Dog nutrition - what is BEST for you and your dog?

[mileydog]

Its very difficult to continually feed kids a healthy diet. They are influenced by their school mates who drink sodas, eat hot dogs and chips, snack on cookies and ice cream, and then when they get home from school are you supposed to feed them steam carrots with a side of whole wheat crackers with hummus. For dinner, some boiled chicken with a side of brown rice. Hmmm..my kids say they won't eat that disgusting stuff. Although i eat it...the skin kids refuse to eat that stuff.

[Ellie May]

Originally Posted by mileydog

I agree that quality food will help and I am a firm believer that diet is a key driver to living a healthy lifestyle. My problem is that although most people understand that diet is important but they cannot commit to follow a strict diet. Many times I see soccor mom's buying Mcdonalds and Taco Bell for their skin kids but they are also telling me how they are home cooking for their dogs. It just seems so odd that they don't provide the same quality of foods for both the fur babies and the skin kids. I mean to go through the extra effort to cook for the dogs and then to buy Taco Bell for the 10 year old kids makes no sense.

Oooo, didn't know you were coming from the point of view that the dogs in a family eat healthier than the kids. Yes, I don't agree with that. I also don't have a problem with dogs eating really well. I just think kids have to come first.

[yorkiepuppie]

Originally Posted by mileydog

Its very difficult to continually feed kids a healthy diet. They are influenced by their school mates who drink sodas, eat hot dogs and chips, snack on cookies and ice cream, and then when they get home from school are you supposed to feed them steam carrots with a side of whole wheat crackers with hummus. For dinner, some boiled chicken with a side of brown rice. Hmmm..my kids say they won't eat that disgusting stuff. Although i eat it...the skin kids refuse to eat that stuff.

yes, i imagine it's a lot harder to feed skinkids healthy foods. i am glad dogs don't do that! they don't go to their friends house and then come home to bark at me about what i feed them. lol

[Loving furbaby]

Originally Posted by boomerstv

Hi,

Our two Yorkies are the healthiest dogs ever. We feed them a combination of organic real food with a small amount of pet supplementations. Their little poops are always well formed, and not very stinky.

Here is their diet.

70% of each meal is chopped steamed green beans. I steam up a bunch and keep them in the fridge. We serve them cold. Add to that a small amount of chopped boiled organinc chicken breast, a nice portion of frozen organic blueberries (I chop them up if they are really big), steamed sweet potatoes, a dollop of either organic cottage cheese or organic plain yogurt (not low fat).

There is a company called Earth Animal that makes a terrific supplement in soft nugget form. We add one of these nuggets to two of the meals. Also, once a day I give them fish oil (Mercury free -strained available at Whole Foods) - I squeeze the fish oil out of the gel tab into their food. Occasionally I will substitute grilled Salmon for the chicken, in which case I pass on the fish oil tab.

We feed our dogs three times a day plus a tiny midnight snack of the steamed sweet potatos. We give the snack because one of our pups has a tendency to develop gastro entritis is her tummy is emptry for a long time.

We feed ZERO kibble. Totally not necessary for the health of the dog.

In the AM we do give them a small dog "biscuit" made by EVO - The Ancestral Diet.

Not to brag, but our pups poops are alway nicely formed, solid and not very stinky.

Hope this helps.

Please note that the greenbeans, organic chicken and sweet potatoes are steamed, NOT BOILED, this is for maximum nutritive value.

Best Regards,

boomerstv

hi i live in nyc also....can you please give me the name of fish oil you get at whole foods? thank you

[mileydog]

Originally Posted by yorkiepuppie

i also want to say that junk food is very cheap in america, so if we calculate the REAL cost of junk food by adding in health care costs because eating this type of garbage diet makes people sick. anyways, basically, if taco bell and mcdonalds are the most expensive things people can eat, then parent's will not be feeding it to their children or themselves.

Its not just cost...fresh vegetables are very cheap...so is brown rice with boiled chicken. Kids can care less about the costs... and parents can make healthy alternatives for the same cost as making pizzas and chicken nuggets at home.

[yorkiepuppie]

Originally Posted by mileydog

Its not just cost...fresh vegetables are very cheap...so is brown rice with boiled chicken. Kids can care less about the costs... and parents can make healthy alternatives for the same cost as making pizzas and chicken nuggets at home.

yes, but it's the lethal combination of:

cost + kids prefer junk food + really easy + no need to do any dishes + give you more free time to do other things ...

i do not know what i will do if i have skin kids.

[mileydog]

Originally Posted by Ellie May

Oooo, didn't know you were coming from the point of view that the dogs in a family eat healthier than the kids. Yes, I don't agree with that. I also don't have a problem with dogs eating really well. I just think kids have to come first.

Exactly my point. I hate hearing at Soccor practice that there just isnt enough time during the week between homework, practice and American Idol for cooking a proper meal. Yet they bring their Yorkies around who are bathed/groomed and quality fed. Yet the kids are eating Mcdonalds because there just isn't enough time during the week. Please...kids these days just don't eat healthy. yes I realize that Whole Foods is expensive...but parents can make healthy foods for very reasonable costs. I just want the kids to be taken care of like the dogs on YT.

[yorkiepuppie]

Originally Posted by mileydog

Exactly my point. I hate hearing at Soccor practice that there just isnt enough time during the week between homework, practice and American Idol for cooking a proper meal. Yet they bring their Yorkies around who are bathed/groomed and quality fed. Yet the kids are eating Mcdonalds because there just isn't enough time during the week. Please...kids these days just don't eat healthy. yes I realize that Whole Foods is expensive...but parents can make healthy foods for very reasonable costs. I just want the kids to be taken care of like the dogs on YT.

haha me too!

[Loving furbaby]

Originally Posted by Yorkiedaze

OMG addevo and yorkiepuppy, I'm not sure if you "really" want to know what I cook up and freeze! I can tell you but not sure if your really ready for this:

10 pounds of red meat. (I use ground Bison ) You can buy inexpensive roasts and have the butcher grind it which is generally cheaper than buying the meat already ground. It’s also leaner to buy the roast and have ground).
6 packages of calf liver (cover with water, boil till done then put in the refrigerator till very cold. (save the liver broth)
2 cup of wild rice
2 cup gourmet field blend black mahogany rice (Lundberg Wehani Brand) I get these as Lassens in Santa Maria.
2 cup gourmet aromatic whole grain brown rice (Lundberg Wehani Brand)
1 cup split peas
1 cup lentils
1 cup whole grain millet (I buy at Lassens)
1 cup whole grain barley
2 cups dried vegetable mix Grain?Free Natural Dog Food - Veg-To-Bowl - Dr. Harvey's
3 large heads of broccoli, slightly steamed. Put in either the freezer or refrigerator to stop the cooking process.
Depending on the amount of time each ingredient takes to cook, you will be adding only two or three of the ingredients at a time. Look on the cooking directions.
I cook the split peas and lentils in some of the liver broth and five cloves of garlic till the split peas and lentils are crisp tender then discard the garlic cloves.
Cook the vegetables in two cups of the liver broth for about 5 minutes (covered) and five garlic cloves, turn off the heat and allow the vegetables to absorb the liver broth. Discard the garlic cloves.
Grind the meat and broccoli till fine and add all ingredients together in a VERY large pan. Mix well and put in plastic containers and freeze.

I don't use poultry, but if you would like to boil or bake up a small turkey and grind it with the other meats, it will certainly make enough food to last quite a long time depending on how many dogs you are feeding. (If you do cook a turkey to add, then you can then increase the other four grains from 1 cup to 2 cups each). I'm feeding 5 dogs right now and the recipe I make up feeds them 1/4 rounded cup twice daily for 45 to 50 days if I feed only this, but I like giving them scrambled eggs and oatmeal for breakfast once in awhile, salmon and sweet potatoes once in awhile and so on. I also like giving them a light lunch of Yogurt & berries.
My foster, Porkchop is on a diet, so she will get 1/4 of the mix with some grated carrots, baby bok-choy and snow peas. (plus two walks a day)
I make the HEALTHY POWDER and put a teaspoon over their food twice a day along with Omega 3, & 6 gel cap split between them.

wow thats a great recipe i'm gonna try it!!!!

[mileydog]

Originally Posted by yorkiepuppie

yes, but it's the lethal combination of:

cost + kids prefer junk food + really easy + no need to do any dishes + give you more free time to do other things ...

i do not know what i will do if i have skin kids.

I can tell you what you will do. Depending on your financial situation..you will attempt to feed you little baby all the healthy things that you find while you research on various forums, books, doctors..etc....but soon your kid will go to school and learn that other kids get to drink sodas, eat frozen chicken nuggets, and Oreos...Then its going to be hard to get them back on the Whole Foods snacks like organic grapes, organic dried mango slices, and omega 3 enhanced pretzels.

Yet you will still feed your dogs the same Whole Foods quality food. Its a crazy paradox in a sense its that you just want your kids/dogs happy. Your believe that your dog is happier when they eat healthier. You understand that your kid needs to eat healthy yet don't want to upset them when you feed them grapefruits instead of Rice Krispy Treats.

[Ellie May]

But there is another side to that. I homecook for my dog 1) because I believe most kibble is just barely edible, and 2)i it is medically necessary. Although debatable, most foods made for people are not rancid waste, so it's hard to compare. Also, a lot of why I don't eat healthy most of the time is the time it takes. I honestly don't even like sparing 10 minutes a day to it. Very sad, I know. I don't cook for my doggie everyday...

I guess I really don't care how others distribute their time between animals and kids. As long as neither are abused, I wouldn't put the energy into trying to change others in that way, but that's me.

[Cerise]

Originally Posted by yorkiepuppie

yes, but it's the lethal combination of:

cost + kids prefer junk food + really easy + no need to do any dishes + give you more free time to do other things ...

i do not know what i will do if i have skin kids.

LOL!

IMO the problem is lethal because fast food parents are LAZY! I hear complaints all the time about how hard it is or how tired parents are I have no sympathy for it because I had three kids and worked and still came home and cooked healthy meals. Did my kids like it all the time...no but they ate it because those were MY RULES. They rebelled for a very short time once they got on their own, but suddenly they felt sickly, gassy and bloated, then returned to the healthy eating roots their momma raised them on. They are now men and cook the most delicious meals and all three are advocates for not eating fast food. So I know for a fact getting kids to eating healthy can be done. But if the parents don't eat right... what can be said?

This is also the main reason I will not feed my baby Cerise commercial dog food. It's just fast food for dogs.

[yorkiepuppie]

Originally Posted by Cerise

LOL!

IMO the problem is lethal because fast food parents are LAZY! I hear complaints all the time about how hard it is or how tired parents are I have no sympathy for it because I had three kids and worked and still came home and cooked healthy meals. Did my kids like it all the time...no but they ate it because those were MY RULES. They rebelled for a very short time once they got on their own, but suddenly they felt sickly, gassy and bloated, then returned to the healthy eating roots their momma raised them on. They are now men and cook the most delicious meals and all three are advocates for not eating fast food. So I know for a fact getting kids to eating healthy can be done. But if the parents don't eat right... what can be said?

i am happy to hear you say this so there is hope! lol.

although i must say, it does sound a little difficult to work and then come home and cook. maybe it's easier once it's a routine?

[Cerise]

Originally Posted by yorkiepuppie

i am happy to hear you say this so there is hope! lol.

although i must say, it does sound a little difficult to work and then come home and cook. maybe it's easier once it's a routine?

It was exhausting and rewarding at the same time. I bought a bunch of cookbooks and learned how to make quick healthy meals. I also kept a stocked kitchen and made them eat plenty of fruit and drink plenty of water.

Now I have a furbaby that is picky and I even have to make Cerise drink water But she does enjoy watching me cook. She has even started talking at me (hurry up mommy I'm hungry) LOL while I'm cooking...LOL

[yorkiepuppie]

Originally Posted by Cerise

It was exhausting and rewarding at the same time. I bought a bunch of cookbooks and learned how to make quick healthy meals. I also kept a stocked kitchen and made them eat plenty of fruit and drink plenty of water.

Now I have a furbaby that is picky and I even have to make Cerise drink water But she does enjoy watching me cook. She has even started talking at me (hurry up mommy I'm hungry) LOL while I'm cooking...LOL

that is so sweet!

i will be asking you for advice once i have kids who detest my cooking. lol.

milu used to hate eating too, now she also likes to come in the kitchen when i am preparing her food. it's so cute when they wait for you.