Raw Food Diet I have two dogs, as most of you know, and through some friends we met at the off-leash park the BARF diet came to my attention. I was skeptical at first, but I cannot stress enough how fantastic this diet is in every regard. The Diet The Bones And Raw Food Diet is as it sounds. In a nutshell: - Ground meat (chicken is what I use) that consists of the muscle, bones, marrow and organs. It is insufficient to just use muscle meat; bones and organs have nutrients they need. It must be raw! Cooked bones splinter and can kill your dog. Raw is the only way to go. - Shredded veggies. Lots of greens (spinach, lettuce, peas), potatoes, zuccini, carrots, celery, peppers, etc. No onions. - Shredded fruit. Apples, blueberries, bananas - Shredded ginger and garlic. - Mix 70% meat, 30% veggies - Give the dog 1-3% of its body weight in food per day (for large dogs) or up to 5% for smaller, active dogs. This percentage is the weight of the meat and the veg. The Cost Who the hell would take the time to do all this? Drive to a meat proccessing facility, divide it up, shred all the veggies...this shit must cost a fortune, right? Wrong. It's way cheaper than store-bought dry food. Store bought was costing me $170CAD/100lbs. Half-and-half of Purina One ($37/35lbs) and Now!($66/25lbs) = roughly $170/lb. Where I buy my meat they sell it in 100lb lots for $40. I have a Costco membership and the veggies and fruit for 100lbs of mix cost me $30. Ignoring my labour and the investment cost of a food processor, that's $70/lb. Less than half the cost of dry dog food. Now, if you're feeding your animal shit like Ole' Roy then it's probably similar. I was mixing a mid-grade and a high-grade and that's what it worked out as. The Result I cannot stress enough the change in every dog that's been switched to this diet. A dog I walk with all the time is a geriatric; 50lbs and 12 years old. She simply came to life. Instead of lagging behind and just keeping up, she runs and plays and her skin problems have cleared up and, in short, she is a different animal. It took my dogs about a week to get used to it - the big guy more so. For the whole of their life thus far they've never been excited about eating, and on any given day they may or may not eat their food. Not any more. They can't wait to be fed, their energy is up, their eyes don't run, little guy isn't chewing his paws and (only pet owners will appreciate this statement) they are pooping fantastic. So, in summary: cheaper, healthier, tastier. Anyone who has the time and a freezer should strongly consider the switch. PM me if I can help.
170 per 100 lbs? Jesus I just buy the Old Yellar shit for 13 bucks per 50lb bag. My dog is always excited to eat, be it Old Yellar or some left over steak.
Yeah, like I said - you can get cheap-ass shit that's nothing but fillers (corn, wheat, soy, etc), meat fat and chemicals for very little cost. I think Ole Roy in the States sells for $18/50lb bag. I don't feed that to my dogs for the same reason I don't feed an exclusive diet of McDonalds to my nieces and nephews. It's bad for them. If it's working for your dog, she eats it and has no side effects (frequent or loose stools, runny eyes, skin problems, allergies, lethargy, upset stomach, chewing paws, scooting across the floor dragging her butt, etc) then go nuts. If, however, as she ages you notice some of these things start to crop up then keep an alternative in mind.
My girlfriend and her Bull Terrier named Louie just moved in with me. Don't be fooled by how cute he looks. He just took an enormous, runny shit that got EVERYWHERE. Which brings me to my question: What's the easiest way to get the dogshit smell out of carpet and blankets?
Hey all, I'm need of some advice on getting a new dog. I'm moving into a new place in a couple of weeks and my roommate (who's buying the house) is going to let me get a dog. I've wanted one for quite a long time, as I've grown up with dogs and miss having one around to bug the shit out of me and poop on my lawn. The biggest issue is that I have no fucking clue on what breed to look into, there's literally a million out there. So, I've got a list of sorts that I would like in my dog: The dog can't shed, I don't have time to clean little hairs from every corner of my house, I'm looking for one that is medium sized (not huge or tiny, needs to be a real creature here). Needs to be social as we have people coming and going at all hours, somewhat intelligent but not so smart that it'll get bored while I'm at work and destroy the house. I also don't want a dog that is butt ass ugly. So far, I've looked into Boxers. They seem fairly intelligent, really good temperament and respond to clicker training well. There are issues regarding the aggressiveness towards other pets and that they drool all over the fucking place. They also have health issues so Boxers might be off of my list. I do plan on adopting from a shelter if possible depending on if I can find a puppy or young dog in the list of breeds that I'm looking for. In short, I'm pretty lost and need help.
While on the smaller side, Boston Terriers are fantastic dogs and fit basically every criteria that you listed.
Anyone have any experience with Beagles? There's a couple at the SPCA. Also, anyone have experience with clicker training?
I've had a Beagle for 12 years. She is the sweetest dog you could possibly know, however, she's been overweight for most of her life. She will eat everything and anything. They definitely need their daily walk.
Quoted for truth. Beagles will literally eat themselves to death if you let them. You have to be REALLY strict about no people food and feeding to keep them at a healthy weight. My parents have had a Beagle for 6 years. They are very cute and sweet, with minimal shedding. They love attention and affection, and are small enough to cuddle but big enough to be a "real dog." And you can NEVER, EVER let them off leash. Even if you train them, they are scent hounds and will follow their noses just about anywhere. You can't have open doors, shady fences in your yard, or anywhere an inquisitive, squirmy dog might find an exit because the Beagle will be off like a shot and you'll be lucky to find him alive. They also have surprisingly loud and enthusiastic voices for their size. If you have close neighbors, you could quickly become unpopular.
So, off leash areas and such are a bad idea I take it? Has your parents Beagle had any training (or whatever you call it)? I would like to take it too off leash areas and take the dog jogging and such.
I have a friend who breeds American Staffordshire Terriers. Medium sized (~40 kilos), minimal shedding, well behaved around children, but they do require a lot of attention. Good looking dogs as well: I don't know anything about clicker training, but the two AmStaffs that my friend keeps are the most well-behaved dogs I have ever met.
The Beagle has minimal training (will come when called, knows how to sit, stay, and down). All bets are off when there is an open door or a good smell though. You could totally take a Beagle jogging on a leash, they have tons of energy, but unless off leash areas are well fenced (too high to jump over and too solid to dig under), I really wouldn't take one there. Until you've seen a Beagle in action, you can't really understand the power of the nose! It's like teenage guys and their dicks. One motivation, on high, all the time.
I hate to jump in and be all Cesar Milan, but in my experience very few dogs just bolt due to their breeding. A beagle that gets walked every day (and I mean WALKED - to the point of being tired and needing a nap), and one who is challenged will not cut and run. I see lots of beagles at the off-leash parks around here. They are high energy, yes, but they don't just bolt. A good exercise is to put them in a sit, then open the door (say, to the back yard), and command them to stay back. Make them sit and listen to you before they go through the door. Personally, I think huskies are the only exception to this rule. The huskies I know - while loving and well trained in closed environments - are born to roam and can run at a clip forever. They are the dogs that will leave you at the beginning of the walk and meet you back at the car two hours later. A good friend of mine owns one; she walks it for probably two hours each day. He's on the treadmill for at least 30 minutes (or longer, if for some reason she was unable to walk him), and in addition to THIS exercise she also tries to cycle with him for 5-15km three or four times per week. I have never seen someone put such time and effort into exhausting their dog. It does no good - he still wanders, because he's a husky and that's what they do. He always comes back, though. True dat about beagles and their nose. They will find every morsel of food in every hidden pocket, and they'll do it before you even know that they're checking you out.
I have one and she's been great. BUT you need to socialize them with all sorts of dogs when they are young. I basically had her living with another pit bull terrier for the first 3 or 4 years of having her and she only wants to rough house with any dog that comes by. This is not good because, a.) some dogs don't like rough house play and it turns into a fight, b.) the stigma of the breed will get you into a lot of trouble when your dog gets into a scrape. That's another thing, you should check and see if your city/state has any anti-pitbull laws on the book and AmStaffs are usually included in them. Ive only had one close call but it was nerve wracking. You have to be willing to be a dedicated teacher/owner and train them more than I think the usual popular fair. Other than that she has been a wonder. Loving, energetic, goofball, and loopey. Far better than Ive seen out of anyone I knew that has had boxers. Boxers are fucking maniacs.
I have a pit mix and I completely agree. Also something to consider before you get an AmStaff (although by no means a discouragement, they are AWESOME dogs), be prepared for a lot of bigotry if you want to take your dog to any parks, or in public in general. If my dog even looks at a Maltese the wrong way, I get a nice lecture about how I should put my pup down because he's a menace. It's really pushed me away from dog parks. That said, with the right training they are, in my opinion, the best. Edit: Oh, and the only dogs that I have consistently seen try to pick a fight with mine are Boxers. I'm sure they can be great dogs with the right handling, but very few people know how to handle a dog so most of them are just bonkers.
I will completely agree with this. While I have never owned one, my best friend of 15 years, who has been my roommate for over a year now, had a boston terrier that had to be put down a couple months ago at age 10. He was the best damn dog ever, I posted some pictures of him in this thread a while back. Since my friend is such a dog lover, he of course had to get another dog. So he got two boston terriers this time and they are great little dogs. They are a bit energetic since they are still young, and like to jump up on you a bit too much, but that mostly has to do with their previous owner not training them. Boggs on the left and Lilly on the right.