Adding stuff to their food

Firstly, sorry I havent been around for a while, with a house move on the horizon everything has been rather hectic!

Firstly I have an 18month BC, Flint, and a 10 week BC, Simba.

Now because I have been living with parents [who are rather narrow minded about dog foods] I have just been feeding them kibble and wainwrights trays, with no extras apart from odd treats between meals for training purposes.

Now I have been reading alot about adding things like eggs into their meals, can I ask what the benefits of this is, as it sounds like something I would like to start doing with my 2.

I do not want to go down the raw feeding route, however I know alot of people feel this is the best and most natural way of feeding their dogs

Flint has a bit of a sensitive tummy, which comes and goes, he eats wainwrights kibble and trays, but I have been reading alot of good things about Chappie [from another thread on this forum] so I think I will try him on that when his wainwrights bag runs out.

Simba is on Beta puppy and wainwrights trays, and I will hopfully move him onto Chappie if I find Flint does well on it, when he is about 9months old as I dont think they do a puppy Chappie [?]


Sorry for ranting on... My real questions are what additives are good for my dogs? [Such as eggs and yoghurt]
How often should I add things to their meals?

Also I want to start freezing kongs for them to have during the day, can I use chicken stock, made from knoor [sp?] stock cubes??

Thank-you for any help offered

For chicken stock I use the actual stock used from when I boil their chicken, (I use the chicken from the freezer dept at Pets at Home and also the beef steaks) they love it..

Mine are now on raw but I started by adding meat, fish and protein to their diets years ago, and a little carbohydrates, something in every meal.

Things included are eggs AND their shells-pure protein, probiotic natural yoghurt, raw chicken wings - have to be raw because of the bones - can't feed them cooked. Loads of meat, liver, tripe, fish such as pilchards and sardines in the oil, pasta, rice.. veg including brocolli, courgetes, carrots, peas...loads of things really

For their frozen kongs I freeze cooked rice and pilchards, I've also recently started making ice cubes from the meat stock left over!

There is no reason at all to add anything to a modern dog food. They are carefully formulated to be the complete and balanced diet dogs need. Adding this and that can only ruin the careful balance. Adding eggs and other stuff may have helped in the 50's, but should be long gone. Much of the advice on adding stuff comes from people wanting to feel good and ignoring the fact their additions may do more harm than good. Many people aren't going to let facts get in the way of what they have always done.

Labman if you read similar threads on the topic of what members feed their dogs you will see the majority do not feed complete food alone, they feed other things too.

With the exception of yourself it would seem our members have sufficient intelligence not to be taken in by the advertising propaganda of the dog food companies who try to tell us their food is 'complete' and nothing more is needed. A quick look at the ingredients of many dog foods will be enough to make it clear to most people that they are of poor quality, contain a lot of fillers and additives which are not beneficial for dogs and that feeding fresh food in some form has to be a better option.

Most of our members again with the exception of yourself are also aware that the food we feed our dogs has an effect on their heath..

http://www.dogsey.com/showthread.php...78#post1895378

As many of our members are aware from your previous posts, you have found it acceptable to deprive puppies of food and water in a misguided attempt to prevent them soiling in the crates in which they were frequently confined for 16 hours a day. Personally I would not leave any dog in your care.

As we have chickens at home my dogs are regular egg eaters, i cook liver weekly and blend it to sprinkle on top of kibble, carrots are a regular addition as well, the food we buy as kibble is a balanced diet but we all need a little unbalancing or life becomes a bore.

Hi Kate firstly many stock cubes are high in salt and MSG so not the best thing to be giving dogs.

If you search for 'Kongs' you will find threads with many suggestions of things to fill them with.

Wainwrights doesn't look too bad as dog foods go, I have seen much poorer ingredients in other dog foods ....
This is Wainwrights..
Puppy pouches
.
Puppy complete..
If you are going to feed some fresh food I think variety is important so your dogs gets a good mix of nutrients. The occasional egg is fine also meat/tripe/fish (sardines in oil are good and not very expensive) /cottage cheese/pureed vegetables excluding those belonging to the onion family .

A lot of people seem to like wet Chappie for dogs with sensitive tummies my vet included.
I currently feed a mixture of raw food and a small amount of Fishddogs kibble .

Your 10 week old puppy should still be on 4 meals a day, if you are going to change its food in any way I would do so gradually or you may get an upset tummy.

Eggs and yoghurt are fine for dogs additions to their diet. In moderation I believe they are beneficial, as are the wholemeal/granary toasts. The only thing I would say is to remember to reduce the quantity of the kibble (obviously, your dog will not need as much kibble if you feed other things as well). I always give my dogs a variety of foods, but I use a good quality "all-in-one" kibble as a base. I am lucky in that they will eat anything I offer them and are not at all fussy.
I don't use stock cubes as I think they are too salty. I do boil a chicken carcase with veggies - it makes great stock and goes to a jelly - very tasty.

Just to add, I make sure all the cooked bones are sieved out of the stock.

I am not responsible for the ignorance of others. Yes most people here agree with you. Your negativism runs off those that disagree with you.

Kate, I bet it doesn't take you long to become a full raw addict once you see their little eyes light up! (or like me a home 'cooked' addict!).

I have to be honest here and since Zeke was diagnosed with Cancer, and I have become a dog health nutrition freak (yes-even filtering my dogs water) not one single bit of grain/kibble will ever pass my doggies lips again. That's not to say it is bad, but personally I want to do everything I can to limit the possibilities of such diseases as cancer, did anyone say kibble ever caused cancer? I don't think so! But I just can't help thinking that a natural diet has to help in some way...

I dont have thrust myself to have the knowledge needed for a full raw diet so i also use the kibble as a base. Cassie has to stick to this due to a very poor tummy and she seems to not be able to digest bone even just from one chicken wing. The other two however get loads of things in there diet with the kibble some of them i rotate round are minced tripe, minced chicken, minced lamb (all found in the frozen section of PAH), fresh minced beef, chicken wings, cottage cheese, yoghurt (strawberry bio pot as they dont like the natural ), Eggs, white fish (i buy the fillets from iceland or raid the reduced fish counter), sardines, makrel and as a treat sometimes a can of salamon. They also get wet food mixed in on the odd meal instead of the other extras above i use the butchers all meat loaf which smells awful but they like it!