home prepared food

Question
QUESTION: Hi, I have a 12 month old Labrador retriever called Joy. I feed him thrice a day homemade wheat bread(what we eat in India) with a cup of curd, sometimes I also add along one boiled egg or some boiled chicken.
He has a huge appetite for food and yet appears quite slim and is thin at its stomach.

Please advice on diet and quantity that I can easily prepare at home because I cant afford the dog food.
I have another query, is it true that dogs should not be fed food containing sugar, salt or potatoes.
Thank you for your time.

ANSWER: Hi Jogeshwar,


Your boy is likely slim, because it seems to me he requires more food - he needs a higher caloric intake daily than what I'm estimating you feed.  An average size lab  (65- 80 pounds) needs anywhere from 1500 - 2000 calories a day, depending on exercise level and weight. In addition, I don't advise the regular feeding of bread, since anything made with wheat contains gluten, and over time some serious health conditions may develop. The canine gut was evolved to digest meat, pooultry, bone - animal products - and doesn't deal well with gluten, although other carbohydrates may be digested. I suggest replacing the bread with rice and increasing the amount of egg, chicken etc, use some organ meats perhaps once a week and beef 2 - 3 times. Dogs also thrive on diets that contain fish, especially coldwater, fatty fish such as sardines, salmon etc. Try to emphasize animal proteins, and use rice instead of bread and you've made a move in the right direction.

I'm not sure what you mean by curd, is this a dairy product like yogurt?


NOTE: I am not encouraging overfeeding, it's nice to see a Lab on the lean side; studies have show that leaner animals live longer lives and have far lower incidences of joint conditions and other illnesses such as diabetes.
It's true that dogs should not be fed a lot of sugar or salt. they have a high tolerance for dietary sodium but that doesn't mean it's good for them, and refined sugar isn't good for anyone, much less a dog. Occasional sweet treats aren't likely to hurt, but since your dog will love a healthy treat like some liver just as much, why use sugar at all? Potatoes are more controversial. They offer some nutritional benefits such as high potassium, Vitamin B6, and manganese, but they also contain an alkaloid called solanine that can aggravate inflammation and my exacerbate related conditions, such as arthritis.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=george&dbid=62

Personally I do not include white potatoes in my own dog's regular diets, but I do use sweet potato regularly as it is also high in fiber, potassium, beta carotene - and contains no alkaloids.
I would think that occasional use of white potato is ok but feeding it as a staple is inadvisable.

I hope this helps - and of course, let me know if I can help more.
Catherine

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

QUESTION: Thanks for the advice,
Curd is also a dairy product very similar to yoghurt.Is better to feed curd instead of milk.I feed my dog thrice a day, how many times should I feed him and at what times?

Answer
Hi again Jogeshwar,

I would prefer to see the curd, since many dogs have trouble digetsing plain milk, but can handle yogurt. If he doesn't have any diarrhea with the curd, I'd consider it successful and go ahead using it. I feed plain yogurt to my own dogs, a little at night and they both do well on it, but I have seen many cases of intolerance. I would stick with it and avoid milk.

As for frequencey and timing. I recomend twice a day at a minimum. I feed mine three times, and they simply eat when I do, but this isn't always feasible, in which case twice is acceptable. I prefer to always provide a snack before bed, a biscuit or two perhaps? to prevent vomiting bile in the morning. The exact timing is less important than is consistency. Try to feed regularly, at the same time daily. Dogs are pretty adaptable - well, most healthy individuals are - but a regular feeding schedule is to their advantage, digestion-wise.

Hope this helps a little, Catherine