Red meat / Dairy?

Question
Hi Kazza,this is in no way intended to sound cheeky but i
was wondering if you could clarify something for me?
I have 2 female bichon frise and i am a bit confused about a
couple of things. I look to your expertise and have asked
you questions in the past but i have noticed that you
recommend red meat and eggs and butter in some of the
answers. I have always been told by my vet that you shouldnt
give red meat or dairy as the bichons are prone to allergys
etc. I have always tried never to give these in the diet.

Is it ok to feed red meat? Are eggs considered dairy? My
dogs would love scrambled eggs but i have never given them
because of this.
please kazza could you answer this for me as i am a little
confused and view your opinion.

thanks


Answer
Hi Adele
Glad you asked me this, in reality Bichons are no more prone to allergies than any other dog. Some rather daft breeders will have you believe that they cant have red meat, they cant have protein and they cant have dairy, all is not truthful per se.
Bichons and in fact all dogs need protein (Dalmations slightly different diets ) they are made to digest protein and all foods quickly and excess protein does no harm , its a old wives tale that too much protein makes poor bones and damages kidneys, Research shows this not to be true.
Quality red meats like steak are great for dogs , all mine and most members of our website have now changed to a natural fresh diet that includes all meats, eggs, goats products etc and all have substantially improved.
All new diets should commence with an elimination aspect and slowly over a minimum of 3 weeks all new foods can be introduced this is important if dogs have been on dry diets which I could not recommend for these breeds at all. Start by giving goats milk and eggs as a scrambled egg, then introduce goats milk cheese and yoghurt. Then introduce white meats and fresh veg like carrots, cucumber, spinach (sparingly), mashed pots, apple, pear etc if no problems, then introduce oily fishes such as tinned pilchards (drained of course) mackeral deboned, salmon cooked, etc then start after two weeks adding quality steak, lamb and minced meats, chicken, turkey, beef all cooked or warmed through if you want a raw diet just soak in warm water then feed.

Stools will become harder so add some benefiber in the water, the size of stolls will reduce as you only feed 150-200g food per day that includes all treats too. They become less frequent at pooping and usually settle at once per day.
Hope this helps.
A food diary should be kept when starting a new diet and all results recorded as that is how you know what foods your own dogs dont like in their diet. Like with humans all diets are individually based. In the transition period some dogs stools may be looser this will settle once the dogs stomach is used to real food.