The Darling Dog Company

Daily Telegraph investigate the debate around your dog's food

 

Sunday Telegraph 2014

And you can watch my video too by visiting The Daily Telegraph here

 

Dogs Grazing on Grass

Many owners worry when their dog eats random natural things when out and about, such as cow poo, grass or having a chow down on a stick. My personal opinion is that as long as it isn't frequent and happening every time you take out, I wouldn't worry.

Cookie relishing the fresh, cold, dewy grass

There can be many reasons why our dogs sometimes fancy a little bit of the natural world! For example, the other morning I took Cookie out on an early walk where the grass was still very wet from the night before and cool. She spent a few minutes chewing some of this grass as I would assume it was refreshing to her on the walk. Other dogs may chew grass to make themselves vomit as it can tickle the stomach from the inside making them heave. Other times if done consistenly it can be a nutritional deficency.

The same with when your dog makes the most of the huge pile of fresh cow poo in the field. Those cow pats are full of delicious fibre and if your dog is lacking in that stuff, they may wolf it down with gusto. Again I don't really have an issue with it occassionally as long as its not on each and every walk.

Do make sure that where you walk your dog isn't sprayed with pesticides or chemicals as this can really cause problems for your dog. So do keep an eye on what your dog is doing at all times.

Deer Deer Me - a great new dog chew

Whether you have a teething crocodile of a puppy or a senior that just loves to chew, we are all constantly looking for ideas of how to channel the chewing. Puppies need to chew to relieve the pain of teething and many adult dogs either just enjoy the activity or it can be a stress reliever or a way to while away the time. Whatever way you look at it, chewing serves a purpose. 

At Christmas a few of my clients bought from me and tested some deer antlers. A variety of dogs tried them, varying ages, backgrounds and breeds. The feedback was great, I only had one dog not use the antler, all of the others loved them. 

The great thing about the antler chews is that the dogs have to grind them down, they can't just snap pieces off. So the antler slowly gets smaller and smaller and the dogs enjoy the stimulation and activity. The thing I love about these are that they are ethically sourced from free range Venison living up in Yorkshire. They also last, so they are no one minute wonder! Plus because the antlers are effectively a bone, they are very rich in calcium and magnesium.

The antlers come in varying sizes from small up to extra large with prices starting from 3 - 10 pounds. I now have stock of these antlers at my office. If you want to buy, take a look or see what other goodies I have available, get in touch. You can either drop by or order and collect.

Reports of Chicken Jerky causing Illness in Dogs

Its news I've just come across from the USA but to be honest, many of the products will be similar in the UK. You can read the report for yourself but in simple terms its warning of the risks of feeding dogs chicken jerky (dried chicken) that is made in China.

The FDA in the USA haven't found a contamination but they are warning owners not to feed these types of products to their dogs. So to be safe I would avoid the likes of the Chicken deli strips, dried chicken, chicken jerky strips etc if they are from China. You should be able to find this info from the back of the packet. Don't look at the distributor look at where it was made.

I've blown this photo up, as you can see it looks like its all made in the USA but under the barcode it actually says 'Made in China' so make sure you check for the details..

To read more check out this link to ABC news

Working with Food Aggression

I've recently been working with a young Border Terrier around his food aggression issues. They started aged 8 weeks when his owners picked him up and brought him along to my  puppy classes.

It's worth pointing out that this is very often the key to dogs with this kind of tendancy, look to where you got him from. Many breeders cause this problem without even realising and they have no idea of the possible consequences that can be caused. Imagine a litter of puppies and its feeding time, all of them are on their back legs whining away as the human brings in the tray of food - its one big metal tray of food with their supper spread out across it. The tray gets placed in the centre of the pen and all six puppies dive in. There is pushing, shoving, gulping and alot of commotion around the food.

How not to do it...

What that scene is creating at a very early age is competition around food. The puppies are learning to barge, push and compete to get the most amount of food from the other dogs. You then pick up your lovely little dog, take him home and go to approach his food bowl when he's eating and he starts growling or exhibiting guarding behaviour. Your puppy is well on its way to being aggressive around food and to be honest as an owner, you haven't even done anything yet!!!

It's why when you are looking for a dog if its a puppy, look at the way the dogs are fed, it gives key indicators and if you are looking for a rescue dog discuss the testing they have done with the dog around food to find out if and how it needs to be handled.

Dogs may then start guarding other resources especially if you keep taking things away from them

Food aggression is basically a dog protecting its resources. There are many ways to work with this but all of them should be based on positive associations of humans around food, never be tempted to grab the bowl from under your dog 'to teach them a lesson' it will only fuel the problem.

The Border Terrier is doing brilliantly around his meal times and bowls of food, its now addressing the next part of it which is around toys and treats as again, he learnt as a tiny puppy from his breeder to guard the toys and the food. As with all of these cases it takes a huge amount of time and patience but it also takes a lot of management. As an owner I'm afraid there isn't room to second guess what other people or the public will do, so you do need to be on top of things which can be time consuming but in the long run it will benefit your dog enormously.

If you have any concerns regarding food aggression, get in touch or if you would like to know more about how to choose a puppy or rescue dog and what to look out for, I'm happy to email you some information.

Flower Power Treats for your Dog

As you all know, for me what you feed your dog is so important. I'm of the school of thought that decent food and ingredients pays dividends for your dog's health and wellbeing. Which is why I  thought your dogs might like Lily's Kitchen's newest addition to their family of foods - Power Flowers....

The Power Flowers biscuits are full of goodness and have little bits of liver tucked away in them. They smell sweet because of the natural molasses and they are even a flower shape!

I did a little trial of them when out and about with my own dogs but also client dogs. So Mr Happy Henry wolfed them down, loved them as did Barney, Bruce, Viva, Jemima, Ruby and Bella. Cookie Dog on the other hand will only eat things if they are really meaty, so for her they didn't quite cut the mustard. But to be honest, every other dog that I tried them with loved them.

Henry begging for just one more! (excuse his lipstick in the photo - it was the excitement!!)

I've been using them with Henry as his rewards for in the car, he goes through phases of not wanting to jump in the boot! These are now his little treat for being a good boy and hopping up on his own. They make a great gift for a dog friend too because they look so damn good!

The Point of Scatter Feeding?

This morning I paid a visit to a lovely little spaniel who among other things loved to gulp his food down, they said it was gone within seconds. Then he had a mad energy spurt. Granted the food was highly processed, full of sugar, salt and preservatives which would have contributed to his sugar rush after eating. But with a change of food and some other tweaks you can very simply adjust your dog's eating habits quite quickly.

For me, the idea of scatter feeding is a great one. When I mention it to clients, they either love the idea or hate the idea - its usually dependent on how house proud they are!

The premise behind scatter feeding is to make the dogs meal time last longer, make them eat slower, make them work for their meal which in turn acts as a mentally stimulating activity. So it is great for dogs that are high energy, dogs that gulp their food, dogs that get bored and need entertaining but most of all as an owner, it gives you some breathing space from your dog without them hassling you for a walk!

Many of the dogs rehoming kennels use scatter feeding in the kennels to make their meal time last that bit longer. I use it with Henry at the moment, he's the type of dog that is raring to go from the moment I wake him up. So I use scatter feeding to buy me some time to get ready before I take him out on a walk.

The ideal with scatter feeding is some kind of dry food although you can use wet or raw, you just need to do more of a hide and seek scatter. I don't feed dry food, I'm not really an advocate of it but I do have some kibble for this very purpose. Depending on the size of your dog will depend on how much you use. For Mr Happy Henry I take a cup and a half and fill it up with the biscuits. I then make him sit and wait at the door whilst I scatter it on the patio, on the decking, under the table and around the kitchen floor. I then release him and let him go searching for it. He loves this game.

I have a teeny tiny garden but if you are lucky enough to have a big one then you can scatter it in grass and the flowerbeds if your dogs are allowed in those bits. Make it as hard or easy your dog can manage. When you are first starting out with doing it, make it simple, so your dog understands what you want from him.

You don't have to restrict it to the garden, you can do this in the park or if you have wooden floors like I do, you can scatter around the house so they have to be a detective and hunt it all out. It is a brilliant game for anyone who owns a dog with a fair bit of brain power or for a dog that never sits still!

Remember, if you have a dog that is aggressive around food do not do this type of feeding around other dogs. Even with Cookie and Henry I do Henry outside and Cookie in the living room. Better to be safe than sorry and prevent a problem forming or dogs competing over food.

Recovery Recipe for a Poorly Dog

This morning I got woken up at 6am by Henry in the living room..He had taken it upon himself to clear my desk for me. Very kind of him and all that. Except for the fact that he had decided to drag my computer, keyboard, mouse and printer plus cables off of the table and onto the floor. I ran in to find him surrounded by everything and wagging his tail!!

Due to his little frenzy it knocked various other things off of my table including a recipe Lily's Kitchen gave me for recovering dogs. So I thought I'd post it up for all of you to take note of or save for another day. To be honest, this recipe would be a great recipe for anyone in recovery - human or doglet!

Lily's Kitchen Recovery Recipe

You will need a large, deep saucepan.

Ingredients:

• 500g chicken breast or thigh (boneless)
• 200g oats
• 2 apples (not cooking apples)
• 6 carrots
• 3 parsnips
• 2 tbsp runny honey
• pinch of chamomile and aniseed
• 1 tsp ground flaxseed

Put 300ml of water into a large saucepan and add carrots and parsnips. Then chop and add chicken.

Add oats and top up with more water so that ingredients are covered. Simmer for 20 mins.

Add herbs.

Add honey and grated apple at the end of the 20 mins.

Portion up and let the food cool down until suitable to be served. You can freeze this recipe too.

The Labelling Loop Holes of Dog Food

As dog lovers we all want the best for our darling dogs and that is also true of what we feed them. Picture this...you go to the pet shop and pick up some dog treats or a bag of dog food and the list seems fairly harmless...brown rice, liver, maize, chicken meal and so forth. On the face of it that all seems good stuff, you have an idea what it is.

Unfortunately for us and our doglets, the pet food manufacturers have found some great ways of using labelling on their packets to their advantage. You have to give them credit, they are clever!

For example, you might read 'liver' on the treat packet - in your head that means a fresh piece of liver from an animal that has been chopped up & used in the ingredients to make these delectable items.

In reality, if the liver was purchased by the manufacturer from an external company and it arrived full of preservatives, additives and chemicals, the maker doesn't need to put this on the label. Why? Because they were all added before the manufacturer got the ingredient. If the manufacturer received the liver and then added all those things to it, they would have to declare it.

Do you now see the great big gaping loopholes?!

The worst part to this story is that many of the additives used are ones that are banned in countries like the USA for being too toxic and dangerous. One of the worst culprits is Ethoxyqin - basically it is lethal chemical that does a great job of preserving items like rubber!!!! So you can now understand why so many dogs have allergies, reactions, nervous dispositions when they are being served foods that have hidden ingredients that owners don't realise.

There is a great deal of information out there, one of the most reliable ways of trusting a pet food is if it is certified as organic - because as you would expect everything must be natural with no added or hidden ingredients. The other way is to only buy from pet food companies that you talk to, so you can discuss the ingredients, what goes in, where it comes from and their ethics. The more we make companies accountable the better the quality of their produce must be.

It's certainly worth thinking about and looking at the dog food you have in the cupboard.

 

 

Cooking for your Dog - Lily's Kitchen Style!

The food we feed our dogs is of paramount importance to me. It can be make or break for so many dogs but so few people understand that.

Henrietta, Katy & Holly prepping for the cookery class

On Saturday morning I spent the day with my lovely friends over at Lily's Kitchen as they invited me along to their Cookery School for Dog Owners. The morning was really more of a demonstration and talk on how to cook for your dogs occassionally but also to discuss the importance of the ingredients.

Lamb hotpot

Henrietta is a fount of knowledge (owner of LK and of doglet Lily) and is so interesting to talk to. Katy did the cooking and Holly Mash the holisitc vet spoke about the reasons behind using many of the ingredients. I came back even more inspired than usual and armed with some great recipe ideas.

Cookie, Viva, Jemima & Ruby were on the receiving end of my cooking- they all had the liver treats made for them yesterday. They are so simple to make but the most important thing is to make sure you buy and use the organic chicken livers. Henrietta explained about the perils of using cheap ingredients - just don't do it! I've put below the recipe that they gave for the treats so that you can all have a go too. But best of all, enrol in one of the classes, its really interesting, you get a great folder to take away full of information, a bag of LK goodies but best of all you get to meet the LK team! Katy can keep you entertained for hours!

Katy prepping the vegetables

Liver Treats Recipe

Place a pack of organic chicken livers in a pan of boiling water. This removes any excess blood or fat from the meat...you can see below in the photo that it works! Rinse the livers under running water

Dice up the livers into small training treat chunks. I then sprinkled them with garlic, nettle, kelp & ginger powder and roasted in the oven for 10 minutes on 200 in the oven.

Let them cool and bag them up.

Viva waiting beside the oven for them to cook!!