This is a plea for help; the forum is growing in membership but not in participation. We have members asking for help regarding what to feed their dog but they are sometimes not receiving enough replies and advice to give them more options and a wider view.
As moderators, Tinyplanets and myself do our best to see that everyone is welcomed and receives a reply. However, we are only pet owners with an interest in nutrition. We need more people to help out. We therefore ask our members to consider participating. None of us know all there is to know about nutrition so please donāt be shy in coming forward to help.
I know that the Facebook page gets a lot of traffic but it is not a replacement for the forum, not least because the information is not searchable in the way that it is in forums. Also, there are people who donāt ādoā Facebook.
We really want this forum to work because we know it is needed and there isnāt another one like it, particularly in the UK. We donāt want it to close through lack of participation so please consider helping wherever you can.
Unfortunately, with the new ārules for manufacturersā¦ā, which I understand the need and reasons for, our involvement will now be much reduced.
What you need is for an independent, qualified canine nutritionist to be available to give professional advice on nutrition matters (without naming brands, this will mean advising on nutrient levels or ingredients to include/avoid). Just look at the questions that are generally asked; āMy dog has an illness, what should I be feeding to help thisā that is why people come to this site, looking for independent yet professional advice, and not more āinternet opinionsā
This in reality means David Jackson needs to become much more active on the forums since most other nutritionists are unlikely to be independent.
These are just my thoughts on what would be needed to make these forums a success.
I will be participating in new posts. Iāve had a read through all of the old threads but many were over a few months old so I didnāt want to comment on those.
Iāll definitely be around to offer another opinion in future posts
My dog has an illness, what should I be feeding to help this" that is why people come to this site, looking for independent yet professional advice, and not more "internet opinions"
Whilst I understand what you are saying, the first port of call for professional advice on what to feed an ill dog has to be the owner's veterinary surgeon.
As for āinternet opinionsā there are pet owners out there who have many years experience - indeed, some of them will have experienced the problems that crop up on this, and other forums. Sharing information about what worked for them (or didnāt work) can never be a bad thing. It is up to the enquirer to balance up the replies and decide on the way forward. Mutual support can never be a bad thing IMHO. Even experts get it wrong.
Having seen both this thread (I do still read the forum) and Davidās facebook post, perhaps itās time to explain why Iāve stopped contributing much - and especially why Iāve stopped replying to pleas for help and advice on what to feed.
Itās simple really. Over the time since I first joined the forum more or less at its inception, as a result of my experience feeding The Little Cav along with the further research Iāve done and my observations of other dogs, my opinions on the subject of feeding dogs have changed. As Iāve seen and learned more I have come to the conclusion that raw feeding is by far the best way to feed almost any dog, though a few may perhaps possibly benefit from a home cooked diet. I personally would never again feed any dog dry food of any kind, and I could no longer ever suggest that anyone else should consider doing so either.
Iām aware, of course, that some say theyāve tried feeding their dog raw food and it just didnāt suit him/her. Iām afraid this makes me quite cross! People will find that one kibble doesnāt suit their dog and then try another, and another, but many try one type of raw and then give up. āRawā is not simply one category, any more than is kibble, there are many different raw foods that can be fed and in many different combinations - if one doesnāt suit your dog then I would say, try another.
In short, Iāve become a Born Again raw feeding fanatic, of the type that could annoy the knickers off many potential contributors to the forum. Since I have no wish to do that, and since there seems little point in replying to every query with the same recommendation - feed raw! - Iāve been keeping my mouth firmly shut.
Great to hear from you George. Youāre contributions have been sorely missed but Iām delighted to hear that youāve found a diet that suits your dog so well. While youāre quite right that a continual āfeed rawā chorus might not be everyoneās cup of tea, raw feeding is a very important part of the nutritional debate and deserves a voice. Your experience with both dry foods and raw could be very valuable to a lot of dog owners out there so if you ever do feel like getting back onboard, you would certainly be extremely welcome!
I have missed you George I agree that sometimes people can be quick to give up on raw. I have certainly found that not all of them suit my dog whereas she does well on others. It tends to make up the bulk of what I feed but I keep an open mind as I do know people who have persevered and tried different raw diets only to find none are suitable for their dogs.
Hello George, I too regularly read this forum and I have missed your contributions. Iāve always found your comments interesting and helpful.
I have contributed a couple of times but I mainly feel I lack confidence in having any thing useful or interesting to say! I only came to this issue of quality dog food 18months ago and still feel Iām learning. Like you George I now feed raw. (A long way from the Pedigree Chum I fed 18 months ago!) Like you I feel I canāt recommend dry foods. It really worries me the number of puppies which seem to go onto kibble on weaning and thats it. Iām not fanatical about raw and I do feed tinned occassionally and Iām dabbling in home cooking, but dry kibble, no. I feed raw because i feel its the least processed. So I too find it difficult to reply to some posts. Maybe we should find away to put our experience across. Anyway I do hope youāll continue to contribute sometimes.
So then about forum contributions relative to other posted content on this siteā¦
I am mindful I post less than some but more than some others.
I am happy to contribute where I feel my input may be relevant &/or of some use.
That said I cant help but notice that much forum content seems to be posted by a small number of contributors.
I understand some folk use facebook, (I donāt), & this has been discussed before. Today I searched on the reviews page on a product newly discussed. I was somewhat surprised to see no less than 14 commentsā¦many of the posts giving in depth comments.
Mindful that there are relatively few regular forum contributors I was wondering if more should/could be done to get some of these contributors speaking on boards with forum usernames rather than perhaps merely commenting on a particular food.
It seems the comments and discussions below specific food reviews can only be made by google, twitter, facebook of disqusā¦whatever that is.
I actually admin/mod on a totally non dog related websiteā¦whilst we have a facebook page nearly all discussions on our forums.
It seems there are several different groups of people all discussing dog food under the allaboutdogfood banner but on different platforms.
Hopefully I have explained this adequately.
Any thoughts ?
P.S. On a side note the general heading section is default collapsed & thus many might not see this section or thread unless executing recent post feature.
There seems to be plenty of page āviewsā suggesting high website visitors (traffic) so perhaps the allaboutdogfood forum already has the information available thus making a further forum post unwarranted?
Thank you for bringing this subject back into view Coaster. Since the forum has been open, we have amassed a fair bit of information and useful contributions. There are plenty of views so as has been said, possibly people find what they want and feel that they do not need to post.
Some time ago I asked David to make email notification of a reply to a post the default. This can be turned off in the user control panel but it means that the new member who posts will get at least one email reminder of a reply to their thread. I think this may have helped in a small way by reminding people to respond but we still have people who post and do not return to their thread. There is not much to be done about it I suppose. These days people just want the Facebook āsound biteā approach (as I call it) where they can make a comment and disappear.
I agree that sometimes people can be quick to give up on raw. I have certainly found that not all of them suit my dog whereas she does well on others. It tends to make up the bulk of what I feed but I keep an open mind as I do know people who have persevered and tried different raw diets only to find none are suitable for their dogs.
