What do you feed your dog?

[hooligan]

So do you mean the 'interest' in why we shouldn't or why we do at all?

 

[cjeanean]

U should look up canine nutrition, cause it's my understanding that dogs, being carnivores, need some sort of meat in their food....just a suggestion, make sure you're giving them what THEIR bodies need, not what a bunch of health food/get-rich-quick people want you to think they need. Dogs aren't people, they need different food. Someone suggested to me (if, of course, you can afford it) to give them RAW chicken wings. DON'T cook them, otherwise the bones become brittle and can shatter and hurt them, but raw chicken is good for them.

We actually started giving our dogs (pit bulls) a dog food called 'Nitro'

http://www.nitropet.com/products/

This gives them so much energy I wanted to switch back to Ol' Roy!!!!!!!! Also, since their bodies are getting what they need, they start out eating more, then, as their systems adjust, they actually eat LESS, saving you money in the long run. It's not that expensive, either. It keeps them very lean, their coats are freakin' beautiful, and once again, I have no comment about the energy, since whatever comment I could give would be in the form of expletives in reference to the dumb animals.

 

[menageriemama]

We feed Diamond maintainence to our four dogs. They are very healthy and happy and work very hard around here! Lots of good omega fatty acids and an affordable price if you care about that kind of thing...

 

[tx_dane_mom]

Quote:
Closest dealer to me is 2 hrs away in Louisiana...some place called Ball...hmmm maybe where Ball State college is? Hmm, anyhow never heard of that food though. Glad it works for your guys.
I agree with you about dogs needing meat...however one thing that needs to be considered is while we have 'domesticated' these 'would be carnivores' and introduced vaccines into their bodies as well as many other 'foreign substances/cultures,etc'...WE are the ones corrupting their systems, therefore it makes perfect sense to me that some would develop an intolerance to various grains, and inevitably meat...why not?
Just food for thought...

 

[hooligan]

Actually dogs are OMNIvores, just like humans and can live a very healthy life on a vegetarian diet. Somehow I just knew SOMEONE would start up on this

: But since our dogs do much better on this food I think it is best for them. They have been on a RAW diet before and on many other premium foods but this is doing well for them.

If you take the time to go back and read thru all the post you can check out a link I posted about veggie dogs written by an awesome vet. I also posted a pic of our counter during the 'meat baggin' and weighing after we got home from the butcher

Here is another article as well:

If you have been feeding your companion animals commercial pet foods, you may be jeopardizing their health. Supermarket pet foods are often composed of ground-up parts of animals deemed by U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors unfit for human consumption. The flesh of animals who fall into one of the categories of the four D’s—dead, dying, diseased, or disabled—is what often goes into pet food. Many of these animals have died of infections and other diseases. In all but a few states it is legal to remove unusable parts from chickens and sell them to pet food manufacturers. Most pet foods contain the same hormones, pesticides, and antibiotics that are found in commercial meat products for humans. If you are concerned about your companion animals’ health and about the cruelty of the meat industry, now is the time to stop buying meat-based commercial pet food.
Vegetarian Dogs and Cats
Many vegetarians and vegans feed healthful, meatless diets to their companion animals. One remarkable example is that of Bramble, a 27-year-old border collie whose vegan diet of rice, lentils, and organic vegetables earned her consideration by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s oldest living dog in 2002.1 Studies have shown that the ailments associated with meat consumption in humans, such as allergies, cancer, and kidney, heart, and bone problems, also affect many nonhumans. Pet food has also been recalled during mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), scares because of the risk that contaminated meat was processed into the food. One deputy commissioner states that cats especially “are susceptible to BSE.”2

The nutritional needs of dogs and cats are easily met with a balanced vegan diet and certain supplements. James Peden, author of Vegetarian Cats & Dogs, developed Vegepet™ supplements to add to vegetarian and vegan recipes. They are nutritionally balanced and also come in special formulas for kittens, puppies, and lactating cats and dogs.

Some people wonder if it’s “unnatural” to omit meat from the diet of a dog or cat. Animals in the wild commonly eat quite a lot of plant matter. Besides, to feed them the meat that they would naturally eat, you would have to serve them whole mice or birds or allow them to hunt for themselves, an option that is unfair to native species of birds and other small animals, since companion cats and dogs have been removed from the food chain and have advantages that free-roaming animals lack. Vegetarian or vegan dogs and cats enjoy their food and good health, and a vegetarian diet for your companion animal is ethically consistent with animal rights philosophy.
Important Supplements
Making vegetarian food for dogs is easy because dogs, like people, are omnivorous and usually hearty eaters. Recipes for vegetarian and vegan dogs are available along with the Vegedog™ supplement from James Peden’s company, Harbingers of a New Age. It is important to follow directions carefully. If you make any changes in ingredients, make sure that you do not change the nutritional balance of the recipe. If a dog receives too little protein, calcium, or vitamin D, his or her health could be jeopardized.

Additionally, some dogs need two amino acids called L-carnitine and taurine which are not generally added to commercial dog foods and can be insufficient in homemade dog food as well. A deficiency of these nutrients can cause dilated cardiomyopathy, a serious illness in which the heart becomes large and flabby and can no longer function. This illness generally strikes young or middle-aged dogs who are deficient in L-carnitine or taurine because of breed, size, individual genetic make-up, or diet. Supplemental L-carnitine and taurine can be bought at your local health food store

Cats are often more finicky than dogs, and their nutritional requirements are more complicated. Cats need a considerable amount of vitamin A, which they cannot biosynthesize from carotene, as dogs and humans do. Insufficient amounts may cause loss of hearing, as well as problems with skin, bones, and intestinal and reproductive systems. Cats also need taurine. A feline lacking taurine can lose eyesight and could develop cardiomyopathy. Commercial pet food companies often add taurine obtained from mollusks. James Peden found vegetarian sources of both taurine and vitamin A, plus arachidonic acid, another essential feline nutrient. He then developed veterinarian-approved supplements Vegecat™ and Vegekit™ to add to his recipes. These recipes are probably the healthiest way to feed cats a vegan diet at this time.

Dogs and cats who are eating only cooked or processed food also benefit from the addition of digestive enzymes to their food. These are obtainable through animal supply catalogs and health food stores. Any raw vegetables in a dog’s diet should be grated or put through a food processor to enhance digestibility.​

 

[tx_dane_mom]

Yes I heard about that Border Collie! Amazing stuff...oh and excuse me for saying carni vs omni... I understand why you're feeding veggie, but I'm just saying it's totally presumable that someone could HAVE to based on their dogs need b/c of all the other things we subject our animals to. Yea, if humans can live as vegetarians, dogs totally can too, no doubt in my mind, and obviously there's proof.

 

[hooligan]

Here's a 23 year old Schnauzer too

I never could find any pix of the BC though, I would like to have seen how he looked at that age!

 

[augiedranch]

i feed purina one to two of my dogs

and the other dog gets purina pro plan naturals

the naturals is kinda expensive, but its the best dog food out there!
its humane grade ingredients, vitamins, omegas, my dogs retain their food really good and are extremely healthy looking. it helps them not be so itchy and to have a luscious shiny coat.

 

[eggonomist]

The key there is the additional suppliments, i feed omega 3's as I don't include enough fish in my dogs diet, and the meat is usually grain fed. great for Omega 6 & 9's but poor for omega 3's. They also get whole raw eggs now and then.
Evolution as I understand it doesn't take place over 60 years. We have only had cerial foods since the late 40's, we domesticated dogs way before then but we fed them very differently up to the point of the cheap multinational companys (Palmolive, Colgate and Procter & Gamble) owning nearly all the supermarket brands, you think there in it for the dog's welfare?. If you look at the ingredient list on Origen you will see why you would have to spend the money to get the better ingredients. However if your dog does well on brand 'X' then you should stick with it no matter what. RAW works for me and I have done much research on this type of feeding (Prey model, NOT the patties premade) and I am comfortable with it. Giving raw (chicken wings is an introduction to raw (along with chicken necks and backs) but is in no way correct to feed jsut this, and certainly not with a kibble diet straight afterwards. Dogs have a short gut and an unsaculated colon meaning food will be digested in around 4 hours, grains need to be broken down and plant matter neets time to digest (unless puree'd) so giving grainy food before raw will mean the raw meat will be backed up in the stomach for far longer than it should leading to complications with infection. It's all about doing it WITH support and knowledge, without it you are putting your pets at risk.

 

[hooligan]

I totally agree. We do suppliment our dogs diets with more than just kibble. If they were only fed kibble I would think that would get quite boring for them

I make them oatmeal, eggs etc and they get yogurt/cottage cheese/etc as small treats.
I would never do anything to harm my dogs health but will do everything to make the healthy, as I am sure most of you would.