Do you all supplement?

[Jeff]

I reading through this, I think the confusion is coming in from the word "supplement". I think most of us here think of supplement as pills and powders added to food, you know the GNC route. Which no, there is no reason to add that stuff unless you are facing a problem. Like Snowshoe said adding MSM/Glucosamine/Chondroitin is good for the joints, but if you have a young dog with healthy joints, there is no real need to add it. Same a a human child, you don't need to add that to their diet. Sure they might take it as a senior but not as a child or middle age adult. This is where you may face obstacles on this forum because there is no need for this kind of thing really. Instead of fish oil, I would instead give them a sardine. But really under 1 year old unless you have an issue there is no need to add things. You don't need to for Human children and you shouldn't for dog children.

However, I think from reading your post you are asking if people add real food to the dogs diet then yes. Most of us do, we add them as "Toppers" While my boy gets regular dry food, he regularly gets small amounts of steak and chicken, he also gets fresh fruits and veggies every day. Frozen green beans are a great treat, I just walk by the freezer open the door and have a bag right there and toss him a few. Every morning we share a banana and almost every evening we share an apple. This morning we shared strawberries which is one of his favorites. However, I do make sure he gets good real meat twice a week and we have eggs as well once a week. I make healthy smoothies and then poor some in ice cube trays so he has fresh fruity ice cubes. Things like that are totally fine and acceptable. I do believe real food is much better.

There is even a methodology of cooking for your dog. I have tried but it really takes a lot of time. Honest Kitchen is a brand of dog food that is really all naturally prepared meals for you lab. However, if you really look into Raw and Barf diets, they are not recommended for pups, more adult dogs. Depending on the age of your pup their digestive system may not even be fully formed yet. Most people don't know it but dogs when in the womb their digestive system is actually outside of the body, not till they are getting close to being born the digestive system moves into the body and is still forming and getting established many months even after being born. This is kind of why pups, food goes in poop comes out almost right after. So for pups, it is best to stick with what the breeder gave you unless you are having issues. Another reason is puppy teeth are soft. They can't handle and chew the bones up for the ash and mineral content. So Barf and Raw are better for adult dogs which can not only digest the diets but chew them up properly.

Now, I for example after getting my boy home at 10 weeks started having issues with explosive diarrhea and so on. So I did have to add probiotics and I did have to try other foods but this was all guided under a vets care. However, had I not had any issues it is best to leave diet alone at least until 6 months.

[Abulafia]

I reading through this, I think the confusion is coming in from the word "supplement". I think most of us here think of supplement as pills and powders added to food, you know the GNC route. [...] This is where you may face obstacles on this forum because there is no need for this kind of thing really. Instead of fish oil, I would instead give them a sardine. [...] However, I think from reading your post you are asking if people add real food to the dogs diet then yes.

Yes, after reading through responses it seemed that people mistook my use of the verb "supplement." I was using it in an unmarked way (supplement kibble [or standard food] with other fresh food), but it was taken to mean (I think) "nutritional supplements" as a noun, meaning vitamins, pills, etc. I was confused about this, as I'd specified what I am adding—fruit and veg, a spoonful of plain yoghurt, chicken I cook—but I'm new here and clearly don't understand the vibe.

I cooked raw food (on advice from a vet and using veterinary recipes) for close to a decade, and in that time I also studied such diets for dogs. I might switch to that when ours is older, but frankly I'm very happy w/ ProPlan, and that's what she's been on since weaning, so I plan right now to keep her on it. But I also add fresh non-processed food to her diet—fruits and veg—so that's what I was asking about. I know the stuff she can't have, and I know what I won't feed her... I was just curious, but not especially puzzled.

Sorry about the confusion; it was surely my use of the verb.

[JenC]

I don't supplement puppies.

I am actually a little shocked at the amount of food you are feeding. My lab puppy came to me eating 1 1/2 c a meal, 2 meals a day. Her breeder said to just keep her on that. She was a little heavy to start but she'd grow up and into her 3 cups a day. She is 15 weeks now too. I have fed my dogs up to 4 cups a day, but that was for the boys. Never 6 cups...

We do supplement our adults with fish oil, joint supplement, whatever they might need, but not the puppies.

We do top food with canned or cooked meat. NEVER calcium for puppies.

[Doreen Davis]

Hi there, sometimes this board can sound 'snarky' and I think it can sometimes be off putting to newcomers, on the other hand it's hard to 'read into' intent when everything is driven by the written word.

so, my guy came home eating 6 cups a day ( we got him at 7 months) and he was becoming as big as a house. He and his (not biological) sister are now on Fromm's Beef Frittata, he gets a 1 1/4c twice a day and she gets a cup 2x a day. He's about 63# and she's around 50#. They get a wet 'topper' (Merricks) in the evening mixed with warm water. They are thriving, our vet would have left them on ProPlan and I've had 7 dogs on Proplan and they all thrived (living to 14-15 years of age) but I just felt like a change.

We don't 'supplement' with regularity, the occasional people food. They get a Vit E capsule in the AM at the vets recommendation. I spent years in the Pharma industry and unless i've got a double blind placebo controlled study, or there is breakthrough anecdotal success, I tend not to use other 'stuff'. Just my background and training I guess.

[Abulafia]

I am actually a little shocked at the amount of food you are feeding. My lab puppy came to me eating 1 1/2 c a meal, 2 meals a day. Her breeder said to just keep her on that. She was a little heavy to start but she'd grow up and into her 3 cups a day. She is 15 weeks now too. I have fed my dogs up to 4 cups a day, but that was for the boys. Never 6 cups...

Hah! Yes, it sounds like a lot—however, I am feeding her precisely—to the letter—on the breeder's recommendations. She came home at 7.5 weeks eating 1 cup, 3x a day. The breeder specified that at 12 weeks, I should mover her to two feedings of "about two cups or so," and to "increase as needed."

Watching (and feeling) her body, I saw that at about 14 weeks she was looking a bit slim from both the side and top. She was also very visibly hungry, and it showed in her behavior. I called the breeder and talked to them about it, and they reiterated the "increase as needed" part, saying that at that age, their pup (the one they had kept as the pick) was eating closer to 3 cups 2x a day, and that I should increase up to that (assuming she is active, keeping an eye on her form, etc.). And so I increased to that—her temperament immediately eased (she had in fact been hungry), and I could no longer see her ribs.

For what its worth, the Vet approves both of her diet and her weight, so I wasn't really asking about quantity (nor about 'nutritional supplements'—again, I think there was confusion there), but about adding fresh food to a dog's diet, which it seems that many people do.

[Abulafia]

Hi there, sometimes this board can sound 'snarky' and I think it can sometimes be off putting to newcomers, on the other hand it's hard to 'read into' intent when everything is driven by the written word.

—Oh, it's Ok. Electronic communication is often difficult. Actually, that's why I generally avoid forums, as many end up becoming entirely dysfunctional. This one seems fairly functional—but I also admit that when I see that someone is answering a question I didn't ask (for instance, I didn't ask for advice on the quantity I am feeding, as I am feeding according to breeder and vet recommendations), I just tend to ignore it, for sanity's sake.

I spent years in the Pharma industry and unless i've got a double blind placebo controlled study, or there is breakthrough anecdotal success, I tend not to use other 'stuff'. Just my background and training I guess.

I don't think that people need supplements either—unless they have particular health concerns or dietary problems. That being said, I do take (and give my son) fish oil w/ Vit E, and I take a Vit D supplement in the winter. Adding fish oil via a gel or a sardine (or some salmon) is something I am fairly fine with for myself, my son, and my pup.

[JenC]

I would ask your breeder about adding fresh food and not the board if they have been instrumental in guiding you so far.

[Abulafia]

Hm. See, my original question was:

Just wondering if you all supplement with any fresh / made food.

Not "do you think I should supplement?" Why would I ask strangers what they think I should do with my dog? I wouldn't. I was wondering what strangers do with their dogs. Why? I don't know. Curious.

In my subsequent post I asked if there were thoughts on "particularly healthy supplements" which, to be honest, was just by way of making light conversation, which I clearly should not have endeavored to do. I am crap at small talk, I admit it, and so I'll just stop trying. I am perfectly capable of researching what fresh foods are healthy for dogs, so I'll stick with my books.

And yes—it's true. There's some snark here, and I wasn't expecting it. It feels like a bit of an Old Boys Club, and ... well.

Anyway. Best to all, and many thanks for all of your suggestions.

[Tanya]

not really. If I am eating something that's safe for the dogs I will generally share but nothing is added regularly to their meals. sometimes I use canned food as a topper but even that is pretty rare these days. Most meals are used as training or in interactive toys for my younger dog so harder to use canned food there

rock gets his meds.

I use plenty of things like cheese or meats as treats though. and they get plenty of treats during training or just because (stuff like chicken feet or other chew things)

[Abulafia]

I use plenty of things like cheese or meats as treats though. and they get plenty of treats during training or just because (stuff like chicken feet or other chew things)

I haven't been doing much in the way of treats unless we're training (and I just use lamb lung, typically).

I might add more meat (chicken or beef) to her food when she gets older, but only then reducing her kibble, and frankly right now I don't want to mess with that until she's closer to full grown. The stuff I've been adding (carrots, blueberries, some apple) doesn't add much in the way of calories. I am hesitant adding anything that will mess with the protein / fat balance of the kibble I'm feeding while she's a pup. (I'm not implying that others are "messing" with such a balance—only that while H is still a pup and growing so rapidly—and gorgeously—I don't want to mix things up.)

I have a friend who began giving his (older NLR) dog chicken feet. As much as I find that personally a bit repulsive (I don't really eat meat, myself—fish now and then, but that's about it), I do understand it is good for dogs.