Question for dog owners

[navigator9]

My vet specifically does NOT recommend Greenies. He's had a few patients choke on them. I give Dentistix. (sp?)

Also, try raw sweet potato and raw carrots. My dogs love 'em, they're cheap and low calorie. I put some chunks in the dinner bowls of my overweight dogs to slow them down and to make them feel more full.

This sounds like a great idea. I don't know about the nutritional content of Dentastix, but I strongly doubt they're as good as carrots or sweet potatoes. Being a little guy, would you recommend cutting the veggies the size of small dog kibble? I'm really nervous now, with all I've read about dogs choking on things.

 

[BlackDog]

Greta gets a box of greenies from her grandma every year for 8 years now and we've never had issues with them. I don't buy them otherwise because they're expensive and they only cure her rancid hell-breath for a day (the vet says her dental health is fine, and some dogs just have stinkier breath than others). The only thing that works for us for tooth-cleaning (and thus breath smells) is having her chew on a rope toy. Works like floss and she loves playing tug.

As far as other treats, both my dogs love canned pumpkin (the plain stuff, not the pie filling), peanut butter, Nutro crunchy treats (for training), rawhides, pig ears, bully sticks (Greta's fave), and a couple times a year I'll buy a few sweet potatoes, make like 1/8 inch slices, and bake them up. They also love apples and pears.

 

[mrsserena]

Read up on rawhides, those things can be full of nasty chemicals. I fed them to my old dog every day, not knowing any better.

I now feed my dogs all fresh food, we get "dog food" from the local butcher, it's a mix of heart, lungs, etc that they can't sell as people food. We mix in steamed veggies, some Greek yogurt for probiotics, turmeric for health properties, eggs, salmon oil, and glucosamine. That's breakfast, and a raw piece of chicken for dinner. My chihuahua gets a very tiny serving, I portion it out in mini silicon baking cups and freeze. Then just pull one out each day to thaw.

The raw chicken helps keep her teeth clean, we got her when she was 5, and she was already missing half her teeth, so I wanted to make sure she didn't lose any more!

The raw food keeps their breath smelling fresh, they don't have that "dog" odor, and even their poop doesn't stink as much! We have a foster dog right now that we can't feed raw (since her next home might not want to continue) and the difference is amazing.

Feel free to pm me and I can send you my dog food recipe, if you're interested.

 

[CaraBou]

^^Hats off to you for making your dogs dinner. I have little aversion to raw animal parts but that sounds like a rigamaroll and mess to me that I wouldn't want to bother with. I can barely bring myself to shop and cook enough for every evening human meal!

 

[mrsserena]

It's not as bad as it sounds, I make a batch that lasts over a month.

I do spend less time making healthy people food though .

 

[Dahila]

navigator cut the carrots in sticks so the dogie can manage and still can keep it between it's paws

 

[dixiedragon]

This sounds like a great idea. I don't know about the nutritional content of Dentastix, but I strongly doubt they're as good as carrots or sweet potatoes. Being a little guy, would you recommend cutting the veggies the size of small dog kibble? I'm really nervous now, with all I've read about dogs choking on things.

IMO, bigger is generally better than smaller. you WANT the dog to gnaw on them and chew them up. I literally hand my brother's 60 lb lab a whole sweet potato and let him go to town. For the dogs with few teeth, I will slice the potato into circles - about 1/4 thick - and then quarter the circle.

 

[shunt2011]

I dehydrate slices of sweet potato and my dog loves them. Plus it gives her something good to chew on.

 

[lenarenee]

Be sure to list onions and garlic on the NO side, and be vigilant because these ingredients are in many people foods and also in some dog treats. Blood work on one of my sick cats showed Heinz bodies (irreversible denatured hemoglobin which causes anemia). This puzzled me because I almost never feed my cats people food. In fact the only thing was store bought organic broth to entice them to drink more water to help their kidneys. BINGO! It had garlic and onions. These foods cause Heinz bodies in dogs too so be sure to read ingredient labels.

Ever see the Rachel Ray show where she demonstrated a dog food recipe she made for her dogs? She included onions!

Just one of the reasons I don't watch her show. Couldn't help it that day since I was a guest visiting from out of state.

 

[newbie]

I love that they use every part of a cow, at least as much as possible, to there is no waste. It seems weird to give a dog a trachea to chew on, but i'd rather not see any parts wasted. They even slice up and dry pig snouts as chew treats. I order from best bully sticks all the time and I don't think you will be disappointed if you try them but i would read reviews on things so you have a feel for how long any type of treat may last.

I always make my own stock and pour a little over the dogs' kibble, just to make dinner seems a little special. The idea of eating the same or very similar food every day for years seems really dead boring, for pets, so I try to change things up a little.

Carabou, you have a lab and I assume your husband is training him for hunting. Have you played any nose games with him yet? We play "Find It." I send all the dogs outside and then hide small treat all over the house, using tiny cubes of cheese or pieces of dried tripe or something like that, that's got a definitive smell. After I'm done hiding them, I call them in and tell them to find it while they smell my hands so they know what to smell for. Then they have to go sniff them all out. They LOVE it! And it's good to get them using their noses instead of their eyes for everything.

 

[CaraBou]

We haven't tried nose games but we will heed the call. We want him to find shed antlers in the woods, so those will be hid around our place for training too.

I didn't order from BBS yet but I will. We still have some ears and chews in hand.

One would think dogs and cats wouldn't like the same monotonous foods, but all evidence indicates my critters do. I've had several picky cats, so I find what they like and stick to it. And there is certainly no need to fuss over the dog -- he will eat anything quicker than you can say Bar-ley-que!

 

[newbie]

My cats are the same. I've tried every food known to mankind but they will practically starve themselves unless they get Purina One. Not Purina ProPlan, only Purina One. At least I can change the flavors up a little.

The dogs definitely are less interested in their food by the end of a bag and when I open a new, different food, they are so excited! It's not like it gets stale because I have three big dogs, so that's not the reason they can't wait for the new stuff, or at least I don't think so. I will occasionally get something that they clearly don't like much, so they seem to have palates. However, each one is different and some dogs stay excited to eat the same food for 13 years. To each his own!

 

[crispysoap]

Tried feeding my dog some carrots today. He is exceedingly polite and always daintily accepts anything I offer him, be it feathers, flowers or carrots. He will hold these things in his mouth, wait until I glance away, and then drop them discreetly. So after finding the carrot sticks dropped around the corner of the house, I guess they just aren't to his taste. He did however help me eat a bag of fresh cherries this afternoon