What you feed your dog is a highly subjective decision. It is one many of us struggle with, spend hours researching, asking for recommendations from our friends, family and Veterinarians. There is no one right answer for every dog. What works for one dog won't work for another. What worked as a young dog doesn't work at middle or old age. There is so much information out there about dog nutrition and frankly a lot of it is unscientific at best.
I'm not going to add that it in this post. I will share with you what I feed my on dogs and why. What has worked and what hasn't. Hopefully it can help some of you.
My Border Terriers are currently eating (and have been for 5 years now) West Coast Canine Life. It is a base mix that you use to home cook for your dogs. You choose your own protein to add. Beef, Chicken, turkey, pork etc. You add veggies, mix it together, bake into muffins and voila! You have a balanced home cooked meal for your dog. Since using West Coast Canine life my girls have maintained a healthy weight, haven't had the tummy issues that several brands of kibble gave them and have very small poops! We tried some dehydrated brands but it made their poop ridiculously large for their small dog size. Prior to being on this diet Maddy would routinely skip several meals a week. Something that made me nutty! Now she lets me know EXACTLY when it's meal time and hasn't skipped a meal in years. Casey rarely gets the middle of the night rumbley tummy that plagued her before. It's a bit more work than scooping kibble out but the benefits of this food definitely outweigh that for me. It takes me about an hour every 14 days or so to make 3 weeks worth of food for them.
My GSD Jet has tried so many, many different food options with his allergies. We've tried kibble of a large variety of proteins and brands. We tried prescription diets. We tried home cooking. Finally we settled on a raw diet. I was not a proponent of a raw diet before Jet. I thought they were messy, gross and unbalanced. The number of dogs I saw whose people were experimenting with raw diets that had chronic diarrhea was staggering. Home cooking was working in terms of his skin issues but we were literally cooking an entire turkey every 3 days to feed him. Easy enough in Oct/Dec, June/July not so much. After a lengthy conversation with his dermatologist we decided to try a raw diet. Thankfully by this point there was a greater variety of pre made raw. Balanced and easy to serve, with minimal mess. we chose to go with Mega Dog Raw. Jet has been successfully eating their turkey blend for 3 years now. It is fully balanced with ground meat, bone, organ and veggies. He loves it !
We also use a vitamin supplement called Biovites. It tops off any missing or low levels of vitamins or minerals they might be experiencing.
When needed we will use a probiotic called FortiFlora to help aid any digestive issues that may occur or help balance their gut healthy after being on antibiotics. l
When needed we will use a probiotic called FortiFlora help aid any digestive issues that may occur or help balance their gut healthy after being on antibiotics. l
Casey receives a few supplements for her arthritis. She gets Dasequin chewable tablet as well as CBD oil. Hemp 4 Paws was a game changer for her!
Food really is a trial and error thing. Find what works best for your dog and you and go with it. As long as i's healthy, balanced and
reputable. It doesn't matter what your neighbor or friends think of what you feed.