I have always wondered whose idea the kibbles were? Why would anyone think that was what animals wanted to eat? I most certainly wouldn't want to eat the same dry thing day in day out.

50p per meal?

That would work out at £7 per week for our two JRs which is way above what I spend on Pedigree Complete Adult (small dog)

They are healthy, their weight is stable and their teeth are fine so I won't be changing anything.

I also give them the occasional raw bone (vet's advice) for their teeth to work on but if there is too much meat attached to the bone it gives them diarrhoea.

Gives them white poo as well

The smallest of our 5 dogs is about 20kg. the largest about 40kg, they all get pasta to supplement their diet . It's normal here in Italy and you can buy "complete " dried pasta that you just add warm water to although we wouldn't use just that and quite often they get left over fresh cooked pasta! We also buy fresh chicken carcass which we cook for them. They also get kibble and a tiny bit of tinned food to make it appetising! In other words thoroughly spoilt!!

My 'old' fellow at almost 14 is fit and well too. He managed to lose his virginity last year to DD's hussy bitch (which has since been sterilised) and still enjoys a good romp in the mud park, runs up steep flights of stairs, chases any cats that dare to venture into his garden and jumps onto beds sofas if not watched. He still has most some of his teeth.

I feed them good quality 'kibble' (not from supermarket) and good quality wet food with occasional leftovers.

Our last dog, a good sized mongrel lived to be 17.

I have cats, not dogs, but have read a lot on forums etc about the usual supermarket cat foods not being made of great quality products. Actually the food doesn't look very appetising.

I now buy some food on the internet from Zooplus - it is much more solid meat and apparently better quality. They are made in Germany and shipped here, they initially seem a bit more expensive, but the actual meat contect as opposed to jelly/gravy, is far higher.

Scaling that recipe up to feed my DD's dog would equate to 2kg of chicken, 2kg of veg and 4 large sweet potatoes, for 2 days. Cheaper than kibble? I don't think so

I never buy supermarket stuff any more - it's just not a good indication when it smells the same going in as it does coming out he seems much sprightlier for the change

Hmmmm interesting article.

I've bred and shown dogs all my life and fed them all on a complete dry food, raw tripe and the odd bone without one scrap of trouble.

No overweight smelly arthritic dogs .

I now have a small dog for the first time ever instead of a giant breed. He gets good quality wet food, and a little cooked chicken or liver and a handful of biscuits for crunch.

He too is fit and fabulous so whilst your ideas work for your dogs, mine have worked for 30+ years so I'm sticking with mine.

My dog has a mix of James Wellbeloved dried food, a bit of Butchers Tripe [which she loves], a daily dentastix for her teeth. Sometimes a carrot or bit of broccoli. She loves cooked rice.Wouldn't be able to cope with cooking everything for her when we go on holiday. Don't understand people who feed their dogs biscuits and ice cream as a treat . Worry about this fashionable BARF diet because, no matter how many people swear by it I can't believe that chicken bones aren't dangerous.

We have a breed of dog which cannot eat beef, lamb or most fish. But by buying his food in bulk we feed him for about £4 a week, plus pilchard treats which we make costinv another £1. The main reazon dogs are now presenting with diabetes and obesity is the same as for people, namely comparatively we are all better off, eating too much of the wrong foods ie sugar, and sitting infront of our televisions which we didn't have when I was a child. And there was cancer as my mother died from it in 1950! And there was heart disease and arthritis but no good treatments available.

What breed of dog is that, barbaralynne ?

He's a tibetan terrier. We took bim on as a rescue and the tibetan terrier rescue said no beef or lamb and no sea fish, no potatoes either.

That isn't one that I know in person, but they look delightful.

I feed my two dogs butchers tripe and a few biscuits, Two days a week they have raw chicken wings, I would never give them cooked chicken as it splinters, just think about it animals in the wild eat raw meat and the bones. My dogs would live on chicken wings if they could they love them. Also I buy whole ox liver from the butchers slice it and bake it in the oven at 180 degrees C. It cooks very hard and the dogs adore it and being natural very healthy and much much cheaper than shop bought treats. They also love fruit so any fruit that has gone over the dogs get it they are 9yrs.old and as fit as crazy fiddles.

Talking to a vet friend yesterday she said the main problem with dogs bowels was chicken bones getting stuck in them and having to clear out the pieces of bone.

We had a dog years ago, and he had a mixture of food,some tinned dog food,dog biscuits, also leftovers from dinner, bits of raw fruit and veg when they were being prepared, a scrap of toast, the odd chip or two, and bones from the butcher (the dog went mad with delight) but never chicken bones.
this dog had a very long and healthy and happy life.I feel sorry for either dogs or cats raised on dry food only.

Why not buy dog food from a pet shop? Is supermarket dog food
balanced?

Why not buy balanced dog food from a pet shop? Is supermarket dog food balanced?

Don't have a dog now. Good luck

Er . . . sorry about the repeat.

Dog food does tend to repeat on you!?

The move towards raw feeding alongside criticism of kibble and tendency to blame it for all ills is a bit tedious. It's good to see so many comments about the benefits of kibble and a mixed diet.

Do raw feeders use free range organic chicken? Mass produced chickens live awful lives, are pumped full of antibiotics and chemicals. The point made earlier about vets finding chicken bones as a cause of bowel problems shouldn't be ignored either.

Good quality kibble (as opposed to cheap rubbish) won't harm your dog. My old rescue dog arrived with awful gastric problems and allergies. The gastric problems cleared within a couple of months after a limited diet of chicken/white fish etc and introduction to kibble. The allergies remained until I found a website dogfoodanalysis.co.uk which lists a hierarchy of kibble. I switched to an expensive kibble (wild fish/free range chicken/bison/vegetables etc and no grain) and within a couple of months the allergies were gone and never returned.

My current 3 dogs are fed a grain free kibble that costs £37 a large sack. they also have dog mince our butcher makes, I cook it. They have a kong in the evening, the sign it's settle down for the evening time. In their kongs they get a mixture of vegetables, sardines/bio yoghurt/cottage cheese. They also have a small marrow bone or lamb rib raw once or twice a week. Helps their teeth and anal glands. They are very fit, carry no extra weight and have no health problems.

I know they say that eating raw meat/bones is 'natural' but we surely don't know how many wild animals die because of getting bones stuck in their digestive system?

Cooked bones splinter more than raw ones.