Re: supplement I'm not quite clear Gordon, on one hand you seem to be saying there's no evidential support for using fish oils but then on the other you seem to be advocating feeding fish in order to provide the Omega 3s that fish oil could provide. If the Omega 3s are good for dogs what's wrong with using a supplement to kibble? Personally I have enough to do and I want feeding my dog to be relatively straightforward and kibble with supplements are one way to achieve that.
Re: supplement OMG Annabelle, how on earth do you manage to remember your dogs diet ? I struggle just to remember to give Ruby her Yumove every day!!! I give my dogs supplements on their kibble - a dollop of probiotic yoghurt every couple of days and a squirt of Yumega oil or teaspoon of coconut oil every day. These aren't fixed in stone because sometimes I forget : I don't see anything wrong with giving these supplements. Us humans eat probiotic yoghurt and coconut oil because of its medicinal properties so why not give the to our dogs ? Chloe
Re: supplement Thanks Stacia, but I fail to see what is wrong with adding cod liver oil to food as it's been around for years. ???
Re: supplement Well, I suppose in that case you could say my one Lab who broke his elbow at 16 weeks which was pinned and screwed and had evidence of arthritis in that elbow at 8 months old, has a supplement as he takes Synoquin to be on the safe side! But on the whole I wouldn't add oil (yet!). He is not lame (up to this moment!), so I guess the Synoquin is helping.
Re: supplement [quote author=rubyrubyruby link=topic=6064.msg79047#msg79047 date=1400445336] OMG Annabelle, how on earth do you manage to remember your dogs diet ? I struggle just to remember to give Ruby her Yumove every day!!! [/quote] Its written down on scraps of paper found in a box in the garage. It is easy to remember fish fridays and tripe wednesdays but the rest is a bit iffy. I have the menu plan also stuck up on the back of the garage door as to what bone she will have on what day just to make things easier
Re: supplement Thanks, Stacia - that's exactly what I'm saying. And the original post was also looking for info for an 11 week old pup. My answer may have been different if the dog was 11, had some joint stiffness or whatever. And Helen - yes I do have qualifications but that's largely irrelevant. Annabel, your dogs diet looks fantastic, a lot of work I'll bet. I think what you're feeding is excellent, I'm afraid I still rely on raw and kibble - haven't gone completely raw yet. Reading through the list, it clearly shows you put a lot of effort in - maybe add some vegetables would be my only observation. But as for your list of supplements, I'm afraid it doesn't make any difference, you just don't need them (particularly with the care you've taken over their diet anyway) and you're certainly not improving your dogs health by just giving them more of what you're giving them in their diet anyway, you're just creating very expensive poop. Anyway, I'm happy to agree to disagree, don't want to fall out with anyone over it.
Re: supplement [quote author=bbrown link=topic=6064.msg79046#msg79046 date=1400445304] I'm not quite clear Gordon, on one hand you seem to be saying there's no evidential support for using fish oils but then on the other you seem to be advocating feeding fish in order to provide the Omega 3s that fish oil could provide. If the Omega 3s are good for dogs what's wrong with using a supplement to kibble? Personally I have enough to do and I want feeding my dog to be relatively straightforward and kibble with supplements are one way to achieve that. [/quote] If you're not feeding fish or the all in one doesn't contain omega 3's, then feed some fish. Not only do they get the omega 3, they get all the other good things in the fish. But if you don't want to do that, then supplementing with fish oils achieves the same result. All I was trying to say, bearing in mind the original question, an 11 week old pup doesn't need supplements on top of a balanced diet.
Re: supplement Thanks Gordon, I don't see anyone's qualificaitons on a particular subject as irrelevant Also, I understand that feeding vegetables to dogs is not necessary as they don't digest them and it's not a natural diet for a dog ??? No falling out here
Re: supplement [quote author=gad link=topic=6064.msg79067#msg79067 date=1400446492] [quote author=bbrown link=topic=6064.msg79046#msg79046 date=1400445304] I'm not quite clear Gordon, on one hand you seem to be saying there's no evidential support for using fish oils but then on the other you seem to be advocating feeding fish in order to provide the Omega 3s that fish oil could provide. If the Omega 3s are good for dogs what's wrong with using a supplement to kibble? Personally I have enough to do and I want feeding my dog to be relatively straightforward and kibble with supplements are one way to achieve that. [/quote] If you're not feeding fish or the all in one doesn't contain omega 3's, then feed some fish. Not only do they get the omega 3, they get all the other good things in the fish. But if you don't want to do that, then supplementing with fish oils achieves the same result. All I was trying to say, bearing in mind the original question, an 11 week old pup doesn't need supplements on top of a balanced diet. [/quote] Thanks for the clarification
Re: supplement Helen - all good then Now we are straying from something I do know about to something I'm learning about; my understanding is if you're feeding raw and not feeding whole carcasses then some essentials will be missing which the dog would get from eating intestines, green tripe etc., i.e. the digested vegetable matter. So if that's missing you do need to add vegetables. Not sure which ones you cook and which ones you give raw but they certainly can digest them. There are a list of no no's on the vegetable front as well just to make life even simpler
Re: supplement Some dogs are fed a vegetarian diet - saw it in a dog magazine, so I am guessing that they can digest vegies. Something else on fish: years ago we used to get an ointment made of fish oil, called Ungvita I think. We put it on any scrapes or cuts on our horses and it worked liked magic.
Re: supplement I go with the principles that form the basis of a healthy human diet (while recognising that I need a lot more veg than my dog and that he can eat a raw chicken and survive whereas I might not! ) - fresh and as unprocessed as possible - variety (different types of bits of raw animals and some veg and some leftovers) - provide nutrients through a balanced diet of the above - no need for pills unless there is a diagnosed deficiency. Having said that, my dog has allergies and also gets a cocktail of antihistamines, steroids and antiinflammatories (and fish oil which, studies have shown, increase the efficacy of the antihistamines). But if he didn't have an allergy he wouldn't get any of that. Dog is currently and with great vigour licking out the remains of a container of pâté.
Re: supplement If your dog has any joint trouble or arthritis I heartily recommend Glucosamine & Chondroitin. I have arthritis myself and take it every day. If for some reason I forget to take it my joints tell me!
Re: supplement The only supplements I give Penny have been joint supplements as I knew she would be prone to joint issues in the future. From the age of 6 months I had her on yumove joint supplements and then following her diagnosis of hip dysplasia at 14 months old I switched her to riaflex joint daily (expensive but even their basics maintenance supplement is almost twice as strong as yumove and similar products) and also omega 3 fish oils as recommended by my orthopaedic vet. Oh and she used to have cranberry supplements when she was getting a lot of urine infections.
Re: supplement [quote author=gad link=topic=6064.msg79077#msg79077 date=1400447245] Helen - all good then [/quote] Absolutely Gordon x
