Let’s talk dogs
I know the cats are obligate carnivores, but aren’t dogs largely omnivores?
I have been feeding our dogs dry dog food. It’s a combination of all three macros. The oldest dog is 16 going on 17 and so does seem to do fairly well on dry dog food. If the dog food is not particularly high in protein why don’t they get sick?
Why don’t they get fat?
Maybe I should eat dog food.
Congratulations on having a healthy senior dog.
Sometimes I wonder what dog food I should feed my dog, no grain, some grain, raw meat, cooked meat. So many choices!
I guess our dogs are usually fed once or twice a day, so they IF every single day. Maybe they get the odd training treat of air dried beef lung etc.
If I was fed once a day, with oats and bean and barley, Only 2 cups a day, with a vitamin pill, I reckon I would be super healthy weight too.
But I control the larder/pantry/fridge, and I am a greedy one…
This. Carbs aren’t evil, they’re just harder to control. I’m reasonably sure if I let my dog eat as much as she wanted she would be too fat to walk in about a year. As it is she is 13 years old and at her ideal weight.
The vet always marvels at this because her weight has been +/- 1lb for the better part of a decade. He says canine obesity is a huge problem in his practice. How do we do it? My dog has been OMAD for 13 years!
Mine is fed a raw chicken leg on two cups of proplan saturated with water. Maybe twice a week he will get either a couple tablespoons of coconut oil or canned pumpkin or both mixed in as well.
Raw chicken best replicates what they’d eat in the wild at a certain convenience/price point, at the least. It’s safe as long as it is uncooked; cooked bones splinter. And their GI is very different from ours, and so is their nutritional needs; they burn fat for energy primarily.
Most of us single dog handlers who can swing it financially, tend to try and keep their partners on a mostly raw diet. Bonus, if we can find a good wholesale chicken source.
Dogs are true scavengers so can do well eating just about anything in the wild, just as long as they get variety. The key to a healthy dog is to keep them lean and preventive care, the rest is genetics… too much inbreeding, even in mutts now compared to 25yrs ago…
True, but the more overbred a breed is, the less they can tolerate much scavenged food in nature. Sure they can survive, but they won’t necessarily be top-notch healthy.
Not many follow good breeding practices for the durability of a given bloodline, and most aesthetic breeding practices need to be expanded on or done away with in it’s entirety to thin such bloodlines out. I for one, advocate for the health, and performance of the breed, rather than the look, or human forced standards of it.
My K-9 partner, is the other half of our mutual symbiotic livelihood. He deserves more than I can ever hope to provide.
That may be the key here. If someone controlled my quantities and macros I’d probably be leaner as well. I measure the dogs food and never vary it. Both my dogs are lean. Always have been.
If you are interested, check out dogfoodadvisor.com. You can read “impartial” (supposedly) reviews about the dog food you are feeding your dogs and also research the best foods. Very interesting.
Did you see the new show coming out next week. K-9 something, like for police dogs. I think there are like eight police/professional K-9s and one “civilian” dog. Looking forward to seeing it. A well trained dog is an impressive thing.
No idea; haven’t had cable or TV for years. Sounds pretty interesting though.
I did like the dog work on John Wick 3. I liked that it is actual dogwork and not CG.
Absolutely. By choice. Haven’t had the correct woman knocking down the door, making me “wow”… lol… and no one has caught my attention long enough to pique my interest these days.
Plus I’m a relatively rough and ugly bastid… so there’s that… Hah!
If/when you get struck by Cupid’s arrow, that’s a game changer.
Somehow, I doubt it. Besides, you got a good looking dog.
lol… been there once before. Cupid’s a really crappy judge of potential love-interest though. I think he’s a little demonic practical joker and picks the bad choice on purpose 
He totally needs to be… for the both of us… 
I lost my first dog to cancer at the age of four and half years old three years ago. That started me on lots of research into dogs’ health and nutrition. I’m pretty sure I’ve read all the books and websites on the topic. Most kibble is very much like dry kid’s cereal, loaded with sugar and bunch of artificial colors. No wonder so many dogs are getting diabetes and cancer now. I have 4 small dogs now and they have been eating real human grade meat for over three years now. Beef (raw) chicken gizzards and hearts, and chicken livers (cooked) and more cooked chicken (thighs). I also give the dogs the gelatin that ends up after I cook the chicken for them. I make bone broth for them from the chicken bones. They also get beef hearts if I can find them (cooked) sardines in water and eggs. They get a huge variety and love it.
My dogs are super happy that I went keto two months ago. No more brown rice, pees and carrots. Although I thought that was a pretty good meal with meat, but going keto I realized just like me, they don’t need the carbs, especially the grains. Those are just inexpensive fillers.
My dog loved carrots, banana smoothies, passionfruit. I think we can safely say they are omnivores. Oh and don’t try dog food, I tried it as a kid…yeah it’s not so good
My husband just tried the new dog treats (?), “peanut butter.” He said they were nasty.
