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I am all about natural food for both humans and pets. My concerns are additives, preservatives, food made in china, etc...you get the picture. I read a while ago, that there was a lawsuit against a company where pets died due to salmonella (and more likely, the preservatives that were added to the food).

 

I instinctively sought to feed Wyot the best puppy food...and chose Taste of the Wild. No grains for this little one. I must have read, albeit later, that this is the food Kim feeds the pups (I think). I am adding a few pureed greens (a tablespoon) and in his water, I add some of my own Nettles infusion, and he gobbled it up pronto, and seems to be doing well on all of this. I'd like to try and make more of my own food for him, in proportion to the dry (ie, adding it in), and would like to know nutritionally, raw is better than cooked protein, but is it ok to feed him some cooked? I do, of course, get gmo & hormone free meats. What about bones? I have read that it is actually really good to give pups and dogs bones (chicken, beef, pork etc) to chew on. I'd love to, and aside from the marrow bones that I fill myself for his treats, what bones are safe for him to have?

 

My lab had digestive problems (of course, she ate just about anything she shouldn't have), and I did make her rice and some bland mixes with her Science diet, which at the time, I thought and was told by the vet was the best. Since then, I have learned a lot more about quality food for them, especially with most of the food being outsourced nowadays!

 

As for treats, I make my own for him, with chicken broth, gmo free flour, flaxseed and/or wheat germ. He loves them, and tolerates it well.

 

Any and all suggestions appreciated! :)

Edited by KittynDoc
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Food comes up regularly. (oh that sounds bad) .Some older threads. http://www.iidoba.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=3850&hl=food&do=findComment&comment=37570

 

http://www.iidoba.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=3993&hl=bones&do=findComment&comment=39460

 

http://www.iidoba.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=2630&hl=%20science%20%20diet&page=3

 

I think variety is good, especially for puppies. Moistened kibble with goats milk or yogurt helps prevent gas. Teeth can be cleaned with real bone in meat - however once the adult teeth are in take care not to give a bone that is too aggressive for the breed. A good rule of thumb is if the animal was large and the bone weight baring don't feed it to your pup or you risk cracked teeth. Also elderly dogs need softer things. So chicken wings should be a perennial favorite and cow femur bone should go in the crock pot with some water for broth.

 

Chicken drum sticks are a great treat. We do these about once a week for the teeth. We have noticed that the poops from these are very small and dry. If they have too many it can be traumatic. We've used that hardening property during spring melt when they sample a lot of questionable puddles and things get a little loose. If you feed kibble primarily or give a fair amount of cracker treats that makes more tartar on the teeth so you will want to do the raw drum sticks or turkey necks or what ever, more often.

 

 

Edited by Sherab
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You might want to look into Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance. There are several different meats and kibble, along with treats. Buffalo, Duck, Beef, Liver, Chicken, etc. Dry, wet, and canned.

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Oh, also, my daughter has her degree in animal science from UC Davis. She said it's natural for pups and adults to tire of some foods. In the wild, they would tire and change up their prey. It's their way of varying their diet to get different nutrients. So if they tire of one type of meat, they will naturally gravitate to another meat. It's okay to change the meat I think as long as it's the same brand.

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Thank you for your advice. I try to change up the food for him, and use Taste of the Wild Salmon,(have the wild bison and venison waiting in the wings), at the moment, mixing it with greens and some plain bone broth that I make. He loves it, and laps up the greens faster than the kibble I mix it into, lol!

 

I will check out those other threads and read more-thanks, Sherab. Bones were the confusing thing. There's advice saying nothing but beef and chicken bones can make them choke, and then vice versa, that they can become allergic to beef and chicken is ok. It can make your head spin for sure, but I want to make sure he is getting what he needs so he can grow healthy and strong. :)

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Hi, This is a topic that I am a freak about. We lost our cat to the poisoned cat food. It was from an additive that was supposed to be a protein but was a poison from china. Before that I did not think much about their food. Now I do the research. Some of the companies that I used to get food from have been bought out by things like proctor and gamble. So I look for companies not owned by large corporations. They should have there own processing plant. Nothing comes from China. Have gone through several brands which have stopped using once they are bought out (have to keep checking online). Now we feel Origen which is expensive but it is discounted at chewy.com. Also she does not eat that much that it matters. There is a website that rates dog foods which is helpful because it also lets you know when a company has ben bought out to a big corporation. Ok my 5 cents... Jane...

 

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Hi, This is a topic that I am a freak about. We lost our cat to the poisoned cat food. It was from an additive that was supposed to be a protein but was a poison from china. Before that I did not think much about their food. Now I do the research. Some of the companies that I used to get food from have been bought out by things like proctor and gamble. So I look for companies not owned by large corporations. They should have there own processing plant. Nothing comes from China. Have gone through several brands which have stopped using once they are bought out (have to keep checking online). Now we feel Origen which is expensive but it is discounted at chewy.com. Also she does not eat that much that it matters. There is a website that rates dog foods which is helpful because it also lets you know when a company has ben bought out to a big corporation. Ok my 5 cents... Jane...

I appreciate your input!!! China is EXACTLY why I am wary of many brands of supposed "pure" and "organic"....Taste of the Wild is made here, another company that looks good, made in Wisconisn and only have 2 plants in the US- that only they control,-is Fromm pet foods- https://frommfamily.com/about/food-safety/ Both of the companies also do not have hidden chemicals that make it into the food unbeknown to us!

 

I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your cat. What a terrible way to lose a pet... :(

Edited by KittynDoc
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We also feed a lot of human food.... There is a website called dog food advisor.com which seems pretty good. It breaks down the nutritional values and ingredients. It is a bit more difficult to find out who actually owns the company. For that I just google who owns whatever brand. A lot of really good foods start out as small companies which get bought out by large corporations who are likely to change the formulas. That happened with several foods that we fed our first aid.Taste of the wild is made by diamond which is a huge company which makes a wide variety of foods... A friend who lived near a place that farms salmon cautioned us against food containing salmon because they use a ton of antibiotics.... Our pup eats better than we do!

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We also feed a lot of human food.... There is a website called dog food advisor.com which seems pretty good. It breaks down the nutritional values and ingredients. It is a bit more difficult to find out who actually owns the company. For that I just google who owns whatever brand. A lot of really good foods start out as small companies which get bought out by large corporations who are likely to change the formulas. That happened with several foods that we fed our first aid.Taste of the wild is made by diamond which is a huge company which makes a wide variety of foods... A friend who lived near a place that farms salmon cautioned us against food containing salmon because they use a ton of antibiotics.... Our pup eats better than we do!

I may be switching to Fromm eventually...but, Taste of the Wild happens to be something Kim recommends. I do feed him good human food to supplement as well.Sadly, in today's world, it is so hard to even know if what we are eating-unless it is truly from local farmers that we know- unfortunately even organic is not always what it seems to be anymore... :(

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I fed Taste of te Wild to both pups, Tayamni did well on the Pacific Salmon and also the High Prairie.

Coffey got tired of the Pacific salmon so now we only feed the High Prairie (Bison & Venison).

 

I looked into Fromm and Orijen and looked up reviews and used foodadvisor.com too.

I know people who feed Blue and Natural Balance. I think it's all what you are comfortable with and what is working for your pup/dog.

 

When Tayamni and Coffey both got over a year old I tried to switch to the adult version of the High Prairie Taste of the Wild. The Company has reformulated and it didn't work Tayamni (even though I switch kibble over 10 days). So I went back to the puppy formula and it is really a life stage formula anyway. It has the proper nutritional value for puppies and adults.

 

I used to feed a raw chicken leg as a treat once a week to each but Coffey started guarding and that is a no-no in my house (due to issues we had with another dog - NOT an AID - bad habits seem to get picked up quick).

 

I don't free feed kibble, and we used to buy organic canned puppy food.

Decided to change it up and now cook two whole organic chickens at a time, debone & shred meat, cook giblets (organs) and chop them up, boil organic sweet potatoes with skin, mix together with chicken and organs and chicken broth. Don't use sweet potato water because have read phosphorus leaks out during the boiling so just use the chicken broth. Sometimes chop up a fresh vegetable and mix in. Put in freezer bags and freeze, thaw as needed for the week. I give them a heaping teaspoon each meal mixed in kibble. Sometimes I add a little shredded seaweed (organic sushi roll seaweed) to the meal. Sometimes a bit of shredded organic coconut or coconut oil, not every meal though sometimes means sometimes.

That's just what we do here.

We travel for ceremony or I would probably feed raw. It would just be too difficult to do traveling in a car and I don't want to keep switching raw meals to kibble for travel.

 

Tayamni probably misses the raw chicken legs.

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Thanks for all of your insight and advice. It sounds like you found a good middle of the road way to feed. You are right, traveling with the dog, it is hard to keep that food consistent. We travel a lot and will do so with Wyot. He has already traveled a bit with us places and has done well. I fed him a raw egg, and he got the runs :( ...it was supposedly organic, but, you never know. I will not do so again unless I get eggs from the farmer a mile down the road (he doesn't always have eggs, especially in winter when the chickens slow down).

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forgot to add as pups:

Tayamni had goats milk then Kefir a few times a week and weaned off between 4 - 6 months and gave as treat or when Tayamni needed a little digestion help. (Then I found the Yaky pops and treats (Himalayan milk) and Tayamni just LOVES them!)

 

Coffey didn't care for the Kefir at all.

 

Also, before using Organic Coconut oil they got Salmon oil.

I tried Polluck Oil after Salmon oil (when Coffey stopped liking the Pacific Salmon kibble) as adults (Coffey liked it) but Tayamni didn't do well with it. Her coat started to stink. Coconut oil doesn't do that to her skin.

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