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 Chiot Manchester Puppy!

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We hope you enjoy browsing on our Web site on the Manchester Terrier and that you will find lots of useful information .

NANcy & ROXanne

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CHAPTER 4

 

Common Problems with Home Produced Dog Foods

Unfortunately, many of the people who realise that commercially produced dog food does not produce worthwhile results, devise and cook up something which is in essence not very different from the processed food they were worried about.  As a consequence, the results in terms of the health of their dog is not a whole lot better.

Not uncommonly, home produced dog food suffers from both excesses and deficiencies of various nutrients.  A common deficiency is essential fatty acids.  There are commonly vitamin and mineral deficiencies as well.

A major problem with these home cooked foods is that because they are all soft and mushy, they produce in the dog that eats them, poor dental health, which in turn adversely affects the dog’s general health

 

THE ‘’STEW’’

Rice, pasta, veggies and some meat cooked up into a stew seems to be what most people devise.  This recipe is pretty similar to that followed the pet food companies.  A grain based diet with added meat.

That is why most of the nutritional problems associated with commercial dog foods are also true of home cooked stews.  It does depend on the ingredients, but even when these appear excellent, the results are still less than desirable.  This is particularly so when grain based foods such as rice and pasta form the bulk of these diets.

The main problem apart from the cereal base and no bones is that stews, in common with most home produced dog food are cooked.  This means they will be lacking in many vitamins, food enzymes, and natural anti-oxidants.

A related problem, is that because stews are a cooked all-in-together type of food, there is the possibility of interaction between nutrients, making some of those nutrients unavailable.  There will be none of the benefits to health of food separation.

On the plus side, the product will not be a mystery bag.  The cook can ensure that only good quality ingredients are used with no added flavourings or colourings, and it is unlikely to contain toxic materials.  The mix would probably contain a whole lot more vegetables than are used in the commercial product.

However, in the final analysis, my experience with these stews, is that they do not produce good results in terms of the health, reproductive ability and longevity of dogs.  The results are sometimes better than seen in the dog fed on commercial dog foods, but not good enough for me to recommend this method of feeding.

 

A COMMON ERROR – THE SINGLE ITEM DIET

One of the most common feeding errors made by dog owners attempting to formulate a diet for their dog, is to feed only a single food item.

Sometimes lots of different foods are offered, but the dog selects the one he or she wants.  This is particularly so in the case of small dogs.  Usually, larger dogs are ‘’general stomachs’’ and will eat anything offered.  What follows are some of the single item diets that people feed their dogs, or which the dog selects.

 

Feeding all or Mostly Organ Meats

This is not terribly common in dogs.  It mostly happens with cats.  However, I have seen it done.

One dog fed that way on a steady diet of liver, kidney, tongue, heart, brains and a bit of steak.  For a couple of months he looked fantastic, because he had been switched from a commercial dog food diet to this new diet was giving him much that had been missing from his previous diet of dry dog food.  For a while his body was back in balance.

However, as time went by, his body became unbalanced in other directions.  He became very lethargic, developed skin problems, arthritis, and started vomiting after nearly every meal.

He had developed a form of hepatitis, and had a very high cholesterol reading.  He required mounts on a low protein, mostly vegetable diet to regain a semblance of normality.

This diet of organ meat was excessive for calories, protein, phosphorus, vitamin A and was very deficient in calcium.  It probably had other imbalances, but these were the obvious ones.

In short, don’t do it!

Of course feeding organ meat to your dog in small amounts as part of a balanced diet is great.  Very good for your dog.  It only becomes a problem when it is the only food item fed.

 

Feeding Mostly Fish

 

Once again, this is more likely to be a problem with cats.  It is mostly a problem when only the flesh is fed.  Do not feed your dog on an all fish diet, particularly if the flesh is the only thing you feed.  There will be problems.  Raw fish flesh can contain an enzyme which destroys vitamin B1, and if the fish is exceptionally oily, your dog may develop a vitamin E deficiency as well.  Oily fats go rancid easily.  In the process, they use up vitamin E.

Of course fish flesh as a small part of a balanced food programme for you dog is fine.  Just don’t feed it as the only food fed.

A number of people I have spoken to over the years have fed their dog on lots of whole fish … raw … including the head, the guts and the bones.  Their dogs did not have problems.  Presumably, because when the whole fish was fed, any missing nutrients, e.g.  B vitamins and vitamin E were supplied by the brain and the eyes and the intestines of the fish.

 

Feeding Your Dog an All Meat Diet

  • This is a very common feeding error.

Lots of people feed their dog on a meat only diet as a simple and hopefully more healthy alternative to any of the commercial dog foods.  Sometimes cooked, sometimes raw.  It also happens a lot with little dogs owned by the elderly.  Little dogs usually train their older owners to feed them single food items, and that single food item is commonly meat.

Over the years I have seen many dogs, fed on mostly cooked meat, develop problems such as arthritis, eczema, kidney and heart disease and very commonly cancer.

It is common for the dog food companies to use this feeding error, the all meat diet, because of the problems it causes, as the reason dog owners should use their product.  Dogs switched from an all meat diet to a commercial dog food will do exceptionally well – for a while, and then gradually decline in health as the problems inherent in the commercial product take over.

So what is wrong with an all meat diet?  Surely that is what wild dogs eat?  Yes they do, plus a whole lot more besides!

Meat fed by itself is a totally unbalanced diet for a dog.

First and foremost, meat only contains a minute fraction, about 4% of a dog’s calcium requirements.  This is disastrous when puppies are fed this way, and no good for adult dogs in the long term either.

That meat only diet is also deficient in iodine, copper, vitamin A, vitamin E and vitamin D.  On top of that, an all meat diet is excessive in both protein and phosphorus.

Feeding an all meat diet to a growing pup will totally ruin that pup in about a month.  It will take longer to see problems in an older dog.

A lot of people try to correct the deficiencies in an all meat diet by adding calcium.  A common figure is two teaspoons of calcium carbonate per kg of meat.  That may correct the calcium deficiency, but it does nothing for those other deficiencies and excesses I have outlined.

In short, the all meat diet is a disastrous way to feed any dog, but is particularly bad for growing puppy.  Don’t do it!

However, that is not to say that you should not feed your dog or your growing puppy meat.  Of course you should.  You just have to feed it as part of a balanced diet.  Not as the only thing fed.

 

Feeding Table Scraps Only as Dog Food

Almost everybody who has asked their vet what they should feed their dog has had the experience of being told not to feed table scraps.  They are told that if they MUST feed their dogs table scraps, under no circumstances should those table scraps make up more that 25% of the diet.  The remainder absolutely must be provided from balanced good quality commercial dog food.

Why do vets say that?  After all, for most of their evolutionary history as an associate of man, dogs have lived on the scraps from man’s dinner table.

The reason your vet advises you not to feed table scraps is because he or she knows that in many cases, feeding table scraps as the major part of the diet can result in a diet that is highly unbalanced.

Vets have notices that when table scraps are fed to dogs, they mostly consist of two food groups … fat and carbohydrates.  That is, they are mostly meat trimmings, which are nearly all fat, and vegetables, which are carbohydrates.  Sometimes there will be a lot of gravy, which of course is fat and carbohydrate also.

We know that if that was all the dog ate, or that was what made up the bulk of the dog’s diet, that dog would soon be showing signs of gross nutrient deficiencies.

Such a diet is almost totally lacking in protein, unless some of the meat is included, and it is also completely lacking in minerals, particularly calcium.  It is probably also deficient in a number of vitamins.  In short, it is a recipe for disaster.

A diet, that is low in protein and minerals would rapidly cause problems in a growing pup, and would eventually cause problems in an adult dog.

A major problem seen in adult dogs fed this sort of diet is obesity.  This is because such table scraps, consisting as they do of loads of fat, carbohydrates and water, are very palatable.  A dog eating these all the time would become very obese.

Part of this problem is that many dogs become addicted to such food… refusing to eat anything else.  In fact, as they become more obese, and more unhealthy due to such an unbalanced diet, they even more stubbornly refuse all other food.

Once again, table scraps as part of a diet based on raw meaty bones are fine for your dog.  This is the way dogs have eaten for centuries.  However, as the only food fed over a long period of time, they are usually not a healthy balanced way to feed a dog.

For more information on feeding table scraps to your dog please refer to Chapter 15.