feeding Staff Dog

Question
I have a very spoilt 18month old Staff Dog. He will only eat fresh Meat,Chicken,Steak (Not my doing). I have tried all the well balanced dog foods still no good. I have now had to resort to ox hearts. how much in LBS a day should he be eating? I will continue to offer him dry dog food.

Answer
Hi Maureen,

It's okay to supplement dog food with fresh meats, but by feeding a dog a diet of only meat, he probably isn't receiving all the nutrients and micro-nutrients he needs. Dogs, unlike cats, are not true carnivores. They need to eat foods besides meat.

By giving into your dog's food whims, you're actually training him to be finicky. What you need to do is pick a dog food, and stick with it!

Your dog may turn up his nose for a day or two, but he WILL eat the food you've chosen when he gets hungry enough. It's just that he knows (through past experience) that if he waits long enough, something he prefers will be "served".

At mealtimes, put down his food bowl, and leave the room. Return in 15 minutes, and pick up the food bowl. That's it. Mealtime is over! No snacks should be given between meals, and at the next meal time, repeat this new mealtime regimen.
Your dog will not starve if he misses a few meals, but that's what it may take to show your dog you're not kidding.

For a 60 pound day, his daily diet should be comprised of:

40% Meat(Cook meat before feeding it to your dog.)

30% Vegetables (carrots, green beans, cooked yams, zucchini, spinach or cabbage, peas, and  broccoli. If you are serving these vegetables raw, grate them finely to make them easier to digest.)

30% Starch (grains such as barley, oatmeal, rice or cooked pasta, or boiled potatoes)

Two samples of homemade diets for an active dog:

1 lb. of meat with the fat included
2 cups of cooked cream of wheat
1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
1 hard-boiled egg
2 T. brewers yeast
3 T. sugar
1 T. vegetable oil
1 t. potassium chloride
1 t. calcium phosphate
1 t. calcium carbonate
Multi-vitamin/mineral tablet (crushed)

or

1 lb. of ground meat with the fat included
4 hard-boiled eggs
1 cup cooked oatmeal
1 cooked potato
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup raw carrot
1/2 cup raw green vegetables
3 T. olive oil
2 T. minced garlic
Multi-vitamin/mineral tablet (crushed)

Rotate the foods you feed your dog so that the dog gets a variety of foods. Keep cooked dog food in the refrigerator no longer than three days.

If a homemade diet is not properly balanced it can be worse for your pet than commercial diets. You should run any diet you're considering past your veterinarian, before you start feeding it to your dog.

Once a dog gets used to eating a homemade diet it probably will not go back to commercial food. So don't start making your own dog food if you can't do it for the long haul.

Best of luck,

Patti