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Hey Ya'll! I'm bouncing over from the Bump w/ some ?'s for dog owners
Quick intro- my name is Lysette & I'm engaged to my best friend Ryan. We have a soon to be 8mo baby girl & 2 dogs; 1 is a Rhodesian Ridgeback named Demayla, the other is a pit bull named Bellmyra. Demayla will be three in March, Bella will be 4 in April.
We currently live in NE Florida, I delivered on June 2nd; prior to that I was the one who made sure the dogs got vigorous exercise at least 4x a week since I stayed home. Well since the baby came, I'm sorry to say their exercise got put on the backburner-baby comes first & I'm a stay at home mom. We try to get them out on the weekends at least but the consistentcy isn't even close to what it was. Needless to say, our girls are getting a little heavy. We are moving back to AZ in March & once we get settled there we will get back into our river trips, canoeing, kayaking, etc. The dogs ALWAYS go with us & they LOVE it, and it's such a fantastic workout for them
I make our dog food to supplement/offset the cost of the expensive brand we buy to help stretch it as much as possible. We feed 2x a day morning & evening. I've tried smaller portions over the last couple weeks but I haven't seen any changes in their weight so far.
My questions for you dog owners are these; Should I drop their evening feeding & maybe put just a little bit more in their breakfast (this would be until they start getting more exercise), or should I make their portions even smaller so that they are still getting fed 2x a day? Me personally, I would not want to only be able to eat once a day. Our girls' health is my number 1 priority & I don't want them to get any more overweight than they already are, they are too young!!
ANY & ALL advice is welcome!! I hate to post & run but I gotta go pick up DH, I'll check back later. Thank you all!!
ETA: The homemade food I make Always has either short grain brain rice as my base, sometimes oatmeal or Barley. I also add carrots, celery, green beans, sometimes potatoes & always a green leafy veggie like kale, chard, collard greens, mustard greens or spinach.
Re: Hey Ya'll! I'm bouncing over from the Bump w/ some ?'s for dog owners
I wouldn't feed them just once a day. Both your dogs are probably at risk for bloat, given their size, and smaller, more frequent meals can help prevent that.
Dogs are pretty much like people. It's calories in, calories out. If you can't up the exercise, you're going to have to cut back on their food.
Regarding the food you're making, I'm not sure what you're doing is the best option. Loading your dogs up with starch probably isn't helping their waistlines, and it's not all that nutritious for them, either. What is their base food? Maybe there are less expensive options that are still good.
Kudos to you for taking the time to prepare their meals, but it honestly looks like you're feeding them a bunch of crap they don't need... potatoes, celery, and rice are all just fillers.
Save yourself the time and help out their waistline by feeding raw. You obviously care about getting your dogs proper nutrition, so I think it would work well for you! I learned how to feed raw properly via www.preymodelraw.com and lurking on www.dogfoodchat.com for the most part.
HTH!
I would also suggest continuing to feed multiple meals (rather than one per day) and looking into a different diet. Are they getting any meat at all? If you can't feed raw as PPs have suggested, there are commercial dog foods that are high quality and won't break the bank. I think Costco has one - hopefully someone can chime in with more details.
As for the exercise, can you get a dog walker or send your dogs to day care a couple days a week? Do you have any treat-dispensing toys (Tug-a-Jug, Buster Cube, Kong Wobbler) that you can use to feed them in order to provide some mental stimulation? In addition to the weight gain issue, I would imagine that other problems may crop up as a result of inadequate exercise (i.e. destructive behavior).
I have 2 pugs, and they get a minimum of 1 hour of exercise per day unless the weather is just horrific. If we don't exercise them for even a couple days (i.e. during a blizzard), they start to get a little stir-crazy. I can't even imagine a Rhodie going without exercise - they are marathoners in the dog world, bred for endurance and to withstand extreme conditions while hunting lions. Do you or your FI run or know someone who does and would be willing to bring your dog(s) along? A Rhodie sounds like a perfect running partner.
I run w/ a jogging stroller. I do not trust the ridgeback to not take off if she spies something interesting. I dont want to put the baby in a dangerous situation. My Ridgeback has the breeds characteristic traits when it comes to laziness-they get to a certain point & all they wanna do is lay around & she's getting there.
Once we get back to AZ things will be much different; plenty of hiking trails & the river of course!! I'm super excited to get back into that routine again, my ridgeback was in her element!!
I've never heard of feeding raw but I will look into it this weekend & cut out the grains.
Thanks for your advice!!
Thank you, I'll give the multiple meals a try until we get back to AZ & get them on the river again!!
Thank you so much for these links!! I will check them out this weekend. I LOVE making there food for them, I take pride in doing it for them & knowing that I'm trying to do the best thing for them & make sure they're healthy.
Is it that YOU aren't comfortable handling raw meat or that you are afraid of your dogs eating the meat raw?
Because...animals eat raw meat all the time and do just fine.
Like..dog cousins..wolves..they don't make campfires before eating.
Thank you so much for all your informed advice, I feel very encouraged now that I can get this under control (it really isn't that bad, but it could get there) only a few more weeks until we get back to AZ & their exercise routines will definitely be consistent. There's not much I can do about it now, my baby & her needs come first. My DH works 12 or more hours a day-weekends are all we've got for now. The girls aren't destructive, however, they are mischevious. We give them plenty of love & try to take family walks in the evenings after dinner, dogs included. They tolerate their leashes, my ridgeback grew up in AZ on the river & hiking in the desert sans leash-she hates them but will tolerate.
Anyways, thank you all so very much for your advice and feedback!! It's greatly welcomed and appreciated and I will take everything into consideration & begin researching.
Lysette
LOL, I was a chef in a fine dining restaurant for 8yrs, I'm extrenely comfortable & confident in handling raw meat. As for feeding it to my dogs, I'm not sure I'm okay with it until I do some heavy research including asking my vet. Wolves, are DISTANT cousins, they are not domesticated & have not evolved to be so. Our pets depend on us to take care of them & just because wolves do it does not mean it's necessarily okay for our pets to do it.
I understand what you mean, having taken a lot of food-safety courses myself, but dogs aren't susceptible to bacteria in raw meat the same way humans are. Raw is actually better for them than cooked, believe it or not. We don't feed raw, but I do make sure that my dog gets a raw bone a few times a month. He's never had a single problem. Do some research on it, of course, but I'm confident you'll be convinced if you read what's out there.
Yes that was my point. You should not be cooking the meat. If anything it's worse for dogs with allergies
Will do! About once every 2 weeks I'll swing by the butcher & get a couple marrow bones for our girls-they LOVE them. This feedback has been so interesting, like I said, I'll definitely looking into the pros & cons this weekend & eliminate the grains from their diets. Thank you so much!!
Gotcha, thanks for your feedback, I had no idea what so ever. I'll do my research this weekend
So do you cook these bones as well? I would not feed a dog cooked bones. And I feed raw so I have no problem feeding meat and bones to my dog. Cooked bones can splinter though which can cause major problems.
Yeah. I took food safety courses too. They were for HUMANS. That doesn't mean I broad base apply those lessons to my pets.
Just because it's safe for humans doesn't mean it's safe for our dogs.
When my dogs pudge up I switch to Wellness CORE Reduced Fat for a few months. I also put raw food in with it. Chicken feet, sardines, eggs, or tripe......sometimes a scoop of canned food.
Thank you, I've been wanting to go the egg route for more protein. Sardines sound like a good idea and I know the girls would love those smelly feet. I'll ask my butcher about the chicken feet & I know I can get tripe. All of these things are pretty inexpensive which is my point of making their food to help stretch the expensive dry food they get as well.
A while back I read an article in a magazine (can't remember which mag) about what human foods are safe for dogs. When the article got to the meat category it stated to only give lean, cooked meats. That kinda stuck with me. I do not cook the marrow bones, never have. They are treats & the girls absolutely love them. When they start drying up after a couple days I throw them away.
I guess what I don't get is why it would be MORE dangerous to give cooked meats than raw meats. Cooking the meats to a certain temp kills bacteria....hmmm. I'm off to reasearch now.
Thank you for your feedback, I definitely appreciate your insight!
huh? how are raw marrow bones that have been sitting around for days safe, but raw meat not?
dogs are scavengers. their stomachs can handle a lot more abuse than our pansy human tummies. cooked meat isn't more dangerous than raw, cooked meat is simply less nutritious because it cooking destroys some nutrients. cooked bones are more dangerous because cooking makes them more brittle and more likely to splinter.
and i totally dont understand how home cooked is cheaper than kibble. especially if you're giving lots of fillers. yeah, a pound of potatoes is cheaper than a pound of kibble, but a pound of kibble is about 4x as nutrient dense than potatoes (don't quote me, i pulled that figure out of my rear)...but think about it. dried food has no water. one pound of dried fruit contains a lot more calories than a pound of regular fruit.
feeding my dogs a high quality kibble, they each eat about 3 cups a day. we go through a 40 lb bag of kibble in a month. at $1/lb, i spend $40/month on kibble. feeding my dogs raw, i purchased in bulk for an average of 60-75 cents per pound. but they ate about 1.5 lbs each a day. that ends up being about $50/month. feeding them less nutrient/calorie dense fillers like veggies and grains would mean feeding them even more to maintain their weights.
Have you seen my monkey?
It's not dangerous if you want to give some cooked meat as a treat in addition to feeding kibble or some other balanced food. It is dangerous if that is their food because cooking destroys nutrients. If you're not supplementing to replace them, your dogs are missing out on a lot of necessary nutrients. That, over time, can be incredibly dangerous to their health.
Also, bacteria to dogs isn't the same as it is to us. Their stomachs are more acidic than ours and their guts already have salmonella in them. Some dogs eat their own poop regularly and are no worse for the wear. Could you eat your own feces and be just fine? I doubt it. I know it can be hard to grasp, but it's really not the same at all.
Our digestive systems are different
. Essentially a dog's entire digestive system can process the bacteria differently than ours.
Have you seen my monkey?
I can't help you with raw/home cooked food, but my dog lost much needed weight when we found Fromm. It is a little pricey, but cup for cup, it may actually be the same or less than some other kibble or even groceries. She is 36 pounds now and eats about 1 and 1/4 cup a day. In April she was 42 pounds and the vet said I had to get at least 4 pounds off of her because she was too porky. due to some skin allergies and issues she was having with her bladder, I found the Fromm (thanks to this board) and she's not only at a stellar weight now, but her bladder issues are resolved as well.
PS- my dog is a small pit bull mix.