I have just started feeding a healthier diet to my 3 GSD's (13mths-16mths) the two younger ones are putting on weight but it's not going as fast for the older of the three, she is working lines and has much higher drive and self motivated activity levels than the others, she is healthy (vet checked two days ago) but i can see all ribs and the top of her hips, she is a little better than she was now that she is on this diet.
NB: her weight loss coensided with a growth spurt in bone size and also coming into her second heat.
What i want from you "vetrans" is to pick the hell out of what im feeding incase there is something that is missing or that could improve her condition quicker...i don't want her fat but i like enough covering to give her something to "burn" without cutting into her health.

the diet is as follows
AM: Dried Kibble, it is freerange at the moment to add to the weight gain. I have them on Supercoat (duck for cover!) but have finally found a supplier of Nutrience and will be weaning them on to it from this saturday.

PM: 1kg cooked rice, 1/4kg mixed veggies cooked with the rice(potatoes, pumpkin, carrot, brussel sprouts, cabbage, bukchoy, choysum and beans (all fresh), 1/2 beef or Chicken stock cubes for flavour, 1/4 cup of veggie oil,when cooled down a bit i add 1/2kg beef or lamb or chicken and mix through also Biolac suppliment.

Your thoughts please!

I would leave out the grains (rice). Wouldn't cook the veggies I would give more raw meat(at least 1 lb of meat/bones). 1/4 cup veggie oil is way too much. It is also very hard to digest and for the body to 'use'. I would switch to salmon oil. I would also add some cottage cheese (1/4-1/2 cup), yogurt (1-Tbs), egg yolk (2-3 times a week) and 1-2 TBsp of honey.

I thought that the rice would be good for carb's?
But i guess not. Re the oil i looked at my post again and realised that i did not divide that measurement by three, that is the amount that is added to the whole mix that does all three of the dogs. Slamon oil sounds good though, is it easy to get? what sort of outlet would i expect to find it at?
All the other add in's sound useful.

Keep it coming!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Julie
Much agree with Shandar. But not veggie oil for veggie oil is not good for dogs. Read up Grow Your Pups With Bones.

It is important that you read one of Billinghurst's or a similar book about feeding homemade food. This is an animal's life you are dealing with - get your information from professional veterinarians who have spent decades working on this, not strangers on the internet.

http://www.leerburg.com/943.htm

I agree completly. I spoke with the vet about her diet and told her what i was feeding. she said that it sounds like a good diet...But... she was quite young and probably would not want to say boo! i only see her for routine things.
The main vet that i normally see for things that could "go wrong" if not delt with properly is a greyhound racing favorite. i have to go back there in the next couple of days for an ear thing on another dog so i will have a chat with him then.
I was just mainly getting ideas so that i was well armed for that conversation.

Thanks for the ideas <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Be carefull which veggies you feed raw, several contain antinutritive compounds that will lower the "quality" of the animals total diet.

Shandar, why feed the cottage cheese and the yogurt. Is that necessary?

Yogurt gives overall health to a dog (and people's) system. It restored good bacteria/flora in the intestine that can be destroyed by a number of things. I don't give it every day but I do try to give it several times a week. (it is the aciphilodophulus(sp?) in the yogurt that is helpful). Some also beleive that it helps if the meat happened to conatain bacteria.

Cottage cheese is a good source of protien/calcium etc but it can also be fattening. I suggested it here as she was concerned about them loosing too much weight.

I give cottage cheese once a week mixed with a variety of fruit and scrambled eggs. At this point, I do this instead of a fast. It is good to give your dogs system a break from digesting raw meat once a week to help clean everything out.

Hey everyone,don't forget about green
tripe!!!!

I am going to get it from Martinsk9formula.com since I am on the east coast, but look up greentripe.com if you are on the west coast.

I had a few conversations with Marty( he has been feeding natural and in the food business for 23 years) and one of the things he told me was to make sure that I do not feed the same thing every day! He said that to feed the same thing only, day after day, over time decreases the effectiveness of any food. That includes the green tripe.

I haven't picked up my 1st batch yet(of green tripe), but after all I have read so far, I am very eager to.(hopefully next week!)

I am new to this type of feeding but I am finding it to have made a huge difference with my dogs.

Also, I just started to add Sojourners Farms food to my dogs diet. The web site is also worth visiting at sojos.com

Hope this is helpful <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />