freemotion
Food Guru
OK, here is what I feed my poodle, 30 lbs of muscle (he's an oversized mini!) This diet literally saved his life:
Five days a week: Two chicken wings for supper, brought to body temperature in a bowl in the sink with warm water running over them, also wash them first if commercially raised.
Wed and Sat: Veggie day. He gets a big handful of collards and a carrot, puree'd in the Vitamix with a bit of water and a handful of peanuts or a small spoonful of peanut butter for flavor. Raw veggies must be thoroughly puree'd for dogs. I have cooked brown rice in the freezer in little servings that I add, too. It is cooked in homemade broth, which I feel is very important for the digestion. I can also just give him this rice if he has any digestive upset, which is very rare. It is handy to have the rice and broth available quickly.
When I travel, I don't have access to a good enough blender or food processor, so I cook his veggies. He will eat a wider variety cooked, so I base this meal on carrots and add something green....brocolli, green beans, leafy greens, etc. He doesn't need peanuts to flavor this, he will eat it up with a dab of real butter.
Sometimes I cook (would do raw, but he won't eat raw eggs...or liver) him an egg in the morning after a veggie meal, if he seems too hungry. Never give the dog veggies after he smells your pizza, too cruel! Feed him before you prepare your food, and if he doesn't eat it, leave it for 24 hours. It will not spoil, and the enzymes will make it more attractive to him. Remember, dogs like to bury bones....the enzymes in raw stuff make it more digestible for them.
Raw bones won't splinter. Chicken wings are safest, as they are not weight-bearing and have very little meat. Cats need lots of meat to be healthy, dogs do much better on a "poorer" diet of bones, tendons, cartilage, etc and just a little muscle meat. Don't feed cheap leg quarters to dogs, or steak or ground meat as it is far too rich. An occasional meal of hearts and gizzards is healthful, but can be gassy. We call them "chicken faarts!" He sleeps under the covers!
If you live near a chicken processing plant, you may be able to get the ribs from when they bone the breast....for free! Great for big dogs or a lot of dogs.
A larger dog, who might swallow peices whole, should have the bones broken a bit for safety, especially if you are introducing raw to an older dog. Just place the washed wings on a cutting board and give them a few whacks with the back of a cleaver to break the bones.
Start a small dog with just the wing tips.
Also use meaty bones for chewing, just make sure there are no smallish peices or a marrow bone cut to a size that the dog can get his lower jaw through the hole once he cleans out the marrow. Learned this one the hard way.....
Lamb shanks can be cheap and work well. Beef vertebrae can be good.....just don't step on one in your bare feet in the dark. Learned this one the hard way, too....
Rabbit and venison would be great, too, if you have access to it.
That's all I can think of for now. I go by Dr. Ian Billingshurst (sp? too lazy to get up and go look!) books. Lots of info online, too, not all of it the best, though. Use your judgement.
Five days a week: Two chicken wings for supper, brought to body temperature in a bowl in the sink with warm water running over them, also wash them first if commercially raised.
Wed and Sat: Veggie day. He gets a big handful of collards and a carrot, puree'd in the Vitamix with a bit of water and a handful of peanuts or a small spoonful of peanut butter for flavor. Raw veggies must be thoroughly puree'd for dogs. I have cooked brown rice in the freezer in little servings that I add, too. It is cooked in homemade broth, which I feel is very important for the digestion. I can also just give him this rice if he has any digestive upset, which is very rare. It is handy to have the rice and broth available quickly.
When I travel, I don't have access to a good enough blender or food processor, so I cook his veggies. He will eat a wider variety cooked, so I base this meal on carrots and add something green....brocolli, green beans, leafy greens, etc. He doesn't need peanuts to flavor this, he will eat it up with a dab of real butter.
Sometimes I cook (would do raw, but he won't eat raw eggs...or liver) him an egg in the morning after a veggie meal, if he seems too hungry. Never give the dog veggies after he smells your pizza, too cruel! Feed him before you prepare your food, and if he doesn't eat it, leave it for 24 hours. It will not spoil, and the enzymes will make it more attractive to him. Remember, dogs like to bury bones....the enzymes in raw stuff make it more digestible for them.
Raw bones won't splinter. Chicken wings are safest, as they are not weight-bearing and have very little meat. Cats need lots of meat to be healthy, dogs do much better on a "poorer" diet of bones, tendons, cartilage, etc and just a little muscle meat. Don't feed cheap leg quarters to dogs, or steak or ground meat as it is far too rich. An occasional meal of hearts and gizzards is healthful, but can be gassy. We call them "chicken faarts!" He sleeps under the covers!
If you live near a chicken processing plant, you may be able to get the ribs from when they bone the breast....for free! Great for big dogs or a lot of dogs.
A larger dog, who might swallow peices whole, should have the bones broken a bit for safety, especially if you are introducing raw to an older dog. Just place the washed wings on a cutting board and give them a few whacks with the back of a cleaver to break the bones.
Start a small dog with just the wing tips.
Also use meaty bones for chewing, just make sure there are no smallish peices or a marrow bone cut to a size that the dog can get his lower jaw through the hole once he cleans out the marrow. Learned this one the hard way.....
Lamb shanks can be cheap and work well. Beef vertebrae can be good.....just don't step on one in your bare feet in the dark. Learned this one the hard way, too....
Rabbit and venison would be great, too, if you have access to it.That's all I can think of for now. I go by Dr. Ian Billingshurst (sp? too lazy to get up and go look!) books. Lots of info online, too, not all of it the best, though. Use your judgement.
. Our dogs also help themselves to aparagus tips, tomatoes, corn and walnuts as far as I've seen. Our prior dog as well as our current one, will crack a walnut and carefully get out the meat and eat it. We recently discovered that she will eat just about anything, if we add tomato sauce of some sort on it. This morning she got cooked leftover rice with leftover barbeque sauce (home canned and loaded with vegies from the garden and bits of meat). She didn't leave a crumb for the chickens. 
