The Zim Family Cocker Spaniel Forum

Awww...that's so neat! It sounds like you've entered a new chapter in your journey together. BUT, be careful, I think the following chapter may include Charlie learning how to open the fridge!! That way you could sleep in!

LOL.... I so agree. My Lexi is like that. She would prefer if I kept the food next to the bed to feed her. But, she knows...potty then food...So she stampedes over everyone to get outside to potty.

Glad he loves his food. I just love when they are loving life!!

Glad Charlie is loving his new food. I can think of worse ways to wake up in the morning than having a cocker snuggle lol

FYI if Charlie does figure out how to open the fridge please don't let him share how he figured it out I have a feeling that Charlie's doppleganger Aussi would love to get into the fridge here

I can't wait til my Cockers are old enough to sleep in bed with me , then I will wake up in a good mood!! He sounds soo adorable!!!

My Tucker is on the same food and is the same way. You barely say "hungry" or "breakfast" and he is sitting in front of the freezer drawer even doing a talk of sorts. I love it. He knows exactly when it's dinner and breakfast time in our house and you better be prepared for a stare down if you don't get it going in time.

Charlie is so adorable!!

Well,....as the old saying goes, "Where there's a will, there's a way!"

Awwww Charlie

He's so cute! I can't think of a better way to wake up! I'm glad he's loving his new food!

Have you noticed any other differences yet Vicky? Coat, temperament, health or stool?

I am considering trying these for my dogs. I was going to divide the meals in little ziploc bags so it would be easy to feed them. Did Charlie take to it right away being cold and different?

My granddog Roxi the Boston has lately been turning down her breakfast. I just thought that perhaps I was overfeeding her since she has eaten this same Wellness food since being a year old and she is now 5yo. If I supplement this for one of their meals she may be more excited about eating. She is not thin but does have SO many allergies that I have been afraid to even change their food flavor.

Yes Deborah, Charlie loved it from day one. The look on his face after his first raw meal was priceless. At first, I wanted to feed him kibble for breakfast and raw for supper. But after seeing how excited he was for the raw food, there's no way I could continue with kibble. The patties are divided with wax paper, it's very easy to divide them. I try to have enough thawed food for 2 days of feeding just in case I forget to take it out of the freezer.

Oh, another thing we notice is he drinks less water. I checked online and this is normal for dogs eating this food as it contains a lot of moisture.

Thanks, Vickie. I am going to purchase some tonight and start this weekend, so I can watch them and their reactions carefully. Have you tried any of the others besides chicken? I feed lamb right now.

Max eats their raw beef too and loves it, after trying several kibbles and him growing bored after a few weeks of each of them. We don't rotate because of sensitivities but their foods are really top notch. And yes, tiny poo is awesome.

We rotate the different proteins as well: lamb, venison, beef, and chicken. I usually buy all the food for a month at once and then rotate through the bags. Tucker will eat any of them and Piper won't eat the beef for some reason. I've never seen them so excited to eat. I use their smaller medallions rather than the patties and that's only for convenience on my part. Piper, who is 16lbs, gets 8oz a day broken into two meals, and Tucker, 27lbs, gets about 9-10oz a day. They stay incredible consistent in weight between Vet visits which makes me feel good they are getting enough to eat. There was a few months of adjustments for us and like Vicky said it is dependent on how much fruits and veggies you feed.

It has made such a difference in Tucker's stool issues, it's insane.

Vicky, thank you so much for posting this. I did purchase the lamb patties and think I will have to adjust how much to feed them until I get it right. It looks like a lot of food compared to the meager 1/2 cup of kibble each meal they were getting before. All three dogs were sniffing when I brought the bag home last night. I went ahead and fed this morning to see the reaction. None of them could chew their food fast enough! All I could hear were dogs licking their bowls afterwards. I was concerned that Roxi the Boston would not chew her food since she tends to swallow large things whole but she chewed quite well and was the first one finished. So far I am pleased.

Sarah, do you feed them frozen? Might be a nice way to keep their teeth clean. The patties were semi-frozen but they didn't care at all, and it was easier for me to separate into each dog's bowl.

Ashley, the company brags this is one food you can rotate to avoid any "oversensitivies" or allergies since the protein and fat percentages are the same in each flavor. My holistic vet store said to avoid the chicken if your dog does have allergies but the lamb and duck are the mildest and easiest to tolerate. I am going to try to rotate slowly with the beef next.

Since my two cockers are older, I am going to feed a bit less and work up if I need to. Tucker is a total couch potato but Hannah does still act like a much younger cocker. I think Sarah feeds the medallions. I wonder if she feeds them whole or cuts them up into smaller pieces.

I know you can rotate. Max's allergy tests popped with chicken, wheat and corn (among other things) and not beef. When the tests were done the vet (and I agreed) wanted him on single-source protein so if any more issues reared their ugly head we could more easily rule out his protein. It's the whole reason we went raw in the first place. We also wanted to save the more "exotic" one's (venison, buffalo and pork) in case he developed issues with beef. We tend to mix a lot of stuff into his food like fresh fruits and veggies and will crack an egg over the top from time to time so he gets variety, his base protein just stays the same. Trust me, the dog doesn't lack for tastes. Dill pickles, baby carrots and oranges are his latest loves.
We also don't use chicken because, in Traditional Chinese Medicine chicken is a "hot" or "warming" food and Max runs hot and damp, so we shoot for neutral or cool foods that are drying to help keep him in balance.

Ashley, thanks for the information. Explain to me what running warm means. Thanks again.

I do feed the medallions. After I did the initial start to see if they liked the food, I tried the patties but I liked the medallions better but just for sheer convenience. Tucker has been on raw for about a year.

Deborah - I feed them defrosted, only once did they get frozen and that was because one medallion dropped on the floor and they swooped in for the kill. I usually put the medallions in the fridge at the time of the previous meals so by the morning or evening they are soft. So, for example, this morning I put Tuck's dinner in the fridge to defrost. I have a few stainless steel bowls (I read this was best to avoid contamination) that I use to rotate between meals and proteins. Sometimes the meal will have a slight frost to it but they don't care. I usually don't cut up the medallions because they're small but I did cut the patties.

Vicky - Tucker has an unusual metabolism. Every once in awhile I cut his back a medallion but for some reason 8oz a day was too little. He's not tubby by any means, he's about perfect, although as he gets older I bet I will have to adjust. I think he burns a lot of calories chasing his tail incessantly. Piper started at 6oz (and she's tiny) but she lost weight the first month I fed raw so I upped hers a medallion a meal. But, to be honest, they get veggies and fruits but not a whole ton...that could be some of the difference. Piper will eat anything and Tucker refuses to eat most vegetables that are "different" (i.e. mushy, soft, hard, really anything).

My vet gives me grief every time they hear that I feed raw but the Internist that I took Piper to recently didn't say anything about it and didn't give me any grief. It's the best decision I could have made for my pups.

Thanks for the information. I am all about convenience, especially at 6AM when I feed them. Nothing too bloody or icky for me! I was afraid they would choke on the medallions if they ate too fast but maybe not.

Thanks Vicky,

I can't imagine that Charlies coat could get any better... he always seemed so soft and shiny in your pictures of him.

I've toyed with the idea of Raw for some time now. I hesitate because of Chessie's tummy issues (I finally found a food that works well for her) ... but that's some testimonial!

Best part of the raw so far.... no gas!!