DennasMom
Well-Known Member
We're on our third large, deep-chested dog -and our first pure-bred mastiff.
We never had an episode of bloat, and with the fist dog (20 years ago), never even gave it a thought. He was a GP/GSD/Rottie mix, ~190lbs (probably 5-10lbs overweight). He did eat off an elevated platform, but drank water from a bucket on the ground. He passed from 'cancer of the everything' at 8.5 years old. He was fed low to mid-grade kibble (better quality as we learned more as he aged) and table scraps ('cause he liked 'em).
Our second dog - a 100lb Dane-lab mix - was on high quality "Great Dane Lady recommended" kibble his whole life, with his last year on a grain-free version. He was very healthy and ran around like a 1 year old puppy when he was 9 years old - until he developed a tumor in his spine that put him in severe pain and took away all control of his hind end (from puppy to incapacitated in 1 week).
So, we went raw with our new pup in an effort to avoid processed foods and preservatives, hoping that will reduce the load on the immune system and be a better diet for fighting off illness and cancers - as well as providing her the best nutrition for overall health available.
I guess we'll know better how it works, in, oh, about 10 or 12 years? At least, we hope so!
I can only dream of having a 17 year old big dog around, like Mike has experienced!
From what I've read, there is a much greater chance of malnutrition when feeding home-made cooked food versus the whole-prey model raw (which is what we're following).
We never had an episode of bloat, and with the fist dog (20 years ago), never even gave it a thought. He was a GP/GSD/Rottie mix, ~190lbs (probably 5-10lbs overweight). He did eat off an elevated platform, but drank water from a bucket on the ground. He passed from 'cancer of the everything' at 8.5 years old. He was fed low to mid-grade kibble (better quality as we learned more as he aged) and table scraps ('cause he liked 'em).
Our second dog - a 100lb Dane-lab mix - was on high quality "Great Dane Lady recommended" kibble his whole life, with his last year on a grain-free version. He was very healthy and ran around like a 1 year old puppy when he was 9 years old - until he developed a tumor in his spine that put him in severe pain and took away all control of his hind end (from puppy to incapacitated in 1 week).
So, we went raw with our new pup in an effort to avoid processed foods and preservatives, hoping that will reduce the load on the immune system and be a better diet for fighting off illness and cancers - as well as providing her the best nutrition for overall health available.
I guess we'll know better how it works, in, oh, about 10 or 12 years? At least, we hope so!
I can only dream of having a 17 year old big dog around, like Mike has experienced!
From what I've read, there is a much greater chance of malnutrition when feeding home-made cooked food versus the whole-prey model raw (which is what we're following).