What to Feed My Dog When Dog Food No Longer Holds Appeal

Hi everybody.

I have a 3 year old Cockapoo, Missy. (She came with the name haha) Over time her tastes have changed and I find that what she used to like to eat, she will no longer touch.

She used to eat dry food with a passion. Now she won't. I started giving her wet food and she liked that for a while. She would always get diarreah though, most often when she was stressed. We also have a very sick cat that the dog just adores and when the cat had to stay in the hospital for a few weeks, the dog would barely eat anything yet she still had diarreah. I asked the vet what to do and told her that the dog wouldn't eat dry food either and that I was worried about her teeth. The vet said to feed her chicken and rice and it should clear up.

So I started boiling chicken for her everyday, adding rice to it and eventually started adding carrots as well. She got well almost immediately. The thing is though is that I'm not sure if she's getting all of the vitamins she needs. The vet said that as long as I was feeding her 1/3 of each of the ingredients (Chicken, rice, carrots) that she should be fine. But I'm not sure, I hear alot about vitamins and such.

Now the dog doesn't want ANYTHING BUT chicken,rice and carrots, and I'm afraid I'm doing her a disservice. I try to mix her wet food into the chicken and rice and even throw in a few kernels of dry food but she just eats around the wet food and dry food to get to the chicken and rice.

If anyone could shed some light on it...My questions are: (and yes, I've searched to no avail)

Do dogs NEED dry food to help their teeth?

Are there enough nutrients to keep a dog healthy in chicken and rice or does she need some kind of doggy vitamin? If so, what kind?

Should I get her off of that chicken and rice diet? She loves it so much even though I can barely afford to feed boneless chicken to her everyday but hey... If it's healthy for her...I'll continue it to make her happy.

I'm quite worried about her teeth. We used to give her those rawhide bones but every time you turned around she was hacking and hacking and someone told me they weren't good for her stomach. She hasn't had one in forever and no more hacking but I know she misses them. I tried Dentabones. She'll chew them a little but doesn't seem to care for them much.

I haven't had a dog in a long time and am now faced with probably losing my cat soon. I want this dog to live forever. I want to be the best 'mother' I can be and feed her the very best that I can.

Do you have any thoughts on how I can go about this?

I could really use your help. Pleeeease.

 

If you really want her to eat dry food you can try putting her on scheduled feedings. Leave the food down for about 15min. 2 or 3 times per day. After 15 min. pick up the food and she gets no more until the next feeding. Most healthy dogs will not starve themselves and will adjust to scheduled feedings within a few days.
Dry food does not really do much for dogs teeth. Dogs that eat dry food only still get tarter and still need regular dental care. Will your dog let you brush her teeth? If so, this is one of the best ways to maintain oral health.

A diet of chicken, rice and carrots is not a balanced diet for a dog. I am suprised that your vet said this was okay for long term feeding. You will need to add vitamin/mineral supplements to a home prepared diet. If you are interested there is a book called "Home Prepared Dog and Cat Diets" by Donald Strombeck. There are lots of balanced recipes in the book that you can prepare for you dog and you may even be able to find it right at the library.

 

if you send jamiya a message she can tell you all about a raw diet that she uses. She seems to be an expert (in my opinion). If your dog likes chicken she probably love that stuff!
PS where are you from in VA?

 

I, too, am astounded that your vet would say chicken, rice and carrots are a balanced diet for your dog!! The rice and carrots are not necessary at all and your dog derives little nutrition from them. Chicken is fine, but cooking it destroys many of the nutrients. And without bones, your dog is not getting the proper balance! Meat alone is BAD for your dog!!

Kibble does not clean teeth. It destroys teeth. Wet food is even worse. You can use dentabones or Greenies, brush your dog's teeth, and take her for dental cleanings. These things will help.

Or, you can feed her a natural raw diet as she was meant to eat. It will clean up her teeth and then keep them clean. It will improve her coat and her energy. It will decrease the amount and odor of her stool, freshen her breath, and reduce or eliminate doggie odor. And she should love to eat it!

I feed raw according to the prey model - meaning as close as possible to how a dog would eat prey in the wild. Since I don't have access to whole carcasses, I feed a variety of raw MEATY bones to my dogs - pork ribs, pork necks, chicken leg quarters, beef cuts, turkey legs and wings, rabbits, etc. Bones should be RAW and 75% meat/25% bone. I also feed organ meats, which comprise 10% of the total diet - beef and chicken livers, kidney, heart, etc. The more variety, the merrier. I also feed whole raw fish and supplement with wild fish oil capsules for the extra omega-3's. A whole egg a couple times a week rounds out the diet.

Cooked bones should NOT be fed to your dog. They can splinter and cause many problems inside your dog. Many people also say to not feed the marrow bones of large animals (weight-bearing bones) because they may cause teeth to break.

A good rule of thumb to start off with is to feed the dog 2-3% of their ideal adult weight per day. Then you adjust up or down based on how the dog looks and acts. You should be able to feel the ribs easily but not see them and there should be a narrowing at the waist when you look down from above.

Bigger pieces are better - the more the dog has to tear and rip and crunch, the better! Some people feed on the "gorge and fast" method, which they feel simulates how a dog eats in the wild. In the wild, a dog (or pack) may bring down a kill on one day and feast on it. The next day they would clean up the leftovers. Then it might be a day or two before they bring down a new kill. So people who feed this way will feed a huge meal one day, fast the next and maybe feed light meals for a day or two. They aren't really strict about it, but they try to make sure that a week averages out to the right amount of food, in general. Most of these people feed once daily. Most of them also swear by fasting your dog for one day a week.

I do better with more structure and I like to feed twice. I feed my dogs a very small meal in the morning - organ meats or canned fish (I don't have much access to whole raw fish in Kansas). I also give them a whole organic egg a few times a week in the morning. This is great fun - take them outside and hand them an egg and see what they do with it! Nala was hysterical the first time she was trying to figure out what it was. Now she gently takes it from my hand and goes to lie down in her favorite spot. Then she very delicately punctures the egg with a canine tooth and then laps the egg up from inside the shell. Sometimes she eats the shell and sometimes she doesn't. Bonnie rolls the egg around with her nose and paws at it. It take her forever to puncture it and eat it!

The second meal I feed in the evenings. This is their raw meaty bone and comprises the bulk of their diet. My dogs are about 40-50 pounds. They eat 16-20 ounces per day, so usually their dinner is about 10-16 ounces. Some foods, like beef I can afford, don't have much bone, so I feed things with more bone on the next day. Things like chicken wings and backs have too much bone, so if you feed them you should feed more meat from some other source either at the same time or the next day. Remember, none of this is written in stone. Chicken wings and necks are terribly small for most dogs - I don't feed them at all unless they are attached to the rest of the bird.

Generally, I will give them a raw meaty bone in the evening that is about a pound, give or take. Then the next day or two, I will give them one that's more like 10 ounces. Nala tends to plump up, so I watch her more closely. Often I feed her less than Bonnie (even though she is a bigger dog than Bonnie) because she tends to fat, whereas Bonnie could probably eat a buffalo every day and not show an ounce of it.

More variety is better. You want as many different protein sources and cuts as you can manage - beef, chicken, duck, turkey, game hen, buffalo, rabbit, deer, goat, etc. However, you should start slowly. Start with chicken and feed only chicken for the first week. Watch the organ meats - start out with very small amounts. Organ meats can give some dogs the runs, so moderation is good and you can slowly increase if they do okay. Liver is very important to feed - but you CAN OVERDOSE on liver. As I said before, 10% of the diet should be organ meats, so with my dogs eating 16-20 ounces per day, I generally give about 4 ounces of organ meats every other day. I figure a chicken liver or beef liver cut to the size of a chicken liver is a good size, and then I throw in whatever other organs I have - beef kidney, heart, etc. After the first week if your dogs are doing well, you can start adding in other kinds of meat. Their stool should be MUCH smaller after a day or two of feeding raw. They will also probably drink a lot less water since they will be getting more water in their food.

What's even better is to feed whole prey. Throw a chicken (plucked or unplucked) at the dog and let him go nuts (or a rabbit, or a duck - you get my drift)! Then they get everything - eyes, brains, organs, etc - in the right proportions. Then feed less the next day or two if the chicken was large. Some dogs will eat it all, and some will bury it for later.

As for cost, it can be expensive at grocery stores. I tend to use things like chicken leg quarters (37 cents per pound) 2-3 times per week which allows me to spend a little more on other things. Talk to the meat counter guy and see if you can order some stuff in bulk. Sometimes things like chicken backs just get thrown away and you can get them for cheap or for free. Same with most organs. If you can find meat processors or restaurant suppliers in your area, they can be a great source. Ask local hunters who butchers their meat and talk to that guy. Find local farms and fairs. Look for ethnic markets. And look for a local raw feeders co-op - if you have one of those you are set!

Here are a couple links you can look at for more info:

http://www.bullovedbulldogs.com/sarf.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/rawdog/

And a Yahoo group that supported me when I got started feeding this way: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/

 

Oh, and I'm not an "expert." I just talk a lot.

 

Jamiya, if you know more than me, your an expert and you know WAY more than I do on the subject!!!

here's a good question for you. Smokey has reverted in his feedings. He sometimes own't eat the raw but if I put down a bowl of kibble, he'll eat it!

 

Easy! Don't put down a bowl of kibble. Ever. Just put down his raw food. Give him 20 minutes or so and if he doesn't touch it, pick it up and put it away. All done until next feeding time! At that time, put the exact same food down. Rinse and repeat.

I have never had to do this, but I have heard people have success with it. The idea is that if he wants to eat, he needs to eat what you give him. That's all that is on the menu. And the reason for giving the SAME food back at the next feeding is to discourage pickiness, where the dog decides he will only eat chicken legs and beef liver and nothing else (for example).

The only exception I make to this is if I am SURE the dog just plain does not like a certain food. Nala is actually not terribly fond of whole fish. She started to get really picky about it until we got Bonnie. Then she started eating it okay, although she looks disappointed when I put it down for her. There are only two kinds of whole fish I can find here - tilapia and grouper. I started with tilapia, and then I tried grouper. Nala wouldn't touch it! After we got Bonnie, she ate it once. But never again! When she refused it, I was sure she just plain did not like that kind of fish! So I gave her something different to eat and gave the fish to Bonnie the next day. And I have never bought grouper again.

 

Oh, I forgot to tell this to Rowdy. If you decide to not do the prey model feeding, another alternative would be to try a pre-made raw food. There are many kinds out there, although many of them are expensive. It is MUCH cheaper for me to feed "real" food, even when I buy from the grocery store. "Real" food is also better for the dog than pre-made raw - but pre-made raw is better than kibble!

The kind I fed while I was exploring alternatives is called Nature's Variety. Other people can tell you other products if you need more names.

 

ACCCKKKKKK! I can't believe my vet told me to feed my dog chicken and rice and it's not even healthy! :shock:

Oh man, I'm really secondguessing her abilities now. Oh man Oh man. Now my dog's hooked on the stuff too.

I appreciate so much the replies, idea's and information. I had never heard of raw feeding until I came here. Not sure if it would be my thing, I kind of like cooking for the little baby. Haha but I'm going to check out those links as well as the other suggestions and let you know what I think a little later. Right now, I'm just reeling from the shock.

You guys have so much knowledge about so many things related to animals. I hear every word you say too and adore you for trying to help.

I'm going to have to do something about her food and fast. You know, starting today I'm going to try with the dry dog food leaving it down for the time period suggested. It's not that I prefer her to eat dry food, it's just that I was under the impression it was good for her teeth. See.. it's not. That's another thing I've learned today. I would still like for her to eat some dry food though if for nothing else than hearing her crunch. I just love to hear that crunch.

P.S lil96, I'm from a little town called Ruther Glen. About 30 miles from Richmond. Very small town if I do say so myself.

 

Bones go crunch, too.