coat no longer shiny & soft

[finns_mum]

my Lola (Finn's baby sister) had a beautiful soft, shiny coat when i got her from the breeder. she was eating Royal Canin which i immediately took her off and put her on Merrick's Before Grains (grain-free) high quality dry dog food with added boiled chicken or beef with broth for taste, steamed carrots or broccoli from time to time & a tsp of cottage cheese or yogurt in the mornings.

she & Finn were having the occasional runny or soft stools so i decided to try homecooked meals and they love it. i used -more or less- the recipe from
an earlier poster on this forum (see below).

haven't yet made up the healthy powder but i will. but what is troubling me is that although their poos are really much firmer -& less smelly!! -Lola's coat is dry and rougher - not the shiny soft coat she had when i first picked her up 4 months ago.

could the cheaper diet be better for her coat???

finn_s mum


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the recipe:


Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: lompoc, ca.
Posts: 9,093
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.

[Maximo]

Your girl's coat condition is probably a sign that she is not getting adequate or the correct nutrients.

Homecooking 100% of a dog's intake requires extensive knowledge and ideally, consultations with a dog nutritionist. Otherwise, you risk feeding your dog an imbalanced diet that can have serious health consequences.

I would talk to a nutritionist or try another diet regimen.

[gemy]

I looked at the recipe, not much fat in it. The other thing to look at is water intake.

I add Omega's 3 6 9 into their homecooked meals too

[my2boyz]

Hi...how old is she now? Puppies go through a stage where they lose their shine as they are losing their puppy coat and their adult coat is coming in.

Also, higher protein in the food will cause runny or loose stools. I had that issue with Boomer...he was still young and I put everyone on a high protein food...he ended up with loose stools while the adults were fine. I switched them to a lower protein food and Boomer was fine again.

[finns_mum]

thanks so much for your input --- i will definitely do some more research on the home cooking. gemy -there isn't much fat, you're right, which is why i think the healthy powder is necessary (contains lecithin, yeast (calls for torula but i use the higher quality nutritional yeast), kelp powder, calcium & vitamin C). i just made some up today & gave it to them. fingers crossed....
plus, i've started giving them omega 3 fish oil once a day.

i'm not sure what else their diet could be missing since it covers protein, fats, B vitamins, iodine, vit C, healthy oils, lots of veg, fiber.... and lots of love. heck, i do more cooking for them than for me... but i will do more research.

my2boyz - she is nearly 6 months old ---maybe you're right! i've never heard about that though when Finn was a puppy his coat did become coarser (don't remember the age) & when i had him clipped, he was so much softer when the old stuff was gone....

thanks all!
finn's_mum