GENERAL INFORMATION
All dogs require the basics of nourishing functional food & shelter but what they need most of all is a loving family that they can feel part of but ...
​
Buying a Puppy should never be an impulsive decision and there are a few extra things you need to take into consideration like:
​​
-
Do you have time available every day to care and provide enough companionship for your new dog?
-
Are you prepared to look after your new family member for all (up to 16 years or more) of their lives?
-
Can you afford the costs associated with keeping a dog? (see "Costs of Ownership" below)
-
If you have a yard does it have adequate secure fencing?
-
If you live in an apartment are you able to frequently take your dog to a suitable outdoor area?
-
Can you provide a place to sleep with bedding off the ground and free of cold draughts? Remember if left up to your pup to choose then YOUR bed ticks all the boxes and would be their preferred choice :-)
-
Can you ensure that fresh water will be available at all times?
​​
Consider reading the RSPCA's Smart Puppy and Dog
​
COSTS of OWNERSHIP
Ongoing costs associated with dog ownership include:
​
-
Food can to be expensive and costs here really depend on the choice of individual owners. Raw feeding of novel game meat, quail eggs, green lipped mussels, salmon etc. and organic grass-fed mince (if you don't have your own cattle) can be quite expensive but it is not necessary to spend a lot to ensure quality food. Tinned sardines, left over vegetable scraps, oils, yoghurt and eggs a couple of time a week don't cost a fortune. On the plus side Spoodles are not BIG dogs and therefore also not BIG eaters. Plus it is much better for their health not to let them become overweight by overfeeding them.
-
Worming, tick treatment etc. are usually significantly cheaper if bought online.
-
Annual health checks are necessary but hopefully this is the only time your Spoodle has to visit the vet, except of course for desexing.
-
Unexpected vet bills if an emergency or accident occurs will mean you need to ensure you can pay for any emergency veterinary treatment required, Depending on your circumstances will you need to take out Pet insurance to cover unexpected costs?
-
Training and Puppy classes are great for socialisation and making friends.
-
Boarding for when you go away on holidays if you can't take them with you or find a place where they can stay.
-
Toys and bedding can be simply old blankets and sticks and balls.
-
Leads, collars, bowls are essential but can be purchased for a very reasonable price from bargain shops.
-
Accessories are mostly optional but could be hats, bags, coats and the price is of course extremely variable
-
Grooming costs will either consist of an initial larger outlay for quality brushes, clippers, scissors etc. OR consist of smaller outlays to regularly visit a grooming salons.
NB Remember the initial cost of buying a Golden Sun Spoodle puppy is only a small portion (about $200) of the total yearly cost. This is an initial cost that will save you money in the long term. Your Golden Sun Spoodle puppy is guaranteed to be healthy & genetically sound due to Hybrid vigour and the temperament selection and genetic screening of their parents.
FEEDING A BALANCED DIET
There are quite a number of diets for dogs out there that are quite popular at the moment including the:
​
-
BARF diet (Biologically Appropriate Raw Foods) can be either homemade or bought commercially
-
R.A.W. diet based on meats, offal, bones and often including some more expensive novel-protein ingredients (see below for an example)
-
Ancestral diet, which is similar to the RAW diet but based on what wolves or wild dogs in the past ate
-
Vet recommended science or special diets for older dogs or those with special medical conditions or allergies
-
Vegetarian diet, for owners who have ethical reasons for not choosing to feed meat
-
Homemade (Raw or Cooked) diets that should provide a variety of balanced fresh nourishing and functional foods if done correctly. If done incorrectly it could result in possibly severe nutritional deficiencies.
and lastly
-
the Commercial pet food diet which 90% of owners currently choose to feed. Just learn to read the labels to assess whether they contain quality ingredients. Check out
Basically none of these above diets need to be mutually exclusive (except perhaps the vegetarian diet) and you can choose one that suits you OR combine various aspects of them to create your own unique meal plan for your four legged companion. This will depend on your own budget, knowledge, research, preference and be based on the availability of ingredients and of course your time. ​
When preparing Homemade dog food it is important to either blend raw vegetables in a food processor (I often use a juicer and then use both the juice AND the pulp) or to lightly cook them to help digestion.
What I put in my Veggie mix varies with each batch. Here on the right is an example where I first mixed lightly cooked kale, spaghetti squash, sweet potato, carrots with a staff blender then added some turmeric, garlic, olive oil and sardines.
I generally serve it with some raw beef mince, eggs (can be lightly poached), fish oil and spirulina powder.
Besides this I also regularly feed Yoghurt, Bones, Offal Chicken wings, Dry kibble (currently Black Hawk) , Rolls (Nature Goodness) and also Meat, Offal & Bones from our own Grass-fed Home-killed cattle.
On the top right you can see the complete variety of food, including the frozen meat chunks, mince & bones that we feed over a period of a week. Not each meal needs to be completely balanced but by including a variety of fresh functional foods the aim is to provide balanced nutrition over time.
This is not a perfect diet, and I still feed commercial dog food, but I am working towards a better diet for all my dogs.
Hope this helps inspire you to also add some variety and fresh food to your dog's diet.
Fresh lightly steamed veggie mix
Huge bowl of blended mix to be frozen
Raw, Homemade & Commercial food
Raw mince added to veggie mix.
waiting for the signal to start eating.
All happily finishing their bowls
Left is an example of a R.A.W. meal preparation These meals, that have been prepared to be frozen, consist of chicken mince, pork, roo, lamb tongue, goat full pluck, duck giblets, pork liver, pork spleen, goat spleen, salmon heads, sardines, tomatoes and leafy greens.
Bone broth and kefir added at meal time along with green lipped mussels and quail eggs.