Nutrition is a hot topic with lots of opinions. We choose to feed or dogs a varied diet. We feed some dry food, but only good quality. We also cook home-made daily. Occasionally our dogs may get some raw, and sometimes a little canned on their dry, but it is mainly the home-made & dry food.
Nutritional Supplements
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Our dogs are also supplemented Nuvet, an immune system supplement with vitamins.
These are whole food source, human grade vitamins, not synthetic, so pure, it is one of the few pet products manufactured in an FDA (human-grade) pharmaceutical manufacturing facility. NuVet Plus heals and protects against the ravages of free radicals that attack your pet throughout its life. Fully safe and affordable, NuVet Plus helps prolong the life of your dog and eliminates most ailments GUARANTEED. NuVet can only be purchased directly from the manufacturer NuVet Labs. They can be reached at 1-800-474-7044 using order code number 7203205 OR Order online at www.NuvetLabs.com using order code 7203205 |
Dog Aware recommends feeding your dog whole food form vitamins. It is because of this we recommend Nuvet, as they are a whole food form of vitamin.
From Dog Aware on feeding vitamins:
From Dog Aware on feeding vitamins:
Vitamins and Minerals — Although commercial foods include a minimal supply of added vitamins (the original ones are mostly destroyed by processing), supplementing can be beneficial, especially vitamins E, C (with bioflavonoids), and B-complex. Unfortunately, many pet multi-vitamins, such as Pet Tabs, contain too little of these vitamins to be very useful. You need to be more careful about supplementing minerals, except in whole food form, due to the potential for overdosing or not using proper combinations (for example, zinc can be dangerous if given in large quantities or not properly balanced with copper). In general, I don't recommend supplementing individual minerals without a vet's OK, but the amounts contained in most multi-vitamin and mineral supplements should be safe.
Choosing a Dog Food
The Whole Dog Journal rates dog foods based on research of food ingredients listed.
To determine how they rate certain dog foods they look for foods that contain high quality animal proteins. They say they would love it if manufacturers disclosed the % of meat, poultry or fish in their food, but rarely do, so they look for foods that appear to have lots of animal protein.
Ingredients are listed by weight, so ideally a food will have one or two animal proteins in the first few ingredients. THIS IS SIGNIFICANT TO LOOK FOR WHEN DOING YOUR OWN RESEARCH!!!
Understand that whole meat (chicken, beef, lamb, etc.) contains a lot of water weight. If a food list starts out with chicken (rather than chicken meal) and there is no other animal protein listed until 5th or 6th on the list, the food does not actually contain a lot of animal protein. If it starts out with chicken, and chicken meal (or another another named animal meal, such as lamb meal) is number 2 or 3 on the list, chances are the product contains a greater amount of animal protein. Animal proteins tend to be more palatable than plant proteins and offer more essential and non essential amino acids.
Some more information about The Whole Dog Journal:
This can help you decide if you think you are feeding your dogs are good source of nutrition by reading the labels and comparing.
To determine how they rate certain dog foods they look for foods that contain high quality animal proteins. They say they would love it if manufacturers disclosed the % of meat, poultry or fish in their food, but rarely do, so they look for foods that appear to have lots of animal protein.
Ingredients are listed by weight, so ideally a food will have one or two animal proteins in the first few ingredients. THIS IS SIGNIFICANT TO LOOK FOR WHEN DOING YOUR OWN RESEARCH!!!
Understand that whole meat (chicken, beef, lamb, etc.) contains a lot of water weight. If a food list starts out with chicken (rather than chicken meal) and there is no other animal protein listed until 5th or 6th on the list, the food does not actually contain a lot of animal protein. If it starts out with chicken, and chicken meal (or another another named animal meal, such as lamb meal) is number 2 or 3 on the list, chances are the product contains a greater amount of animal protein. Animal proteins tend to be more palatable than plant proteins and offer more essential and non essential amino acids.
Some more information about The Whole Dog Journal:
- They do not like foods containing meat-by-products or poultry by-products. Its just about impossible to ascertain the quality of by-products used by a food manufacturer.
- They reject foods containing fat or protein NOT identified by species. "Animal fat" is a another word for low quality low priced mix of fats of uncertain origin. "meat meal" could be practically anything.
- They look for whole grains and veggies.
- They eliminate ALL foods with Artificial Colors, Flavors, or Preservatives.
- Good quality natural preservatives such as rosemary extract and vitamins E and C can be used.
- They eliminate All foods with added sweeteners. Dogs, like people, enjoy sweet foods.Llike people, they can develop a taste for these nutritionally empty calories...
- They look for products containing organic or human grade ingredients .
This can help you decide if you think you are feeding your dogs are good source of nutrition by reading the labels and comparing.
Additional sources for food nutritional information for your dogs:
- What's REALLY in your dogs food? This will scare you!
The Dog food project - Ingredients to Avoid - This is one of the best sites I have found on feeding
Dog Aware.com - Diet Options for dog - Something as simple as giving your dog Sardines (in water) once a week is so beneficial!!
A great read about this: Sardines- A "Super Hero Food" by Diane Jansey, Canine Nutritionist