Lavinia

So i have Sophie for 1 month and in two days she will be 3 months old. Until recently we used to feed her mostly chicken legs and chicken soup with some rice and bread in it. Occasionally we would give her small bites of hard cheese and some egg.

However, i have read that this diet is not bringing her any calcium in. So i am now trying to feed her meat only for 1 meal and the rest of the time kibble. We have Friskies Junior and i am well aware this is not premium quality food but this is what we received when we first got her. I live in a small town and we don't have any better food brands available. So she will have to wait about one more week until i get to a city nearby and buy her something good. However, what would you indicate me to buy? Something on the lower price range if possible. Everybody in Romania seems to indicate Royal Canin as a good food but i will see the price in pet shops and if not try to compare it online with other food.

Also, what could we cook for her? I would prefer not to go on a raw diet and also premade raw is not available in my area. If possible, we would prefer giving her some bits of homemade food better than sticking to kibble because she is not really fond of it. When we got her she wouldn't touch it and we convinced her to eat only through canned food.

sulamk

My toy poodle hasvthe royal canin mini she was first on the puppy now on the adult. She also has raw meaty bones raw or cooked chicken, grated carrot, pumkin for one meal 3 times a week.

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Lavinia

Thank you for your reply! How many meals daily are Royal Canin?

fjm

If you prefer to give her home cooked food, it is not too difficult to ensure a good balance that includes the right level of calcium. You can feed RAW meaty bones (eg half a chicken wing, a small lamb or pork rib, half a chicken neck - any bones that are not hard leg bones from large animals), and/or raw or cooked meat with added calcium (egg shells or calcium powder), and optionally a few cooked vegetables and fruit as well. The important things are to ensure the right level of calcium, to include some offal (lungs, liver, kidney, etc) and oily fish (eg canned sardines) and to feed a variety of different meats. The most comprehensive and up to date information I have found is here: DogAware.com: Homemade Diets for Dogs There is also lots of good information about commercial diets on the same site.

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sulamk

Whilst she was a pup she had 3 RC. Now she has 2 meals a day with the raw/ cooked replacing one 3 times a week.

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Ruso

I don't know what dry foods are available in Romania; I live in Spain and there aren't many (good) options too. I like Acana or Orijen kibble (probably you can find them in online shops like zooplus), I think they are good quality foods. If you can't find them, or if you can't afford them, you can use Royal Canin or ProPlan (less quality, in my humble opinion) but try to suplement them with "real" food. As mentioned before, dogaware.com is a great source of info.
Half a chicken wing (raw) is a good add to any diet (I give them to my toy poodle, who is just 4 months old, two or three times a week). I also offer him slightly boiled chicken liver, pieces of turkey or chicken breasts, some yoghurt, a canned sardine, egg... I usually offer the raw or cooked in the morning or at lunch time, and the kibble as dinner. Variety is important.
I think that with a good quality kibble as a base + some cooked or raw food your poodle will develop perfectly.

Lavinia

Thanks everybody!
I just placed on order online on Acana Puppy Small Breeed (i finally found it!) and i hope she will like it because on the adult formula, larger quantities are cheaper than Royal Canin.

I guess i will try to mix it with some chicken at first if she rejects it and until now she has been loving moist kibble so i will try continuing with that.

Ladyscarletthawk

If you want a more home made food then I would go with Honest Kitchen. In the states at least it is the only legally human grade food out there. There are different recipes and my girl loves it. They sell sample sizes for your dog to try to see how they like it.


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MollyMuiMa

Google sites for home made food: homemadedogfood Sites also have video 'how to's'

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Ruscha_Baby

If you changed the legs to wings, the soup to tripe and the rice/bread to a minced red meat, you would have a great raw foundation to build upon. Please don't feed kibble unless you have no choice.

It's just an opinion, of course.