I found a good source for muscle and organ meats, and I'm looking for a good daily vitamin supplement to mix in with it.

It seems like all of these stupid supplements just tout the word "HOLISTIC" in huge letters and really give you no information at all about the nutritional content of their product. They just list lots of hippie tree hugging ingredients. If I'm feeding a supplement that's supposed to provide vitamins and minerals, I want to know what and how much of each are in it. And they want an arm and a leg for them, most are at least 3 times as expensive as good human vitamins.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I don't want to spend and arm and a leg, but I do want to know what I'm feeding my dog.

Also, it seems to me that since GSD's can be at risk for joint problems, that it makes sense to feed some glucosamine to a growing pup. That stuff saved me from neck surgery, or has at least postponed it. And the Orijen puppy kibble has it in there.

I know this is probably a stupid question, but can you feed human vitamins? At least there is some quality control with them, and they don't have the "I'm more insane about my dog's diet than my own" tax. I would guess no, but I thought I'd ask anyway.

Just another quick note..

It seems that some of these companies might have some supplements that are good, but then they have stuff they advertise like this: (actual quote)

 Quote:

"Kills viruses, effective against all types of cancers, lupus and leukemia."

Then they just lose all credibility. I just want something from a no-BS company selling no-BS products.

Many of the vitamin supplements I see also say they can be used for horses. Can I use horse vitamins for a dog? If so, this would be much more economical, and most of those companies are marketing their products based on the actual nutritional content rather than making up stuff that is blatant lies or using buzzwords that don't mean anything.

Can you tell I'm annoyed?

Yet another reply to my own post. I found the following. Keep in mind that the nutritional information on these is per POUND. Obviously, you wouldn't be feeding a pound of vitamins to your dog at one time.

http://unitedvetequine.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=64960240&Category_Code=svitsupp&Product_Count=0

The only thing that worries me about this one is the iron and the calcium. The dog gets plenty of iron in the meats, there should be no need to supplement there. Plus, it can mess up his digestive tract. And, for a pup, I don't think it would be a good idea to supplement calcium. Assuming their recommendation of 3/4 ounce for 1000 lb horse. That means a 50 pound dog might get 1/20 of that, which is roughly 1 gram per day. So, the nutritional info is given per pound, so we divide all of those numbers by 320 to see what the dog would get.

That's 18 years worth of vitamins for $119.

Here's the link where I found this stuff. There's a ton more:
http://unitedvetequine.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=UVE&Category_Code=svitsupp

A lot of us who feed raw, supplement with salmon oil, kelp/alfalfa powder, and Vit C & E.

If you want to supplement further take a look at http://www.nuprosupplements.com/ingredients.htm.

For joint maintenance I use a horse product called ActiFlex 4000.

I'm sure others will chime in.

 Quote: John Stopps

I found a good source for muscle and organ meats, and I'm looking for a good daily vitamin supplement to mix in with it.

And bones? (Crucial question)

You make no mention of RMBs -- just muscle and organ meat.

 Quote: John Stopps

http://unitedvetequine.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=64960240&Category_Code=svitsupp&Product_Count=0

The only thing that worries me about this one is the iron and the calcium.

You are correct. It's a terrible dog supplement.

Supplements for humans (re-figured) are fine, BTW.

There should be no calcium and no phosphorous, which are correctly balanced in RMBs, and ned to be in balance the way RMBs "come."

I always always include fish oil and E, and I also give a little produce, and some kelp.

Beyond that, many give ester C (such as http://www.leerburg.com/43.htm ).

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

 Quote: John Stopps

I found a good source for muscle and organ meats, and I'm looking for a good daily vitamin supplement to mix in with it.

And bones? (Crucial question)

You make no mention of RMBs -- just muscle and organ meat.

Yes! Sorry, I forgot to mention there are RMB's.

Also, I looked at the Nupro supplements yesterday, but they don't tell me the nutritional content at all. They just give me a list of ingredients.

 Quote: John Andrews

A lot of us who feed raw, supplement with salmon oil, kelp/alfalfa powder, and Vit C & E.

I heard that you do not need to supplement vitamin C at all because unlike humans, dogs produce their own. I also noticed that Nupro is adding Calcium Citrate to their supplements. They don't tell you how much. For an adult dog, this probably doesn't matter so much. But I think supplementing calcium for a 4 month old on an RMB diet is probably not such a good idea, especially if you have no idea how much they are getting.

I'm sure I'm making this more difficult than it needs to be. But I do the same thing for the foods that I eat, so it's hard not to scrutinize the food I feed to my dog.

Dogs do.

Many add C (since it is a water-soluble vitamin anyway, and extra is flushed) and some don't unless a condition calls for it.

I do think that there is no question about long-chain Omega 3s from marine products (such as salmon oil) and the E to protect the PUFAs in the oil supplements.

Then I think that any additionals should be added on an as-needed basis, since you will be feeding fresh real food.

If you can give additional micronutrients "on the hoof," IMO, then even better: green tripe, kelp (third-party tested types, so no heavy metals), occasional fresh low-sugar low-cellulose produce, etc.