Doberman area - Doberman health and nutrition

Doberman Area - doberman health and nutrition

Expert: Laura Murphy
Date: 8/7/2007
Subject: dog nutrition

Question
QUESTION: We have a new doberman puppy who is now six months old...I have transitioned him from the adult diet the breeder was feeding and he is now eating avoderm puppy kibble. I want to assure that he is getting the absolute best nutrition to avoid medical problems later in life (such as joint problems) I have been looking into some organic diets and holistic diets and also have considered a home cooked diet which I used years ago to nurse my Anatolian back to health. Do you have any recommendations? Also, have you heard the controversy about feeding dobie pups adult food to avoid rapid growth? thank-you

ANSWER: Hi Leticia.

I'm a huge advocate of natural diets. My personal favorite is a raw diet consisting of at least 75% raw meat and bones (I use chicken, turkey, and rabbit bones and meat from beef, pork, etc.), 10% organ meat (liver, heart, kidney, tripe, etc.) and 15% veggies (ground raw or cooked). I also like any healthy home cooked diets provided they include bone meal for the correct levels of calcium and phosphorus (in the absence of feeding the bones themselves in a raw diet). I have some clients that are on their 3rd and 4th generation raw fed dogs (many large - labs, and mastiffs) and they couldn't be healthier.

I believe that if the dog is getting his natural diet of meat (as opposed to a commercial kibble) that the formula doesn't have to differ for pups (except that they get a greater amount of food per pound of body weight than an adult).

If you are used to home cooking, I would recommend that wholeheartedly. If you have the resources to use (or supplement) with some raw meaty bones, that would be great. If not, there's a great site out there that rates the dry dog foods available. It's www.dogfoodanalysis.com and they do a wonderful job of rating commercial dog foods based solely on their ingredients. If you don't see the food you want there, you can submit it and they will review it and add it to the site.

If you go the commercial route, I would highly recomment getting one of their 5 or 6 star foods.

Hope this helps.

QUESTION: Laura,
Thank-you so much for the lightening fast response to my question. Now I have a couple more questions! One is how do I guard against my pups getting salmonella from raw meat (especially chicken which was found to contain it in 80% of market birds) and are their any dangers with bones in certain cuts of meat? I am assuming that the raw diet uses whole peices uncooked (it is how I have seen it done)
Also, the cooked diet that I found so great was one I kinda improvised using a meat and rice combination. I would use brown rice, garlic, ground beef, fish,or chicken and then would add carrots, parsley, cottage cheese, yogurt...however this was a recuperative diet and since it was not long term I am not sure about how I could ensyre that they were getting all the vitamins and minerals...how much bone meal and what type..?? Would you think that a home cooked diet would be better than the best of the kibble diets which are low temp cooked with human grade meat? I did notice that when my dogs were on the diet that I cooked their coats were beautiful their breath smelled way better...I thought maybe a combination of these diets but want to make sure that I am providing all that they need. My other dog is a border collie mix who is 6 years old and has suffered with joint problems from valley fever.
Thanks again for your time, Leticia

Answer
Hi Leticia.

The recuperative diet you were feeding sounds like a good one, although I would leave out the garlic. It can be toxic to some dogs.

If you're going to feed raw, there is really no "bad" bones, depending on the size of the dog and his tendency to gulp or not chew well. I used to feed chicken wings, backs, necks, frames, turkey necks and backs, pork neck bones, and small beef bones, but I now grind everything because I find it to be easier on my sensitive dog's digestive system.

When you feed a raw diet, you are buying the same human grade meat you would feed your family. Salmonella is rarely a problem for dogs. Consider the fact that if left in the wild, a dog will eat road kill and other "nasty" stuff with no ill effects. Their digestive system is short and designed to pass small quantities of these bacterias through without a problem. The only time salmonella would be an issue is that it can be excreted in the feces, so if you have children, you'd want to make sure that the waste is always picked up and disposed of promptly, as it could be passed along in that manner.

If you feed whole raw bones, there have been known issues of dogs choking on them if they don't chew them properly. If your dog chews them, no problem, but if not, you would need to hack them into bite-sized pieces.

If you don't want to feed the bones, there are so many other alternatives. You could get one of the 5-star or 6-star dog foods on that site I gave you and leave it at that, or you could feed that for one meal a day and good, healthy people-food for the other. I think that a range of healthy food (meat, liver, gizzards, fish, veggies, etc.) is the best thing for dogs and if you feed the good quality dog food as well, you won't worry about missing out on nutrition. If you're going to feed a home cooked diet with bone meal, purchase something like the NOW brand (available online at a million sites) and use the recommended amount by body weight.

Feeding our dogs is so much easier than the pet food companies would have you believe. A good variety of healthy foods over a lifetime will maintain good health.

For his joint problems, I would highly recommend a blend of glucosamine, chondroitin, and MSM. Here's a link to read more about that. I've had some positively amazing results from this particular formula. Dogs that couldn't previously walk up and down stairs were running around the yard chasing groundhogs after a week.

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