Tartan

It is only in our modern age that we have "dog" food. What did people feed their animals 100 years ago? They ate whatever they caught and ate raw and whatever their owners had leftover from their food. As long as you can get some vitamins into their diet too, why not?

TanyaL

My parents raised, trained and sold German short haired pointers and English Spaniels. There was never an overweight dog in our kennel. We fed them twice a day a vet recommended diet of dog food in the recommended amount for their weight. They never had a snack. If they didn't eat the total amount for a couple of days they got a checkup on their health, as that usually indicated a dog that wasn't well. A dog that is hungry will eat. A pet that is over fed can be particular about its diet, but it will not willingly starve. It may lose a few pounds trying to convince its owner that the food dish is not filled with its favorite food - but who is the dog and who is the boss? Dog food companies spend tremendous amounts of money getting the nutrition correct in their mix of ingredients. You get to chose according to what you want for your dog - but you shouldn't let the dog chose what it eats and how much it eats. By nature a carnivore (your dog) will eat on a feast and famine schedule, only pets never get to the famine part of the schedule - only the feast, feast, feast. An overweight dog needs to eat less and exercise more just like a human does.

Chasing Hawk

A few weeks ago I made a meal for the dogs....

Long grain rice, wild rice, ground pork, green beans, peas and carrots.

They loved it of course we didn't tell them there were veggies in their bowls...haha

Chasing Hawk

Our dog Chili Palmer started to shed real bad and had dandruff also. All she wanted to do was sleep and eat dinner. When we let her out of her pen she would slowly walk over to a shaded area and go to sleep.

We took her to the vet and she was diagnosed with a low thyroid condition. She is now on meds and is a totally different dog. She runs, howls, chases rabbits in the yard and has quite the doggie vocabulary.

Also we changed their dog food to a lower fat content feed. So far Chili has lost 25 lbs. in 3 months. And her hair and skin have dramatically improved.

We supplement their diet with knuckle bones and marrow bones. Our vet says their teeth are in excellent shape little or no tartar build up.

MattieMae

My dog came from a breeder that fed a raw food diet. A cooler of raw meat, etc. was sent home with me as well as the puppy. After four months, I switched to expensive "natural" dog food. It was just easier to let them do the work of balancing the diet. I divvy it up into two meals, with a large milkbone snack for their teeth. I do worry about another dog food catastrophe. My dogs are not just pets, they are beloved members of my family.

I buy beef bones from Whole Foods and give them to the dogs raw...not cooked, never had any problems with broken teeth. One loves raw veggies and fruits, my rescue dog won't touch them. I observe the usual no onions, raisons, grapes, etc. warnings. If they get into something that causes tummy upset, it's meals of boiled hamburger and rice, pumpkin if necessary. They are big healthy dogs that are 6 and 13 years old with shiny coats, bright eyes, and clean teeth. They're not fat, but neither am I ~~ I did notice that some other brands of dog food say to feed my dogs 5 cups daily, while mine says only 2 to 3 cups daily.

Tink's Mom

my Chihuahua, Tinkerbelle is on a special diet due to her pancreas issues. She is on a diabetic dog food and lean meat and veggies. Green beans are her favorites...I will hold one and she will get so excited...nibbles it from my hand.
I roast chicken legs for her...turkey...and even make a special meatloaf that has veggies in it.
These things are mixed with her dry kibble.
She is much healthier, and currently is off her meds. We will be doing more bloodtests in a few months to see if we have to go back on the meds.

MattieMae

Poor little Tink, she looks so sweet. Tummy rubs, love, and ear scritches out to her.

Tink's Mom

Tink says"thank you"...she loves her tummy rubs...

Edie

WE feed Bess Purina Fit and Trim (has all the measured vitamins, minerals, etc., that a dog needs. I stay on that. For snacks, however, she loves raw green beans, I always buy a bag of those little carrots and give her those. Never, never, grapes or raisins (there is something in the grapes that act with a dog's stomach. Raisins are grapes. I think it is the tannin in the grapes that isn't good. I remember the time Bess ate an Ande's chocolate mint. It was Christmas and we decided to give her a little nip of Christmas cheer (wine - grapes - getting the picture? Well, she got an Ande's mint and lucky for her, after a few small laps of the fruit of the vine, she barfed, royal!!! And there it was - the Ande's mint in its wrapper. She was in such a hurry to get it before I was able to pry her mouth open and get it out that she ate it whole and thank heaven we did give her a little wine because that candy and wrapper could have festered in her belly.

We do give Bess all fresh vegetables, fresh fruit (except grapes/raisins), sometimes chicken and beef cooked. If there is any leftover gravy, I will put a tablespoon in her dish with her food and stir it up. She loves that! My cousin used to know of this place in Milwaukee that sold ground horsemeat and he gave Rivets that for dinner. He'd get several pounds ground up and packaged. Good thing my aunt didn't make sloppy joes!!!!!!

We will give her tastes of a peanut butter cookie, but that's about it. She loves shrimp, muskmelon, squash (cooked). But seriously, I would keep a dog on dog food because of the nutritional value with people food as a treat! Bess, as prescribed by our vet, has been on Fit and Trim since she was three years old - she is getting the vitamins and minerals that dogs or other pets need, plus the snacks are not full of calories. She is going to be ten on January 3! Same day as my husband (that's the only way I can remember!)

For those in the White Castle region like we are (St. Paul), my husband had a friend who, on his dog's birthday, took him to White Castle for a couple Gut Bombs! So we have been doing that with Bess too. Pure meat, good snack for her! Happy Birthday to Bess. Of course, anyone who wants to take me to White Castle for my birthday would have my undying gratitude for the rest of my life. I love those things!!!!!! With a shot of mustard.

For those pets who have health problems, do what your vet says - he knows a heckuva lot more than we do and he is the main person who keeps our pets with us as long as possible, right?

Happy Day! Edie

kathy

I have a small dog who was severly over weight because my husband is a softy! and would give her a hefty seving of whatever we eat no matter what she already had. after a visit ti the vet for coughing and finding out that she was retaining lots of water due to the salt in our food, she has heart failure (left side deteriation) the extra weight is hard on her tiny legs and was squeezing her organs. She'll eat the expensive containers of dog food but no dry AND she was hungry ALL the time ( I know the feeling!) I boil the meat, mostly calf liver and mush it up so it's mixed throughout, and some barley and a bag of mixed veggies. I give her a cup in the morning with her meds and a cup when we eat supper, I put down about 1/2 cup of a good dry food during the day, if she's really hungry she'll eat it. it's not cheaper than can food but I do feel that it's better for them. We have a large old unhealthy lab too so I cook "dog soup" about twice a week!
good luck