Dog Questions

sneepmo

Sorry but lots of questions tonight!

1 - having read advice on these boards, i'm switching from pedigree chum (had no idea how bad it was!!) to burns dry food which was recommended. we currently give dry ped chum for breakfast & a mix of dry & wet ped chum at dinner time. A thread mentioned weaning your dog off instead of a straight swop. any tips on how best to do this and over what period of time?

2 - someone mentioned cooked porridge is good to mix with dried dog food for breakfast...is this true?

3 - as moving, new house wont have secure outdoor area for our dogs (1 year old and new pup) for a month or two until we've made changes. am trying to decide between electronic tag/collar OR getting a large kennel with attached run for when we are out of the house (at least a few hours each day). Want to do whats right for dog but confused?

Thanks again!!

Alfasudcrazy

I too had to experiment with various foods and combinations before I found the 'right' food that they seemed to like. I just give them Burn's - they have three different varieties but my dogs prefer the fish one.

I would resist the temptation to mix anything into their food just the odd treat now and again.

I would wean them onto the burns over a 7 day period gradually increasing the burns dry food content but would cut out the wet/canned food straight away.

You say you have a pup as well - this dog may require puppy food and so may have to be fed separately until its an adult - difficult to do I know.

A radio fence / collar can be used in an insecure yard but the wire has to be laid along some clear and visible boundary - I laid the wire around our property perimeter and they have not broken out since I got it.

An enclosure is an option but as we don't know if you live beside a busy road etc its hard to judge its benefit.

I find dogs kept in enclosures are very wild when left out and so if you live beside a busy road this may not be such a wise idea.

Schlemm

There'd be no real need to mix in porridge with their food...dogs can tolerate about 10 grams of starch (which porridge is full of) for every kilos of their body weight before diarrhoea sets in so you're better sticking to the plain food.

Best way to change food is to leave down their dish for about 10 mins in the same place at the same time every day (twice daily feeding is good) and remove the plate after the 10 mins is up. They'll soon know that this is their only chance to eat and won't miss the chance next time. Provided they're in good health, skipping a meal or 2 won't do any harm. We've always changed food straight away without any issues but changing it over a few days (but not too many days) is prob ok too.

Make sure there's no risk of the dogs being stolen while you're out if you're leaving them in a run or something like that.

peasant

sneepmo wrote:

3 - as moving, new house wont have secure outdoor area for our dogs (1 year old and new pup) for a month or two until we've made changes. am trying to decide between electronic tag/collar OR getting a large kennel with attached run for when we are out of the house (at least a few hours each day). Want to do whats right for dog but confused?

The radio fence only works with proper training and supervision while you train (even afterwards dogs shouldn't really be totally left alone with the radio fence, as it may malfunction.)

Training (done properly) will take two to three weeks and I would not recommend it for a pup ..they're simply to dizzy at that age.

I would suggest you find some form of temporary containment and get a proper fence up as a priority.

Amimad

1. fro the first 2 days , I'd do a half & half mix & then increase the new food & decrease the old food. But I feed raw. Do what ever suits your dogs best

2. Never heard of that one

3. My dogs spend the day outside in individual runs.It gives me the peice of mind that they are safe & secure while I'm gone.
We also have a large area that is securely fenced that they can run free in. Where we live there are often cattle around the house so they're never allowed out unsupervised.
In my experierence radio fences don't always work on larger dogs or dogs that get a better reward on the other side of the shock & are willing to risk it.
It's not something you can just turn on, walk away from & hope it works, you would have to train/show the dog what it's all about.