I have just fed the dog.

He is very fit and healthy and just loves his food, mind you he is a golden retreiver and they are prone to gaze up into the sky as if doughnuts will magically descend from the clouds. Basically they will eat all foods known to man and beast and whatever you give them.

But as it is now an automatic reflex to look at the labels I made the dog wait while I read and surprise surprise its high protein low carb. Dogs will thrive on raw meat alone. I feed our dog a dry dog food and water and the only reason it is bulked out with maize, wheat etc is cost. A raw egg (shell included) does wonders for their coats.

Dogs get fat if they are fed a lot of biscuits. Chocolate does not do them any good at all. Mind your our first retreiver managed one Halloween to eat a whole bowl of hershey's kisses put out for the trick or treaters, silver paper and all! Off to the vet for an emetic quick.

But back to the dog food label. Main ingredient chicken then
maize, wheat, animal fat, fish meal, barley,sorgum,poultry meal,dried beet pulp,dried whole egg, chicken digest, brewers dried yeast, linseed,sodium chloride, DL-methione, potassium chloride.

I am not about to eat it myself but nothing there would kill me.

Dogs do not get fat all by themselves, only if we overfeed them. They will eat everything and I mean everything that you give them. They will eat disgustingly quickly and the food hardly touches the side. Occasionally our dog has been fed twice by different members of the household by mistake. Second helpings like the first straight down. Cats on the other hand seem to take their time and even leave bits for later.

You can starve a dog for a day and it will come to no harm. Its metabolism is designed to cope with famine and feast.High protein does not suppress their appetite. It is best practice to feed just once a day.

There is no Fitday for dogs but the analysis is on the label

30% protein 20% oils and fats 10% moisture 2.5%fibre 7.5% ash 1.2% calcium 1% phospherous. Then vitamins A,D,E plus copper and beta carotene.

No sugar! the carbs are not stated but I estimate them to be about 20%

So from now on, in our way of eating, it is perfectly legitimate to eat like a dog!

This picture may be too small to see. or annoyingly stretch to wide to read the posts. Sorry.

The older dog sadly no longer with was called Biggles and the younger one now seven years young is called Geordi.

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if you go lurk in Protein Power's board or paleo forums, rust, you'll find there are interesting discussions of how people have changed the way they feed their dogs, too!

For a season, I fed mine BARF--the Biologically Appropriate Raw Foods diet. Dogs aren't meant to cook (you'll notice they do really poorly lighting fires) and most of what wolves eat is dead animal...so you put your dog outdoors with a bunch of raw chicken necks or beef ribs and let them at it (you've never seen a happier dog, either!) They actually eat the soft bones, which when raw do them no harm. One day a week you fast them; occasionally you add minced raw veggies to a raw hamburger for them. No grains. If they're missing greens, they'll self-select additional in your own backyard. Mine dog's health improved a lot with this method...but it was too much a hassle, preparing his food and having to watch over him for an hour every meal as he messed with the bones (he's not a 'wolfer' but a picker, so it took forever). If you find a supplier for your chicken necks in bulk, it's not more expensive than premium dog food. If I were a good "mom," I'd continue to do it. But wow, is kibble easy.

Because vets make money off of dog food, it's not easy to get the real dope on what a dog should eat. But this BARF person has, at least, a workable theory and a whole book. Easily findable by doing a web search for "BARF dog" or "BARF cat" to get recipes and testimonials.

Yes, rust, raw eggs are great for dogs, but mine has learned how to put a tiny pinprick hole in them and suck the insides out, leaving a mysterious-looking empty whole shell behind. I've told him about the benefits of calcium, but he looks particularly unimpressed.

Maybe our two new vets will check in with opinions

Hi Guys.....

Love the doggie picture!! I love dogs!!!

Now, I have to go with the opposition on this one....
with good reason!!

I have a 14 yr old toy poodle. 3 yrs ago, he started
having seizures!! Up to 5 a day.... final one went
15 minutes long. The vet was reluctant to put him on
meds. and decided to try a change of diet first. He eats
soy and grain dog food, any veggies, any fruit.... and
has not had another seizure since the change in his
diet!!

So, I'm the one chewing on bones..... while the dog
eats fruit salad!!

Ellie

Beautiful dogs! I just wanted to tell you that my 1 and a half year old daughter was next to me when I saw your dog picture earlier today, she yelled "DOG! MOMMY! DOG! Woof Woof." After that she pretended to be a dog for a good half an hour. I even had to call her doggy and pat her on the head.

Jess

I feed my dogs a natural raw diet too, mostly fish based. I am very lucky to have a wonderful, naturopathic vet who supports and promotes it. One of them has been eating this way since puppy-hood. The other was adopted last year in a physically bad state that he has completely recovered from.

About the overfeeding Rust... The vet said the dogs had to lose 5 lbs. each. After he told me that, I realized that I was over-feeding them, so I've reduced the amount. We go next Friday and I will be interested to see if they've lost any weight in the past few weeks.

It's true that they will find the nutrients that they need - one eats grass, and the other eats the roots of the grass. The only thing I like about dry dog food is the easy to pick up poo it produces.

That is interesting about the fasting day razzle. Maybe we could all fast together. The noise of a Dobe who thinks she's starving is quite unbelievable. The other dog was used to hardship. He never complains about anything.

And it's true that dogs are not in ketosis. I've checked.

Karen

Rust -- Your dogs are beautiful! I've had two goldens, Tenley and Annie. They are just the sweetest dogs imaginable. Thanks for posting the pics. I miss Tenley and Annie.

Karen -- You raise a very interesting point I've never thought about before: dogs who eat meat all the time don't go into ketosis? Hmmm. What about those Eskimos and Aborigines who eat meat and fat all the time? Do they go into ketosis or do their metabolisms adjust to the diet?

Allison

I have talked to my dog about having a fast day. He told me in no uncertain terms that he would pick up his bowl and walk out.

He can tell the time too. About 15 mins before feeding time he will come and find you and look earnestly with a long gaze and you have to tell him to wait. He slumps to the ground with a harumph.

Geordi is delighted that I am low carbing. His walks are much longer and brisker. And for me, much more fun than a treadmill.

I suppose that as I rail against processed food with the righteous zeal of a low carb convert, I should really feed him raw food.
But he is thriving and yes Karen, scooping poop is just a walk in the park

Dogs are not true carnivores so they need things other than meat in their diets-they are actually omnivores and so as many of you have mentioned, they eat lots of things besides meats (eggs, greens, veggies). Cats are true carnivores and need the taurine in meats to be healthy.

I can't speak to the BARF diet since I am an anesthesiologist (and not a nutritionist), but I think that as long as it isn't just meat it will probably be balanced.

Even though vets often sell pet foods we don't usually make much money off them. They are offered as a convience for people (in the case of non-prescription diets) and as a portion of a therapeutic treatment (in the case of prescription diets). I was taught in school that any high-quality dog food (Purina, Iams, Hills etc) and not Rob Roy or other lower-quality foods (think generic brand) would be fine, so my dog now eats plain old Purina Dog Chow (little bites because she's a Jack Russel Terrier) and loves it!
Of course because she's TOTALLY spoiled she gets lots of treats!

-animaldoc