Debbz im afraid Tanja is spot on and that with commercial dog food you get what you pay for.  Cheaper options like bakers, chappie, pedigree, winalot etc do not offer dogs anything like the nutrition they need.  A quick look at chappies ingriedients show the following:

Cereals (min 4% wholegrain), derivatives of vegetable origin, meat & animal derivatives (a minimum 4% poultry), oils & fats, minerals. Also contains antioxidants & preservatives.

Bear in mind that by law the ingreidients have to be shown in volume order i.e. biggest ingriedient first, this shows that the dogs biggest source of protein is cereal follwed by derivatves of veg then animals (the crap in other words).  Dogs require animal meat to get the neccessary type of protien, amino acids and fats for their bodies to function correctly, they just dont get that from cereal or veg.  Secondly and most importantly the preservatives mentioned are BHA, BHT & Ethoxyquin all three of which are proven carcinogens in humans and dogs and only serve to improve the shelf life of cheap dog food.  They sometimes go under the guise of EC approved preservatives but there danger is just the same.

The things to look out for in the dog which may suggest their diet isnt right are:
Large smelly poo, diahorrea, smelly farts
Dandruff, flaky, itchy skin
compulsive scratching on tail, belly, legs
Eating grass, coprophagia and things like paper, tissue or wood (sources of fibre)
Aggression, irritability, lack of concentration.

If Becksta is showing all or a selection of these symptoms then you should consider a change in diet, again to copy Tanja go and see doug at Jolleys blyth and im sure he can help but a rule of thumb is "you get what you pay for".

Apologies for the shocking spelling

I only mentioned Chappie because a boarding kennels I deal with who take in pound dogs temporarily while awaiting foster homes, usually have  upset tummies, she  feeds them Chappie mixed with kibble and it always seems to cure them. she's tried other wet meat and it always makes them worse.  And she's always warned me off Bakers and Chum.  Sometimes you can put the most healthiest food available down for them and they wont touch it.  Chappie has been around for a long time, and if it helps Becky to eat then why not mix a bit in with some healthy food.  At the end of the day we all want whats best for Becky.  

Hi Hollysmom, it has indeed been a week and a half of trial and error, and have only just now managed to ween her off the fresh chicken,  after a week of panicking cos she refused to eat anything else, but with Jackies advice got her off it in a day  

And with Steve's advice of the tripe, the last few days she's ate fine, a mixture of 4 different completes with stinky uncooked tripe mixed in it, its rank but i dont care as long as she eats, which happily now she is ! I understand what everyone is saying about Bakers and have bought her some IAMS, which she eats fine, with the tripe, so within a day or two she'll be off the Bakers completely.  Everyone who knows her says she looks good and like she's filling out and i think actually she is ! With regards to the rest of it, we're getting there with the recall, i now have her walking to heel on the lead, except when she gets a strong scent then she pulls a bit, and when she sees another dog its war ! lol. I have a communal garden outside my flat which i can get her to walk to heel to me all the way round and stay and come when called, her running to me full pelt for a treat of chicken or sausage is a sight to be seen ! Last night she even honoured me with a play and was growling and jumping up at me like a puppy ! It was brill ! Like i said before, small but huge steps each time and I think she's slowly begining to trust me  

The car is another step we'll over come bit by bit hopefully, but im not able to let her off the lead yet on walks otherwise i'd do exactly as u say and associate it with a treat, like taking her to the beach and letting her run wild, till then its short journeys at a time, she can manage 10 mins but not 20 !  Unfortunately one of those trips will be to the vets again next week to check on her weight. I will keep u informed of her progress and thank u to everyone for ur help and support  

Good news Deborah. I swear by the tripe, its great for getting weight on.  

Hollysmom i only used chappie as an example cos it was mentioned the same can be said of most commercial dog foods, i dont feed my dogs any complete foods so perhaps my bias is laid bare.

Im pleased Becks is eating and I agree with Steven that tripe is a great food for dogs, all beit that is stinks to high heaven.

Be aware that if she stops eating suddenly its probably not the food thats the problem but perhaps stress, which can cause dogs to stop eating.  If it happens again speak to me before changing foods.

Good stuff about the play, use that as a potent reward for training i.e. walking on a loose lead for 5 steps gets becks a play etc.  Getting her hooked on a training toy for games of tuggy makes training a great deal easier.

Well done anyway, keep it up.

Hi trustee no2, it was my fault that becky stopped eating, me wanting to spoil her for being so ace. I brought her home with me Sat 27th june, and she ate fine that night, the tinned and complete i gave her, and again sunday morning no problem. By our 2nd walk on sunday, our 3rd in total since i brought her home, she was walking without the canny collar and on a loose lead, other than a few tugs when she gets a scent. So i cooked her a chicken dinner all the trimmings.  from monday morning she wouldnt touch her dog food, any which one i tried, unless laiden with fresh chicken and then most the dog food and complete was left.  I tried every which dog food, with others advice in pet shops and online, but she'd touch none of it without the fresh chicken, but ate more of the bakers, obviously getting hungrier by this time !

I weened her off the chicken, but she wasnt eating enough still, so now i'm giving her tripe to build her up and get her used to eating a full meal again. Though once she gets to her perfect condition, weight skin etc, i'll ween her off that too, as i believe its too fattening and i dont want her to become over weight. I would welcome a healthy substitute that i can ween her onto instead of the complete, as i know that dog food in general wet or dry isnt' a true sustinence for them, so if u have any suggestions or recipe's i'd be grateful of them, and certainly try them.

Becky and i have only been together for 11 days now, and given what this girl has gone through, which lets face it, she was picked up as a stray so none of us really know, it's going to take a lot longer than normal for becks and i to click and gel, but i know we're getting there. The first day i brought her home i sat on the end of the sofa after taking her to a bowl of water and let her sniff around and come to me. After a bit she wiggled up to me pretty much backwards and sat on my foot while i stroked her and welcomed her to her new home, she turned round and gave me a kiss, and has never given me one since, once on my hands last saturday, the day she claimed my pillow ! but never on my face. Everyone at shaks and a1 and the kitty, everyone who came into my flat she welcomed with a kiss, me, no.  Until tonight.  I'd left her for the afternoon while i was with my friend, came back and walked her at half 3, then had to go back out and help my friend again, but was only out half an hour. When i got back she was so pleased to see me again that i got such a lick on the chops !!

Becky is an absolute beaut, she's so special in so many ways and so good. She's had some good training in her past, and in the short time we've been together, i've learnt she's so loving and faithful, obedient and so very intelligent, she's amazing. But she has also had some hard times in her life, that i see too. She's very wary of doors banging, especially car doors, so im wondering if maybe thats where her car sickness comes from? In which case it will just be as hollysmom said and associating the car with something pleasant, though she jumps in the car no problem and just lies down, she just drools and pants the whole time then is sick !! lol.

Its very early days and it's going to take a long time for becks and me to find our bond, and i will keep u all informed. I also do really appreciate the help and guidance  everyone is giving me. Everyone has different opinions and experiences, even vets, and every dog is different, its just a question of matching up the suggestions with my becks, so please peeps, all suggestions welcome. She gets weighed again monday, and to see some forever friends this saturday, all comments on her welcome  All we all want is what is best for becks and all the dogs at shaks, and in the world ! I  will take my camera out in the garden tomorrow and try and get some pics of her recalling, she's a site !!! I tried with my phone but she's too bloody fast, or the phone's too slow !! lol,

Anyway, ive only one last thing to say before i get off and shut up ! Steve, will u please take it down that Becky is on home trial, she's not !!!!  I told u 2 days after i brought her home that u are not getting her back, just providing she's happy with me! You all can be the judge of that this saturday or next when i enter her in the shows at Jollys     Tough contests but I'm confident of my girl, u should see her strutting her stuff down Cowpen Road eh Jackie?  

Thank u all again, Becks says night friends, sleep well, she will  

now well done with this poor little sole but as for tripe being to fatening this is only if you feed it in too big a quantity if you see her getting too big lower her meal amount and exercise her a little more and she will be fine and may be put a little cod liver oil in for coat, skin and joints,

i believe that a dogs diet is so so important for there well being and that is just asmaal part as well as exercise and training that is,

well done with this georges girl i have never met her but wen i saw her wow i fell in love me being a rottie fan help too lol .

Deb i can tell you still aint been into my shop cos now u have iams!! All I will say for now on that is that I stopped stocking it about 2 years ago mainly due to customer complaints on the food and the company. I did not mean to start any kind of debate on here but trust when I tell you i have had so much nutritional training on many different foods I could tell you what to look out for. Gregg is right when he says the first ingredient is always the largest quantity. another thing to look for is % of meat as you will be lucky if iams has over 10% and bakers has bout 4%. Once again I don't want to go into 2 much detail on here as I don't want a mouthful for slating any particular product cos at the end of the day thats not what I do, I compare them instead! As for chappie it comes highly talked about for dogs with sensitive stomachs because to be quite honest there is nowt in it to upset them!!
I do have some stuff in my car which I will give you to try tomorrow if you want that is...
Also please bear in mind that dogs always struggle with eating when they first go to new surroundings cos everything is strange to them also the weather can make a big difference. A lot of dogs, especially older ones can sometimes just "not feel like eating" in hot weather just the same as they get tired and can't be bothered.

Best of luck Debbie x

Started a whole new forum in the "World of Rescue" section please lets get this post get back to Becky  

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