Feeding Time

Disclaimer: I am not and do not claim to be a veterinarian nor do I claim to have any expertice in animal nutrition and health. This is the way I choose to feed our dogs.This is not an instruction manual for feeding your dog(s). What you choose to do and how you choose to do it is of your own free will.

I have chosen to feed our dogs much differently than giving them a scoop of commercial dog food and a bowl of water. Their nutrition is very important to us as they are part of our family and have nutritional needs that must be met. Coming from a bare essentials shelter our dogs needed not only extra protein and healthy feed but the smallest puppy was suffering from bloat and gas that could literally make your eyes water - yes, to the point of tears. It was aweful. I knew on day one something had to change in his diet. After a lot of looking and reading and investigating holistic type diets I set out to help our dogs not only get better nutrition to but also help sooth the powerful evil that dwelled in their colons. Also to do it in a way that did not impact the budget to feed them.

For those without the means to get fresh milk for making yogurt and without the availability of fresh eggs to feed more than one smallish dog this diet might be very expensive. For us our food chain around here is fairly consistant so the expense of the extra hasn't been felt. So far all I have purchased in addition to Puppy Chow brand dog food is a twenty pound bag of rice. I believe it was under $5.

Their diet consists of rice, yogurt that I make from goats milk, fresh eggs from my own hens, any meat slivers left from what I cook for us and the addition of some puppy chow to make sure they are getting trace minerals they need until I can find a dog vitamin mineral supplement. When I have meat broth left unseasoned (no salt) I make a gravy to mix it up a little.

I have been feeding the dogs twice a day. They really needed to add some meat to their bones. With winter well on its way they need the extra calories to keep warm. When it is sunny they spend several hours at a time out doors then they come in and sleep by the fire.

This is the basics of how I feed them twice a day. The portions are becoming smaller now as they are adjusting and finding the limits of their normal appetite.

I use the rice steamer and cook 2 cups of long grain rice. As their apetites are lessening I cut back to 1 1/2 cups and am now at 1 cup of rice. 1 cup uncooked rice yeilds about 3 cups of cooked rice. J.E.B. is twice the size of Ajax so for now his portion of the food is larger. Things will fluntuate as Ajax starts to grow larger. I adjust the portions of rice as needed.

For each dog:

Two farm fresh eggs.

Scrambled.

The rice is steaming hot when mixed in with the eggs.

It only takes a few minutes of stirring and the eggs begin to cook in the heat from the rice.

As the rice cools and the mixture begins to look like custard I add in about one half cup of plain yogurt.

I add one third the daily portion of Puppy Chow. It adds a little bit more bulk and flavor and I know they are getting trace minerals.

Mix it all up.

Serve warm.

They seem to really love it.

After one day on this diet Ajax no longer had a bloated belly and his gas problem completely ceased.

After three days on this diet both dog's coats began to shine and the whites of their eyes lost the yellowish tinge.

After a solid week of eating all they could twice a day they are starting to slow down on their food intake finding their natural appetites. They actually walk away from their food bowls without finishing it all.

I have begun to cut back on the portions I give them. I am still feeding them twice a day.

Eventually we will get to the point where they will get a daily ration served in two smaller meals, one in the morning and one at night. As shelter dogs their nutrition really suffered. In the beginning they were getting two full portions of the daily recommended allowance for a balanced diet.

Before the dogs left the shelter they were given a wormer. When I took them to the vet she felt they needed a much stronger wormer. The dogs are parasite free as best as we can tell.

That is the main reason I added the yogurt to their diet. The yogurt is a probiotic and helps to add back the good flora and fauna to the gut that the wormer will partially eliminate. If you read the lables of high end dog foods you will find rice and yogurt is a part of their formula for a healthy digestive track and also in the feeds for dogs with sensitive stomach issues. The dogs are getting the real deal daily so it can only be better for them.

I know feeding my dogs raw eggs will cause a stir with some people. I also know there are many people who balk at the idea of raw eggs due to the fear of salmonella poisoning. I trust my own eggs. Salmonella appears more in commercial eggs far more often than in home grown backyard poultry eggs. I don't fear something lurking in my eggs waiting to make my dogs sick. If you read you would have also noted that the heat of the rice begins to cook the eggs so they are not completely raw. If you don't want to feed a raw(ish) egg to your dog by all means cook it first then add it to the mix.

We have tried offering the rice/yogurt/egg mix to Abby but she won't eat it. She has a tiny appetite and prefers just some crunchy kibble. She is ony eating Puppy Chow and water. She does like her tiny bone treats. I worry she isn't eating or drinking enough. She weighs about two and a half pound so judging just how much she is taking in is hard. We just assume for now that as long as something is coming out it means something is going in. I just hope it is enough.

Healthy pets are a good thing. I am trying to help mine be as healthy as they can be. I am not trying to tell you how to feed your dog. This is just the way I choose to feed our dogs. If you have a dog with sensitive stomach issues you might think about changing the diet and seeing if it helps your dog. It really has helped ours.