Raw Feeding Update

One of the questions I get asked the most on twitter is "What do you feed them?!" The simple answer is raw!
I first wrote about putting Lily onto raw in February 2015, which is linked here, and since that post 4 out of 5 of our pack is now raw fed, this post will mostly be explaining what raw and supplements I feed the dachshunds, Lily & Sev.

Why Did I Choose Raw?

I moved Lil's onto raw almost 2 years ago after trying a ridiculous amount of brands, both kibble and wet due to her issues with her coat and skin. When we took Lily on she was very skinny and her coat dull and lack lustre, often is was getting quite patchy and flaky in places, this resulted in numerous vet visits, creams and special shampoo but to no avail, so after much research I decided to move her onto raw!
Within weeks her coat improved and was no longer dry, she was at a healthy weight and didn't poo anywhere near as much!

Since then we've moved Isla onto raw and Sev and Ava came to us already being fed a mixture of raw and kibble, we've even bought a second dog food specific chest freezer!

What Do I Feed?

The dachshunds have a mixture, they are fed twice a day each of them gets about 20g of Barking Heads Fat Dog Slim kibble (which they don't really need due to their main meal being the raw in the  evening. but they like it and it is low fat and natural so no complaints form me! 

For their main evening meal they currently have Nutriment - one 500g tub will last my two and Isla the GSP for two days. But I do occasionally buy Natural Instinct as a treat, the dogs will happily eat either :).
Twice a week I like to give mine a either a Nature's Menu chicken wing, duck wing or half of a duck neck. I give these as they are brilliant for teeth cleaning and both of mine can be trusted to chew them sensibly (I wouldn't advise giving these if your dog bolts their dinner down and doesn't chew. My two are always closely supervised whilst eating wings/necks!).
I also give mine scrambled eggs and dehydrated sprats as part of their meal as an occasional treat which they both love!

(apologies for photo quality, these are iPhone snaps that i've taken over the passed month)

Supplements?

I'm also a very big fan of supplements; my two take various depending on what their needs are at the time, but currently Isla, Lily and Sev are taking Dorwest's Omega Star oil, Sev and Isla have been on this since it's first trial in May and their coats have never looked better, Sev's coat stays soft and shiny and i've found it rarely tangles since he's been taking it. Would highly recommend this and it's definitely the best oil i've tried.
Lily is currently having a scoop of Lintbells "Yumega Boost" powder in her pm feed which is and old favourite of mine, i've written and in depth post about this which is linked here. Lily gets thinning watched in her coat during the winter so she's back on this to encourage coat growth.
And lastly they have a scoop of Seahorse Atlantic "Kelp Care" this is another coat/skin product, Lily takes it as it helps with pigmentation (Lily loves to sunbathe which can lighten the coat in chocolates!) Sev has it because it has numerous health benefits such as joint care, immune care and as mentioned previously coat care!

If you're unsure about raw the main brands that sell it, Nutriment/Natures Menu/Natural Instinct have nutritional advisors that have been very helpful to us in the past! I've also found a group on Facebook "Raw Fed Dachshunds UK" which is a very friendly and informative group!

Hope this has helped answer some questions, if theres anything else anyone would like me to answer, please feel to tweet me! :)
Thank you for reading,
Jaime, Lily & Sev xo

Discover Dogs 2016!

Super exciting post today! Earlier in the week I was lucky enough to win a pair of tickets to Eukanuba's Discover Dogs which is held in London on the 22nd and 23rd of October (next week!!)

I'm super  excited to be able to attend! I won't have the dachshunds with me as we'll be going up via train and I also won a pair of tickets to arrive at the Excel centre via the Emirates Air Line (a very fancy cable car apparently! and I don't think the dachs would enjoy that very much!) But being dogless means that i'll be able to visit lots of our favourite brands, both old and new!

We are going on the Saturday, so if you're going to also be there please let us know as it'd be lovely to meet up! :)

I've already written a list of places to visit and things to buy, should keep me in blog posts for the next month anyway!

Thank you for reading, and hope to see you there!
Jame, Lily & Sev xo

September Favourites

Can't believe September is over already and that we're into October! I actually started planning the Christmas blog series/posts earlier - eek!

Firstly we have a re-occouring favourite, the Lily's Kitchen Fish Chews, they get a special mention this month as sadly they're being discontinued - sob! Luckily i've started an unintentional stockpile... haha!
We love these and they are by far the best flat, fish skin chew on the market they retail at £3.99.

Secondly we have an item that we where kindly sent earlier in the month; The Poop Pot! As bizarre as this sounds its actually a really nifty little product, it's main purpose as the name implies is to store your used poo bags until you're at a bin etc, but they can also be used as a travel water/food bowl - which is what we've been using ours for. We received the size Large which is a perfectly sized collapsable travel bowl, not only is the design/packaging ridiculously cute, but it's really handy! Once they're back in stock I'll definitely be ordering the size small!

Another product that we where sent that I love is the Gencon All in One! This is magic, I swear! I've been testing the Gencon on our rather headstrong GSP Isla, all month. The simple head collar simply slides over the head and nose and stops the dog from pulling without being harsh, rubbing the face or riding up to the yes as various other brands we've tried do! Isla has previously tried many different head collars to stop her pulling the predecessor to the Gencon was a right faff to put on and often rubbed Isla's face, but we've had none of that with the Gencon! It's easy to slide on and off and adjust (I did a bit of experimenting as the website tells you that the All in 1 fits all breeds, and the same head collar genuinely did fit everyone from Ava to Sev!). Such a fab item and is now my go to when walking Isla!

And lastly we have Sev's harness from Puppichic, I have also written a separate post one which i'll link here. This really is a lovely harness, it doesn't rub and is very comfortable, it didn't squash Sev's coat either which lots of harnesses do! The link to buy your own is here.

Thank you for reading,
Jaime, Lily & Sev xo