own make cuisine at the mo, and eat it better than anything.

they get a nice juicy raw something once a week for a treat !!

hope he feels better soon

scuddy · 05-22-2008, 12:47 PM

Thx for the suggestions, the WAGG will be going in the bin, and I'll check out the suggestions

scuddy · 05-23-2008, 05:04 AM

Well, I am glad to report that the runs have stopped, we mixed one cup of Wagg, with 2 cups of a local producers premium dry food, called luteners Adult lamb and Rice, along with 1 cup of real boiled rice, and his poop is now solid, and doesn't go straight through him, will be dropping the Wagg totally from tomorrow onwards.

The Luteners label says :-

Ingredients : Rice (Min 30%) Lamb meal (Min 28%) Barley, Chicken fat, Sugar beet, Brewers yeast, yucca, Minerals and vitamins.

Analysis
Protein 22%
Oil 8%
Fibre 2.5%
Ash 8.5%
Vitamin A 10000 LU/KG
Vitamin D 1500 LU/KG
Vtamin E 80LU/KG as Alpha locopherol
Copper 16MG/KG as copper sulphate

2.5KG costs 6.49 UK.

Does that sound any good? - he seems to really like it, - My Partners son, has an Old English Sheep Dog about the same age as Dexter and he does great on it.

scuddy · 05-23-2008, 04:35 PM

How does that lot above sound? - The runs have come back again, - but it maybe all the change of scenery - I don't know if i mentioned that we also have two cats that are hiding from him, - 1 is appearing quite a day to investigate, the other is hiding a lot and goes out at night, which is usual for him, Dexter is doing his best for an 18 month old to not harrass them, and a DEX! - stops him being bouncy towards him, - no aggression at all, - i wonder if its the stress and change thats causing it, - we thought we were onto a winner with the Nuetners and rice, but today, the runs have returned.

Also, on a different note, Dexter hasn't been exercised properly in about 3 months, and is slighly underweight, 32KG - I think he should be 36-40KG Im unsure on his height, but his head when sat is just above my Hip! (Dont want to measure him now as he has finally lied down and giving me some non playtime peace LOL- I am not sure how much exercise to give him, he is full of energy, but I dont want to over do it, i took him out for an hour long walk (on the lead) and played for an hour with him before i went to work, Denise has played with him for 2 - 2.5 hours, in half hour stints - is this too much or too little? - I also Took him for a 20 minute walk tonight, and played for 30 mins....

**voodoolizard** · 05-23-2008, 04:46 PM

well im sure the food you now have is much better than the wagg..

im sure the move and change is contributing to his tummy upset !!

zeus is a very tall dobe but he only weighs about 35 kg so your boy doesnt sound too bad depending on his height.. if your not sure how to measure check this out
how to measure height ??

thats seems a lot of excersize to me,, but my 2 are lazy things...
we walk for about an hour a day.
we play ball for about an hour.
the rest of the time they sleep or play toghther..or chew chew sticks !!