Feeding

Puppies are fed on a natural diet of raw chicken bones such as necks or wings. Along with those a mixture of raw mince (beef, lamb or kangaroo) with added nutrients made up from the following list of ingredients:

The following ingredients we would add to each meal: Cooked natural brown rice and rolled oats; raw silverbeet and frozen mixed vegetables blended with water until they are mushy; yoghurt, kelp and corn oil. To each meal we would add only one of the following on consecutive days: Raw egg yolks, sardines, and liver.

All pups should be fed three of these meals a day. Vary the meals so that one of them is the bones only on one day but the next day two of the meals can be just bones and so on, until 6 months of age and from then on two meals per day until 12 months should be sufficient. From 12 months a day they should be on one meal per day, however half can be given morning and evening if preferred. The amount you give depends on the size of the puppy. Small portions should be tried at first and if the pup looks reasonably well rounded after a meal and on the lean side when the next meal is due, enough is being given. If the pup is looking too thin between meals, increase the portion slightly. Likewise if the pup is looking too fat, then reduce the portion.

Once the pup has its adult teeth (from about 10 months of age) it will be safe to use chicken frames as the basic diet. These are available from places like Lenards Poultry shops or butchers. The frames are what are left over after the wings, breasts, thighs and drumsticks are removed from the body, yet plenty of meat and nutrients remain. The bones are very soft and perfectly safe for your dog. Cooked chicken bones are not to be used as they are brittle and very dangerous..

We feed adult Ridgebacks between 2 and 4 chicken frames per day and give them a meal containing all the fresh ingredients every two or three days. The adults also get the occasional lamb flaps and marrow bones to chew. Chop bones and other small bones which can be splintered should not be used under any circumstance.

The diet we have described above has been derived on the principles of Dr Ian Billinghurst and his book "Give Your Dog A Bone". We have been using this diet on our adult dogs for many years now and we are delighted with their constant health and vigour, and their lovely shiny coats.

You may decide that this does not suit your own ideas and lifestyle and if so the alternative would be a good quality commercial puppy food such as Professional Pal Formula, Hills Science Diet, Pro Plan or Eukanuba. Premium dog food has 90% digestibility as opposed to supermarket dog food which has a digestibility of only 30% (therefore much more waste outside and you must feed more). On a diet of premium puppy food there is no need to use any additives as all necessary ingredients are completely balanced in the food.

Make sure there is always plenty of fresh water available. It is important to make sure the bowl cannot tip over and that it is not too deep that the pup can drown in it if it fell in. Once the puppy is 4 months old, a stainless steel bucket is the perfect water container.

Overfeeding can be very dangerous to the growth of a puppy's bones and can cause bone development problems if the puppy is too fat. It is actually kinder and safer for the pup to be slightly thin rather than fat. Ridgebacks are greedy, even if they aren't really hungry, and you have to be the judge as to how much it needs to maintain a healthy balance. It is hard to fatten Whippets and they can be a bit choosy about what they eat. Variety from an early age is the key to ensuring they are not too fussy.