supplements

Question
QUESTION: I feed my dogs Nutrisource.  Ingredients seem very good and my dogs love it.  Some say I should be giving supplements such as Nuvet to my dogs but others say they don't need it and it could harm them.  I'm confused.  Also my dogs are Golden Retrievers, are they considered large breed?  What about calcium levels for growing puppies?

ANSWER: Hi Cathy,

I looked at Nutrisource and while it wouldn't be my top choice, it's not a bad food either. A little low in protein/high in carb, but much better than the IAMS/PURINA/Science Diet usuals.

Let's talk a moment about supplements. Whenever I am asked about supplementing a commercial diet, I recommend three things for a healthy dog; probiotics, green foods, and fishoils (with additional Vitamin E). There is not only no need to add vitamins and moinerals to a commerical diet, it can actually unbalance the nutrients and create more problems than it helps. Formulas are not my favourite things, because they generally have too much of a given nutrient to be wise or too little to be effective. I know it's more work, but adding targeted supplements individually is a whole lot more intelligent. The foods do a good job of providing vitamins and minerals; but most of these diets can benefit from some extra Omega3, some probiotics for gut health/immunity, and a supergreen food like spirulina (whihc does contain some nutrient, but small amounts of things that I'd prefer to keep an eye on).

Mind you, if the food isn't a good match for the individual dog, throwing supplements at it isn't a great plan either. It sounds like your pack are doing well on the Nutrisource, so I'd look at perhaps a fish oil capsule per day - 1000mg with a high level of fatty acids EPA and DHA - and an extra 100 IU of a natural source Vitamin E. I'd try adding that only for a while, and then consider a probiotic. I give my own dogs green tripe twice a week and a probiotic three times. I think we can go overboard with adding things we don't really need. I save the extensive supplement lists for dogs who are dealing with cancer or heart disease or multiple issues.

Goldens are considered a large breed, yes they are.

Calcium for pups is a bit of a trick, because they require more than adults but it's also important ot to go overpoard or you risk encouraging skeletal deformities that can affect any part of the developing dog - elbows, feet, hips, stifle - I've seen many sad cases where too much mineral was fed to a pup, especially the giant breeds, with disastrous results. My advice is to NEVER add eggshell or bonemeal or any supplement with calcium to the diet of a growing dog. Minerals also  require a delicate balnce - a ratio - and adding too much of one can affect the absorption and utilization of another. For that critical first year, feed one of the new puppy foods for large breed dogs, and don't add anything. Or if you want to homefeed, have a professional guide you. The greatest mistakes I see professionally are when owners try to homefeed puppies. Use a premium food and be watchful of extras, and you'll be fine.

To sum up; generally speaking, I like to see commercial diets enhanced with some fresh foods (meats, fish, eggs, yogurt, poultry, veggies and fruit) and with fish body oils (never cod liver oil with kibble) some E, a probiotic (one a day of a quality brand such as Udo's Choice) and possible a half teaspoon of a quality spirulina like Earthwise. (All of these are available at www.iherb.com, and Monica Segal makes an outstanding line of products, available at her site www.monicasegal.com).

I hope this helps, if you need more detail don't hesitate to ask. I appreciate how confusing the reams of (often) misniformation   that's out there can be.
All the best, Catherine

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: May I ask what kind of commercial food you would recommend?  I'm willing to give my dogs anything to keep them healthy.  Cathy

Answer
Hi again Cathy,

You know, it can be really tricky making general suggestions about diet. I have seen websites recently where various dogfoods were rated , and only the very high protein foods got top marks. This is very simplistic and misleading, and of the high protein foods I have some serious issues with several that were rated very highly. the bottom line is that ALL processed foods have pros and cons (I'm talking premium foods here, I won't even look at the overpriced junk foods) - and it can be a matter of finding the nutrient levels(protein/fat/fiber) that best suit your individual. My own dog gets very amped up and hyper on super high protein, so obviously those foods (Orijen, EVO) are not for him. And so on.

but without talking your ear off about this, I can list a few companies I am impressed with, have had good experiences/results with, and that offer foods that meet MY rather exacting standards. (My viewpoint is of you are paying as much as 75$ a bag, it BETTER be good!) The good news is that there are a wide range of topnotch products you can experiment with, foods that range in protein content from low (20%) to conservative (25-30%) to very high (44 is the highest I've encountered).

So...some I like? Would have to include:

Natural Balance
www.naturalbalanceinc.com
http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dogformulas/dry.html


Fromm (the FourStar line and especially the duck and sweet potato)
http://www.frommfamily.com/products-fs.php


This is my current favourite product of them all:
http://www.championpetfoods.com/acana/

Other good foods include Wellness (CORE and Superfive) Innova, California Natural and some of the Nature's Variety line.

When you look at these sites you will see a range of different nutrient levels and ingredients.

Golden Retrievers are, as you no doubt know, prone to several different health conditions, notably skin and coat problems, allergies, cancer and orthopedic issues. I might look at a food with a novel protein (like duck()grain free (Fromm Four Star and Acana Provincials fit that bill) and start with a moderate level protein. You might consider mixing the Fromm FourStar with the Acana  Grasslands, which is what I do when I can't cook for my dog. Some supplementation - joint support as well as the aforementioned fish oils and Vitamin E, for example, could be healthy additions as well.

I would love to hear if you decide to use any of these, and how your dogs do. Best wishes! Keep up the good work. :)

Catherine