Jo's Old Site

As my mother was telling me the other day about this canine behaviourist that she sees on TV she then suggested that I should get some mini treats for Ilse. But I got the wrong thing as she wanted me to get Nature’s Gift Mini Treats and I got Love’em Liver Treats.

They also have two varieties of this brand which is either beef liver, or chicken liver. And when I discovered that I got the wrong thing I told my mum that her dogs can have what I got. As I knew Ilse didn’t really like the beef liver treats. But then as Ilse didn’t protest as much when I went up for tea with mum and dad on Thursday Night, I decided to open the packet of chicken liver treats as knowing that Ilse had never had them before.

And as I could tell that she liked the Love’em Chicken Liver Treats I told mum that Ilse seems to like the dried chicken liver so I’m keeping that for her but I then told my mother that she can give the dried beef liver that I got to her dogs. Also I noticed last night that giving Ilse a treat when I return has stopped her protesting when I go up for tea.

I made a comment to my mother yesterday about having looked at Ilse’s teeth that morning and found them in good condition. I then told her that I think the reason is because I feed her dry dog food straight. And I also said she doesn’t gobble her food down like some dogs as Ilse really crunches on her food.

And then another thing I do is don’t add water to her food as this makes the food mushy, and I think dogs benefit more from food that is crunchy. As if Ilse does want water I always make sure she has it available in a separate bowl. Also dogs that gobble their food down seem to have more problems with tartar building up on their teeth when compared to dogs that really chew their food.

Ilse my miniature schnauzer got beautiful white teeth and I’ll like to keep them in good condition, so I give her a few denta bones to chew on every week. But I have been thinking for a while that to keep a dog’s teeth in good condition they’ll need more than denta bones. As although denta bones must reduce the amount of tartar build up I find that to keep their teeth as clean as possible dogs also need their teeth brushed and given real bones to chew on.

I was looking at info about no grain dog food and I came across something that a person wrote, and they said that they were worried about giving their dog food that has no grains in it because where do they get the fibre? And I also told my mother about this and then added that if people fed their dog foods that has no grains in it, then their dog would still get fibre because of the veggies in it. Mum agreed with me, as she added in the wild a dogs diet would mainly be meat and veggies which they get from their prey.

Also I know the names of two brands of dog food that are sold in Australia that have no grains in it; one of them is made in America and is called Evo “The Ancestral Diet” and I get that at Pet Goods Direct at Riverlink Shopping Centre which is in Ipswich. Also the other is from Canada and is called Orijen, and a online pet store that delivers Australia wide sells this brand and they are called Natural Pet Store. 

Last Thursday, as I was unloading the trolley that I was using a woman noticed that I had 4legs dog food and asked me does my dog like it? I then told her yes she does, and then the lady told me about her dogs being fussy etc.

Anyway, I got onto the 4legs dog food web site and found out that they have at least two other varieties made with lamb and turkey which the shop at Plainlands don’t stock so I might see what they have in town sometime. I also found out that some people feed their dogs 4legs because their dogs are fussy and so kept feeding it because their dogs like it.

However, I came across a couple of comments that weren’t so positive. And for those who are interested in finding out what other people are saying here’s a web site address:

http://www.4legs.com.au/testimonials.php

They also talked about 4 legs dog food on the Dogz Online Forums.

When my Aunt Irene and Veeni (who is Ilse’s breeder) came up with Ilse, Veeni recommended feeding Ilse a few different types of dog foods, and we fed Ilse the recommended food for a while; then I discovered that Ilse also likes eating apples, tomatoes, and oranges. Also as our other dogs are fed a natural homemade diet I then told mum to switch Ilse’s diet to the one our other dogs are having, as I saw how much she liked eating natural foods.

We also try to feed our dogs a variety of foods such as: either raw chicken, or raw lamb bones, we also feed our dogs sardines, or tuna, and cooked rice and a variety of raw vegetables (but not onions). Mum does the vegetables in a food processor that I gave her a few years back, and she then mixes them in with the rice afterwards. We also don’t have any problems feeding our dogs raw bones, although Maddie did bring them up again as this is what some old dogs do.

Then thinking about what may cause this, I also know that mum was told by a vet that we should wash the bones before feeding them to our dogs perhaps this is to stop dogs from sicking them up?

Maybe I should ask mum about this and find out.