[beautifulblackqueen]

Can anyone advise me on what would be a good healthy meal alternative to giving my dog actual dog food? I know about boiled rice and potatoes, but is there anything else I can give him? I'm sick of feeding him that bland dog food. I spend good money on his dog food, but I'd rather take that money and buy him some good food. You know dogs would much rather have something with a little taste to it. Any advice is greatly appreciated

[labman]

It is very important that your dog gets a complete and balanced diet. It is very safe and easy to do so by feeding a commercial dog chow. It is true that many people do prepare their own dogs' food, but it is time consuming learning how, and difficult to do right. Mess up, and you can ruin your dog's health. I am sure your dog would rather you spent the extra time going on a walk or playing fetch. What dogs want more than anything else is your time and attention. They don't appreciate the time you spend on the computer learning what you will need to know to prepare a safe diet for your dog.

Frankly, I suspect dogs getting Old Roy are better off than many getting home made chow.

[beautifulblackqueen]

I DO play with my dog and walk my dog. As a matter of fact, the majority of my time is spent with my dog, who by the way, I consider my son. I don't plan to entirely stop feeding him dog food. I was just coming on here to ask if there was something else I could give him at times. My dog means everything to me. Don't stick up your nose at me and tell me... ("They don't appreciate the time you spend on the computer learning what you will need to know to prepare a safe diet for your dog.") if you weren't going to just offer an answer, then just keep your mouth shut please, thank you

[wildcatgirl]

Lets try to keep this an unhostile place now. What Labman is saying that any other diet besides dog food is not good for your dog. Dog food is designed to meet your dogs digestive needs since it is way different than ours. The only thing I avoid with dog food is fillers such as corn meal. I use a brand that can only be found in feed stores called Buckeye. I have a black lab, Australian cattle dog, and shi tzu. The cattle dog would get diarrhea on Purina Dog Chow. When I started using the Buckeye, his diarrhea went away. Not only that, but they love it! Anyway, giving your dog anything else but dog food is THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO FOR THEIR DIET. Not only is it not good for their digestive tract, but they will go away from dog food expecting to get treats all the time. I used to show dogs across the country and I had the hardest time keeping my dogs on their regimine when using bait in the show ring. They got to where they only wanted the bait and would literally loose weight whenever we were on the road. Remember, these are just suggestions.

[tre_cani]

No one suggested that you didn't spend time with your dog.
You know, this kind of forum is for answers to questions, by people with experience in certain areas. You came here seeking advice that labman is certainly qualified to answer, yet you become argumentative and defensive when given said good advice. If you wish to get advice on something that could potentially harm your animal, search elsewhere.

It has been suggested to me that those of us answering questions try to maintain a level of friendliness and not berate those coming for advice. Frankly, I am growing weary of those that come for advice only to reject the advice and get 'uppity' about the tone. If you wish to get honest answers, expect honest answers, not fluff.

[beautifulblackqueen]

And he wasn't hostile at all by saying that my dog doesn't appreciate the time I spend on the computer learning what I will need to know to prepare a safe diet for my dog right?
If you don't agree with what I ask or what I respond to someone else, then why not just leave it alone and keep on truckin? It would be nice if the people who do answer the questions keep it answer only and keep their extra little opinions to themselves. I accept advice, I just don't like it when people feel they have to add that extra little smart comment about it. Its not necessary :)

[beautifulblackqueen]

Is it okay to mix boiled rice with his food?

[wildcatgirl]

is it okay to mix boiled rice with his food?

Absolutely not--to say it bluntly. Dogs are carnivorous by nature-they need protein in their diet, not startches. High protein dog food with the least amount of fillers and corn additives is what you want.

[labman]

is it okay to mix boiled rice with his food?

I don't think so. And there is no good reason to do so.

What is good for dogs and people is a complete and balanced diet and not too much of it. Even is somebody made a people food as good for them as dog chow is for dogs, it would never sell. People demand a verity and often insist on eating too much carbohydrates and fats rather then veggies and cheese that has things they need too. So the things we don't eat enough of are ''good'' for us. If your dog was eating a diet short in fat, protein, and whatever else is in cheese, then cheese would be ''good'' for it. If your dog is eating a complete and balanced dog chow, then cheese or anything else that isn't a complete and balance diet really does not improve its diet.

Now let's all simmer down a little before I have to start editing or deleting posts and issuing warnings. Many people have strong but divergent views on proper feeding of dogs. I feel I have better access to quality information than many, but must tolerate temperate dissent.

[wildcatgirl]

Labman,
I agree--I forgot to mention that another definitive way to tell if your dog is getting the correct nutrition is by their coat. If you notice their coat is dull or they have excessive shedding, then he/she probably is not getting a properly balanced diet. I know this is gross, but another way to tell is if they seem to have excessive "poo." If your dog's body is rejecting most of what they eat, they will "poo" a lot more. That's one of the reasons I went to the Buckeye brand. Less "poo" that is more consistent and my dogs' coats are just as shiny as could be! They almost look like I sprayed oil on their coats!

[labman]

Actually I have to disagree with that. In fact, some of the more expensive brands have excessive fat making for beautiful shiny coats, but short changing the dog on other things unless over fed. It is sort of like the healthy tanned people getting skin cancer.

The stool size is an important factor. I think it is part of the reason all the service dog schools feed a meat based, concentrated chow. Imagine cleaning up after your dog if you couldn't see or were in a wheel chair?

[doggie_poopie]

Skin and coat is the best way to tell if the dogs food is working for that particular dog!
Do not ever use vegetable oil added to you pets foods. Better foods do not use fat to add gleam to coats. They use natural fish oils, and add Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids.
Commercial pet foods or 'expensive' comercial foods use fats after extruding to spray on the food to make it more patable. Just take a few kibbles out and place on a paper towel, check it in the am to see how much fat was there.

http://www.api4animals.org/facts.php?p=359&more=1
Animal and Poultry Fat

You may have noticed a unique, pungent odor when you open a new bag of pet food — what is the source of that delightful smell? It is most often rendered animal fat, restaurant grease, or other oils too rancid or deemed inedible for humans.

Restaurant grease has become a major component of feed grade animal fat over the last fifteen years. This grease, often held in fifty-gallon drums, may be kept outside for weeks, exposed to extreme temperatures with no regard for its future use. “Fat blenders” or rendering companies then pick up this used grease and mix the different types of fat together, stabilize them with powerful antioxidants to retard further spoilage, and then sell the blended products to pet food companies and other end users.

These fats are sprayed directly onto extruded kibbles and pellets to make an otherwise bland or distasteful product palatable. The fat also acts as a binding agent to which manufacturers add other flavor enhancers such as digests. Pet food scientists have discovered that animals love the taste of these sprayed fats. Manufacturers are masters at getting a dog or a cat to eat something she would normally turn up her nose at.

[labman]

Nonsense. Corn and soybean oils contain exactly the omega 3 fatty acids dogs need. I don't argue that some of what goes into regular dog food isn't for the squeamish. However the millions of healthy dogs thriving on it puts the lie to emotional appeals like would you want to eat it. Don't judge a chow or an ingredient by its price. Look at how the dogs eating it do. I don't need to go broke feeding my dog an expensive chow to prove I love it.

[wildcatgirl]

I was just reading the label on my dog food and it has flax seed oil in it for the Omega-3 fatty acids. It also has vitamin supplements added to the food of Vitamins A, D3, E, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Niacin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Biotin. The analysis breakdown is Crude Protein, Minimum 26.00 % Crude Fat, Minimum 16.00 %
Crude Fiber, Maximum 4.00 % Moisture, Maximum 10.00%. It's primary ingredient is also chicken (and chicken by products, of course) Doesn't that sound like something you'd want for dinner? LOL

[wildcatgirl]

Actually, I'm a big believer in Adkins (I know some people think he's crazy). But the reason why I switched to Buckeye dog food is because of their horse food. They were the first ones I saw that quit putting molases and sorghum in horse grain and started using more soluble fiber such as oats and wheat for their horse grains. I just figured if they care for their horses that much, they have to care for the dogs' foods too!

[badams007]

Yes, there are many people who prepare their own dogs food, but it does take some serious research... some of the more common plans are called BARF and raw - but if you are going to do those, you will need to read about them a lot.

As dog fanatics, we each have our own "hot topics" and feeding our dogs is a common one. I happen to be a very serious label reader of kibble and am relatively picky about the food my dogs get. Then again, I do rescue work and many of these dogs are in trouble nutritionally, and since they're terriers, food allergies are common...

Just don't get me started about puppymills - LOL

-Beth

[labman]

I think BARF and the other raw diets are absolutely stupid. They are condemned by the AVMA and now the FDA is getting into the act because so many people get food poisoning from all the raw meat they are handling. The BARF diet is based on many fallacies. Check http://www.secondchanceranch.org/rawmeat.html

[badams007]

I am NOT an advocate for either of those diets, but I figured she would get wind of them sooner or later...

[beautifulblackqueen]

I have heard of the barf diet, and I wouldn't even consider that. My vet recommended that I take him off eukanuba and put him on science diet, since he is getting older, and apparently science diet has "more natural ingredients"? I don't know, but my dog seems to enjoy it, and I weaned him off eukanuba perfectly, so his system is now fine. What irritates me is that we're stationed in a very remote part of italy, an extremely small base, and when the store runs out of the dog food I feed him, they take forever to get it back, and that makes me have to give him some other dog food to tide him over until they get that particular brand back. What other dog food is associated with science diet? (like eukanuba is associated with iams).

[badams007]

Hill's does not make another brand of commercially available dog food, though they do have a prescription line...

If you let us know what else is available in your store, I'm sure we would be happy to give you some recommendations.