dog food

[loves2travel]

voodoojoint - my friend has had a dog for years, and just read your post and she was totally convinced. she wants to completely change her dogs diet. her dog is already on nutro, but about the other things. she is willing to buy the nyzymes, but now she is wondering if she HAS to have other things. will nyzymes and nutro be enough for her doggy?

 

[My Baby Mu]

What are/were you going to do with chicken bones???

 

[VoodooJoint]

i forgot to ask - voodoojoint, can you give a rough estimate on the price of the nutro natural lamb and rice?

I believe I pay ~ $35.00 for a 40 pound bag. With the addition of veggies the kibble goes a long way.

voodoojoint - my friend has had a dog for years, and just read your post and she was totally convinced. she wants to completely change her dogs diet. her dog is already on nutro, but about the other things. she is willing to buy the nyzymes, but now she is wondering if she HAS to have other things. will nyzymes and nutro be enough for her doggy?

She will probably see a marked improvement in her dog with just the Nzymes. She should start giving her dog some veggies as treats though even if she doesn't want to add them to the food. Her dog may love to have a whole carrot to chew on or get tossed a frozen grape or two (mine do). If she dips cut carrots and other veggies in peanut butter her dog will probably wolf them down.

If she is unwilling to do it all she may want to do something once and a while. Like getting a tub of yogurt and adding some to the food, occationally throwing in a raw egg, etc... If she eats meat she can give some raw when she is preparing for herself.

 

[VoodooJoint]

What are/were you going to do with chicken bones???

I know everyone has heard that chicken bones are bad for dogs. This is partially true. COOKED chicken bones are absolutly awful for animals.

RAW chicken bones are actually very good for dogs. I don't recommend the larger leg and sholder bones but the neck, back and wing bones are fine. They are digestable and the marrow has a lot of healthy stuff in it.

Think of it this way. A cooked chicken bone is like a dried twig. If you try to break it it splinters and leaves sharp ends. A raw bone is like a green, living twig. If you try to break it it bends. If you do manage to break it the ends are soft and not as sharp.

 

[VoodooJoint]

loves2travel

I think you tried to PM me. However, my pop up blocker wouldn't let me see it.

 

[My Baby Mu]

You should give dogs bones because the risks of bowel stoppages or choking. This is what Vets say.

 

[loves2travel]

yea, they will probably get the extra things at least twice a week, just not EVERY day. unfortunately, her entire family is vegetarian (religion) so they cant have any chicken.

 

[VoodooJoint]

You should give dogs bones because the risks of bowel stoppages or choking. This is what Vets say.

I assume you wanted to say "you should [not] give dogs bones..."

It's the cooked bones that cause blockages and choking. I worked for a vet and saw my fair share of what cooked bones can do.

Raw chicken bones do not cause this problem. Like any one type of food large quantities can cause problems like blockages but the meaty/boney chicken necks, backs and wings are not a problem at all as long as they are getting more meat then bone in their meals.

My dogs' diets have been approved by my veterinarian who happens to be the best Vet in New Orleans, possibly the entire south. They have actually won awards.

Books have been written about the RAW diet for dogs (also called the B.A.R.F. diet). I do not advocate a totally raw diet as it is very hard to get the natural balance right for a dog. Here is a website containing more links so you can learn more about the RAW method and why raw chicken bones are not harmful. http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/feed_program_for_balanced_raw_diet.htm

I am curious why you have been fighting me at every turn "myBabyMu"? If fresh veggies and hay are good to add to a guinea pig's diet even though pellets are nutritionally balanced then why wouldn't adding fresh meat and veggies to a dog, an omnivore, be just as beneficial?

Wolves, Coyotes, Dingos and countless of other wild dogs have eaten fowl and their bones for centuries and you don't hear of them suffering from a plague of choking and dying of blockages. The problem came about when humans started cooking the meat and feeding the cooked bones to dogs.

 

[VoodooJoint]

yea, they will probably get the extra things at least twice a week, just not EVERY day. unfortunately, her entire family is vegetarian (religion) so they cant have any chicken.

That shouldn't be a problem. She's already using a quality food so just some extra veggies and enzymes should do the trick.

By the way. You know that fruit (and veggies) that goes over ripe before you get a chance to eat it? The dogs will eat it. Over ripe (but not rotten) fruit is fine. It may not meet human quality standards but it is still nutritionally sound. No more wasted fruit.

 

[loves2travel]

oh ok! thanks! although i should let you know, my parents are slowly being discouraged about getting a dog.....

keep your fingers double crossed for me!

 

[My Baby Mu]

It was just what I read and the book said that was recomended by vets.

Also, grapes and rasins are horrible for a dog. They can get sick because of them. They are bad for them. I heard this by a vet.

It wasn't the veggies and meat to a dog it was the bones. The small ones at least can lessen the chance. I feed my dog veggies and sometimes the can dog food. They are benificial.

I did mean to say not. lol.

I have heard differently of what you said so that is why. It is kinda like we do with the pigs we say what we belive in and what we think is right and wrong.

 

[My Baby Mu]

My dog is fit, active, and healthy (except for a heart murmer) she isn't over weight or underweight and I don't feed her chicken bones, all I feed is dry kibble and the canned food, veggies and fruits occasionaly. Sometimes she gets meat but not raw. So I stick with what I have been doing.

 

[DocDolittle]

We feed our yellow lab Wysong dog food, it's absolutely wonderful. Our vet recommended it to us. The people across the street feed their dog Iams and I just want to smack them upside the head, they known nothing about canines, and they've owned one for about four months now. They named her 'Uggs' because their ignorant son(who they favor over their intelligent daughter because he's a football star) said she looks so ugly. I don't see where he got that, she's the sweetest, most adorable little creature ever!

 

[silkerlover]

THanks for telling me about purina voodoojoint! I wont get it anymore. But is Ekanuba ok? And where do you get your dog food?

 

[bunnyluv17]

Why in the world are you feeding your dog raw meat and animal products?! In the U.S we treat our food animals horribly and most live in factory farm situations. Up to 30% of chickens in this country will be infected with samonella and your dog could end up with samonella poisoning. When our dog was a puppy he was very sick, and our vet said to feed him some plain cooked chicken and rice. My mom took the chicken out too soon and our dog ended up getting samonella poisoning and almost died. Avoid raw meat and animal products unless you are 100% sure its not contaminated.


And do NOT feed grapes or raisons because they are toxic to dogs.

 

[VoodooJoint]

THanks for telling me about purina voodoojoint! I wont get it anymore. But is Ekanuba ok? And where do you get your dog food?

Eukanuba food falls in the "okay" range for me. I have a few problems with them though.

If seems that all of their foods (even the lamb and rice formulas) contain corn as a main ingredient. Don’t forget corn is not digestible in dogs.

All of their foods contain dried beet pulp. This is used as a filler. Beet pulp has nutritional value only in the fresh, undried state. The biggest problem with beet pulp is that it expands greatly when mixed with liquid. This can cause severe and life threatening problems in some dogs especially in deep chested varieties that are subject to getting Gastric Dilatation Volvulous (bloat). To test a kibble for too much expansion drop a few pieces in a shallow bowl of water. If they expand then there is too much filler and you are looking at causing you dog, at the very least, discomfort. Just imagine eating your dinner, having a glass of water and your dinner then swelling to twice or 3xs it’s size inside you...sounds uncomfortable doesn’t it?

Depending on your animal rights views you may have a problem with Eukanuba. Eukanuba hosts one of the biggest Dog Shows in the country. They support dog showing and breeding and even have a special section on their website for "breeders".

As a norm I don’t buy dog foods that I find in grocery stores/walmart or have T.V. commercials. They are putting their money into advertising and not into buying quality ingredients for their foods. They higher cost you pay (which will trick you into thinking you are buying a quality food) is actually paying for their advertising. Spend your money more wisely on companies that forgo ads and spend their money on producing quality foods. These companies rely on word of mouth and it works because their foods are superior and people can actually see the results in their pets.

Most feed and grain stores and specialty pet supply stores sell these quality foods. Most of the companies have websites and may have store locators to help you find a place near you to buy it.

 

[VoodooJoint]

I just wanted to take a moment and let everyone know that it is not my intention to make anyone feel badly about the dog food they have been feeding their pets.

Purina, S.D, Iams are all "respected names". One would think that they produce superior foods. It is no ones fault that you trusted a "trusted name".

My hope is that people here will understand that it isn’t just Guinea Pigs that need extra stuff in their diet and suffer from ignorant companies making sub-standard and downright dangerous foods. I hope that everyone takes a closer look at what all of their animals are fed and make some changes for the better.

Even if you continue to feed a "lesser" food you can still add the veggies, meat, Nzymes and other supplements that will make a world of difference in your pets.

 

[bunnyluv17]

http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=grapes

Here is the site explaining why not to feed grapes to dogs

 

[VoodooJoint]

http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=grapes

Here is the site explaining why not to feed grapes to dogs

Once again I refer to my "everything in moderation" motto.

To be on the safe side avoid grapes and I never said it was okay to feed raisins.

I have indeed seen these reports on the hazards of grapes and raisins and in all of the cases I have read they were eaten in large quantities.

But you are correct. If in doubt don't feed it. As there seems to be doubt about a safe quantity of grapes they should be avoided.

I reread my posts and saw that I did make a mistake when I said I add grapes to the veggie and fruit puree I feed my dogs with their kibble. In fact I have never added grapes to the puree but I have been known to occationally toss them a frozen grape to eat. Usually I toss them half a carrot to chew on or an apple slice.

 

[loves2travel]

i was just on chazhound, which seems to have lots of caring dog owners on it. they all say nutro isnt too good.