Does your partner have different views on dog care?

[Little Brown Jug]

"Love" has a 2 year old Labrador, at least that's what he claims he is, I'm certain its actually a moose lol he's one of the biggest Labs I've ever seen at 115 - 120lbs but is by no means overweight. He feeds him Beneful and then usually whatever Love has the moose has. If he has bacon, eggs and hashbrowns for breakfast the moose gets a serving as well. Wouldn't bother me so much if he didn't add salt etc to it and all that grease in some of is meals has me worried about pancretitis. Of course anything like Beneful makes me want to cry, I've been pretty close to just tossing the darn crap out on him, maybe if I do it enough times he'll stop feeding it to him? lol At least that's the idea. He doesn't see the problem despite me telling him what's incrediably wrong about those kinds of foods, and Mcdonalds isn't fit for people let alone for a dog's supper... of course he doesn't see it as anything bad because the dog is doing just fine on it and that's what the last dog was fed and lived to be in his teens. Work gave me an expired bag of Natural Balance Chicken and Potato LID which I gave to hi. Well the moose loves it. Love has said its the only dog food he's ever seen him gulp down without him having to dress it up with people food or haveto have another dog around (he'll eat anything if there are other dogs around at the time to avoid them getting it even if he doesn't like it). But I bet you he won't continue feeding the higher quality foods after that bag unless I buy a bag for him. Just can't get it through his head and he can't believe how much I'm willing to pay on a bag of dog food.

Then there's the fact that the poor moose already seems to be having joint problems. He takes the dog to work everyday, walking all over the woods so he gets a good workout he also takes him hunting but at 2 its like he's already falling apart which I believe is due to his diet and the fact that he's so friggen big. I keep thinking if he put him on a better food and got him some supplements he'd do so much better. But he won't or doesn't seem all that interested in it. When the moose is limping around and can barley move he'll give him an advil. He loves his dog, no doubt in my mind about that but I just don't understand him. If that were my dog I'd be doing more then popping an advil into him when he was having a bad day. A 2 year old dog shouldn't act like he's a crippled 13 year old. Boone's already on joint supplements now at 3 years as I know he's going to end up with joint problems at least in one leg so I'd rather be on the ball about it now.

Just can't see eye to eye about it. Don't even bring up the topic that my boys get raw turkey necks 3 days a week. He's in the boat of "raw meat makes dog's aggressive and gives them worms".

[minnieme]

My boyfriend doesn't think quite as badly as your last sentence...*cringe*....but he doesn't believe fully in raw either. We had trouble transitioning Minnie as everyone knows....so now we are back on Evo red meat formula which she does fabulously on. I want to get her back on raw asap...but she still needs to put some weight back on.

I think he is more concerned about how this could affect HIM..not her. He is quite the germaphobe. He does see the benefits of a good quality dog food...and I don't think he'd ever feed something like Beneful, but I don't know that he sees just how terrible it is either.

I think once we get Minnie on raw again....and transition her well, he will see how great it can be. THEN maybe he'll start praising raw....instead of doubting it like he does now. :(

[xellil]

I'm not sure mixed marriages will work :)

[CorgiPaws]

Hubby was pretty wary of raw when I first started feeding this way. (We weren't married yet then) He also grew up with outdoor-only dogs, so indoor dogs was a new thing to him.
But, in the three years that we've been together, he is now just as crazy as I am. A couple weeks ago I had this anxiety meltdown with fear that when we actually have kids I won't be able to give my dogs enough attention, or spend so much time on their diet. (notice I was afraid for the dogs and not the human kid! LOL) and his response was that he would rather spend double what we do to buy meat at the grocery store every single day before he would take the dogs off of raw. (My concern was all the time we spend packaging and thawing, and making time for it with a newborn.)
It makes me proud when I hear him talk about raw and responsible dog ownership on his own accord. He is well trained. LMAO

[magicre]

when we failed the first time, my honey was relieved that we stopped. he was not a supporter of raw....to begin with..

a month later, i tried it again...with help this time and everything, of course, went smoothly....

as they adapted, so did he....and is now a great supporter of raw and just as educated on the subject as i am....we both exchange articles or research...

i do think it's important for both to be on the same page. raw for dogs is a way of life...filled with discussions about what to feed, how many freezers, is this a good deal....and poo, poo, poo....:)

[Caty M]

My boyfriend is fine with it, but he also does none of the prep and feeding. He hasn't read or bothered to learn anything about it, though.. and I doubt that if we split up and he took Bishop, that he would keep feeding raw. He asked me a few days ago why I don't add rice or something as a filler to lower the cost.. and I'm like.. "I'm feeding raw to avoid all that!!"

When I first was researching raw before I got my dog and I didn't know what kind to feed, I told my boyfriend I was going to feed the dog barf, he totally misunderstood that

[magicre]

Hubby was pretty wary of raw when I first started feeding this way. (We weren't married yet then) He also grew up with outdoor-only dogs, so indoor dogs was a new thing to him.
But, in the three years that we've been together, he is now just as crazy as I am. A couple weeks ago I had this anxiety meltdown with fear that when we actually have kids I won't be able to give my dogs enough attention, or spend so much time on their diet. (notice I was afraid for the dogs and not the human kid! LOL) and his response was that he would rather spend double what we do to buy meat at the grocery store every single day before he would take the dogs off of raw. (My concern was all the time we spend packaging and thawing, and making time for it with a newborn.)
It makes me proud when I hear him talk about raw and responsible dog ownership on his own accord. He is well trained. LMAO

as it should be...course with your dogs, they'll probably make a bed for the kid and you won't need a crib . they will take turns being watch dog and you will learn that braxton suddenly became smart enough to change diapers.

i also see no breakage of child labour laws and you can start him/her on the converyor belt, i'd say, as soon as they can walk....and clap their hands together.

[Unosmom]

When I met my boyfriend, he though purina was the best food out there, I never even went into the whole ingredient discussion because I didnt want to be one of those food nazis. But he also doesent have a dog of his own at this time and I didnt think it was relevant to bring it up. But after seeing me feed "fancy" kibble, the topic naturally came up and he went into the full research mode and started doing a lot of reading on his own which is pretty great. He even helped me store 200 lbs of meat when I ran out of freezer space and now discusses the evils of low quality foods with his family and friends. It makes me pretty happy :)

Little brown jug- its a tough situation, how long have you been together? I would think he'd at least try something different out of respect for you, but I know every relationship has a different dynamic. My second option would be to actually buy a bag of decent quality food for the dog (maybe something like totw thats not too expensive and has a decent protein content), at least for a month or so if it makes difference in dogs health, maybe he'll see the light of things.
My own parents are sorta like that, they have a dog and 2 cats. I've been buying their food probably for the last 3-4 years now because I know that once they run out, my mom will buy a bag of whatever is the cheapest. Although I know with Indy (the dog), they might be little more careful since he has digestive issues and anything other then canidae gives him the runs. They love their animals, but they simply dont put as much emphasis on nutrition as I do even though they agree with my approach. They just think its too complicated to drive 10 extra mins to the feed store to pick up Totw and canidae. Its a bit of pain in the butt since I live 3 hours away, so I stock up on food and then bring it with me when I visit once every couple months. But I dont want those animals health going to hell just because it takes little more effort on my part.

[Slayer Girl]

My fiance is pretty sure raw is a BAD idea..im trying to work on it with him. He thinks she will get sick

[hmbutler]

A couple weeks ago I had this anxiety meltdown with fear that when we actually have kids I won't be able to give my dogs enough attention, or spend so much time on their diet. (notice I was afraid for the dogs and not the human kid! LOL)

Haha I was just saying yesterday that maybe I need to get pregnant so I can leave my job and spend more time at home with the pets... oh, and the baby! haha

My boyfriend is fine with it, but he also does none of the prep and feeding. He hasn't read or bothered to learn anything about it, though.. and I doubt that if we split up and he took Bishop, that he would keep feeding raw. He asked me a few days ago why I don't add rice or something as a filler to lower the cost.. and I'm like.. "I'm feeding raw to avoid all that!!"

When I first was researching raw before I got my dog and I didn't know what kind to feed, I told my boyfriend I was going to feed the dog barf, he totally misunderstood that

Yeah my husband is the same - I have always taken care of feeding both our pets (as well as him) so he's never really been concerned with it. When I told him I was changing Duke to raw, he was fine with it, but he doesn't care either way and hasn't learnt anything about it. The only things he knows are the things I've told him (on the odd occassion that he was listening when I told him haha). If for any reason we were no longer together and he had Duke, I'd be teaching him so he could keep it up haha he wouldn't get away with dry food thats for sure haha. Luckily I'll always be there to feed my babies properly ;) but yeah I'm pretty lucky in that he has absolutely no drive to challenge me when I get an idea like this - he trusts that I've done my research and know what I'm talking about lol