I agree. Feed'em raw! Meat and bones!
Kibble recommendations?
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Hi Milena!
So I get the picky eater thing, my first basenji was very picky and if he didn't like it he wouldn't eat it. He also had a very touchy stomach so if I changed what I fed him, it would take forever for him not to have loose stool (sometimes he never adjusted). After many failed trials I ended up keeping him on the same food/portions because changing was bad. Also, being an only dog he didn't have to eat right away because no one was stealing it so from my experience its not too surprising that your pup is acting this way.For my two that I have now, I have a girl with a touchy stomach (she's the niece of my first one and just like him!) and one who has had bladder stones and cannot have a lot of foods because of the ingredients so they both stay on a consistent diet. I use a kibble brand called First Mate Australian Lamb. You can get it from Chewy. Its a high quality kibble with limited ingredients. I feed this to both and for my girl I mix in a tablespoon of wet food (with sweet potato, it seems to keep her belly happy) and for my boy I mix in a packet of Core Simply Shreds. The shreds come in 4 flavors, is limited ingredients, not a ton of calories and he loves it! I'm really happy with that combo. Its easy, and combines fresh and kibble. Because of the stones we like his food pretty wet to help with that. Since I've had him on this combo we have had no stone issues at all (and I test often to make sure). They both have great weight, coats and energy so I have been very happy with the results so far! Oh! I also feed twice a day and monitor, (with two I have to
but I find it keeps their weight right where I want them better and I can see if there are any problems easier (if something changes I know there could be a problem).I like the idea for changing things up but for me it just hasn't worked because of how my two are. I have found that a consistent kibble and subtle change with the wet food (same brand variety of flavor) keeps them interested but problem free.
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@jkent Her weight is not as important as her regime and her diet. Although overweight is never good.
From what you say, you are anthropomorphising the dog. Giving her a human regime of 4 meals which are not good for her. And feeding her things cooked for humans instead of dog food.
Didn't your breeder give you ANY instructions on feeding correctly ? You have already set abnormalities in train, bringing up bile in the mornings. Have you not considered this is because of her diet and her poor over worked digestive system ?
Chicken bones splinter and are a no-no for Basenjis for that reason and don't help with teeth
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My dogs get beef bones, either huge haunch bones that I remove fat from and saw up into manageable pieces, or flat rib bones. Raw, of course.Puppies and adults are healthier and fitter on a proper dog regime and proper diet. Frankly, I wonder what other problems may already have started for the poor wee thing.
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Feeding schedules.....mine always were fed twice a day. I found that once a day resulted in vomiting bile, as someone mentioned. Even with 2 feedings my boy Perry would sometimes vomit bile in the morning if I didn't give him breakfast soon enough, so being empty definitely had an effect.
I also tended to find a food I liked and kept with it, but my dogs always did indulge in vegetables as well as their regular meal, so got a taste of whatever I was preparing for our meals as well. Fruit was usually a hit, most kinds including oranges, apples, berries of all sorts, and before I knew better, even grapes and raisins, which are toxic, but apparently I never gave enough to cause a problem, as the dog I gave them to survived to 16 years of age and never had kidney issues.
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@zande - I think that jkent said she was feeding raw chicken wings... I have never had issues with those, but chicken necks are better. My Basenjis have always had 2 meals a day, one at about 6am (used to be 5am when I was working) and 5:30pm. Then at bed time they got a very small snack and that worked find to save off bile barfing, 99% of the time. Have done this for all 35+ yrs in the breed along with raising my litters (of course they got more feedings depending on age) but when sent home at 10wks it was 3 meals a day (not increased food, just broken up to 3 meal) till they were 4 months then 2 meals. Also I have never used puppy food, I have always fed my Basenjis and their pups adult kibble same as the adults eat. If you use good quality kibble you are just spending more money on puppy food, it is no better for them. And remember when you take a pup home and it is the only Dog in the home, many times because they no longer have that competition for food like with their litter mates, they can get an additude on eating. That is why I always recommend that you put the bowl down for no more than 10 minutes and if they do not eat you take it away until the next feeding. Believe me they will not stave themselves! They will learn to eat when given to them... no different that human children, IMO. Also mine get from a very early age veggies and fruits (watermelon is a total favorite!) raw or steamed. My Basenjis love root veggies (squash, all kinds is a favorite), lettuce, cucumbers, etc and get those (different every day) with their evening meal with their kibble. In the morning they get their kibble with wet mixed in... during the day they get a spoon full of plain yogurt. When first giving them veggies they may play with it first but then they acquire a taste for it....
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@tanza Basically we do the same, and have done over similar lengths of time ! We've grown old with the Breed !
Two meals a day, regular dog food and maybe left over veggies. Its the frequency of the meals that disturbs me. And no, I never feed chicken bones. Nor have I ever cleaned teeth
or had one needing dental treatment.Adult food at once, ground fine, perhaps when they are tiny, for the home bred ones. These last two have been moved over to adult a.s.a.p. !
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@eeeefarm Thanks! I never looked it up, I've just heard it mentioned before (and my own anecdote, of course). This thread certainly makes me feel better about continuing to give wet food to my girl. We are really big on giving her fresh food too.
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@aprilk Thank you for the recommendations! I'll add them to my list. I think I'll try several mentioned here and those will be among them. So far no touchy stomach, but I'll keep your experiences in mind!
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@tanza Thanks, I'll look into Plaque Off. I talked with my vet about brushing and she said if you don't do it EVERY day, it won't make a difference. We've still got nearly all puppy teeth right now anyway. I've got her a toothbrush too.
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When I picked up my dogs from my breeder, she gave me a very detailed diet. I won’t go in to that though because we’re talking about puppies. I’m guessing it’d be a different diet and I don't know anything about puppy diets.
As far as teeth and kibble… we’ve always wetted kibble and still do. Jengo had bad teeth and I had to have his cleaned several times. The vet always had to anesthetize him and recovery, for him, was rough. He also had to have a few teeth extracted as he got older. I discussed this with my breeder and she gave me her solution.
Every evening before bed both dogs get one last treat. I give them two cubes each of Hill's Prescription Diet t/d Dental Care Dry Dog Food. Just two cubes. I was able to get it from my vet with no problem at all. It’s made to break down plaque and clean teeth. My breeder's been breeding Basenjis for 35+ years. I trust her.
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@tanza You misunderstood what I was trying to illustrate. No one should be alarmed if their dog isn't eating the exact same amount, of the exact same food, day after day. Thousands of years of the evolution of the animal indicates that it isn't the way they eat. Your may have trained your dogs to do it, and it may work very well for you. But that isn't a natural instinct, so... entirely different concepts.
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@jkent said in Kibble recommendations?:
raw chicken wings
No cause for concern... raw chicken bones are digestible without an issue. (Cooked ones, on the other hand, are prone to splinter and should never be given to a dog. ) Perhaps a chicken thigh bone would be big enough to warrant a chew before swallowing it(?). I like to give doodle beef neck bones. They tend to be the right size and store very well in the freezer. My only warning there is that it hurts to step on them. Not sure why doodle leaves them in the middle of the path!
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@zande I'm not giving her rich processed food at the dinner table, but unprocessed whole foods like chicken, potatoes and vegetables at her usual mealtime, so not much different to what is in her tin but fresher. I only do this once or twice per week to add variety and freshness, as most of our meals are not suitable anyway. Some people make their own dog food but I don't have the time for that so I just supplement instead.
From what I have read, other than suitability, the issue with giving human food is about calorie density and I am mindful not to give her anything rich. I don't think that letting her enjoy a bit of dog appropriate healthy variety or feeding her at family meal times is treating her like a human - she's a family dog.
The bile started when we picked her up at 8 weeks and the breeder had been feeding her 4 times daily. I did consider that it might be the food causing it but we changed brands and it made no difference. The only thing that made a difference was keeping up with the frequent feeding and as others on this thread have said having a small snack before bed. I have read (including on this forum) that's it's quite common in Basenjis to get bile if they don't eat for too long, so I don't think that 4 smaller meals per day which include some unprocessed whole foods is causing it.
Although I can see that for most people feeding twice daily works well, I don't think there is one size that fits all and as dogs are scavengers, they are surely designed to tolerate eating frequently if that works better for the individual. Most sources recommend feeding adult dogs at least twice daily to avoid bloat That said I do plan to decrease the frequency as she continues to mature.
Her digestion seems fine on this regime - the only time she has an upset stomach or sloppy poo is when I have tried her on small quantities of raw food or she has managed to eat something unsuitable whilst out walking. It has also not yet resulted in food guarding or fussiness to eat her normal dog food.
I fed her raw chicken wings rather than cooked to avoid splintering. It is suggested on the RSPCA website as suitable for puppies from 12 weeks to keep teeth healthy.
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@milena - Not that I am a Vet, but I disagree with what you vet said, my recent girls are now 11 and have no tarter or other issues. Of course all are different, some are just born with teeth/gum issues.
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@jengosmonkey I haven't heard of a dog food for teeth before. Thanks for the link! I'll ask my vet about it!
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@jkent Thanks for your insight. I like giving my girl scraps from food prep too. I remember seeing photos of your pup on the forum before. She's such a gorgeous dog, lucky you
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I'm trying to keep up with comments directed towards me but I just want to thank everyone for your experiences and recommendations about food and everything else on this thread. I appreciate all of you!
