What Do You Feed Your Pets?

[caireen]

I adopted a dog from a shelter here about three weeks ago. When I started looking for food for her, I realized that there is no good-quality kibble around (I live in Mexico). I feel like feeding the grain-loaded food is not that normal or natural for dogs or cats, so she's now on a raw diet. Unfortunately vets here don't get paid as well as at home and I think they really depend on the sale of pet food as part of their income, so the vet we took her to told us, "Absolutely do not feed her 'people' food. Purina spends millions of dollars a year in pet nutrition studies, so Purina is what's best". I haven't been able to find another vet that takes a more 'holistic' approach, so I'm essentially following raw-feeding guides I've found online. She is still transitioning to raw- she spent a week on beef and a week on chicken, and now she is having some fish, next is pork- but I am trying to make sure that when she is okay with it all that I feed her a nutritionally complete diet. I think that the best way to do that is to feed as many parts of the animal as possible, as in try to mimic feeding the entire animal as dogs would eat in the wild. I would love to find a source of green tripe here, but I can't even find grass-fed beef (and I'm not sure you can feed tripe from grain-fed beef?).

Does anyone else here feed raw or other 'alternative' diets? Any books or recommendations or food plans? What do you feed?

 

[LacieLaPlante]

I feed my dog raw freeze dried food!

This kind: http://www.primalpetfoods.com/product/list/c/14

mixed with a handful of Lotus dry food.

He REALLY likes it - he used to be a picky eater, wouldn't eat til 8 or 9PM when I gave him his food in the morning. Now he eats immediately.

Though after further reading, you're talking about a different kind of raw eating. Get innards though, like.. chicken liver, hearts, things like that. Those are good for the doggies.

 

[caireen]

I feed my dog raw freeze dried food!

This kind: http://www.primalpetfoods.com/product/list/c/14

mixed with a handful of Lotus dry food.

He REALLY likes it - he used to be a picky eater, wouldn't eat til 8 or 9PM when I gave him his food in the morning. Now he eats immediately.

Though after further reading, you're talking about a different kind of raw eating. Get innards though, like.. chicken liver, hearts, things like that. Those are good for the doggies.

I probably would have started with freeze dried raw, if it were available here. Even the 'Boutique' pet stores don't carry anything really. My dog wouldn't finish her bowl of kibble but she goes nuts for anything raw. I feed her chicken bones and the insides (but I think I have to avoid giving her *too* much liver??). Here when you buy a whole chicken in the supermarket it comes with a little baggie inside that has the feet and neck and organs, so that's pretty great. I know sometimes dogs lack omega-3s and Taurine on raw diets so I'm making sure she's getting fish. I'm gonna stick with fish for a bit so she doesn't get stomach upset from too much diet change- I think we're on day 3 of fish. I bought some tiny whole fish today from a fish market that are in the freezer now.

Another thing I can't find a definitive answer on is if it's necessary to freeze the meat for 1-3days (or three weeks?) prior to feeding it. Some people say you can feed it without freezing, some say you need to freeze it for about forever.

 

[camerella]

My chinese crested has skin issues and digestive issues so I looked all over scouring for good food diets for him, and generally found boiled chicken and rice was the best bet, also oatmeal occasionally, which I found really interesting as its also used ON his skin as a mask. I found tons of forums swearing by this for all breeds of dogs though, if they are hesitant to eat it because they are used to one type of food though, slowly incorporate the new kind of food into their diet and they will transition.

Ive got 10 dogs lol, 4 different breeds and do rescues and rehoming all the time, and the people ive worked with have all agreed on that diet principal. Stick with what your doing, its so much better then the crap they mass produce, its horrifying when you begin to look into it, but your vet is most likely just trying to push for sales sadly.

Purina/beniful/iams and the like are terrible for pets, a long list of peoples pets getting very sick after eating those types of corn based processed foods.

 

[LacieLaPlante]

Another thing I can't find a definitive answer on is if it's necessary to freeze the meat for 1-3days (or three weeks?) prior to feeding it. Some people say you can feed it without freezing, some say you need to freeze it for about forever.

Freezing would get rid of bacteria, I think it would probably be best to freeze it.. they told me at the doggie store to freeze and then i can keep it thawed for 3 days, but then to throw it out.

 

[NoelleBright]

Have you tried mixing vegetables in?
Things like kale, zucchini, peas, green beans? (I would google before adding just any veggies though, I know dogs can't eat things like avocado or broccoli)
Ground up egg shells are also supposed to be a good thing to add to their meals.

 

[AmberCutie]

I feed my dog raw freeze dried food!

This kind: http://www.primalpetfoods.com/product/list/c/14

mixed with a handful of Lotus dry food.

He REALLY likes it - he used to be a picky eater, wouldn't eat til 8 or 9PM when I gave him his food in the morning. Now he eats immediately.

Though after further reading, you're talking about a different kind of raw eating. Get innards though, like.. chicken liver, hearts, things like that. Those are good for the doggies.

I probably would have started with freeze dried raw, if it were available here. Even the 'Boutique' pet stores don't carry anything really. My dog wouldn't finish her bowl of kibble but she goes nuts for anything raw. I feed her chicken bones and the insides (but I think I have to avoid giving her *too* much liver??). Here when you buy a whole chicken in the supermarket it comes with a little baggie inside that has the feet and neck and organs, so that's pretty great. I know sometimes dogs lack omega-3s and Taurine on raw diets so I'm making sure she's getting fish. I'm gonna stick with fish for a bit so she doesn't get stomach upset from too much diet change- I think we're on day 3 of fish. I bought some tiny whole fish today from a fish market that are in the freezer now.

Another thing I can't find a definitive answer on is if it's necessary to freeze the meat for 1-3days (or three weeks?) prior to feeding it. Some people say you can feed it without freezing, some say you need to freeze it for about forever.

Aren't chicken bones bad to give to dogs?

 

[BullFrogBlues]

Aren't chicken bones bad to give to dogs?

Not if they are raw.

I fed my 2 dogs raw for about the last 6 years and they never had a nutritional, allergy or skin problem. One dog died (well was put down) of bone cancer, but surprised the vet for living a further year from when first diagnosed, was the raw diet a factor, I dunno.
The other was recently diagnosed with kidney disease, and a raw diet stresses the kidney's too much because it is high in phosphorus. So I switched to providing more calories via fats and cutting out bones that are high in phosphorous. So now his diet is 50% ground beef, the rest is cooked up rice, potatoes, macaroni, mixed veges, eggs and calcium. Only the other day he was tested again and his kidneys appear fine, so maybe the initial diagnoses was due to a transient problem.

 

[BullFrogBlues]

Another thing I can't find a definitive answer on is if it's necessary to freeze the meat for 1-3days (or three weeks?) prior to feeding it. Some people say you can feed it without freezing, some say you need to freeze it for about forever.

No need to freeze at all.

 

[Rose]

When we first got Sammy he couldn't eat anything but 'people' foods until he got about 5 months old. You don't have to freeze the meats. We would just plain boil his (just the meat, no seasoning) and whatever he didn't eat, we used in our own dinners.

He eats Wellness brand dry kibble now like Sadie does but we still supplement their diets with veggies, some fruits and plain meats to keep things interesting. Carrots are safe, my dogs are HUGE fans of peas (like just plain old canned peas), they'll do green beans if I mix it in their kibbles and they both really like watermelon. They tend to be fans of fruit more than veggies but they'd eat carrots all day if I'd let them. You can do carrots raw, frozen, cooked, etc. So long as they aren't seasoned then it's fair game. I prefer to feed them raw or frozen so that way they get a nice teeth cleaning and better smelling breath after they eat. Makes for better smelling pets in general I think.

As for meats, we usually stick with chicken (it's easiest) and salmon just because those are cheapest and we eat them ourselves fairly regularly. I'm pretty sure they could eat the salmon raw, but since I prefer it pan grilled as a steak, I just toss theirs in with mine before I add the lemon and they seem to really like it. My dogs are spoiled and would snub raw food over something cooked any day. :lol:

 

[FrenchKitty]

My butcher is awesome. I once went to him to ask if they had any leftover pieces of meat from the cut-offs, for sale, maybe, for my dog, not as food actually I intended those as rewards for training, and he said "well obviously we do, would you like a big bag ? I have big and small". I said ok, let's go for the big one, the guy pulled out what looked like a hundred kilos of meat from his freezer,I was like oh dude no, my puppy is 4 months old, its not like I own a whole dog farm lol..... he gave me a small bag (3 kilos lol) and said "it's free btw, I give that away, its better that it benefits someone's dog than be thrown away"......... I was SO grateful, but I hear it's common practice around here, so maybe if you ask your butcher you can get free meat for your dog

 

[BullFrogBlues]

Basic raw feeding consists of meaty bones, meat and offal that total about 2 - 4% of the dogs' weight. You only need to feed once a day (extreme raw feeders only feed a couple times a week)

Just a note about the bone portion of raw feeding, basically you feed enough bone so that the dog has a firm stool, it is sort of proportional, too little bone and very soft stools, too much bone and very hard stools. Now with regard to the bone itself, it is best with a good covering of meat. Weight bearing bones of larger animals tend to be too hard and may result in chipped or cracked teeth. So those leg bones of cows are really not good, maybe OK for a bit of a chew, then taken away and that is all. Something like ribs is much better. Most of a chicken is OK although you may find your dog chucking up the hard parts of the knuckles now and then, all normal.

About 10% of the meal is offal, kidneys and liver are the most easily obtained.

I fed my dogs 6 years + of basically beef, lamb or chicken, bone (most often chicken wings) and kidneys or liver and that was about all and never had a problem.

I still remember the first day I fed my dogs raw, the first day I adopted them... I cut a raw chicken in half and gave each a half and they loved it... PS I have big dogs

 

[BullFrogBlues]

I know sometimes dogs lack omega-3s and Taurine on raw diets so I'm making sure she's getting fish.

I think this statement is not true with regards to dogs and Taurine.

The lack of Taurine was a major problem with cat pet food, cats need it, or they go blind, "balanced" cat food from pet food manufactures used to be lacking with it causing this health issue for cats. They have since fixed the problem. But it does highlight that the so called "balanced" diets designed by these pet food company experts can be lacking in vital ingredients. They are not as expert as they want you to believe.

Just remember that pet food from big manufacturers ( I'd say all ) is basically made from any and usually the cheapest ingredients, so long as they can get a chemical analysis that looks "good" for their food.

Another thing is preservative free dog food... well the analysis may have no preservatives but may be very high in vitamin C (and E if I remember). Well vitamin C is the preservative, dogs don't need vitamin C from food, they make their own, so what happens too them if you supply the vitamin C instead. No-one tests this, dog food trials are for very short times relative to the life of a dog.

 

[RedHerby]

he used to be a picky eater, wouldn't eat til 8 or 9PM when I gave him his food in the morning. Now he eats immediately

If a dog is a bad eater then this can be an indication of dental problems, that it hurts to eat.

 

[southsamurai]

the risk with chicken bones is that they split and splinter easily causing stomach and intestinal damage, and can get stuck in the throat very easily. raw is better, but still not 100 percent safe. never ever use cooked bird bones of any kind however. not worth the risk

 

[Rosemary]

Popping in to say that Tufts, the leading Veterinary college, does offer phone services with their nutrition consultants. I can't recall if they charge or not, but if you're looking to have a balanced diet without all the guesswork that home-made dog diet pages give then give it a go! I don't feed any alternative diet so I have no other recommendation than to call up Tufts. They'll help built a made-at-home diet or possibly recommend really good brands for what you want.

Otherwise, good luck! A lot of diet issues don't show until late in the years, so a happy bouncy 5 year old dog doesn't mean much if in 5 years they have deteriorating health from cumulative issues. When I was a tech I practically humped their phone-line getting just basic recommendations for specific questions and the clinic always, always, always said 'call the experts' because they are the ones who day in and day out do the testing and research necessary!

 

[BullFrogBlues]

Just want to remind you all, this so called issue that you must feed your pet a "balanced" food that comes from a pet food manufacturer because that is the only way to give them a "balanced" diet. Think about how you feed yourself and your family.

 

[Rose]

Just want to remind you all, this so called issue that you must feed your pet a "balanced" food that comes from a pet food manufacturer because that is the only way to give them a "balanced" diet. Think about how you feed yourself and your family.

They need a balanced diet, but BullFrog is right about the hokey that kibble companies push.

A good way to imagine it would be to only be able to eat your favorite food every day (say grilled cheese). That's the only thing you can eat, three times a day, every single day for the rest of your life. Doesn't sound so appealing after awhile. :? Similar with pets, it's good to give them a balanced diet that has different foods once in awhile. This definitely doesn't need to be dry kibble every day all day.

 

[caireen]

Just want to remind you all, this so called issue that you must feed your pet a "balanced" food that comes from a pet food manufacturer because that is the only way to give them a "balanced" diet. Think about how you feed yourself and your family.

They need a balanced diet, but BullFrog is right about the hokey that kibble companies push.

A good way to imagine it would be to only be able to eat your favorite food every day (say grilled cheese). That's the only thing you can eat, three times a day, every single day for the rest of your life. Doesn't sound so appealing after awhile. :? Similar with pets, it's good to give them a balanced diet that has different foods once in awhile. This definitely doesn't need to be dry kibble every day all day.

Or really if it's kibble, it's more like a meal replacement shake or something. Only eating an Ensure drink or a meal replacement bar or everything every day- that's about as processed as what's in most kibbles, and just about as natural I think..

I do feed my dog veggies also, in response to above.. many say that dogs can't break digest cellulose in vegetables/plant matter very effectively so they need to be either pureed in a blender or cooked to break down the cell walls. Raw feeding advocates seem to disagree on the necessity of feeding veggies: I am erring on the side of caution and giving her some. She is superrrr picky with fruits and veg (she won't TOUCH any fruit I've tried to give her)- and she's the first dog I've met that's totally uninterested in peanut butter. She kinda will eat spinach and cabbage and things if it's super mushed up with something meat-ey tasting, like chicken liver or tuna juice.

As for the bones thing- chicken bones are okay as said before as long as they are raw. Cooked bones become brittle and can splinter and cut up a doggie's insides, but raw bones can be chewed and broken down by a dog. Of course dogs can choke on raw bones still (as they can choke on anything) so I make sure I watch her while she eats. She is really good at chewing though so I'm not worried.

What I'm NOT sure about is fish bones. I want to feed her whole raw fishes but I heard a story about a dog who's stomach was punctured by a fish bone and died. Maybe it was a cooked bone.. but fish bones are sharp! However, tons of raw feeders say they give their dogs whole raw fish. My dog LOVES fish and goes nuts for it.. but so far she's only had white fish filets that are boneless or pieces of small shark that have just that big round spine bone in them. I have some teeny tiny fish (like minnows kinda..) waiting for her in the freezer but I wanna give her things like tilapia! Bigger fishies!

 

[JickyJuly]

My Dad got really into making food for his dog as he (the dog) aged. There are all sorts of websites and forums dedicated to the cause. For a large dog, it might get tedious, but you could always do large batches and freeze them. Dog food studies are not the most humane thing. It's weird that a vet would cite them as proof that a company is good.

 

[Rose]

The book, Amazing Gracie, is about a man who started cooking for his great dane because she wasn't getting enough nutrition from kibble and started getting sick. I can't remember the name of the company he started, but they make awesome organic and gourmet dog food that's really healthy and generally awesome. You could probably look it up without much difficulty, and I believe (don't quote me on this) that they provide some of their recipes as well for public use. It's worth a shot anyways. If I had more time and was handier in the kitchen I'd probably copy them and cook for my furbabies as well, but as it is I don't even cook for myself.

 

[Elysia36]

Throughout the week I feed a combination of fresh raw,freeze dried raw,organic kibble or canned to my animals here. When I have foster dogs I will toss them raw every now and then,but try to stick to canned/kibble because the new home more than likely won't feed them raw.

 

[Crumb]

this thread is awesome for a guy who doesn't have a dog ... but wants one

 

[BlueViolet]

I don't like kibble at all, but right now I feed my 7-month-old Great Pyr Wellness Super 5 Large Breed Puppy but am switching him over to Orijen or Back to Basics with his next dog food transition when he runs out since I highly believe he has grain allergies. I'm going to be doing raw in the morning and kibble at night to stay on the safe side until I get this whole raw thing down. There's also a informative Yahoo group on raw feeding that you could join to learn more. I believe the ratio is 80% meat, 10% bone, and 10% offal (organs). But you have to make sure you get good quality meat and you can usually sort out bulk deals from slaughterhouses and butchers. I'm going to order 40 lbs in bulk, myself.

I've been afraid of feeding raw until he turns 2 years old (that's when large/giant breeds typically stop growing) because I'm super concerned about his bones and joints and I want to make sure I'm not feeding him too much calcium and he gets enough glucosamine and chondroitin in his diet and grows slowly. Even the best kibble is not meant for dogs, though, and they cook out a lot of the nutrients in processing and add a lot of things that aren't necessary. Dogs are actually carnivores, not omnivores, as their teeth aren't designed for chewing but for ripping and tearing, but they will consume non-meat if necessary like any other animal and some can be good for them, like pumpkin for upset stomachs. They just really can't digest most other foods properly, especially corn and the like. I've been studying as much as I can, and I feel like keeping him on kibble to be safe could also be unsafe for other reasons, so I'm going to do 50/50 until I'm confident enough to switch him completely.

But also remember if anyone else decides to do that, that you can't feed kibble and raw at the same meal. They should be fed at least 10 hours apart because raw meat is digested at a much faster rate than kibble. Kibble will slow the digestion down which means that the bad bacteria from the meat will sit in their bodies for much longer and could make them very sick.

On the whole vet note, many vets don't recommend raw diets for two reasons. One, most people cannot feed a varied raw diet and give them bad stuff like high-fat meat that is simply not cut for humans or table scraps, which I understand. The second reason is the reason I have such a hard time finding a GOOD vet--they DO get kickbacks from selling their "veterinarian prescription" diets which are almost always terrible quality food that should never be fed over a long period of time. Such as urinary health diets could easily be fixed by adding cranberry to their current diet as that is the primary ingredient in the "prescription" dog food to make it "urinary health". There is one vet who someone in my groups recently went to that said, as a dog owner, he will only feed his dogs raw, but since he just moved to their vet clinic he wasn't supposed to tell her that because the main vet gets major kickbacks from selling food in his office. Also, Purina and other major dog food brands (Hill's Science, Iams, Eukanuba) will give one free bag of dog food a month to vet students sometimes or help pay for their education as well as they are typically the speaker to teach the veterinarian nutrition course (which is just one single class throughout their entire schooling).

So vets aren't always the most knowledgeable on dog and cat nutrition regardless. I do like Dr. Karen Becker who has books, a website, and even makes helpful YouTube videos on anyone who wants to take a more holistic approach to domestic animals.

 

[BullFrogBlues]

The yahoo group http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/ was my main reference when I started raw feeding.

About corn, it is highly subsidized in the US, it is used as feed and it also turns up in so many processed foods because it is so cheap. It is really shitty food in many instances. If I see corn I run away first and then check it out.

 

[camstory]

Well I have read the OP only, and imagine my post will prolly be contraire to some of the previous post. I say that because I have done a lot of reading, asking, and listening on the matter, and found inconsistencies more than consensus on it. I'm not talking about the many goofy ideas, and crackpot theories that can be found on any subject now days if you listen to anyone who spews their knowledge into cyberspace. No I'm talking about well established kennel clubs, and highly respected breeders in disagreement on what makes a healthy diet for a dog. The one thing that seems to be not disputed too much, and has been fairly well supported in many studies, is that pets, (both dogs and cats, but dogs in particular), tend to live longer if they don't have a constant source of food available. That is, that dogs who have food down all the time will not live as long as dogs who are feed once a day. This seems to be regardless of whether the pet over eats or not. Simply having access to food throughout the day, even in animals who do not become obese seems to shorten lifespan.

But what do I feed my dogs? Right now it's about 50% high quality dry, Iams or better when I can afford it, and the other half being about 15% rice 10% cabbage 10% carrot and 15% chicken. The rice has been a recent addition bc one of the 5 just had bladder stones surgically removed and is on a diet of prescription urinary track food and 50%rice. I started adding a little rice to all the other dogs food mostly to keep them all from thinking the others have something better, which they always do anyway. Normally, and what they have been getting for the last 8 years is the above minus the rice with about 25% chicken and 25% cabbage & carrots.

I think in that 8 years we have had to buy chicken maybe 5 or 6 Times. Chicken being one of the most abundant grocery store dumpster item. I always hand separate the cooked chicken and discard all skin and fat. In just the last 5 years I have seen a very noticeable increase in the fat that store bought chicken has. I guess this has to do with the ever advancing farming techniques of the large poultry companies, who care little about anything except $, and the quickest way to go from hatching to super market. In the last year I have gotten some chicken so full of fat it makes me wonder how healthy the separated meat is.

 

[caireen]

I don't like kibble at all, but right now I feed my 7-month-old Great Pyr Wellness Super 5 Large Breed Puppy but am switching him over to Orijen or Back to Basics with his next dog food transition when he runs out since I highly believe he has grain allergies. I'm going to be doing raw in the morning and kibble at night to stay on the safe side until I get this whole raw thing down. There's also a informative Yahoo group on raw feeding that you could join to learn more. I believe the ratio is 80% meat, 10% bone, and 10% offal (organs). But you have to make sure you get good quality meat and you can usually sort out bulk deals from slaughterhouses and butchers. I'm going to order 40 lbs in bulk, myself.

I've been afraid of feeding raw until he turns 2 years old (that's when large/giant breeds typically stop growing) because I'm super concerned about his bones and joints and I want to make sure I'm not feeding him too much calcium and he gets enough glucosamine and chondroitin in his diet and grows slowly. Even the best kibble is not meant for dogs, though, and they cook out a lot of the nutrients in processing and add a lot of things that aren't necessary. Dogs are actually carnivores, not omnivores, as their teeth aren't designed for chewing but for ripping and tearing, but they will consume non-meat if necessary like any other animal and some can be good for them, like pumpkin for upset stomachs. They just really can't digest most other foods properly, especially corn and the like. I've been studying as much as I can, and I feel like keeping him on kibble to be safe could also be unsafe for other reasons, so I'm going to do 50/50 until I'm confident enough to switch him completely.

But also remember if anyone else decides to do that, that you can't feed kibble and raw at the same meal. They should be fed at least 10 hours apart because raw meat is digested at a much faster rate than kibble. Kibble will slow the digestion down which means that the bad bacteria from the meat will sit in their bodies for much longer and could make them very sick.

On the whole vet note, many vets don't recommend raw diets for two reasons. One, most people cannot feed a varied raw diet and give them bad stuff like high-fat meat that is simply not cut for humans or table scraps, which I understand. The second reason is the reason I have such a hard time finding a GOOD vet--they DO get kickbacks from selling their "veterinarian prescription" diets which are almost always terrible quality food that should never be fed over a long period of time. Such as urinary health diets could easily be fixed by adding cranberry to their current diet as that is the primary ingredient in the "prescription" dog food to make it "urinary health". There is one vet who someone in my groups recently went to that said, as a dog owner, he will only feed his dogs raw, but since he just moved to their vet clinic he wasn't supposed to tell her that because the main vet gets major kickbacks from selling food in his office. Also, Purina and other major dog food brands (Hill's Science, Iams, Eukanuba) will give one free bag of dog food a month to vet students sometimes or help pay for their education as well as they are typically the speaker to teach the veterinarian nutrition course (which is just one single class throughout their entire schooling).

So vets aren't always the most knowledgeable on dog and cat nutrition regardless. I do like Dr. Karen Becker who has books, a website, and even makes helpful YouTube videos on anyone who wants to take a more holistic approach to domestic animals.

I loooove Dr. Becker. What she says makes a lot of sense, minus the part about not feeding 'guts' (like stomach- because a lot of raw feeders advocate feeding green tripe!). Sometimes she is a bit too much 'buy this product by Mercola Healthy Pets' in her videos but most of the time she's pretty informative..

I agree that it is very easy to feed a 'bad' raw diet. I think a lot of people just feed chicken over and over because it's cheap and easy (and maybe less gross than something like a cow brain). The variety is what kind of excites me about the diet- I saw a whole frozen GOAT in a supermarket a couple weeks ago, and whole rabbit is easy to find here too. I can't wait to introduce my dog to pork and give her pigs' feet- I think she's gonna love them.

Another plus to raw feeding (especially when it's whole or semi-whole carcasses) is that it's mentally stimulating for a dog. They have to think about how they are going to break apart their food, and they have to use their paws and push it around.

 

[BlueViolet]

Another plus to raw feeding (especially when it's whole or semi-whole carcasses) is that it's mentally stimulating for a dog. They have to think about how they are going to break apart their food, and they have to use their paws and push it around.

Exactly, it really wears them out as well which is how I prefer to feed anyway. I also agree with what you mean about Dr. Becker, but the information is pretty good for introducing people into the more holistic/natural approach. The key is definitely variety much like how we eat so I'd like to stock up on everything from chicken, lamb, beef, fish, etc. and rotate every day.

The one thing that seems to be not disputed too much, and has been fairly well supported in many studies, is that pets, (both dogs and cats, but dogs in particular), tend to live longer if they don't have a constant source of food available. That is, that dogs who have food down all the time will not live as long as dogs who are feed once a day.

I agree with this as well, but more for the mental stimulation. I don't use dog bowls to feed but rather toys, games, training, or chicken scratch type feeding to get their minds stimulated while eating. The only dogs that should be free fed are ill, pregnant, or lactating or other special circumstances.

But what do I feed my dogs? Right now it's about 50% high quality dry, Iams or better when I can afford it, and the other half being about 15% rice 10% cabbage 10% carrot and 15% chicken. The rice has been a recent addition bc one of the 5 just had bladder stones surgically removed and is on a diet of prescription urinary track food and 50%rice.

I understand what you mean about dog food prices being pretty high, but I've actually been able to find some decent quality, affordable dog food brands. Unlike having to buy a 40 – 60 lb bag of poor quality dog food a month for some dogs, 12 - 15 lbs of dog food will easily last most dogs a month. Also, make sure you aren't feeding raw chicken with kibble together at their meals (cooking will just cook the nutrients out of the chicken) as raw meat is digested very quickly so that the bacteria won't sit inside them for so long and make them sick. Kibble and rice, cabbage, and carrots and digested much more slowly and will slow down the digestion of the meat which could make them sick.

I really will only feed rice to my dog if he has an upset stomach and will stir in some pumpkin or fat free, plain yoghurt since dogs don't need so many carbohydrates, but rice does help an upset stomach stick things together and pass more smoothly. Dogs really only need about 14% carbohydrates a day, but they are mostly given about 45 – 75% regularly with most dog foods. Iams is very high in carbohydrates as well as rice.

But in general, people really should stay away from anything that has corn, corn meal, corn gluten, wheat gluten, rice or even brown rice, or brewers rice. Especially if these are in the first 5 ingredients as that is what makes up most of the food, the lower the better. Not only because they are bad for dogs and are not really even digestible to them, but because these ingredients are very cheap, low quality fillers that companies add for bulking their product up which means you need to feed much more food, such as 7 cups of food rather than 2 cups of food a day.

For any dogs who are large or giant breed or prone to bloat (Dachshunds, too!) , this is a huge deal. When the dogs eat too much food with lots of fillers, those kibble will swell up inside their stomachs especially after drinking water and can cause bloat and Gastric Dialation Volvulos which is extremely fatal if not rushed to the vet immediately within the hour. The main reason for Bloat and GDV is eating a large meal and then drinking water or playing hard, less food at meal time significantly decreases the risk.

I just wanted to add some decent quality, affordable dog foods to anyone who isn't interested or doesn't have the time or freezer space to feed raw.

Remember, since there are less fillers in these foods, you feed much less and therefore a 12 – 15 lb bag can easily last a month for even a 60 lb dog.

Taste of the Wild. 30 - 40 lb dog requires only 2 – 2 1/3 cups per day. $27 / 15 lb bag. Grain free.
http://www.tractorsupply.com/taste-...asted-bison-roasted-venison-15-lb-bag-5107629


Merrick. 30 – 40 lb dog requires 1 ¾ cups per day. $32 / 12 lb bag. Grain Free.
http://www.petco.com/product/119624...tato-Dry-Dog-Food.aspx?CoreCat=DogFFB_Merrick


Canidae. 25 – 50 lb dog requires 1 – 2 cups per day. $32 / 15 lb bag. Grain Free.
http://www.chewy.com/canidae-grain-free-pureelements/dp/28891

Back to Basics. 30 – 40 lb dog requires 1 ¾ – 2 ¼ cups per day. $35 / 13 lb bag. Grain Free.
http://www.chewy.com/back-to-basics-turkey-formula-dog/dp/36144


Acana. 23 – 44 lb dog requires 1 ½ - 2 ½ cups per day. $40 / 15 lb bag. Grain Free.
http://www.chewy.com/acana-grasslands-grain-free-dog-food/dp/28677

Orijen. 22 – 44 lb dog requires 1 ¼ – 2 ¼ cups per day. $40 / 15 lb bag. Grain Free.
http://www.chewy.com/orijen-adult-d...dium=organic&gclid=CMqWnriOxbMCFRQcnAodUiUAPw

Most of the grocery store brands I am seeing are at least $20 for a 15 lb bag of food that won't last nearly as long and are much less nutritious. I consider anything under $1.50 a day for a dog affordable considering the savings in vet bills down the road, plus my dog is going to weigh more than me as an adult so I don't mind spending the same amount on his food to keep him healthy although $40 a month is very cheap in comparison to how much I eat. But I know not everyone can afford $70+ a month on dog food especially for multiple dog households so hopefully those brands might be of help.

I believe raw will always be better than processed kibble any day, but for some raw isn't an option so I wanted to list some decent quality brands, I'm sure I missed some.

 

[Rose]

The mental stimulation from 'difficult' feeding is really awesome. I swear it's the only way I've found that can actually get Sammy tired. The damn dog can run, HARD, for several hours, get a drink of water and be totally recharged and ready to keep running at the same pace for the same length of time. It's ridiculous. The only thing that will make him tired and want to stop is a good mentally challenging meal or some type of chew bone/toy that he can't just break and digest in 10 minutes.

He gets one free meal a day of kibble out of his bowl and then I typically make him work for any other foods. Those kong toys and frozen carrots really are a god-send. ray: If we can afford it after the spawn comes next spring we'll probably try to incorporate more fresh meats into their diet so he has to work harder to get dinner; thus giving me a bit of extra time to focus on taking care of the spawn. Sadly, we won't be able to do this for Sadie because she has dental issues from her dog fighting days and she would rather starve than work for her dinner. We have to feed her on a regular schedule in the same bowl every day or she freaks out and won't get out of bed.

 

[BlueViolet]

The mental stimulation from 'difficult' feeding is really awesome. I swear it's the only way I've found that can actually get Sammy tired. The damn dog can run, HARD, for several hours, get a drink of water and be totally recharged and ready to keep running at the same pace for the same length of time. It's ridiculous. The only thing that will make him tired and want to stop is a good mentally challenging meal or some type of chew bone/toy that he can't just break and digest in 10 minutes.

My absolute favorite work-for-your-food toys I use are his Kong Wobbler, a soccer ball that holds and dispenses about 1 1/2 cups of foods, and his favorite Busy Buddy Tug-A-Jug I got on clearance for $3. The Kong and Tug-A-Jug both hold about 2 cups of food and take him usually 20 - 30 minutes to get all of it out, he's faster with the Tug-A-Jug which is why he likes it more but I like the Wobbler since it's a bit slower.

It would probably take a smaller dog a lot longer with those toys but Mishka pretty much just puts his whole mouth around them and drops them to get food instead of pulling on the rope or hitting it. It still wears him out, though, but I also love playing hide-and-seek in the living room with his kibble, taking him outside and just throwing a meal on the grass for him to sniff out (takes an hour), and training with him. He knows at minimum 35 commands already since we train every day to keep his mind stimulated. There's so many ways to feed and keep them busy than just putting their food in a bowl.