I’m posting this letter and my reply because I think so many of you are still unclear how and what to feed and feel paralyzed with indecision. Take heart! wing it! Experiment!
My name is Isis. I met you at Camp Unleashed in September when you gave a talk on nutrition and I was there with my arthritic sheltie mix Kobe and my one eyed Shih Tzu, Lexi. I was wondering what type of dry dog food do you recommend? I bought your book the The Dog Bible and I am currently reading Anne Martin’s Food Pets Die For I am sooo confused! I am currently feeding them Wellness. The more I learn, the more confused I am! I need help!! Thank you for your time!!
Isis, Kobe & Lexi
BTW, I LOVE your book!
Hi Isis-
I remember you well with your sweet doggy family – it was so touching to me that you brought your pooches to camp even with their challenges. Forgive my delay in answering; I’ve been traveling and swamped with emails.
Don’t despair! Tracie’s Balanced Feeding Plan is really not that tough. My website is FULL of blogs and Q&A’s on dog food choices.
It’s not about which dry food I recommend – because there are 20 great ones and I switch off all the time – changing brands and ingredients is a key to balance.
Ann Martin is vehemently against any kibble but I think that is unrealistic — my own dogs get a very small amount with their meals, only 1/4 cup, but I think other people may not be able to afford the time or expense of depending on the more costly or time consuming ingredients.
My basic message is that kibble should only be about 1/3 of your dog’s food — you need to give them less processed forms of protein for at least 1/3 of their diet. That can mean canned food (lots of good brands on my website on a pdf file) or eggs, cottage cheese, chicken, beef or really any leftover protein source from your meals.
The Honest Kitchen (you got a sample in your doggy bag at Camp Unleashed) just came out with a more economical flavor called KEEN and that’s a brilliant affordable way to give them top quality turkey (raw, dehydrated and totally safe & nutritious) along with some freshly dehydrated vegetables. My dogs have been eating Honest Kitchen for years and years as a foundation of each meal.
For the final third of their meal my dogs get a mixture of cooked starches and vegetables – including oatmeal, rice, shredded sweet potato and carrot, leafy green vegetables frozen peas and string beans, squash, zucchini celery — everything I can get my hands on.
You MUST supplement with omega-3 oils and I wonder if you’ve been giving the dogs a capsule each day from the bottle of Nordic Natural fish oil capsules that everybody got in their doggy bag?? That is a true health tonic and should help with arthritis as well as coat and skin health and many other issues.
Don’t feel intimidated — just trust your instincts to give a balanced diet and play around with it. Anything is better than an all kibble diet.
Good luck!
Tracie
