I want to liven Odie's diet up a bit

[Geordietyke]

Hi all.  Odie is fed solely on CSJ kibble.  He does have the occasional treat (cheese, hotdogs etc) for training purposes but I want to give him a bit more variety.  I can't afford to change him to barf but he does enjoy the odd salmon fillet. 

I know chicken wings are fairly cheap in Tesco but haven't tried him on them yet.  Do I just feed them to him straight out of the packet?  A couple of questions:

1.  How many wings (and how often) and how to I judge how much kibble to reduce to if I'm giving him wing(s) for one meal?

2.  Been reading the current 'fruit' thread.  If I'm adding some fruit/veg to his kibble, again how much should I reduce the kibble by?

Any other food ideas (not treats) most welcome!  Thanks, Lesley 

[ladylola]

Ours have sardines and pichards. I freeze chicken wings before use then defrost one to feed.

I would just give one to start with and see how he goes. You shouldn't feed raw and kibble together.

If he hasn't had wings before I would put it in cling film and bash  it up a bit with a rolling pin. I find my lot just swallow them whole.

Not sure how big he is but if he's only small, a wing would replace a meal. Mine get two to replace a meal. You could also try tripe, you can get it in blocks frozen from PAH.

[saffysmum]

I've been giving Saffy chicken wings and legs since she was 7 weeks with no problems.  The first time I just held on to the wing so she had to chew and bite so she got the idea but now I just hand it to her and she zooms to her crate to munch in peace.  She had a go at the cat on Saturday as he tried to pinch a bit from her! and that is her only 15 weeks, what'll she be like when she's a full grown monster!
Mine also like the knucle bones (raw) from the butcher but make sure you take it away after a couple of days.  I left one down for a few days the last time and my lot all got eye infections from the bacteria on the bone. yeuch!
Also, meant to add, I add loads of things to Saffy's kibble but it has made her fussy and she has more willpower than me to not eat unless I give her what she wants and until she stops growing, that's exactly what I'll do.  I don't take any kibble out but I do add loads of stuff so unless your pup is extra greedy then I wouldn't bother too much about measurements.  The raw takes much longer to digest than the kibble though so don't feed at the same time.

[mlynnf50]

Hi Selby is nine months and he gets 2 chicken wings for a meal, he is fed on CJ but prefers is chicken wings
also he get ribs, I think he prefers raw meet. dont know about the fruit, is that on here?

[Geordietyke]

Hi Selby is nine months and he gets 2 chicken wings for a meal, he is fed on CJ but prefers is chicken wings
also he get ribs, I think he prefers raw meet. dont know about the fruit, is that on here?

There is a current thread about fruit (and a link within the thread) which tells you what and what not to feed.   

Odie is 8.5 months old by the way!

[gholmes]

Why would you want to liven up Odie's diet when all his dietry needs are being met with high quality kibble, and some suggest that dogs don't require any variation in their diet. I was just wondering if wanting to keep a dogs diet varied was based on what a human would feel like getting the same food every day for the rest of their lives, which wouldn't be much fun.

Hopefully some body can give me advise as i am having the dilemma of wether i should continue feeding Alfie the same food all the time or should i be spicing it up every now and again.

Graeme

[Danni and Freya]

Why would you want to liven up Odie's diet when all his dietry needs are being met with high quality kibble, and some suggest that dogs don't require any variation in their diet. I was just wondering if wanting to keep a dogs diet varied was based on what a human would feel like getting the same food every day for the rest of their lives, which wouldn't be much fun.

Hopefully some body can give me advise as i am having the dilemma of wether i should continue feeding Alfie the same food all the time or should i be spicing it up every now and again.

Graeme

From what I learnt from college you are right about not needing variety. Its a form of anthropomortism (sp check!) putting human feelings and emotions onto animals. If a dog has the same meal every day for his whole life and isn't given options he will savour every meal and won't know there is such a thing as variety. Not saying everyone should feel this way or any such thing, just what i've learnt 

[Ian B]

Dogs are naturally ominvores and will eat most things they find. A dog that doesn't have a varied diet is one that doesn't have the opportunity of a varied diet.

Our dogs are generally fed on RC kibble but I also cook large pots of rice or pasta with minced beef or pork, garlic, mixed veggie and a little olive oil.

 

[Danni and Freya]

But surely fed a complete food they don't need anything else?

[ladylola]

Perhaps they don't NEED anything else, but my dogs do love getting different stuff to eat.
That they enjoy it, is shown by the enthusiasm and quickly cleaned bowls. As a slave to my dogs  I like to see them happy.
They don't show the same response over a bowl of kibble.  So where is the harm.

[Geordietyke]

Thanks for replies.  Yes, I realise they don't NEED a varied diet but as ladylola has said, why not give them something different?  There have been studies to suggest that certain fruit/veg have beneficial properties (according to the link in the 'Fruit' thread on here).  After all, I'm sure most of us use treats for training purposes etc, which is sometimes not their kibble?

Will try the pasta/rice and mince and some veggies.  I tried melon last night but he wouldn't touch it

[mlynnf50]

I agree I tried Avocado yesterday and a prawn and he loved it

[ladylola]

Don't feed Avacardo it is highly toxic to dogs. Contains Persin which can be very damaging.

[mooching]

Yes, I realise they don't NEED a varied diet but as ladylola has said, why not give them something different? 

Giving them too much variety can make them fussy.

[Sheryl]

I agree with Julie.

Lyla only has raw so her only variation is fruit as treats.  Kali has Healthy Paws kibble.  I replace some of it with one third of a tub of different flavours Lilys Kitchen food just so she is not eating the same flavour day in and day out.  It hasn't made her fussy at all as she will still eat plain kibble but she does give me the 'look' to tell me that she is only eating this because there is no alternative