How many "dress up" dry food for their dogs? (& with what??)

[BostonBanker]

What are some of your dogs weights and how often do they eat?

Meg is around 33 - 35 lbs - I haven't weighed her in a while. She eats 2 - 3 times a day, depending on what she's having and our schedule.

AM - either Nature's Variety or Primal raw, usually with some yogurt or cottage cheese on it.

Lunch (sometimes) - a RMB, eaten at the barn. Fed more as a supplement than anything else.

PM - about 1/4 - 1/3 cup EVO and some EVO canned or other additives on it.

She gets lots of training treats throughout the day as well.

 

[ihartgonzo]

Are you free-feeding? If so, that should stop.

It sounds like the best option for your pup would be to find a good quality canned food that doesn't upset his tummy & either mix that in or feed that exclusively. Adding meats & canned food to kibble is actually much healthier than kibble alone. Good meats would be plain cooked chicken, ground beef, ground turkey, and canned salmon & sardines. You can also add a whole egg every so often, yogurt, cottage cheese, et all the other recommendations ;]

Both of my dogs are around 40 lbs and eat twice, sometimes once, a day, with lots of training treats in between.

 

[Duke'sMommy]

If Duke doesnt seem to be for eating I'll tap in the smallest amount of parmesan (sp?) cheese, to me it smells like feet and thats what he seems to love.

And for his weight, Duke is probably between 60-65 pounds and free feeds. He is very lean dog. With the free feeding on average he eats 2 1/2 cups a day.

 

[Toller_08]

My dogs usually get either few pieces of apple, some yogurt, sometimes small carrots pieces, a few pieces of canteloupe, or a raw egg on their dinner. Not that anything besides the egg really does anything for them, but they like it. They also get canned food mixed in. I also always add water to their kibble.

 

[wehkah]

Usually I just add a little water. But I've been doing this since they were pups so I don't know if you could call that dressing up??

 

[terrier terror]

I never not dress my dogs' kibble up.

Because I don't like the the moisture content in kibble, they always get canned. Yogurt is another always-in-there supplement. After those, it could be a dollop of fruits or veggies I blended for them, raw egg, parmesan cheese, mackerel or sardines, garlic, Tripett (which is very, very rare as the stuff grosses me out), etc. They get raw meat/organs/RMBs several times a week, but that's not dressing it up as it's always in a separate meal.

 

[gia's stepmom]

a small amount of frozen biljac mixed in with the dry food

 

[Toaster]

No, I do not free-feed Stogie... He eats (based on our at-home schedule of the day) 2 meals a day, and will occasionally get 3 meals... this is rare though.

I tried a little warm water + garlic powder (very little garlic powder), he didn't like that at all. He sniffed it, and walked away, so I put some plain/dry kibble next to it in another bowl, and he ate the plain/dry kibble... so he didn't like the garlic powder obviously.

I tried some yogurt mixed in last night, which he ate. I didn't have plain yogurt - I have strawberry fruit at the bottom... so I scooped in about half a teaspoon or so from the top... He seemed to like it, but not the reaction I was expecting.

I'm waiting to find the combination that drives him nutz, and makes him devour the bowl. He might just be too small and light to ever get to that point? Or maybe I'm paying too much attention to his eating habits all together?

 

[Toller_08]

Not all dogs devour their food, it has nothing to do with his size. Piper (our foster Dachshund) would eat and eat and eat if we let her - she's only 7lbs. She almost inhales her food. Some dogs are like that, and others are slow like Stogie. Tango (my 35lb dog) eats very slowly (whether it's kibble, raw, whatever). She's just not quick. Sometimes she just chooses not to eat at all, she usually skips a meal or two a week. She's perfectly healthy - my vet said it was actually pretty common. I wouldn't worry too much if he isn't eating quickly and isn't excited about his meals if he seems otherwise healthy.

 

[juliefurry]

I definetely wouldn't worry if Stogie was a little slow to eat. Lots of dogs can be like that, not mine, but there are some. My grandma's dog, who only ate Carl Budding lunch meat, would eat like 1/2 to 1 package a day along with table scraps and it would take him ALL day to eat the 1/2 package he just didn't see the need to eat everything really quickly.

I use stuff like yogurt, eggs, sardines, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, and just plain water (well I always use water).

Hannah is 55 lbs and she gets fed 2x a day, ofcourse she eats raw
Holly is 35 lbs and gets fed 2x a day as well she gets 1 and 1/2 cups in the morning, mixed with water and then another 1 and 1/2 cups at night mixed with water and usually yogurt is the only thing she can tolerate being mixed in with her kibble. I try not to mix things in with every meal because I don't want Holly getting dependant on that added thing to her kibble.

 

[uhmanda00]

What types of fruits and vegetables are good for the dogs? And what are the benefits of feeding them?

edit/// And what brand && flavor of yogurt? And what is the benefit of that?

Thanks.

 

[WES]

I feed Bella Canidae kibble with a spoonful or two of Innova canned. I also often add some canned sardines or herring. She seems to really enjoy this; I think the” fishy” smell really gets their attention. Try some sardine or fish and see if he likes that.

 

[Toaster]

I tried the Innova canned, and he loves it, but it doesnt agree with him. Gives him gas and the runs --- Not a good combination!

 

[ihartgonzo]

What types of fruits and vegetables are good for the dogs? And what are the benefits of feeding them?

edit/// And what brand && flavor of yogurt? And what is the benefit of that?

Thanks.

I do not feed LOTS of fruits & veggies, because they basically have no benefit unless they're pureed. They get a huge variety of pureed veggies (cabbage, leafy greens, carrots, broccoli, etc) which provide tons of vitamins & nutrients, and over-ripe fruit as snacks. Their favorite fruits are bananas, apples, strawberries, & cantaloupe.

Get any brand (preferably a holistic/natural brand) of plain yogurt. The benefit is a great, natural source of probiotics.

 

[ihartgonzo]

Toaster, have you tried Natural Balance canned? It has good ingredients, and it might not upset his tummy.

 

[hanslynch]

Carrots are Great

Since I posted a while ago I have been adding a bunch of other things into my dogs food. I alternate every day, lightly cooked eggs, shredded cheese, low fat yogurt, leftover meat. They run to their dog bowls!! Lucy has gained some weight recently but she needed too, she was pretty light for a Dane. Kona has maintained a nice healthy weight but her energy level has gotten even higher. I thinking about giving her rocks or something so she will tone it down a little. Just kidding of course.

For veggies I give the dogs, baby carrots. It has the same benefits as eating carrots for humans. Lucy does not care for the carrots but Kona loves them, but then as stated before Kona will eat anything that is not trying to eat her. The crazy thing is she looks at me a half hour later when I am eating with that look. You know what I mean, that look like , you haven't fed me all day.

Hans

 

[Toaster]

Since making the switch to Innova (back whenever it was), I've not fed anything but Innova. My wife and I get in these debates over his food, but we both agree - so long as he enjoys it, its not an issue to us. I may have to try another canned..? I'm not sure yet.

Here's the issue I seem to have adding stuff to Stogie's kibble... He eats AROUND the kibble. Cheese for example, he eats the cheese - and leaves the kibble. If I add leftover anything (meats, veggies, fruits) he eats those items, and doesn't touch the kibble. I'm almost at the point like, why bother with "dog food" period? Just feed him the stuff we eat anyway - He seems to prefer it more.

 

[em&ollie]

I would suggest mixing it thoroughly through the kibble or hiding it at the bottom. You can grate the cheese so that he can't pick it out easily.