Dried Dog Food

[sceadugenga]

My wife and maid cook up a special rice mix for the dog with egg and minced pork. I've caught them putting fish sauce in it as well and told them the salts no good for him. I suspect they still do though.

There's a farm supply shop opened in the village and I noticed this morning they sell bulk dried dog food. They bagged some up so I bought a couple of half kilo packs for him to try.

One was brown pellets about the size of a one baht piece which he gave the thumbs up but he especially liked the second variety which were small multi colored pellets including little white bones that he picked out and ate first.

He made a lot of crunching while eating them though and I wondered if I should soak them first. His teeth are in good nick and he makes short work of any bones he gets.

[Nienke]

Sounds to me that the multi-colored dogfood very well can be Pedigree. The little bones are the ones with calcium. It is possible that as your dog has eating primarily rice mix, he is lacking a bit of calcium hence his preference for these bone shaped kibble.

Adding fish sauce certainly can be too salty for your dog, which can be harmful for his kidneys. You may explain that to your wife.

I'm afraid, though, that all the dog food sold there are of low quality.

Nienke

[sceadugenga]

Thanks Nienke, he shouldn't have a calcium problem as we buy Sleeky calcium supplement tablets for him so he probably just likes the flavour of the "Pedigree".

Hey, is it alright to feed non- pedigree dogs "Pedigree" dog food?

[Nienke]

A dog is a dog is a dog.

[Gary A]

I think dogs get bored eating the same thing every day just as people do. My dog's favorite dry food was Strongheart but it has disappeared off the shelves. The local grocery shop in our village has ONLY Pedigree and he doesn't like that at all. He likes the Tesco beef flavored that comes in the brown bag. They have another cheaper beef flavored in a white bag and he doesn't like that one. One of the Loei stores started handling Alpo. He likes the Alpo and the Tesco beef flavored so I rotate between the two. Mixing table scraps with his dry food makes him really happy. He is full of energy and he is in very good condition so his diet must not be a problem. The ones I buy that he doesn't like get used up by adding a little of it to his favorites.

[girlx]

my dogs won't eat dry food at all, which is too bad because when i go away for days at a time this is what i leave for them to eat. when i come back, it is usually still sitting there and my dogs yell at me.

[Nienke]

You go away for DAYS, leaving your dogs on their own with food they DON'T eat?

I really don't understand your reasoning.

Nienke

[girlx]

no alternative in most cases- can't find someone to feed and watch 3 big dogs (people are too scared). better than leaving them with nothing. if they get hungry, they'll have to eat it.

[sceadugenga]

my dogs won't eat dry food at all, which is too bad because when i go away for days at a time this is what i leave for them to eat. when i come back, it is usually still sitting there and my dogs yell at me.

I bet they yell at you, I go away over night, leaving my dog in the loving care of wife and maid, and he yells at me when I come back. "Owoo wow woo wow woo!!"

I don't think there much harm in leaving dogs alone for a few days, as long as they have food, water and a place to exercise. If they don't eat they're not hungry.

[girlx]

haha that's the same way my dogs yell at me- "a roo roo roo!"

[jingjingna]

There have been some occassions when I have left Missy at home alone overnight. Come back the next day, food untouched . The minute I enter the house , she wants cuddles and then shoots straight out to the garden to do her 'business', comes back in and licks me to me to death!

Now, when I go away, I take her with me...everyone's happy!