How to prepare real food diet

Topics, guidelines and tips for feeding Chow Chows.

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jesn
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How to prepare real food diet

Post by jesn »

Hi, I have a 5mth old Chow puppy and although he appears to be incredibly healthy and energetic, he really isn't perfectly healthy :( he has had a couple of seizures and the vet also said that he has luxating patella in his two hind legs which really means the knee cap joints are a little loose. Although the severity is really less than 1, its still pretty upsetting that as a young 5 month old puppy he has that condition and of course, there is the potential that with age and wear and tear, it will become worse. So I really want to be feeding the best kind of food for him. He's currently on Solid Gold Large Breed and Wellness regular puppy food and I mix them for him. I'd just like to know if I can do any better than these brands or if its better for me to prepare his foods. I do like him to have some natural foods and every week I cook a little chicken/beef with carrots and lots of other veggies and mix it in with his puppy kibble. But if I were to transition fully to natural foods, what vitamins/minerals/supplements should I be adding? I'd personally like to prepare his food but I've just heard that commercial puppy food has a ton of vitamin supplements that real foods don't.... so I'm not sure if real food diet would be adequate for him. Please let me know what you think! Thanks!
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Merlin
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Re: How to prepare real food diet

Post by Merlin »

Howdy

I'm going to venture a guess that by "real food diet", you mean a home made one that doesn't come out of a can or a bag right?

It's a good thing. Commercial dog food has only been around for about 60 years and it is essentially the "Waste to Profit" industry and was Dr. Ballard's solution to the new working woman who didn't have time. Commercial dog food is a valuable way to recycle left over, un-usable food matter basically no longer fit for human consumption. Most commercial foods, especially the cheap ones, are laden with far too many carbohydrates for dogs and eventually make dogs sick. |||||||There are still people out there that don't understand this concept and think that a 20.00 bag of dog food is actually good nutrition for their dogs.

Farmers fed their dogs from the table for years and those dogs lived long and healthy lives. To date in many rural areas, farmers STILL feed their dogs table scraps, any felled farm beast and most country dogs keep the stables clear of mice, rats, skunks and other small critters - so that supplemented their diets as well. This is a very normal way of life for them, even in 2010.

What you need to pay attention to is quality content.
Dogs need meat and the more meat is cooked, the less nutritious it is for your dog, so you need to be prepared to supplement your dog's cooked diet with at least a child's multivitamin and more importantly, Omega 3 & 6 ( which you can get from fatty fish - or you can purchase to actual oil) such as wild salmon oil.
Vegetables have little or no impact on dogs. Dogs do not possess the teeth to break down vegetable cellulose, therefore unless your veggies are, ``juiced`( not pureed, but 'juiced'), there is little or no nutritional bioavailability to them, so while vegetables do offer empty calories, they don`t necessarily offer much quality nutrition.

You may even want to consider a natural raw diet instead. «that is an ultimate feeding regime.

Whatever you do decide there are loads of egroups devoted to canine nutrition on yahoo. 10 years ago, almost nothing was available on home feeding, but nowadays, there is loads and loads of information available to any enthusiast who wants to avoid using commercial foods.
There are also loads of books you can read on feeding your own dog, or cooking for your own dog.

Best of luck
NEVER Support Back Yard Breeders & Puppy Mills
Contact Your local Chow Chow Association to find your Breeder of Merit!
Better Yet ! Adopt!
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