Rowie-the-Pooh Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 Hello, For those of you that don't know, I have an (almost) three year old female Golden Retriever, Rowie. I've been struggling with food issues for a very long time now, since I can't find any good food around here. Before I "adopted" her, she was being fed Eukanuba Puppy. I quickly switched to Nutrience [url]http://www.hagen.com/canada/english/dogs/nutrience.html[/url] a dog food manufactured in Canada. Its the only GOOD dog food I can get around here, unless I ship but thats just WAY too expensive (believe me I've tried). Although her coat is beautiful, thick and healthy, her teeth white and her ears beautifully pink, I know that only kibble is not enough (after a lot of researching). I just thought that maybe, someone could help me with Rowie's diet since I don't trust myself to do it alone. Now, she is being fed Nutrience "Original", along with a few drops of olive oil (our trainer said it would be helpful) and a quarter cup of yoghurt. And of course, fresh water and a few treats here and there! I would like to add veggies to the diet, and probably some canned dog food (yes, I know about introducing it to her slowly, don't worry :wink:). I just don't know how [i]much[/i]. Just some info about her: Rowie's fairly active, it takes some time to tire her out. She's about 25-26kg (ideal weight) and has no allergies. She loves yoghurt. :lol: So, heres a little "challenge" for all ya'll experts. :D Like everyone else, I just want what's best for my dog! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mouseatthebusstop Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 I am not an expert on feeding but a few veggies added to her food would be ok, I add tinned dog food to my dogs kibble about half to three quarters a tin between all three of them, they get feed twice a day and Tigger gets three feeds because she is still a puppy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowie-the-Pooh Posted November 7, 2004 Author Share Posted November 7, 2004 Thanks mouse! :D What veggies do you add, how much? Boiled, or raw? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtnek Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 baby carrots are my dogs favorite "snacks"....but you can add them to meals as well, either cooked or raw. avoid onions as much as possible. I feed mine a mixture of things. Dry kibble, small quantity of canned (just enough to moiston the food and add a little fat to their diets) and leftovers from dinner, in the form of cooked meat, rice (they love rice) and some veggies, like carrots, pea's. no brocolli for them, it gives them gas. Corn wont hurt them in small quantities, but it doesnt help them either. Both of mine are healthy and have good coats and stools. p.s. when I was a kid and had my golden, every sunday was pancake day. He would get pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon. I have no idea whether it was good for him or not, but it never seemed to upset him and he lived to a ripe old age for a dog his size....my dad insisted that if we were going to have "Sunday breakfast", then he should too.... :lol: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aroura Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 Canned food is not that great for dogs, it wrecks havock with the digestive system. If you want to add something to her diet why don't you add some raw foods? A chicken wing or lamb off-cuts 5 times a week and a little veggies and offal twice a week is easy to prepare and I can assure you, a lot better than any canned food you'll ever buy! As for the olive oil, that is good, but you could also try rotating it with cod liver oil or fish oil, and Evening Primrose oil :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoladybug Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 I don't know anything about this...why the oils? And what about apples...my dog LOVES apples (and carrots too). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imported_Matty Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 [quote]Canned food is not that great for dogs, it wrecks havock with the digestive system. [/quote] I read in the WDJ that canned food is much better for your dog than kibble. It goes through less processing and contains far less additives and chemicals than kibble. I feed canned food all the time to my dogs and I have for ever since I got my first dog. They all love it and never had I had a dog get digestive problems from it. The only digestive problems I had was when a certain food didn't agree, like I feed wellness, solid gold and innovia, my dogs cannot stomach the fish variety of the wellness but do great on all the other protein types made by the same company. Why not feed a variety to your Dogs diet. I rotate between a few kibbles and canned foods. I also feed my dogs slightly steamed veggies mixed with steamed meats. Some times I feed them raw meats with veggies, sardines with wild and brown rice and veggies, canned salmon, etc etc. For snacks I give them cut up peices of apple, banana, cantalope, strawberries, and other berries which I mix with yogurt, I give them cottage cheese and veggies, eggs. I also give them raw chicken necks and beef hearts, steamed liver, ox tails etc. variety is the spice of life for diet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aroura Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 I'd have to ask around about exactly why not canned food, all I know is that all the vets here encourage people not to feed it, as its not good for a variety of reasons (I'd have to ask the vets which reasons they are!). Fresh food smells a lot less anyway, and its easier to balance a diet over a few days, which is what most dogs these days miss out on - dogs do not need a "complete" diet every day, they should get their dietary requirements over the space of a week, what commercial fed dog gets that? Yoladybug, the oils are for essential fatty acids, which are good for the coat, eyes, vitality, and general health. Olive oil also has vitamin E in it, as well as other vitamins. EFA's should always be fed with vitamin E, if you search around you can find Evening Primrose oil and Cod Liver oil both with added Vitamin E. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imported_Matty Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 Aroura, here is an old post on canned foods on this forum. [url]http://forum.dogomania.com/viewtopic.php?t=10621[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imported_Matty Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 Isnt it bad to feed cod liver oil on a commercial kibble diet? I thought that an excess of vitamin A or is it D is very very bad for a dog. I think I read about that in the WDJ, they had an article which said that if you feed a home prepared meal its OK to give cod liver oil, but, a kibble diet can lead to dangerous over abundance of the vitamin D or A. I can't remember which :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDG Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 [quote name='Matty']Isnt it bad to feed cod liver oil on a commercial kibble diet? I thought that an excess of vitamin A or is it D is very very bad for a dog. I think I read about that in the WDJ, they had an article which said that if you feed a home prepared meal its OK to give cod liver oil, but, a kibble diet can lead to dangerous over abundance of the vitamin D or A. I can't remember which :lol:[/quote] that is correct. it's not a good idea to feed cod liver oil to a dog who eats a commercial diet. the doses ov vitamin A and D are way too high. a lot of people confuse fish (body) oil with cod liver oil tho. canned food isn't any worse to feed than dry food. especially for dogs with health issues the canned is often the better choice because it has a natural moisture content, has less grains and fillers and is easier to digest. of course the same rule of thumb applies to canned food as to dry food: you have to research the ingredients and avoid the poor quality ones. it's not hard at all to supplement a kibble diet with fresh foods, but one thing you must be aware of is that an improper calcium/phosphorus ratio can do a lot of damage, especially to the kidneys. yogurt isn't a problem since it has extra calcium, but most other foods bring in extra phosphorus. you also need to be aware that protein (from meat) is the natural thing for a dog to eat, but in most kibble the actual meat content is only around 30% to begin with - not a whole lot. so don't go overboard on adding things like veggies, a tablespoon or two a day is plenty for a dog that size. one excellent thing you can contribute to the diet is an egg every day - if possible with the shell, otherwise you should supplement a little calcium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mouseatthebusstop Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 [quote]I don't know anything about this...why the oils? [/quote] I was told by one of the top s/pei breeders in the UK to put a little(a teaspoon full) sunflower oil on Gladis's food to improve her coat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aroura Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 Thanks Matty, I guess maybe the reason why everyone here reccomends against wet is that we don't have any of the good brands here. Still, I'd rather feed my dog a variety of fresh ingredients than something out of a can anyway. A bit of cod liver oil added to a partially fresh diet shouldn't hurt, of course if you are feeding solely commercial foods it would cause imbalances, in which case fish body oil is a better choice, although extremely expensive! The number one rule of thumb in supplementing any diet with fresh foods is to remember to keep the fresh foods balanced, so long as meaty bones are fed, and not just meat, there shouldn't be a calcium/phosphorus problem. Everything in their right proportions and you should be fine, before I switched Lily to raw she had a couple of months of kibble with raw foods to supplement, rather than tinned. She did better on that and I knew she was getting all the variety and goodness that she needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowie-the-Pooh Posted November 9, 2004 Author Share Posted November 9, 2004 Thank you everyone for all your valuable advice. I've been doing A LOT of research, and with your advice in mind will research even MORE till I am 100% sure of what I will be feeding Rowie. Thanks again! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carolk9s Posted November 11, 2004 Share Posted November 11, 2004 [quote name='courtnek'] p.s. when I was a kid and had my golden, every sunday was pancake day. He would get pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon. I have no idea whether it was good for him or not, but it never seemed to upset him and he lived to a ripe old age for a dog his size....my dad insisted that if we were going to have "Sunday breakfast", then he should too.... :lol: :lol:[/quote] Your dad is my kind of people! My dogs LOVE their scrambed eggs on Sundays, sometimes with a little bit of cheddar cheese mixed in as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtnek Posted November 11, 2004 Share Posted November 11, 2004 ROFL!! WHAT is it with cheese? I have NEVER met a dog who wouldnt jump though hoops of fire for cheese. Yet its not something they would ever come across in the wild... If I eat cheese (and i do alot, its my favorite food) I have DOGS slobbering on me to get some.....CATS jumping in my lap and raiding my plate... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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