Quote: Jennifer Hart

I don't put any Vinegar in my dogs food - seems to be different trains of thought on it's necessity...

I don't either, but I've heard good things. :>

 Quote: angela burrell

Your veggies are pulped right? .... And what about bones? If you are not adding bones you will either need to add more eggshells or some other calcium source, otherwise your diet will be too high in phosphorus. .... I have heard from some sources that you should add some vitamin C. My "pulp", had about 1/2 tsp of powdered Vitamin C per meal. I also added a Vitamin E capsule (broken open). I know Ed recommends a source of Omega 3 and he uses Salmon Oil. I used ground flaxseeds myself (probably not as good). .... I also remember reading that garlic is toxic for dogs. Why do you add garlic? Is there a benefit I didn't know about?

The glop here was meant to be an addition to an RMB diet.

Good point, Angela: I process high-cellulose (sturdy) vegetables, too. I don't process soft low-cellulose stuff, like blueberries or parsley.

Omega 3s:

Flax is a pretty good source for people; it contains short-chain Omega 3 EFAs, as do some other things, like nuts and canola oil. Humans can turn those into the very beneficial long-chain Omega 3 EFAs like EPA and DHA (at a rate of up to 10%). Dogs, it was confirmed in 2005, cannot. Dogs need marine sources for the most beneficial Omega 3s.

Dogs don't get them in a common modern diet without that supplementation.

I personally consider fish oil (plus E, as Angela mentioned, bacause the dog's system uses E to process oil supplements) to be the most important supplement. It's a great source of anti-inflammation benefits, and inflammation is either a contributing factor or the main element of most systemic disease, as well as OA.

 Quote:

Originally Posted By: Jennifer Hart
I don't put any Vinegar in my dogs food - seems to be different trains of thought on it's necessity...


I don't either, but I've heard good things. :>

I used to put ACV in my veggie mix, but don't bother anymore. I can't tell the difference if I use it or not, even if I use it for a month.

I used to supplement a few things in the begining, but now I just stick with cold water fish oil or arctic vigor. I am more confident now that I have been at it a while that my dog gets what he needs from his varied raw meat/bones diet.

Cheers,

I'm with you that fish oil is the biggie.

Interesting about the fish oil, I'll have to pick some up. Can you not use Fish Oil and just feed enough fish in the diet to cover it? And how would dogs in the wild get fish oil?

I've noticed in the last few weeks that Remi's coat has actually gotten shinier (is that a word?) and also the black in his coat is more black if that makes sense.

 Quote:

Can you not use Fish Oil and just feed enough fish in the diet to cover it? And how would dogs in the wild get fish oil?

I do not add fish oil to my fish meals. Fish should not be a major protien source as it is not what wolves would eat all the time. Something about fish depleting vitamine E? Connie help here?

I think that wolves in the wild are feeding on natural grass fed animals. Natural grass fed animals are higher in things like Omega 3 fatty acids (and many trace minerals because out captive animals often graze on, or are fed grains grown on mineral depleted soil). Wolves are getting more essential fatty acids from natural fed game than our dogs are eating mostly grain fed captive herbavores.

I work hard at getting some wild game (venison/elk) in hunting season from friends, freeze it, and rotate it into my dog's diet year around. Can't beat free, organic, wild, species appropriate food.

There also seems to be a lot of research to suggest that EFA's help lessen allergies in animals, and reduce inflamation to name a few claims. It aslo seems to have few side effects.

Feeling like I should have left this to Connie ,

 Quote: jennifer hart

Interesting about the fish oil, I'll have to pick some up. Can you not use Fish Oil and just feed enough fish in the diet to cover it? And how would dogs in the wild get fish oil?

Feeding enough fish to make up for the long-chain Omega 3s in the modern diet would be pretty tricky , even if it wasn't expensive and was a natural canid diet: salmonids from the Pacific northwest fed raw cause a very deadly poisoning (dogs only); fish is pretty shaky these days from pollutants and heavy metals (like mercury).

Fish body oil (not fish liver oil), however, is a great source of those most beneficial Omega 3s. Any "search" here will yield hundreds of threads about why it's important and why it's the best source, along with info about distilled fish oil (so the heavy metals are gone) and/or low-mercury oils like
http://www.leerburg.com/47.htm

The point is that dogs no longer get the Omega 3s they once did, with their modern grain-fed diets (and with the lack of certain organs in the diet like brains and eyeballs.... for good reason, but it creates a need).

We humans get too many Omega 6s and not enough 3s, too. JMO.

Yes, vitamin E is used by the dog's system to process oil supplements (all kinds); that's why fish oil is fed with Vitamin E.

 Quote: Jennifer Coulter

Fish should not be a major protien source as it is not what wolves would eat all the time. ... There also seems to be a lot of research to suggest that EFA's help lessen allergies in animals, and reduce inflamation to name a few claims. It aslo seems to have few side effects.

You are 100% correct about the benefits of long-chain Omega 3 EFAs against skin pruritis and other inflammation, as mentioned earlier in the thread.

 Quote:

1. Fish oil isn't a protein source.

Oops , I did not mean to suggest it was. What I ment is that a dog should not have a meal of fish everyday instead of supplementing fish oil every day.

Thanks Connie,

I realized that you didn't, and I edited my post to delete that part. LOL!