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| My dog food journal |
Yesterday, I briefly described
my dog food journal. This plain black & white composition notebook also evolved into tracking food intake and noting observations. There was so much information to sort out – daunting, discouraging like a brick wall. I was determined to figure this out as government regulations and pet food makers were no help at all. I’m talking about standards by USDA, FDA, AAFCO and label claims like “complete & balanced,” “formulated to meet nutritional levels,” “natural & holistic,” “organic ingredients,” “human-grade ingredients.” Seriously, what does it all mean? Even the authoritative publication for veterinarians
Small Animal Clinical Nutrition (Michael S. Hand et al) seemed elusive to the typical pet owner. With help from
dogzoomies and others, I think I sorted through the mess and compiled my
go to web resources to follow the pet food industry:
I will not tell you
how to select better dog foods (resources above already do an excellent job) but I’ll share what is working for us:
feed variety and rotate foods. This means I provide a variety of protein sources plus water, fresh foods and supplements. The base of this feeding method is high-quality dry food and on a 3-day or 5-day rotation, I simply add “toppers” to the dry food. No matter what toppers I mix with the dry food adding ¼ cup to ½ cup of water is a must. Toppers include wet (canned) food, home-prepared cooked foods, home-prepared raw foods, commercial frozen raw foods, dehydrated raw food mixes, and other fresh foods. To change it up, I will feed cooked or raw meals exclusively.
This method of feeding gives me flexibility with a monthly budget and it is easy to do, especially if you are already preparing meals for yourself in the kitchen.
Convenient. Fresh foods have moisture, enzymes, natural vitamins, minerals and trace elements that processed dog food lacks. I never run out of food because I always have something in the refrigerator or freezer that the dogs can eat. Josey & Lucas (and my foster BCs) look forward to each mealtime and devour everything in their bowls.
The border collies eat twice a day – morning & evening – which suits their active metabolisms. They get ½ cup to 1 cup of dry food per meal (1 to 2 cups per day) – depending on their weight, activity level and the season. This means I tend to feed less than the guidelines printed on the bag. On average, I rotate to another dry food of a different protein every 1 to 3 months (i.e., fish → turkey or chicken → venison or beef → fish, etc.). Although I have favorite brands of dry food, I always ask myself:
What is the current condition of each dog? What is the kcal/cup of the dry food? What is the guaranteed analysis of % protein, % fat and % carbohydrate? What are the ingredients?
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| Notes on ACANA Pacifica dry food |
To keep Josey & Lucas
lean at 40-45 pounds, I aim for 1,000-1,100 total calories per day (dry food + toppers + supplements + treats). Sometimes less, sometimes more. Their activity level can be characterized as
active; they exercise 3-4 times per day for 30-60 minutes per outing. This does not include indoor & backyard playtime.
Of course, all of this is highly dependent on the weather. We’ve noticed they put on weight in the summer because hot weather (with overheating, exhaustion, poor air quality, etc.) limits the amount of exercise. Lucas can’t stand anything over 80 degrees and Josey no longer tolerates the heat as much as when she was younger. In fall/winter, exercise doubles because we all love, love, love cold, wet weather.
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| brochures of dehydrated raw food mixes |
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| wet (canned) food labels |
This post is just a snapshot of
how I feed and
what I feed. How do I sum it up? Three words:
Variety. Rotation. Flexibility. Must be doin’ something right ‘cuz Josey & Lucas are healthy, strong, beautiful. We often receive compliments from passers by.
Future posts will detail our favorite dry foods, supplements, toppers, fresh foods, etc. Hope you are intrigued and you keep visiting us!
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