Natural Food

[rasmy]

I feed my dog completely natural food, vigetables, meat, beans, milk..., so any recommendations for natural food?? Is it better to feed him natural food or dry food? the vet told me that balanced natural food will be better than dry food, any recommendations??

[CarolineS]

Natural food is great, but you need to make sure it really is "balanced". Dogs nutritional needs are different than ours, so, if you haven't already, I'd check with your vet to make sure that the variety of foods you're feeding is going to cover all of your dog's vitamin/mineral requirements. If it isn't, some supplements might be in order. There are many books out there on canine nutrition and there are veterinary nutritionists available to analyze your dog's diet for you.

[Homerhomer]

Rasmy, do a search on BARF type of natural food (on this forum and on the net - just type in BARF in the search engine) you will get a lot of info on the type of meals many of us give to our dogs. Many of us feel that properly prepared home made natural food is much better than dry kibble.

[Wilbur von Kno]

I seen this forum exclusive to Rottweilers and felt the urge to sign up. I'm retired and a senior citizen and I don't have much experience with internet people. This is my first message and I'm confused by all the buttons and don't know if this message will take or look okay.

I inherited my Rottweiler dog when the owner who was a long-standing friend, passed on from a bone-stiffening disease. The scientific name of her disease escapes me at the moment but it was painful to see her detieroate these last few months. I promised her I'd take her dog in and look after her but I don't know much about Rottweilers (she's a girl dog coming up 5 years). I took in the dog (her name is Loretta, which I'm going to change because I like dog sounding names) before her owner (my friend) moved to greener pastures, and that's because she had to be placed in a nursing home the last two months before her death. So I've had the dog for 3 months.

When I got Loretta I also got a bag of dog food, teething biscuits and rawhide style bones. It was a specialized dog food that I later found out was expensive. Too expensive for me to afford on my limited income. Loretta didn't look all that healthy from eating it as her coat was full of old hair (she was a shedder) and she was far too skinny. Even the lady groomer who trimmed her toenails said she was too thin and needed some more meat on her bones.

I'm very lucky because my brother is a butcher and owns a deli. He offered to give me natural food at cost and told me that dogs do better on real food as opposed to bagged dog food, which I understand according to him is mostly horse meat from dead horses. My brother doesn't like Rottweilers at all because he had a terrible experience with one when he was young but this is not the place to talk about that as this concerns feeding, not other issues.

I think I'm carrying on to much here so I'll just say that my dog has filled out on her new diet, is healthy and plump, and has a gleam in her coat that comes from fresh pork, cereals, fruit and a daily vacuum and occassional bath.

In closing I want to say that her diet is something I haven't seen mentioned here. I give her pork, all kinds of pork that I get from my brother's deli. I heard that pork could carry worms so I cook whatever sausages, bacon and ground pork that I get in a big roasting pan and then freeze the portions and put them into containers in the freezer. I also feed her the same thing I eat for breakfast. A slice of bread spread with peanut butter or cooked cereal (I heard milk's no good to give) so I just give her plain cereal. People will think I'm making this up but she likes some fruits and vegetables and it's not unusual for her to eat some apple. I also give her peanuts when I have them around the house.

[Homerhomer]

Hello Wilbur.
Welcome to the forum.
Your message is and looks great so I guess you are doing just fine with all that internet stuff and buttons.
You have a great heart and I bet your long standing friend is forever gratefull to you for saving and loving Loretta.
I feed our dog raw meat and bones type of diet and can't really help you much with cooked home made, I can only tell you that I noticed that you feed mainly meat and therefore I expect the diet is lacking in calcium and in the long run it may cause health problems for your dog. Hope people familiar with home cooked diet will give you more tips.
What was the reason the dog was on specialized diet? It's important to know for the forum members so you can be given tips and suggestions regarding the diet.
Good luck

[Wilbur von Kno]

Homerhomer:

Thanks for listening. I was nervous about writing my first message. Computers and internet people are new to me (I took a few classes).

I'm glad to have this chance to talk to other Rottweiler dog people as I'm not familiar with the breed. It took some getting used to having a dog with a very round head. I'd had a mixed dog many years ago but he had a long pointy head. A friend told me that my previous dog (this was way back) was mostly whippit according to him.

[CarolineS]

Hi Wilbur,

Peter is right, your dog's diet needs balancing a bit. :) Since she is getting mostly meat and cereal, her diet is very high in phosphorus and low in calcium.

There is nothing wrong with feeding ground pork and cooking it is okay. I feed a cooked diet to both of my dogs. Ground pork is probably higher in fat than some other ground meats but as long as the dog doesn't have any intestinal complaints, she should be able to handle the fat just fine. I would save the bacon and sausages for treats instead of making them a steady part of her diet. They contain a lot of preservatives. Some other low-cost alternatives to pork that you can use to supply protein are eggs and cottage cheese.

If you're going to feed her cooked food, you need to add some vitamins, minerals, calcium and some more carbohydrates. A good ratio to aim for is 1/3 meat to 2/3 carbohydrates. I usually make each meal with these two ingredients in this ratio. Some suggestions for carbohydrates are oatmeal, rice or pasta, whichever suits your budget. It doesn't sound like your dog has a problem with any kind of food, so take your pick. You can also add in some lightly cooked vegetables if you'd like. You can use frozen mixed veggies and just cook them a bit. This will make it easier for her to digest them. The vegetables aren't necessary especially if you feed a lot for treats.

I don't know how much your dog weighs but I'll go on the assumption she's between 80 and 90 lbs. To her food, you'll need to add:

• 1.5 vitamin/mineral tablets (the best kind for dogs is the human "over 50" formula)
• 6 500-mg calcium carbonate tablets (or you can use 2.5 tsp of bonemeal powder that you buy from the health food store, not the garden type)
• 1 tablespoon of corn oil or safflower oil
• 1 teaspoon of salt

These things need to be added every day and will ensure that her diet is complete with all the nutrients that a dog needs to stay healthy. You did mention you were on a budget but if you go to Costco you can get very large jars of the vitamin/minerals and the calcium pills quite cheaply if you buy the store brand.

The fruits and veggies are great for healthy snacks. Both my dogs love them and most dogs, given the chance, seem to like them. Mine especially love carrots, apples, pears, lettuce, and berries of any kinds. One will even pick raspberries right off of the bush!

One little caution...Rottweilers tend to gain weight very easily so make sure you don't feed your new girl too much. Being overweight is very hard on them and can cause health problems as they age.

Good luck with Loretta and if you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask. :)

[Wilbur von Kno]

Well now I'm in a quandry because I was told by another dog owner on the block that milk (mostly calcium) is bad because it it is acidy and that too much calcium causes the bones to grow faster than the rest of the dog. I suppose I could add cheese to her diet because she likes cheese alot. She once ate a pound of cheese that I left out on the counter that I planned on using for homemade macaroni and cheese. After she ate it she got the trots for two days and made a mess in the house. Another reason I thought maybe calcium wasn't such a good idea. Smaller doses maybe.

CarolineS:

I feed a mixture of wieners, bacon (that's her favorite), ground pork and sausages that do have preservatives in them. I think preservatives must be okay for dogs if they're okay for humans but maybe I'm wrong. I have a high preservative diet myself and so far (knock on wood) my health is excellent except for my memory which escapes me now and then but that's to be expected for people as they age. Nothing I worry about anymore.

I was just trying to figure out how much bacon she gets a week and it would only be about two pounds. I don't know if that's too much or too little.

My budget for Loretta is a $100 a month. That was left in the will by my friend for as long as the dog lives but that has to go to paying Loretta's check-ups too. If I didn't have that $100 a month I'd still keep Loretta because she's grown on me and we'd manage just fine. I'd cut back on other things. It's more that I don't like paying money for dog food whose ingredients I don't know.

I see no problem with giving her vitamins if you think that would increase her energy. I take Geritol myself and wonder if that would be okay. If you don't think its good then I'll go to the store and buy pill type vitamins. Seeing as I now have grown to love this dog as if I'd raised her myself I want to do what's best for her health and happiness. I'd rather she lived a slightly shorter life happily eating food she likes, than living a longer life but depressed because she's forced to eat food she doesn't like. So I think the vitamins are a good idea.

As far as vegetables goes, she likes vegetables but I haven't given her lettuce. She eats grass when we're walking outside so maybe I could add lettuce to her meals.

I don't know how much Loretta weighs. She's not due to the vet for a few more months for a checkup. She was skinny when I got her. You couldn't see her ribs but you could feel them.

The thing that concerns me is her lack of energy. She likes to sleep alot but as I mentioned before somewhere else here, I think she's still depressed about not understanding where her mistress has gone. How do you tell a dog that her mistress is dead? You can't. A dog just doesn't understand.

[CarolineS]

Wilbur,

The supplements I suggested should be given in the form I advised.

You can't give milk for calcium because then you introduce other elements into the diet that could unbalance it. Dogs have a much higher need for calcium than humans do and you wouldn't be able to feed her enough food to meet this level without throwing off the rest of her diet. It is only dangerous to give a dog high levels of calcium when it is a young puppy. Once a dog matures it will excrete any calcium it does not need.

I don't know what's in Geritol so I couldn't say if it could be used in the place of a Senior Vitamin/Mineral tablet. If you'd like to list the ingredients and the amounts, I could let you know.

Two pounds of bacon a week sounds excessive. Why don't you substitute eggs or cottage cheese instead if you'd like her to have variety. Most dogs enjoy both so you wouldn't be depriving her and neither is expensive.

The calcium carbonate tablets and the vitamin/mineral tablets aren't a big expense either. I paid under $20 for 500 calcium carbonate pills which would last your dog two and a half months. I got 100 vitamin/mineral pills for about $10.

If you couldn't see Loretta's ribs when you got her but you could feel them, then it actually sounds to me like she was the right weight. A dog with a slight "waist" when you look down at him from the top and ribs that can be easily felt under a very thin layer of fat, but can't be seen, is actually at the ideal weight. Many people think that Rottweilers should be huge and unfortunately the way they accomplish this is to make them fat.

If you think you can't afford to balance a home-prepared diet properly, then you would be better off buying a good quality kibble for her. You don't list where you live, but if you're in the US, I know there are good kibbles out there from $35 to $40. Five-year old female Rottweilers do not usually need more than 3 - 4 cups of food per day and a large bag would last you close to six weeks. That's only $25 a month which would hopefully leave you with enough to put aside to cover her other bills.

Loretta could be suffering from depression because her owner's gone. Some Rottweilers though are really laid back and lazy. This could just be her personality. If it concerns you, I'd advise you to take her to the vet for a checkup.

[marianne]

It might be time to go to the vet now. The diet of bacon and weiners just does not sould too healthy for a grown Rottie. There are many good dog kibbles available. Warning,don't let the vet talk you into his high priced food he may sell. We have had many many topics on food in the forums. Go in the archives to see what members had to say about food. I use Diamond these days for all my dogs Rottweilers and Bulldogs. It is very reasonable and they do very well on it. Glad you joined our group. We have some very experinced members who will help you and Loretta bond!;)

[rasmy]

Carolina

Hi again, I see that you feed yout dog cooked food, that seems more appropriate for me, cause my Rotty doesn't like raw food!

So what I need to know is it good enough for my dog to get cooked food with the supplements you mentioned??

I give him the following daily:

1-Youghurt and beens for breakfast
2-Cooked vegies about 300 grams, about 300 grams of any kind of cooked meet including the following:
-Beef
-Chicken
-Liver and gizzards
-Beef Liver
and one salt spoon
3-for dinner, the same as breakfast

Thanks for your help.Bye

[Anne]

The problem with milk is not that it is acidic and has too much calcium but that it contains lactose and some dogs have problems digesting that. I occasionally give my dog lactose free low fat milk mixed with water. The bone growth of your dog is already complete at 5 years so you dont need to worry about that. I'm so glad that you love your new dog because she needs someone like you now that her former owner has gone. I like the name Loretta too.

[CarolineS]

rasmy,

How old is your dog? How much does he weigh and how much exercise does he get?

[rasmy]

CarolineS,

My dog is 6 month old I don't know his exact weight but I think he is right for his body (From general appearence) and he is 22 inchs tall

[babyray]

Welcome, Wilbur!
In no time you will be addicted to this forum like I am, and hopefully we will become your friends like the forum is to me! There is a lot of knowledge here, some good debates, some silly stuff once in a while, a little of everything!