Healthy supplementation?

I add all kinds of things to Willow's regular dog food.  The yogurt I just buy low fat vanilla and freeze it in ice cube trays.  And, then I give her two cubes when I give it to her which is probably once every other day or so.

I add salmon, turkey, roast beef to her food.  And, I add in egg whites sometimes.  Usually everything is just a heaping tablespoon or maybe two tablespoons if I'm being generous if she hasn't had any snacks between meals. 

I give a multi vitamin to her daily and Welactin supplement. 

Our cats pretty much get all the meats she gets added to their food too.  I try to limit the dairy with them though.  Unless it's that Lactose milk then I'll give them some of that. 

 

 

My dogs each get a heaping tablespoon of plain yogurt and a 1000mg salmon oil capsule in the morning and a glucosamine/chondroiton tablet with dinner.  Sometimes I'll also give canned plain pumpkin, canned dog food, plain applesauce, etc.  My parents' old dog loved oatmeal with apples and carrots. :)

 Fish is great! Canned fish is a bit cheaper. Wild caught salmon, and sardines in spring water are what I do, unless I really feel like cooking fish to stink up the house. The canned fish has bones that are mushy, which is great, for the calcium.

 

Ena has been getting raw patties in her kibble, lately. I got a deal on some NV organic chicken patties. I've gone back to kibble, for the sake of convenience and balance, but I'll always throw stuff on top. It just gives the dogs that glow. 

Not everyone is going to tell you raw is great. I do think it's great, if it works....but, it doesn't always pan out as easy as it appears too. Some dogs may do great and wonderful, but you still have to find good quality sources along with affordablility, and in some areas of the country that's not always feasible. That's what I'm running into.

The only thing I can find affordable RMB wise for my big guy is chicken quarters; with one of us having lost our job recently, I can't afford the ground turkey and other meat sources in the quantity I was able to before to sustain his energy requirement...and I actually found that he was starting to lose weight again with the heat.

We started him back onto Orijen adult almost 3 weeks ago, he gets that every other day for one or two meals; with rotating meals of fresh foods, including canned salmon, RMB's, veggies, various odds/ends....he actually has more energy, and doesn't seem to lose his zest between 2-5pm like he did before. Before it was almost like something was missing, even when is weight was sustained, it's like a child who's sugar level would drop between lunch and dinner.

My other 2 dogs are strictly on homemade diets, but they're nothing to prepare for, they don't eat much. They get Orijen as snacks, but not as a platform.

My theory, honestly, is a good basis diet, whatever that may be, and additions thrown in; whether or not the basis is dog food or fresh foods.

I have fed SO many different ways, I think I've tried just about everything. I generally come back to this: Base of Kibble, plus a meat/veg mixture in the morning and then evening meal is kibble and yogurt or kefir or cottage cheese. 1-2 times a week they get a raw chicken wing or beef knuckle bone if I can find it. They also get a lot of toddler 'crumbs' as well! The meat/veg mixture is 1 pound of beef, turkey, pork, fish, or chicken. Then a good cup or so of veggies (sometimes fresh, sometimes frozen) which are chopped or ground. I cook these up in some water and add an egg with shell. The package in rubbermaid containers, freeze one and put the other in teh frige. The dogs get one spoonful of that on top of their kibble. Then the evening add-ins are pretty self explanitory. They also LOVE to have their bi-weekly raw chicken wings and it does a great job with their teeth as well. Bloodwork's been fine on all 3 dogs.

I tried so very hard to keep my big dog off of kibble; as there are only two companies I trust; Naturapet products and Champion/Orijen, but sometimes it can actually be for the best of all parties. He actually does seem to have more energy, but he is still getting mostly fresh foods.

 

I think supplementing with whole foods is very important. In addition to their staple of natural balance salmon and potato kibble, my 11 year old dog gets raw egg,plain goat yogurt,chicken,and fruit. I also give bully sticks twice a week to keep his teeth clean. Dogs go NUTS over bully sticks, unlike rawhide, it's 100% digestible and made up of alomost 100% protein. And unlike rawhide, your dog won't want to leave it for a minute until they've muched up every last bit. And whenever you can get them for cheap, raw beef and pork ribs are also a hit.