We have a new puppy in the house so we need some quality schmutter for him, his breeders were giving him Belcando, a German brand at around 77 euros for a 25 kg bag. Not sure if we can buy that here so what would you recommend and where do we get it?
His name is Hector and he is a (Ridgeless!) Rhodesian Ridgeback
Thanks :)
If I remember correctly you have a "Rhodesian Girl", so with two of them there are certain advantages for them to survive in France: usually in France some die-hard butchers are making a living from people who are resisting eating factory meat from retail-chains.
Everyone with more then one dog should eat less, but good, meat and buy from a butcher. The butcher simply has more control of what he is selling then the guys in retail-chains. I can ask him for 20 chicklegs for Tandori Chicken, or a normal sized duck, or what ever I want to have and one day he offered me to keep the "waste-meat", because with 800 to 1000 gram of meat per day my 2 dogs need, I would have to file for bankruptcy if I feed this Belcano.
The Rhodesians are quite active and Hector is now 5 month older, so you can easily cook in your "summer kitchen outside 10 kg of this "waste-meat" from your local butcher on a huge pot. I get the meat in a bag, cook 75% at once and feed the rest raw (Rotties are no hunting dogs). Price is aprox 1 € per kg., - max! And your Rods will like it, - a Rhodesian of a friend first inspects what my dogs have left in the bowl and then she is playing with my dogs. Just take care they are not digging all the bones everywhere in the garden as it would attract rats.
The dogs then stay healthy! No vets, no parasites, no medication for this "civilisation diseases" which actually originate from this "designed" dog-food. Its so simple: You just mix some other things like rice (no cereals for Rhodesian or Rotties if you want them to stay athletic) but vegies like carrot are necessary, also a egg per week. So it will melt down to something like 30 € per month and is healthier.
If i changed my dogs diet on a regular basis i would be outside with the bucket and hose pipe washing down the dogs and the patio having kept OES for over 30 years worked with the rescue and an international judge and breeder i agree for some dogs expensive food is ok for most a waste of money and not needed, for all 4 of my dogs and those past over the years its definitaly not ,Wag is a very heavily wheat based food and Wagg openly admit to using some contraversial ingrediants including a small quantity of Iron Oxide (rust) to give it colour
I have 2 border collies, I have always had either BC’s or GSD,s. I feed Arden Grange which I can buy in France from Zooplus, however, I get it from the English site as much cheaper. I use the Chicken and Rice and Ocean Fish. AG started as a small family business and although much larger now is owned by the same people they have had dogs all their lives and used to have a quarantine kennel. My dogs thrive on it, both are very active. If you order in bulk, at least 4 bags at a time, delivery is free. Zooplus.co.uk
Every dog is different, but i change my dog food regular to ensure they have a well balanced diet, ignore what vets tell you, they are trying to flog you there contracted supply of food.
I used to feed my dogs WAGG but now feed them food from the pound shops in the uk, get shipped here, when you read the nutrition value it is exactly the same but a lot cheaper.
if you feed your dog high end expensive feeds they will suffer, could you eat the same human food every day and could you eat rich pates, oyster and other rich foods every day with out becoming obeset.
so why make your dog suffer.
all my dogs love fruit and veg, potatoes, carrots, apples, pears, strawberries .
I have used Vitalin Active www.vitalinpetfood.co.uk is a working dog diet the company has now been taken over by Alpha www.alphafeeds.com but still market the Vitalin brand, i use Le network transport based in the Aude and uk, from collection in Nottingham to my door in the Tarn usually a couple of days buying 52 bags saves me a lot of money but having only one dog as most do perhaps not cost effective unless a number of people could order, various types could be ordered from puppy to elderly in the same order, even cat
Hi Alan, yes they did and we have managed to source it so are going to stick to that for the time being.
If your friend would like I can put her in touch with the breeders we got our first one from. who no longer breed but run a Ridgeback forum and can point her in the direction of a recommended breeder. There were three 'approved' litters on the forum this year and all were reserved so she should register an interest now for 2014.
That is a pretty good life expectancy for Ridgebacks Doreen. Our last one was 9.
So what would you recommend and where do we get it?
This topic has been done to death before, each to their own ideas we all know our own dogs better than anyone or at least should do but having worked with Old English Sheepdogs for well over 30 years who generaly have a very easily upset tummy the expensive high protien all singing dancing diets most certainly dont suit them and having 4 and not wanting to change foods when we came here i find it cheaper to import my own direct from the manufacture in the uk, buy in bulk and get it at trade price it generaly works out at 18 euros per 15 kg bag which lasts my dogs a week, price obviously dependent on exchange rates at the time and includes delivery to my door , the average age for most large dogs is 10 years old having lost all of mine over the years between 11 and 12, good advice Doreen on stomach turn Great Danes also suffer from the same neither give grapes to any dog not sure if its liver or kidney failure. One thing i have notice here is that all vets seem to want to put all dogs on a special diet which they stock at 90 euros a bag
I have a pancreatitis dog so everything is made at home. By choice the other dog I would feed raw, as said by Paul, but I live too far south to get the same service as Paul gets from UK as he live much further north. So Arden Grange is what I feed. Crap amount not a problem in either feeding. But it is all a matter of choice, for me as you no cereal though.
our dog and cat love them and "crap" patrol has been reduced in numbers
It is even cheaper if, for a small sum, you purchase a discount voucher. I buy a lot of stuff from them, including cat food, much cheaper than shops here particularly if you look for offers on your favourite brands. I get 5% discount on everything, including any ZP offers.
I use viovet.co.uk they are at least 10% cheaper than here even after delivery if you want to use them I have a voucher code for (smal) discount
John
Jane, I agree about the cereal but I have yet to meet a dog who chooses fruit and veg.
Did the breeder give you some food to start him off? Good breeders do, so that you can slowly mix it into any new food you use. If the change of food is not gradual then upset tummies can result. Did you ask the breeder where they get their food?
Whatever you use, it should be around 33% protein till he is nine months. Obvious marks are Royal Canine and Pro Plan, but not my choice. I suggest that you Google 'Babin' and try and find out if anyone is bringing in dog food from Spain. I use SOGOFA, but not sure if you get get their foods in your area. Check them out on the web.
On another note, where did you get your Ridgeback? I know a lady who would give her back teeth for another one, as many years ago she had one in the UK.
Markus Muhler, Which we buy from cozycatsanddogs@gmail.com
50€ for 25kgs, lasts about 5 weeks with our 25kg & 10kg dogs, we use it for training treats too
I feed raw. Nutriment (google it). Delivered from UK frozen, the staff are fantastically helpful. During summer months we make our own raw food, as too risky getting frozen stuff over without restrictive costs of refrigeration.During the cooler month you’ll find The food is so well packed it’ll still be frozen in the 3-4 days it takes to get here. Not a fan of croquettes at all sorry.
www.LaBoulangeriePourChiens.com (only dog treats, not food) made in france, all 100% organic and healthy ingredients.