Doggie nutrition and well being Q&A - chance to win £100 ANSWERS NOW BACK

[AnnMumsnet]

Do you have a dog (or 3) in the family? Thinking about getting one? Ask your questions of two experts from the Waltham® Centre for Pet Nutrition on this thread.

The team at Pedigree say "our philosophy is to provide leading edge nutrition that's affordable for everyone, and with over 80 years of experience making dog food, we're proud of our products. But we know that it can be hard to find the right diet and balance of food for your dog, with a wide variety of advice available which is often confusing or conflicting. So, in partnership with the Waltham® Centre for Pet Nutrition (the world’s leading scientific authority in pet nutrition and wellbeing), we want to lay out the facts and answer your questions on how best to feed your dog, what they need nutritionally, and how Pedigree® products can help support your dog’s health and wellbeing".

The two experts who will be answering your questions are Dr Gale and Dr Butterwick:

Dr Jo Gale MRCVS Science Engagement and Communication Manager Jo Gale is the Science Engagement and Communication Manager at the WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition. Jo qualified as a veterinary surgeon from the Royal Veterinary College, London in 2002. After working in veterinary practice with a wide variety of species from farm animals and horses to dogs, cats, and small pets, Jo joined WALTHAM in 2012. Jo and her husband have two daughters, two dogs, two horses, seven chickens, and very little free time!

Dr Richard Butterwick Global Nutrition Advisor at Pedigree Richard Butterwick is Global Nutrition Advisor for Mars Petcare, based at the WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition, UK. Richard obtained his PhD in 1990 from research on the metabolic and nutritional consequences of growth hormone treatment in dairy cows. In 1991 Richard joined the WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition and has led a number of research programmes, covering a broad spectrum of nutritional areas in dogs and cats, including energy requirements, obesity, digestive function, probiotics, growth, oral health and clinical nutrition. Richard has published widely in the field of dog and cat nutrition and is a member of a number of professional bodies.
Richard shares his passion for pets with his wife Sarah, three children and Tucker the Labrador.

Post your questions to the Doctors on this thread by Friday 13th May and we will send 20 questions over to them to be answered. We will then post a link to their responses on the thread ASAP.

Everyone who submits a question will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will win a £100 John Lewis voucher.

thanks and good luck!

MNHQ
Standard Insight T&Cs apply

Why do pedigree and other dog food brand's spend all their budget on marketing whilst making a poor quality feed containing everything a dog doesn't need like grains and sugar etc ? dog's are supposed to be fed a pure meat diet with some vegetation and bones for their teeth you never see anything like that listed on sacks of dog "feed"

My pup is obsessed with cheese. Is it ok for her to eat 'human' cheese as a treat, or is there some kind of dog variety/alternative?

We are using tiny cubes of mild cheddar as training treats at the moment as that's what gets her attention most but
I'm worried that it may be to fatty or rich for her, she's a greedy little thing!

My dog eats quickly and a friend once commented that I should buy him a 'puzzle' bowl to make him slow down. Is it a problem that he gobbles his food? He doesn't seem to be in any discomfort afterwards.

I have two female dogs (Yorkshire terrier and jack Russell). They are both terrible at meal times, constantly nicking each other's food, brining bite size chunks into the living room to eat off of the carpet and then they go back to their bowls.
Why do they do this and how can we stop this behaviour?

Another question: I don't think my dog drinks enough water. There is always plenty available but it will sometimes remain untouched for most of the day. He will then have a big drink, like he has just remembered it's there. Is that normal? If not, how can I encourage him to drink more?

What temperature food is best for my dog, is he allowed ice in warm weather or should his food be lukewarm/ room temperature

If your dog eats too fast it can cause a twisted stomach and kill them so a puzzle bowl is good to slow down the intake of food and make them enjoy it the reason some dogs eat fast is because they are afraid of it been taken away or disappearing if they don't eat it all in one gulp they can also just be really greedy and need to be taught to slow down

Our sprocker is sensitive to most foods we have tried... both tummy and skin.... although bizzarly rice and pasta he seems fine with ..so.. is on home cooked food comprising of lean meats.. Lamb chicken turkey sometimes beef ( hates fish ) not tried game yet..... Safe veggies fruit and either pasta, rice or sweet potato. But im not sure of the correct ratio....His tummy and skin is very good now...nice firm stools little or no flatulance... coat shiny..and is active and bouncy like a good little sprocker should be.

Please could you let me know what ratio to use and how much he should have. He is 13 months...18kg....looks a bit on the skinny side (hence my question) and has between 2-3 hours exercise a day...plus play and training at home. Sleeps well too. Drinks his water mostly after a meal and when he's out.
Thank you

Dogs shouldn't eat rice pasta or grains as its no good for them at all its just used as a cheap filler in dog food www.dailymotion.com/video/x1e13ss_the-truth-about-your-dog-s-food-documentary-in-hd_tech this 45min documentary from channel 5 can answer all these questions and more about dogs diets and whats right

Pedigree, why on earth are you trying to promote your lousy product on a platform frequented by many people of above-average intelligence?

Someone in your marketing department got it very wrong.

Pedigree- you know, as well as we do - the food you produce for dogs is rot. It's got carb fillers artificial crap and that's why it's so cheap.

My dog eats a grain free high protein real meat with veg diet. Which is what they should eat.

There isn't a soul on Mumsnet who owns a dog and doesn't know this. And yet you choose Mumsnet to come and do your advertising QnA.

You have got this utterly wrong

Lilysnape:....thanks for the advice...will stop the rice and pasta then. Any idea for alternative carbs beside veggies or is that enough?...admin: sorry I know it's not a blog as such, but as we are here!!!

Oh, I'd pay good money to see Pedigree answer some of these questions. Highly doubt they will though!

LRA watch that documentary when you have spare time it'll tell you everything you need to know and the dog forum on here is full of helpful advice

LilySnape: bless you many thanks I certainly will... cheers

Our dog (Lhasa Apso) sometimes has an upset tummy. We suspect this is when he has helped himself to something he shouldn't have had, like the dead mice the cat brings home for him.

Would pro biotic yoghurt help?

LilySnape: just watched the video
Thanks LS brill. ..

Pedigree,

If your food is so good, why does it send my jrt so hyper? And couldn't you bring out a premium brand, derivative / wheat/ rice free ? Would be prepare to pay more if it came in tins, was good for JrT and he liked it( can lend him for gourmét tàsting sessions - joke) .

Pedigree ain't coming back. They know their food is rubbish

Our vet asks us to bin it and bakers too

One of my dogs has a sensitive stomach and can only eat hypo-allergenic food (though once that solved it the vet didn't think it work to look further, so we've no idea what it is that upsets her tummy). She's used to love the occasional chew - especially a Dentastick - but these all make her poorly. What sorts of chews and treats should we be looking for? She's never been that interested in Nylabones

Mrs mushrooms try a raw bone or chicken wing or pets at home do some dried chicken breast strip treats that are 100% natural

Our dog wolfs Dentastix down hardly even chewing them - which I'm pretty certain is not the point and that can't be cleaning her teeth? Should I give up on them, as that's just basically a treat for her every day. How would you recommend I go about tackling oral health with such a greedy Lab?

My dog throws up a small amount of bright yellow foamy sick from time to time. No answers from the vets. I'm still concerned, any ideas what is causing this please?

Bath for your dog - good or not so good and how often?
There is a lot of different opinions on the net from how often as you want to never... I have a lab and a Newfie and they both love water but I still have no idea how often they should have a bath

My little middle aged terrier eats a 'complete' dry dog food with plenty of fresh water yet still wants to eat lots of grass, is there anything more i should be adding to his diet to stop him munching the garden?