Oil

[Saje]

Is it ok to add a little oil to my dogs food occassionally? I used to give my horse a bit of oil when they were being showed. It's good for their hair. By a little I mean about a tablespoon of vegetable oil. My dogs love it and they aren't fat. Maverick is probably a little underweight.
Does anyone know anything about that?

Thanks

 

[Renee750il]

A bit of oil certainly won't hurt them at all and is actually good for dogs, especially in the winter. Olive oil is a good choice for everyday, and a good occasional treat is bacon grease or pork drippings. They will love you madly for that! Avoid ham and sausage drippings though, since they contain a lot of salt.

 

[Saje]

That's what I thought. I don't have animal fat around here though. I'm a vegetarian and my boyfriend can't really afford meat all that often. Although, they do get treats from it when he does.

I think that they need some more oil in their diet. I can't afford the food that I would like to give them right now and when I brush Maverick I can tell that his hair is a bit dull.

I think I'll give them oil regularly. If they get fat I'll stop.

Thanks

 

[Renee750il]

Saje, I don't know if they have them in Canada, but if there is what we call a farmers' co-operative nearby it's often a good place to find dog food that is better than what's offered in stores at a better price.

The farm where we got Shiva actually has an acquaintance with someone who has a small meat processing shop and they feed their dogs the unprocessed carcass remains. That can be a good source of dog food as well - and a great source of dog bones!

Believe me, I know what it's like to be strapped for cash. There have been times in my life when I've lived on Cream of Wheat for weeks on end.

 

[Saje]

Yeah, that's a good idea. I know there is a place near here that sells products by MasterFeeds. I haven't been able to find their nutrient labels on line but the price is reasonable.

There are a lot of mountains around here and timber is one of the main resources - not so much farm land and agriculture. Where I grew up though I'm sure I could find a place that would give me bones...

I'll have to look around.

thanks

 

[Renee750il]

Oh, I meant to suggest that you can also give them a raw egg every few days. It's a great, inexpensive way to supplement their diet - good for their insides and their outsides!

 

[Saje]

I do that sometimes too but they've gotten very expensive, especially free range. We've had problems with the chickens here. http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/flu/bccrisis.html

I haven't really been following to much because it didn't affect me, being a veg, but I know that when I buy eggs for my pups the prices are outrageous. I do buy them occassionally though.

Oil is cheap though. Well, not olive oil, I haven't even bought that for myself in months!

Thanks for the tip though

 

[Renee750il]

Yoghurt is another excellent, usually inexpensive supplement food, especially good if you're not really satisfied with the digestability of the dog food. The active cultures are just as good for their systems as for ours. Most like the vanilla flavor, since dogs tend to like sweet tastes.

 

[Saje]

Cottage cheese too, from what I've read. I don't know why but they are both quite expensive here too. About $3 for the larger tub. I think that's expensive. Especially cuz it doesn't last long. My bf loves it a lot too, he'll eat a whole tub as a meal.

 

[becca_4321]

I wondered about raw eggs. Princess will not eat her dog food unless I doctor it up. I usually add oil to her food. Yesterday morning before we left home, we couldnt take her with us so I put her outside to play and put her food out for her, forgetting to add stuff to it. When I went to tell my husband I was ready I looked out the window to see she was carrying around her food dish in the back yard. We left and when I came home I went outside to try to find her food dish. There it was, same place as it was when I first put it out for her, full of dog food still along with leaves, dirt and mud clumps and lord knows what else! I guess she was telling me what she thought of her food! I'll have to try adding eggs to see how she likes that.

 

[Renee750il]

Yeah, Becca, that sounds like a comment to me, too!

I don't have any problems getting mine to eat, not even Bimmer since the Innova. When Charley used to buy dog food, Bimmer would just leave it and go catch something or wait until I had some scraps for him unless he was just really hungry.

 

[candy722]

i bought a bottle of vita coat plus from dr. foster and smith and it's also oil base too and it does help improve their hair. It's alot more shinier than before.