Dog owners - I need your help again please!

[ancee]

He's maybe simply had an infection which has now cleared up. make a fuss of him anyway

I think you might be right. Dry again today, fingers firmly crossed!

[Two_Sheds]

suddenly he's started to do it overnight... This is new, he's been dry overnight for months previously.

Sorry I haven't time to read all the posts, so this might be repeat:

have you asked the vet?

it doesn't sound like a naughty habit, it's new & unusual.

I'm housetraining a 2 mth old puppy right now. The only way to keep a clean bed is to have him in the smallest possible zip-up bed, inside his crate.
I don't allow any toilets in the crate or the house itself (but that does mean I need to be on hand every hour to let him out to the garden. Other people are happy to put newspaper down & mop up messes).

[ancee]

He has been dry ever since approximately two days after the post! Bizarre. Yesterday while running about he suddenly stopped and weed on his bed! It was almost like he had forgotten to go (you know like little kids do when they are too busy to stop playing?) Dry again overnight and all day today.

[ancee]

Oh also, we've changed his food after talking to a pet food nutritionist at the pet shop. They are now on beta.

[Scarlet]

He has been dry ever since approximately two days after the post! Bizarre. Yesterday while running about he suddenly stopped and weed on his bed!

Sorry Ancee, that really sounds like he has a water infection. I would get him checked out at the vets or send a sample in to be tested, just to be sure.

[Two_Sheds]

Oh also, we've changed his food after talking to a pet food nutritionist at the pet shop. They are now on beta.

And they recommend whatever it is they're selling. Our vet now recommends Royal Canin (who pay for a lot of stuff the vets uses).

My own dogs are on meat and raw bones. Their poops have gone from large smelly & sloppy to small, clean and delightful, and the tartar's all gone from their teeth

If you're interested in a more natural diet: Raw Fed Dogs - Natural Prey Model Rawfeeding Diet

If you don't want to go "the whole hog" you can just give things like chicken wings as a twice-a-week treat.

[chris]

Do you find it expensive, TS?


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[Two_Sheds]

No, they're small dogs, I pay *about* 30-40p a day for each dog (2 kilo of butcher meat is £4, which covers a week's meals, and I supplement that with cheap fish, FR chicken when it's reduced, eggs, cottage cheese, a bit of rice maybe).

Hopefully I save myself vet bills along the line (they certainly don't need any more tooth cleaning, that's one immediate saving)

[Glutton4...]

I've worked it out, that my two cost me about £1 a day each, on dry food, whereas on Raw they cost me more than double. Roxy-the-mobile-waste-disposal will eat literally anything, including the packet, but Oscar-the-fuss-pot need coercing to eat 'dog' food, so I've gone back to Raw with him, because by the time I've added up the cost of all the 'goodies' that I have to add to make the dry stuff palatable, there's not a lot in it.

My only issues with feeding Raw, are; Oscar has excess energy, so I get more exercise - that's not really a negative, is it? Whereas Roxy gets constipated/loose, seemingly at random, so some research is needed, to get on top of this.

Annoyingly, for my Butcher, he has to fed his Terrier on Dog food, much to his disgust, as Raw binds him up solid! It does mean I get to buy the stuff he would take home...

Incidentally, it pays to get to know your local Butcher - they have to pay someone to take away the 'waste' that folk, nowadays, won't buy. Mine is (and I suspect others are) happy to give me some of it, but it is all mixed, so needs 'sorting.' I am in the process of negotiating a deal (payment for his time; he is very busy, after all) whereby he segregates what I want, to make my life easier, and ensure that his 'waste' bill is vastly reduced.

[SlugLobber]

^^^On that note, I used to get chicken carcasses for my dog from the butcher. For a while, it was free, then randomly, I started to be charged for £2 per carrier bag full. It included the main carcass, wings (where their chopper had slipped) and the odd bit of neck. Two bag fulls lasted about 3 weeks, as a carcass alone could provide 2 meals. My local butcher now does a huge (about 2 ft) long 'sausage' of minced chicken with the bone in and will cleave it into portions for you. That was about £2.50. I've just gone back to raw for my cats as I've discovered Natural Instinct. They balance out the minced BARF for you. I mix it with a little Coshida (Lidl's brand of cat fud) and add wing tips sometimes. My older cat is missing a lot of teeth, now, so this is a great way to feed her raw and surprisingly, she's taken to it rather well! Her poos have firmed up, too. I lost touch with BARF as Rosco wasn't keen (but he did hunt a lot, so it wasn't critical) and when I got Sandy at age 16, I didn't think she'd take to it. The catalyst was a) getting Luna (who is 1 and has lovely teeth) and b) Sandy needing her second dental in less than 2 years and c) somebody telling me about Natural Instinct, which didn't exist when I used to do BARF. In those days it was mix your own (which I did) or feed the Nature's Menu frozen mince, which none of my pets liked!!

[Glutton4...]

Yay! Welcome back Sluggie! Where ya bin?

Yes, my Butcher has given me chicken carcasses too. He asks me to make a donation to one of the Charity boxes, which I gladly do (Air Ambulance). Osc has been back on raw/kibble mix for a week, and totally Raw for the last two days. He loves it! Roxy, I'm taking my time with, as her digestive system is not used to it in any quantity, so I'm still mixing hers.

[Two_Sheds]

Roxy gets constipated/loose, seemingly at random,

I've had to stop the butcher putting liver in the raw that I buy, because it makes them runny (I buy liver separately now, and give them 6g each a day, which is tolerable).

Egg makes one dog runny, but not the other, although he did have a bright green poop on egg this week

[ancee]

It'd cost me a fortune to get my two lads onto a raw diet. I wish I could, they'd love it, unless I win the lottery they're stuck on processed food for the time being. The littler one would eat and eat and eat given the chance The big one is more restrained and dignified!

[Two_Sheds]

It'd cost me a fortune to get my two lads onto a raw diet.

You don't have to go 100%. Just give them a raw chicken wing twice a week (they're about 20p each, and more healthy than Dentist1x)

[Glutton4...]

I can't quite believe the difference in Oscar's coat! After only two weeks back on some raw, and a week on mainly raw, already his coat is returning to that lovely glossy gold that I remember. It had turned to straw after having him neutered last spring, and I had thought it was down to the hormone change. Now I suspect it was down to diet. Happy Mummy!