Since we share most other parts of our lives with all you humans and doggies out there in internet land, we thought it was time to share a meal with you.
When Mum and Dad first brought me home, they fed me on dry food ('kibble' I think you guys over in American land call it). I hated it and refused to eat it! They covered it in raw eggs and I ate it at first (cos I love eggs), but then refused that too, I just couldn't stand it. So they tried a different brand which I ate for a while because it was different, but then I got sick of that too. It was just so yukky! I had really yukky soft and smelly poos all the time, my skin was bad, my hair was bad and falling out, I was really really skinny and my front legs started to go weird and bendy.
Everyone that Mum and Dad spoke to (including vets) told them different things - they were so confused and they just wanted me to be ok! So Mum went and sat down in front of her screen (I suppose it's good for some things) and spent hours reading as much info as she could about good food for doggies.
At the end of all this, she came up with a plan - I should be getting a natural raw meat diet. This means no dry food, just nice fresh raw meaty bones, organs (squishy bits), fish, eggs, a few veggies here and there. So they started feeding me that! I got treated with chicken, lamb, pork, hearts, tongues, liver, lungs, turkey, kangaroo... mmmmm a veritable smorgasboard of yummy meaty meals!!
And guess what happened? My poos started going hard and not smelling NEARLY as much, my front legs straightened up, I fianlly started putting some weight on and my hair stopped falling out. You know the best thing? I LOVE EATING! I have never turned down a meal and always eat everything (except when Mum gives me too much and I go and bury it for later hehe).
Luna got it good and has been getting the raw meaty bones food ever since she was brought home - she loves it too!
Anyway enough yabbering.. here's some photos of us enjoying a nice breakfast of Kangaroo tails!
I like to take my time over my food, I know no one is going to steal it off me so I never rush and gulp...
What's that Mum? You want to get photos of me actually eating?
Oh fine then!
I don't know if you have noticed in my photos, but my teeth are so white and perfect! No brown bits and my breath doesn't smell at all. Which is good, cos otherwise Mum and Dad might not give me so many kisses! My good teeth are from getting lots of bones to chew, we chew every day!
Mum and Dad feed us out in the front yard on the nice green grass. It means they don't have any mess to clean up which makes them very happy.
Me and Luna have our own spots in the yard that we get fed so we never fight or anything over our food. Sometimes though one of us will finish first and go over and watch the other one eat, but we don't ever take food from each other.
Luna loves getting stuck into a nice bone!
I even keep eating when it starts raining - can you see the raindrops?
Luna didn't like the rain very much though! She ran off inside then came back out and finished eating later.
Mum says that there is a lot more to feeding a raw diet than what I have told you, so she said I had to hand over to her to finish off this post. So bye for now from Kaya!
From Kaya and Luna's Mum:
Feeding and nutrition is a pretty hot and heavily contested topic, especially when it comes to giant breeds like the Great Dane. They grow so rapidly it's important to get it right, or there can be pretty serious growth problems like Kaya in the top image - she was starting to knuckle over due to bad diet.
There are some very good and proven brands of dry food out there which will give a growing Dane what they need, however after much research on the topic we personally decided on a diet based on Tom Lonsdale's Raw Meaty Bones, mainly due to the other benefits of feeding this diet such as dental health and overall vitality.
