[Bella bo]

Does anyone have an opinion on raw diets for wirehaired V. We currently feed ours food we got from the breeders, which is Purina Pro Plan kibble. She is doing well on it full of energy and amazing healthy coat (although not very wirey)
We’re in the Uk so any recommendations for raw food suppliers?

 

[einspänner]

I'm in the States, but 7-8 years ago when I hung out on the Raw Fed Vizsla facebook group there was a guy who would share his dogs' meal prep and he ended up starting a business out of it. I just checked and it looks like it's grown a lot since then. Rawtdoor - Purveyors of the finest raw working dog food

My Wirehair has been on a raw diet for about 8.5 years now. As a puppy she had chronic diarrhea from kibble. I tried several kinds, switching them gradually as is recommended. I tried yogurt, pumpkin, and possibly other common suggestions, but finally switching to raw fixed that overnight.

That said it hasn't been entirely without hiccups. She ended up forming a bladder stone and getting diagnosed with HUU when she around 3. It shouldn't be an issue in the breed going forward as breeders are aware of and test for it, but it turns out a normal raw diet is pretty terrible for that condition. I was sourcing wild game, feeding oily fish and offal and all of those are rich in purines which my dog can not fully process and will instead turn into uric acid stones. I felt terrible. But the nice thing about raw is that you're in control of the ingredients and if your dog ends up being intolerant to something you can eliminate it. So she's been doing well on a modified diet for the last 6 years. No more stones or UTIs and she always gets high marks at her yearly physical.

If she'd been doing as well your pup I never would have tried it out. My childhood dogs were fed a middle grade kibble and lived until they were 15 and 16. I've become less dogmatic about it in recent years and even fed kibble earlier in the pandemic when meat was harder to source. She did okay on it, but the gas and frequent bathroom breaks gave me a renewed appreciation for raw. I'm still waiting to see how she fairs as she gets older. Will she get arthritis like the kibble fed dogs did and if she doesn't is that because of her diet or because she's had more consistent exercise or because she's intact? I think diet is a nuanced issue, one variable of many affecting health, and one about which I'm apparently incapable of writing a short reply. I'll stop now.

 

[Mrs M]

Does anyone have an opinion on raw diets for wirehaired V. We currently feed ours food we got from the breeders, which is Purina Pro Plan kibble. She is doing well on it full of energy and amazing healthy coat (although not very wirey)
We’re in the Uk so any recommendations for raw food suppliers?

Our boy didn’t do well on kibble, lots of gut issues.
Tried boiled chicken and rice as breeder suggested when he had an upset tummy.
Didn’t realise he couldn’t handle chicken!
Changed to raw and never looked back.
Oscar’s in great condition, beautiful shiny coat and picture of health now.
We buy from our local pet supplier.
Natures Menu country hunter nuggets, lots of meat variety and Oscar loves them.
Also has tripe along with Natures Menu Natural Raw Nuggets fruit and veg.
Sometimes tripe on its own.
We also often give him tinned mackerel or sardine on top or a raw egg.
His pudding is apple, blueberries and sometimes natural yoghurt, (a bit messy)!
Oscar is smooth haired but not sure if much difference with wire haired?