[Trichgnomes]

I have been thinking about this after hanging out in Organic Soil for a while, where it seems a lot of people have dogs. A lot of folks there are pretty tricked out with their soil recipes, take pride in DIY and rarely if ever step foot inside a grow store. What about your dog(s)? How do you grow him/her/them?. I just think it would be ironic to scoff at a premade soilless mix while your little furry friend is chomping down on some IAMS or some shit. I definitely liken my dog's diet to a soil recipe, as I am trying to promote the beneficial indigenous microflora that resides in his (and all of ours) G.I tract.


I myself have a 10 month old APBT. I changed his diet to one that is emulative of the 'prey' diet a few months ago. It mimics the diet in which dogs have naturally evolved to have. If you think about it, the commercial dog food industry has not been around for very long. Long enough for the dogs digestive system to adapt to it? Not quite. In fact it's just the opposite. Painstakingly similar to the results of humans eating poorly grown foods that are depleted of necessary minerals, there is a plethora of diseases showing up in dogs that simply were not around before. Dogs were not getting cancer and epilepsy 100 years ago.
So back to the diet. The diet that I feed is not for everyone, as it took some research, is a bit more time consuming than the old fill the bowl with kibble routine, and ingredients have to be sourced consciously. I did not start this thread to rag on the way anyone feeds his/her dog, I simply want to share with the community what I have learned/applied. However if anyone is experiencing chronic health issues with his/her dog, I urge you to try this before continuing treatment with your conventional vet that gives no results.

Ok here is what my dog has been eating since September, and aside from a minor ear infection, he has been full of energy and love. I was about to type this all out but luckily found it after a quick search:
https://www.canadasguidetodogs.com/he...narticle13.htm
Wendy Volhard’s Natural Diet
50-pound dog



Days 1-6 Breakfast
3 Grain mix (dry/oz)
2 Molasses (t) ( Gotta feed the Lacto B and such!)
2 Safflower Oil (t)
200 Vitamin E (IU)
200 Vitamin C (mg)
50 Vit. B Complex (mg)
1.25 Egg, small, 4 x a week (local*, raw, including shell)
1/3 Yogurt or Kefir (C) ( I have been doing yogurt, but have been thinking about making some kefir)

Days 1-6 Dinner
12 Meat (oz) - days 1-5 (local*, raw)
2.5 Liver (oz) - days 1-5( " ")
14 Cottage Cheese (oz) - day 6
200 Vitamin C (mg)
1 Cod Liver Oil (t)
1 Apple Cider Vinegar (T)
1/2 Kelp (t)
1 Brewers Yeast (t)
1.5 Garlic Capsule (325 mg)
2.5 Bone Meal (T)
2 Wheat Germ (t)
3 Wheat Bran (T)
2 Dry Herbs (t)
2 Fruit (T) on alternate days


Day 7 Breakfast
2 Grain Mix (dry/oz)
200 Vitamin C (mg)
50 Vit. B Complex (mg)
2/3 Yogurt or Kefir (C)
4 Honey (t)

Day 7 Dinner - 1/2 day fast (It helps gives his organs a rest, as in the wild, wolves don't eat a meal every day).

* local in this case, for the eggs refers to within 5 miles, and the beef/liver varies from 2 miles to 15 or so. It is always grass fed, sometimes organically certified, unless from a source we know is using organic biological practices.


If anyone is interested in more information, I recommend Wendy Volhard's book entitled Holistic Guide for a Health Dog.

[Sam the Caveman]

I have been reading about dog/cat foods on and off for a few months now, and whole heartedly agree with you about how "big business" pet foods are horrible for your pets health.

I looked at the BARF diet, and all the reviewers said their pets health problems disappeared and their dogs mental/physical health had dramatically improved. The BARF diet is great, but not very convienent.

If you look hard enough, you can find pre-made foods that don't have grain based fillers and that also contain ingredients that are natural in a cat/dog diet. They do cost more than your average 50lb bag of IAMS, but I think it is worth it for the health of your pets.

I just switched my cat's food from Nutro brand to Avoderm, and she has a lot less shedding and hardly any dander. I used to have to give her a bath every 2 weeks because she was covered in dander and itching like crazy, not anymore. She is much more mentally allert now too. Avoderm doesn't cost anymore than Nutro either. I have found a healthier food than avoderm and will get that when the avo runs out, its called, believe it or not "Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul", yeah, lame, I know, but it is very healthy.

[Clackamas Coot]

Dog Food Analysis is a good place to start for researching.

Here's the gist of a PM to the thread parent on how I feed our hunting and pet dogs.......

I've been breeding dogs (almost exclusively the sporting breeds - Labs, Retreivers, Pointers, Setters, etc.) for almost 40 years and I have all of our dogs (4 not counting this litter of 6 puppies) are on BARF diets (bones and raw foods. It can also mean biologically appropriate raw foods). In addition to that I cook up quinoa, millet, amaranth, brown rice, lentils and mix with the ground up raw poultry, beef and pork. I add cooked carrots, cooked yams, apples, bananas and this is their basic diet.

The puppies stay in my office next to my desk. The 'mom' is really attached to me. She goes everywhere I do and sits in the passenger seat to look out the window. If I stop and get something to eat I always get a child's portion to give her, i.e. she and I are very bonded and she's completely okay with me picking up the puppies to check for runny noses, eyes or any ear problems.

I begin handling the puppies from Day 2 forward to make sure that they're well 'imprinted' to accept human touch and to make them comfortable with human voices.

I was taught this by a woman over 40 years ago when I bought my first dog - an Irish Setter. This woman had a way with canines that I've never seen before - nothing short of amazing.

I'll send you some more photos of the other puppies. All of them have been adopted and when they hit 10 weeks and I've given them all of their puppy shots they'll be out to their new homes.

I'm a real prick with prospective buyers. I don't need the money. I don't run a puppy mill. What I do have every other year or so is to offer a beautiful litter of champion level Labs.

Fun hobby!!

[dwarfganja]

I have been feeding dogs RAW for years!
My current pup is 4 months old, built like a brick shit house and the Vet says she is healthy as shit!
Missing Link Puppy Health is a great product my pups are fed raw with this supplement from day 1.

https://www.missinglinkproducts.com/p...inkPuppyHealth

[Clackamas Coot]

Originally Posted by dwarfganja

I have been feeding dogs RAW for years!
My current pup is 4 months old, built like a brick shit house and the Vet says she is healthy as shit!
Missing Link Puppy Health is a great product my pups are fed raw with this supplement from day 1.

https://www.missinglinkproducts.com/p...inkPuppyHealth

dwarfganja

I'm a huge promoter of BARF diets for both canines as well as felines.

I have a male Lab that suffers from epilepsy and when I moved him from commercial dog food to the BARF regimen his seizures dropped by 80% in both frequency as well as intensity.

His medication dosage dropped by the same ratio.

HTH

CC

[dwarfganja]

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So many dogs suffer from eating dog food!
IMO dog food no matter the brand is JUNK.

[Clackamas Coot]

Originally Posted by dwarfganja

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So many dogs suffer from eating dog food!
IMO dog food no matter the brand is JUNK.

Agreed my friend!

CC

[Panda]

we give my dog 1 big scoop of iams weight control, a can of alpo wet dog food and left over meat and cheese, lots and lots of cheese, on a good day she may have 2 or 3 slices before dinner which has some more mixed in, and on some days where there is eggs for breakfast she will have a plate of those in the morning, otherwise she begs for food all day and then eats at night after her walk.

we like to call the lumps all over her, that the vet said are fatty deposits, cheese burgers

[opt1c]

Flint River Ranch for win! frrco

The best and made in USA too so no chinese imported doggy death snacks.

[Clackamas Coot]

Originally Posted by opt1c

Flint River Ranch for win! frrco

The best and made in USA too so no chinese imported doggy death snacks.

opt1c

Flint River Ranch is available at a couple of 'holistic pet food stores' up in Portland. It's a FANTASTIC product, IMHO

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