Hey everyone,
I’m a first time poster so please be gentle
As a lot of people probebly think dog food = dog food (including me) until I stumbled across this website via an Amazon for Bakers Complete which I didn’t even think of E-numbers for dog food. We have a Westie and he sometimes has problems with licking his paws and is quite hyper and the review suggested that switching his food may help so I looked on various topics on this website and chose ‘Natures Menu’. Just waiting for Amazon to deliver and we will feed it to our dog and see if he improves.
So my question is: Will this really help? Does anyone else out there have a Westie and what do you feed it?
Our dog’s diet consists of bakers complete (big bag), Ceasers & Pedigree sacets. He has two meals per day with treats, a joint stick (bakers) on the morning and a dental stick (yellow pack, can’t remember the brand) but sometimes he only wants the treats and you’ve got to sit him there like a naughty child until he eats, otherwise he has gone 3 days without touching his bowl before we had to sit him down again and tempt him to eat.
I hope you all can share your experiences with me, I’d appriciate it.
Hello and welcome to the forum. I had Westies for many years so I know the breed very well. As you probably know, they have a reputation for eczema and one of mine had this but only mildly. It responded to treatment.
Well done for researching dog food products and yes, Bakers has a poor reputation and low score on the Dog Food Directory. You don’t say which of the Natures Menu products you have chosen. I assume it is one of the tins or pouches? Normally we advise people to transition from one food to another over a period of several days. I think you should stop the treats, Caesar etc and transition from the Bakers itself. You won’t need the joint or dental stick. NM has all your dog needs and his dental hygiene will be improved by using their product. These treats are, like Bakers poor quality. If you like giving treats, choose a really good quality one. Mine have sea jerky (dried fish skin). They are very crunchy and help to clean their teeth. They are also low calorie. Fish4Dogs do them but you might be able to find it in your local pet store.
You might find that your dog’s poo may become a little bit hard. If this is the case, you can add a little mashed sweet potato or similar to provide bulk. It will take several weeks (probably at least six) before you see a difference but eventually your dog’s coat, breath and general liveliness should be noticeably better. The pink staining on his coat might also reduce.
Don’t forget that you can always telephone Natures Menu for advice about their products - they will be able to guide you through the transition. You have chosen a good product and I am hopeful that your little dog will soon be much better in every way.
Hello and welcome to the forum,
I hope your Westie will do well on his new food and enjoy his dinner. I have read lots about dogs who don’t eat their food and the standard advice seems to be leave it down for 20 minutes, if it isn’t eaten, take it away and try again at the next meal time avoiding treats in between. I have a terrier mix who has never left a scrap in her bowl so don’t know if it works or not :
I have tried Natures menu raw nuggets. My dog did well on them but I would have had to feed more than the recommended because she lost a little weight on them. She is quite active though. She coped well with the change over to this diet so hopefully all will go smoothly with your Westie.
I am with Dottie on the food advise and won’t add to that.
About the not-eating. I have heard that some dogs fast themselves occassionally, which isn’t worrysome as long as general health is good. There are even some that say that every dog should be fasted 1 day a week…
Plus, I mean I am not always hungry, there are days I barely eat, and others I eat a lot, so why should it be so different for our furry friends?
I’ve fed my dog natures menu tinned food for the last nine months… It’s a great product, he loves it, he’s very healthy, has great energy and his coat is in lovely condition.
I’m sure you’ll find the product as good as I do. I’ve contacted natures menu for feeding advice and always got a prompt response which was useful.
