Finally bought her home yesterday.. General Chat

Oh Tim - thank you so much for another lovely update and lovely pictures - [and sincere apologies for mis-spelling Lyla's name - although I think she did give me the stinkeye in one picture for having done so ]

Regarding raw feeding, I will give you as much advice as I can, but as no doubt I cannot get the same meats, I can only give you suggestions as to the various vitamins, additional minerals, and supplements I like to give - some human, some canine, and the ones I have found suitable even since Tikva was a tiny puppy and I was weaning her.

I am not sure where you are but I only buy vitamins and supplements from iHerb in the US because I trust them, although all meat and vegetables are, of course, local.

You may ignore me of course - I am just a looney raw feeder!

Monthly update time if anyone is interested, or if there are any potential RR owners out there wanting to know exactly what it's like:

She's now changing into a right little madame, but in a good way. She now definitely has her own character, and traits that are truly unique to her. You can tell if she's anxious/tired/happy/upset/wants to be left alone etc.

She's now experiencing so many new things in her life now that she's getting older and more 'reliable'.

We spent a weekend at the beach the other week, she absolutely loved it. It's a super dog friendly beach so there were loads of other dogs off lead all over the place. I was a little apprehensive when I first let her off and she went crazy (in a good way), but she came back as instructed, and was chased/did chasing etc.

She's been playing with other dogs really really well. Our closest friends have a terrier and we've spent weekends with them as well - a little bit of caution from both dogs initially, but are now almost inseparable (and they make such an odd 'couple')



She's been to the groomers in the past month, initially for some nail clipping (I tried but I wasn't the best), and on Sunday she's there again for a 'puppy pamper' which is bath, nails, brush, teeth, ears etc.

Even though we are raw feeding and holistically treating her (has been since birth), she had her first trip to the vets this morning. She has a slight rash on her belly that I wanted to get checked out to ensure that it wasn't ringworm, which it wasn't. She was weighed, and she's now 4mths;25 days (so I'd say 5 months) and weighs 20.8kgs (45.86lbs) - going on some general information out there that's bang on average.

She's not been to puppy class for a while - the old sessions stopped. I'm now looking for a bit more local ones for her appropriate age. Even though she knows all the basics (sit, down, stay, come, heel) she still needs constant re-reinforcement, and I don't want to stop doing it.

She's great with new people coming into our house when we invite them in. She does sit in the doorway and deep growl when the postman comes, or a delivery driver drops something off but she's only being protective. She's also a wonderful watch-dog. Shes up and looking out of the window at even the smallest of noises outside our house - lucky we don't live on a main road, or busy place, so I'm not really sure what she hears, but even at 5 months I wouldn't really want to get into a fight with her. Probably cats, but she's up like a shot, over to the sofa, looking out of the window, over to the front door, back up on the sofa. She's like that for about 10 minutes then she chills out again.



We're going away on Wednesday for a few days, and she's coming with us - it should be a really enjoyable break.

That may be about it really - obviously lots more has happened, but that's just standard stuff and not really noteworthy.

Oh, she's started digging holes in the garden now and seems to really enjoy doing it - she loves the mud ! Hates the rain though.

But most of the time, she is asleep !!! and I do mean most of the time, at every opertunity she's up on the sofa and crashed out, wakes for a few hours, then asleep again.

What a lovely girl she is - so well developed. Thank you for sharing your photos with us.

Thank you for another great update and more lovely pictures of Lyla - she is really growing now! I love that picture of her and her little terrier friend - "odd couple" indeed, but my favourite is the last one - I wonder what she is dreaming about!

Enjoy your break, wherever you are going - and please do not forget your camera Tim!

I switched my RR to a raw diet. He eats mainly chicken quarters, thighs, backs and necks. I'll include eggs, fish (on occasion), carrots or other veggies. He doesn't like the veggies as much. His health, coat and everything else have been excellent. He has never had a health problem at all. One nice side effect is that the stool dries very white and turns almost powdery. If you hit it with a lawn mover it disappears. The only downfalls from this diet I've experienced are finding the cheapest/best option to buy and the initial change. I started with a local butcher thinking I could get chicken necks and backs a little cheaper. That didn't turn out to be the case. The local grocery store had quarters for about half the price. Those still provided enough bone and plenty of meat to keep this active guy fueled. You do want to start out with a high bone content (like backs/necks) to avoid too much diarrhea and get them acclimated. Switching to a raw diet from dry food is about two weeks of hell. Be prepared for some pretty bad stools. If you can't be home to take the dog out often during this you will have some interesting memories of cleaning up seriously awful messes. That said, it was well worth it. My RR has been in great health on this diet and I don't think I'd go back to purpose made dog food ever again. This isn't for everyone and I did a lot of research before the switch. A raw diet worked great for me and my dog.

Your RR might eat her vegetables more readily if you gave them a quick blitz in the microwave first, or you could defrost some of the frozen mixed veg sold ready mixed for humans. Carrots and brassica stalks are usually acceptable as chew sticks, and are certainly better than many of the shop bought alternatives.
Though I do use vegetables, I feed very little raw meat, so I'm hoping that @Malka will have an opinion. However, I would be reluctant to rely quite so heavily on chicken without including some organ meat, usually around 10 - 15% liver or heart muscle - the ox being rather richer in iron. There are also vitamin/ mineral supplements which are advisable, but will leave that for Malka to say what she uses.

I have nothing against raw feeding , but feeding mainly chicken is not suffice,
The biggest thing about a raw diet is making sure it's balanced ie: The barf diet is made up of 70% muscle meat, 10% meaty bone, 10% organ (usually 5% liver and 5% another secreting organ, means feeding at least 4 different proteins in a rotation
veg/fruit 5% to be pureed for maximum absorption.
If not followed correctly there is a risk of severe nutritional deficiencies.

@CaroleC - Thank you for the recommendation - I will do my best although my version of raw feeding probably is totally different to others.

@Lee Gafkjen, This is my version - adjusted from when I changed Pereg from kibble to raw which took just two days. I gave her a piece of frozen chicken wing which she sniffed, licked, and chombled. The next day she looked at the kibble in her bowl but would not touch it as she wanted "proper" food. Tikva has been raw fed since she was fully weaned.

Her morning meal is either a large chicken wing, a large chunk of turkey neck, or, when I have some, a large ungutted sardine [head included]. All these are bought fresh, packed individually and frozen by me - and given to her frozen. I used to get chicken backs or carcasses for Pereg, who weighed ~20kg but they would be too big for Tikva who weighs just under 6kg.

Evening meal is what I call her "wet" meal. I put her various supplements [plus Digestive Greens, and Natural Minerals and Trace Elements] in her bowl - also an Omega 3 soft gel and a Vitamin E, plus Brewers Yeast pill, and mix with hot water. Her other vitamins she she chombles separately - a multivitamin, a hip and joint, a skin and coat, and one that has various phytronutrients. Apart from the Omega 3, Vitamin E and Brewers Yeast, which are human supplements, the others are canine ones.

Then I add a handful of mixed diced vegetables. I get 1kg bags of frozen vegetables and defrost each evening enough for the following day - not cooked but as they come, and then her meat, which I cut up with scissors. I am limited with what I can get so it is alternated - turkey gizzards, turkey hearts [both are classed as muscle meat] and turkey liver as organ meat. Oh yes, ox lung which is sort of half muscle and half organ meat, and is very nutritious.

All bought fresh, packed and frozen by me and taken out the evening to defrost the the following day. As the meat and vegetables are human food we share it - Tikva has hers raw, I cook what I want for myself.

I am confused as to why many raw feeders give lots of vitamins as surely if fed a balanced raw diet, all of their nutritional needs are met.

The following is a section from PetMed...

https://www.petmd.com/dog/nutrition/evr_dg_whats_in_a_balanced_dog_food

Most of the dog foods sitting on the shelves today are meant to be the only source of nutrition for our pets. These foods are marked as "complete and balanced" on the label. By law, to be able to use this statement, the food must meet certain minimums or maximums established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). AAFCO sets these rules to make sure that pet foods really do meet the nutritional needs of animals.
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Vitamins and Minerals

Last, but not least, essential vitamins and minerals must be included in a dog food to maintain good health. Vitamin E helps support your dog’s immune system, while Vitamin A is important for maintaining healthy skin and hair. Vitamins are found in many common foods, including fruits and vegetables, which is why these ingredients are found in many dog foods.

Minerals are necessary for helping the body perform certain functions and prevent deficiencies. Minerals needed in larger amounts include calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, chloride, sulfur, and potassium. Minerals that are needed in much smaller quantities are called trace minerals. Important trace minerals include iron, zinc, copper, chromium, iodine, selenium, manganese and fluorine. Minerals in dog foods are provided by supplements, as well as ingredients like legumes, grains, meats, fruits and vegetables.
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The article is about kibble, tinned food etc - in other words ready prepared dog food. If you look at the ingredients on a bag of kibble, you will see a list of all the added vitamins and minerals.

And that is why many raw feeders give additional vitamins and minerals. To make sure that the bones and raw meat are, indeed, "complete and balanced".

March update

I'll start off this update with a single picture and one world to sum her up :

The word is: Character

The photo is:



This is Lyla, yesterday, being a diva, having a strop, sulking, and refusing to move ......... why ? ......... because she ran through a muddy puddle and got her paws dirty.

Just like normal we have our good days, and we have our bad days. Luckily the good days outnumber the bad, but even though I post the best pictures that I can find of her, and make things out all to be prefect - that's not always the case. She's getting better though.

She's getting more and more confident and now definitely doesn't mind loosing sight of us, or taring across a field because she's seen a rabbit. She's not caught one yet, but it won't be long. Around our way there's plenty of wildlife to keep her on her toes - so far we've had full on, frothy mouth, chases of: Rabbits, Hares, Foxes, Muntjaks, various other deer. We've also had casual chases of Joggers and Cyclists (who caught us unaware as I usually always pop her back on her lead when I see either of these two).

We had a absolute nightmare of a walk the other day - make the mistake of trying somewhere new, which turned out to be quite a lot of livestock and horses. Off lead was impossible - but she still managed to get into fields with horses - which she just barked at and they didn't really care. Then she tried it on with a field of cows/bulls - that scared me a bit. She was completely fearless and ran straight into them - it was when the larger bulls started taking objection and coming at her things could have taken a massive turn for the worse - I managed to get her out luckily.

Then there were fields either side of the footpath - one side was an electric fence, the other was barbed wire. The whole thing was super stressful - and someone left a note on my car telling me not to park there and walk my dog. Ermmmm, it's a normal road and actually I can park where I want - it's not private, or residents only. Anyway enough of that, the sooner forgotten about the better!

So, we've started taking her back to training - 'Taming Your Teens'. Week 2 and she's doing really well. Not overly keen on the other dogs being there, she finds them too distracting and just wants to play, but when she's concentrating she's great.

Where we do training is a 'doggy daycare' centre during the week - so actually we're booking her in for the day on Thursday - mainly just to interact with other dog and get used to others. https://www.oakingtondogdaycare.co.uk/ If it goes well, then I think that we'll try and get her in once a week.

Enough writing - no one really wants to read, we all just want to look at pictures

This is now how she sits on the sofa:


When I left for work the other morning I head some whining and looked up to see this:


And this is her just looking beautiful


We did go away a few weeks ago and she came with us, that all went really well. That's another update though, so maybe another time.

T'ra

Another great update and more lovely pictures of Lyla - thank you Tim. I love her expression when she is sitting on the stairs, watching you as you were going to work - it was a "please do not go" almost ready to burst into tears look.

She really is a beautiful girl and oh how she has grown since that first picture of her.

Thank you again for the update and pictures.

Personally, I think your up-dates are great. It's good for those considering a puppy to read the experiences of others to help them with their decision and raises a smile as those who've had puppies remember the craziness we tend to forget as they get older

April update is unfortunately not a good one at all

I will only post one picture:



She passed 2 weeks ago - I'm picking her ashes up from the vets after work today. We're waiting for the autopsy results to come back.

We will get another dog, and we will know when the time is right who can bring it's own unique personality enabling us to see it as an individual in it's own right so that we don't feel like we are replacing Lyla.

What I do know is that she was my angel, and also my best friend. I am completely broken and the world was a better place with her in it, and by my side.

I am so, so sorry that you have lost your beautiful Lyla. Run free little girl.
Please let us know the post mortem result when you have it.

Oh Tim, I am so very sorry to read that you have lost your beautiful and beloved Lyla.

May her memory be for a Blessing.

Run free lovely Lyla, run free as fast as you can.

Oh Tim this is awful, such sad times that only a dog lover can understand
Run girl run and play with your new friends xx

So very sorry x

I'm sure I'm not alone in being totally surprised by your last up-date and totally devastated by it.

Bless her, she looked so strong and healthy.

Run free baby and shine down brightly on those who loved you.

When you feel up to it, please let us know what happened to this dear, sweet little girl xxx