What do you feed your Collie sheep dogs?

BELOWAVERAGE said:

Surely if your letting yours eat after birth, your feeding raw flesh ?

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Parasitic worm eggs and larvae cannot get through the uterine surface/placental nutrient exchange. So raw afterbirth is quite OK. Some diseases can, but these tend to be viral, vibrionic and bacterial and kill off the placenta therefore the lamb too. Dogs tend to avoid abortions.
Boiling meat and freezing for at least 7 days at -10 degrees C (when icecream goes hard) will destroy all worm eggs, even those in a protective cyst such as Sheep Measles (T. ovis).

Working Huntaways need much more fat than Heading dogs (Collies). Its all about calories in minus calories out according to dog size/weight.

Global ovine said:

Parasitic worm eggs and larvae cannot get through the uterine surface/placental nutrient exchange. So raw afterbirth is quite OK. Some diseases can, but these tend to be viral, vibrionic and bacterial and kill off the placenta therefore the lamb too. Dogs tend to avoid abortions.
Boiling meat and freezing for at least 7 days at -10 degrees C (when icecream goes hard) will destroy all worm eggs, even those in a protective cyst such as Sheep Measles (T. ovis).

Working Huntaways need much more fat than Heading dogs (Collies). Its all about calories in minus calories out according to dog size/weight.

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Should imagine it depends on how well fed the dog is on whether it avoids abortions, after working on a place where the dogs lived in the calving yard, and seeing the abortions in the heifers, it convinced me never to feed raw or let a dog of mine eat cleansing, just can't see its good practice. (bit like eating bat's, it only take's one.)

Lialls said:

We've got 2 collie sheep dogs, one is just over a year old and the other is about 9. They are currently fed ad lib, supermarket own brand premium working dog biscuits, every time we try to introduce tinned meat it upsets their stomachs, the older dog more so than the pup.

Vets couldn't find anything wrong but they are both a bit lean so would like to try and get a bit of covering on them. Anyone else had collies with delicate stomachs? Did you find a certain food good for weight gain that didn't upset their stomach?

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Ive found quite a lot of collies cant process grains in their food. Feed them more and you just get more out the other end. If you compare what goes in with what comes out it gives you an idea of what good its doing. Feeding a raw diet bought frozen suits mine even the skinny ones bulk up a bit.

BELOWAVERAGE said:

Should imagine it depends on how well fed the dog is on whether it avoids abortions, after working on a place where the dogs lived in the calving yard, and seeing the abortions in the heifers, it convinced me never to feed raw or let a dog of mine eat cleansing, just can't see its good practice. (bit like eating bat's, it only take's one.)

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I’m guessing that would have been neospora causing the abortion? Sheep abortion agents are very different, fortunately.
I’d not be too upset if my sheep came across Toxo after lambing, which was the old way of building resistance to it of course.

neilo said:

Those of you feeding raw flesh, how do you manage the ‘dog worm’ thing (I forget the name just now)? I don’t feed mine raw flesh, but have loads of footpaths and lots of dog walkers that don’t/won’t pick up.? I always have quite a few with condemned livers through the ‘dog worm’, which seems to build up as the lambs get older. My hoggets for the last couple of years have come back with over 50%, despite being away from those footpaths and fenced on roots crops for 4-5 months by then! Thankfully no financial deductions as yet, but unsure how to stop it without a machine gun.

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Not read all the comments so might have already been covered. Raw food is supposed to be frozen for 3 weeks before feeding then there’s no worry.

Personally, I would never feed any of my dogs dried food again after seeing how much better they are on raw diets. It is better on their digestion system. We have tried a few - but the one below is what we have stuck with and used for many years now with great results. It is not the cheapest way to feed - but is better for the animal in our view, and you have less to clear up (if you actually clear up).

Depending on the weight - you feed twice a day, our two collies are on 400g per day (spilt morning and evening), and the weight is kept right. You basically increase / reduce amount depending on the dogs weight to ensure good body condition.


We give ribs as treats from the butchers to help keep teeth clean, plus raw chicken wings / breasts etc.

As it is a raw diet - we worm regularly.

Ours get harbros Woofers + any scraps left over at night time, we've feed our dogs at night time for the last 30 yrs sunday used to be the hunger day years ago but dont do that any more, if its a right busy day they would get a little feed miday, i was always told never feed any chicken bit with bones becuse the bone shatters and is sharpe and can stick in them

I used to feed raw many years ago, but 3 years prior I had to stop due to no freezer space and where I was living and working on an estate.
The dogs just never did as well, tried many types and went back to the recommended skinners several times.
This last winter I really struggled to keep any weight on my two main dogs, they looked awful as they were working every day and I just coudlnt get enough into them.
So I bit the bullet and bought a big chest freezer and went back onto full raw meat and bones, the dogs couldnt look better now, shiny coats, hardly any shite, clean teeth and they KEEP weight on finally.
I buy online from a company who do tripe/complete minces etc and also use cull ewes/dog training sheep, works out at just under £1 a dog a day if I used just bought in food, but much less when using own meat.
More expensive than a cheap kibble but its 100% worth every penny for me