# Natures menu



## Marnia310 (Feb 7, 2015)

Hello - I have a 17 week cockapoo - she's not a big eater but after trial and error she is eating the most for me and I wondered your thoughts on her diet really.... She's having 1 x 300g natures menu pouch ( half morning, half 4 ish - teatime) and then I put down a bowl of barking heads kibble down in the evening which she will pick at through the evening ( the wet food goes instantly! - I know I shouldn't leave it down but is only way she eats kibble ie a bit at a time - tried mixing it in food but doesn't like). I also feed her a treat 2-3 times a week of NM duck neck or similar - is this similar quantities to everyone else? I worry as she was quite slim a few weeks ago but since she's started this (-and eating it! ) she seems to be putting on some weight.... Anyone else feeding NM that can compare ? Many thanks x


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## Olly's Mama (Jan 16, 2015)

Hi Marnia, I am not familiar with Natures Menu pouches, do you mean the raw minces? I feed Olly a raw, species appropriate diet and did so since he was 9 weeks old and I can cannot comment to much on kibble but the week he was on the breeders kibble he was quite fussy with it. Like he eat it because he was hungry rather than eat it and really enjoy it when he was hungry. 
Sorry not sure my response helps you much.


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## Marnia310 (Feb 7, 2015)

Hi it's natures menu puppy pouches - suppose to be fairly close to raw - it's raw ingrediants that are lightly poached or something!! It scores highly and used by raw feeders when they go on holiday apparently - u don't need it to go in freezer so ideal as I don't have the space really! May I ask what make yours is and the quantity you feed yours is possible?


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## Olly's Mama (Jan 16, 2015)

I se I think I know what you mean now. Are you set of feeding kibble for a specific reason? I am not a kibble fan for a multitude of reasons but I know that you shouldn't feed raw and kibble together. 
I feed a mixture of ready made Nutriment and DIY but I did feed my old dog on raw before Olly so I am a bit more confident to branch out, DIY works out cheaper. 
I always fed 6% spread over three meals of Olly's weight adjusting each week as he gained weight. So currently he is 19 weeks old and has 450 gr a day. He thrives on it really loves it Nutriment is fresh and convenient you defrost and serve.
Additionally I feed green tripe (superfood for them), frozen hearts as treats (Natures Menu has big bags of them), chicken wings bones and everything to keep teeth clean and healthy, and a varied meat diet from rabbits, pheasants duck, salmon, venison, you name it he has it. 
I give recreational bones as in marrow bones that I remove from him as soon as he scooped the marrow out, and I dehydrate liver, sprats sardines, chicken breasts, sweet potatoes etc for treats and chews. 
I think she is eating the wet but not liking the kibble (I wouldn't either after the tasty meat) so she's not getting enough that might be why she is not gaining enough weight. 
Hope this helps you can message me if you want to have a chat I would be more than happy to help if I can.


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## Marnia310 (Feb 7, 2015)

Thank you so much for getting back to me ....everyone raves about raw but I find knowing exactly how much complicated! I would also be very worried that I wasn't giving her everything she needs :-( she's not a massive kibble fan to be honest but I haven't got a spare freezer and space would be an issue which is what puts me off.... This is why I thought the natures menu would be a good idea saying that it is going to be quite costly if she needs more than one pouch of it a day!!! (Which would definitely be the case without the kibble)


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## Olly's Mama (Jan 16, 2015)

Hi there sweetheart,
I know there s a minefield of info out there but really feeding raw is no more complicated then opening a bag of kibble (at least it shouldn't be) 
The number 1 problem is that as owners we focus on the words complete & balanced. These pooches are very important to us and we are responsible for giving them the best. 
The primal diet of a wild wolf is meat bone and organs from whatever animal they kill plus some fruits and roots they forage when they are not killing anything. They eat no carrots no rice and no potatoes  
So if you feed your baby a mixture of these for the rest of her life she will be healthy, happy and she will take hardly any trips to the vets.
Is the same for humans we are all know what a balanced diet should be, still very few of us actually balance it all the time. we chop and change and just get on with life and some of us manage to live well into their 100's
Now for optimal nutrition for your baby if you wanted her to become super healthy dog you can delve into it a lot deeper and add things like coconut oil, steamed nettle tips, pumpkin seeds, all sorts of other nutrients sky's the limit. 
To maintain a healthy dog all I do is feed a variety of meat and fish and dehydrate my own chews and treats as is a lot cheaper and I can control what goes in. 
So Nutriment is Fab, Natural Instinct is fab as well, Natures Menu isn't as good quality as these two in my personal opinion I found the meat to be a bit fatty but I use it myself sometimes as its easily available close to me. 
However DIY is much cheaper, here's a couple of examples to see how the prices compare. both these companies have excellent fresh produce that I use myself
http://www.better4pets.co.uk/news.php
http://landywoods.co.uk
I chop and change between suppliers because I like variety, I also feed green tripe which is a superfood for them extremely good, tracheas I give as treats and to keep teeth squeaky clean, chicken feet are yuck to look at but amazingly healthy full of glucosamine and other important minerals, frozen hearts etc. 
I bought a 2nd hand chest freezer just for Olly as I couldn't store any more in ours, it was £40 and holds about 6 months worth of minces and then I just top up treats and fish as needed. 
Now to answer your other question I defrost a chubb (cheaper buying this way) of nutriment and keep it in the fridge once defrosted, you can keep in fridge for 4 days (its not gonna last that long) 
And then I usually feed one chicken wing for breakfast nutri for lunch and dinner or other minces.
The easiest way to know if you feed right is by looking at the poo, too much bone and the poo will be dry so I feed a bit of liver in one meal, too soft I give a turkey/duck neck or something boney next meal. Also you will know by the way she feels if you feed to much or too little.
If you can t feel her ribs and spine you need to reduce the amount a little if the bones are really poking out feed a bit more. At this age she should be gaining weight each week not masses but still gain.
And trust me raw isn't more expensive than feeding dry, Olly is 4 months and has not yet been at the vet with anything, I know of poo's same age as him fed on kibble and already they had three trips to the vet at £45 a pop.
Its not the same for everyone of course and I am not preaching that raw is the only way, and I am aware its not for everyone but I promise you feed raw and you will have a healthy happy and thriving dog. 
I was petrified of raw at first, our old German Shepard has a miserable life the first 8 years of his life and I still feel so much guilt. He had terrible issues with his stomach, we tried everything under the sun went to numerous vets and they all moved us on all of these different kibbles for years, thank god we were insured as he costed a fortune, we fed this prescription canned food that was revolting to look at kept doing everything they told me and my dog was getting worse and more miserable. The thing about most of our vets is that they only do 7 hours of nutrition as part of their training and they are heavily influenced by the big players in the pet food industry. Anyway by this point his teeth were really bad as well he was a right mess bless him, by chance I met this lady who was a dog behaviourist for a franchise called Bark busters. She took one look at my dog and she said you need to start feeding this dog some nutritional stuff. I told her of our troubles and she said go raw, I listened politely and nodded and when she left I thought (what a loon) how can you feed dogs raw bones and raw meat, crackers. But then I did a bit of googling and started with a raw wing to clean his teeth, after a week of giving him a wing each day( I dint know much at this point) his poo's were firm and we started celebrating, we never had a firm poo. I made the switch to raw and in two weeks my dog was a different dog. We never saw the vet again only for his boosters. When I got Olly there was no other option for me what to feed  

My phone number is 07764 817209 if you want a chat or need any more advice at any point, I am happy to help. And keep your eyes peeled in supermarket, reduced meat and fish is an excellent buy for your lil lady  
Hugs M xx


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## Marnia310 (Feb 7, 2015)

Thank you so much that was so helpful - I'm going to do my research x. First thing in going to do is get rid of the kibble - I'm thinking use these pouches breakfast and lunch and then give her a duck neck/chicken wing in the evening with a view to going completely raw as soon as I get another little chest freezer x thanks again and ps I said it before and will say it again you have a very lucky (and beautiful) pup xxx


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## Janey153 (Mar 26, 2015)

What a helpful post, thank you Olly's Mama


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## whatsuppup (Mar 9, 2015)

Very helpful post! I do have some questions about raw though, as I too have been considering it (though worried about bacteria/disease spreading with children in the house and other kids who play with our pup). Is disease or bacteria from feeding raw something I need to be overly concerned about? Like bacteria spreadong through the house, kids not washing their hands properly if the dog licks them after eating raw, etc.?

Feeding raw, don't I need to get free range animals who have been fed healthy meals and have not been injected with hormones etc..? That is very expensive (of course, because it's healthy)... if not, then my pup will be eating hormones and gmo's etc. in his diet, which surely can't be good for him long term. No idea if you can answer that question, as it is something that came to mind while thinking about and considering feeding raw foods.

That being said, I seasoned a whole chicken this morning, and broke off the neck, washed it in water and lemon juice and then froze it. Is a chicken neck any different from a duck/turkey neck? It wasn't a free range chicken, but I froze it anyway as that way it buys me time to figure out whether or not to use it as a special meal or treat at some point. 

Thanks!


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