What food can I give my dog?

I’m back beating the drum again!

FOOD!

DOG FOOD!

We know that so much of the food that is pushed on us by giant manufacturing concerns is undermining human health. The British Government is now clamping down on what may be advertised on tv at times when children will be watching.

So no more burgers, chips, battered food, skeatos, meatos, freakos, chocolate, ice cream, biscuits, and so on, will be appearing on our screens shortly.

This is good news for the nation’s health!

But who is looking after our pets’ health?

Not the big manufacturers, for sure. Of course, they say that their stuff is the best - but they would, wouldn’t they.

When it comes to the health of our dogs, it’s up to us to work it out.

I’m doing my best to make you aware of the hazards and traps that are set for us. Here are some of the posts I’ve written to guide you:

Is raw feeding safe for my dog? Let’s get to the Bare Bones

How much should I feed my dog?

Beware the deadly mince pie! Christmas hazards for dogs

Keep your dog and your Christmas food safe!

What are the most effective dog treats?

“My dog doesn’t like food”

Dog feeding frenzy!

I'm not spending good money on a DOG!

What are the most effective dog treats?

And I’m revisiting this subject now because it’s coming up to the festive season - when there is unsuitable food all over the place - and you may be given dangerous toys or chews for your dog by well-meaning people who don’t know what we know.

First of all, Christmas food on the forbidden list

🦴 Cooked poultry and ham bones

🦴 Chocolate

🦴 Avocado

🦴 Grapes

🦴 Raisins

🦴 Bread/pizza dough

🦴 Christmas Cake

🦴 Mince Pies

🦴 Alcohol

🦴 too much of anything

Even a small amount of any of these things could have you spending an anxious Christmas with your dog in intensive care. And he may not survive.

So what CAN I give him?

Lacy is nearly 15 and has a full set of white gnashers

When it comes to foods, check out the articles listed above to help you make your choice.

I choose to feed a varied raw diet for my four dogs. It works out ridiculously cheaply if you put a bit of effort into sourcing, and my dogs all live to a great old age with all their teeth white and intact. (I don’t clean their teeth, the bones do.)

But there are plenty of good quality foods available if you don’t want to go down the raw route. I recommend you check out www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk This is a British site run by a Canine Nutritionist. BUT most of these foods are international, and there’s even a recipe generator there which will assess any food you key in. So, just copy down the list of ingredients on your bag of food and see how they rate it. You want to aim for 85%.

I can also heartily recommend to UK readers the foods, treats and chews you can get here:

Skippers Use this code for 30% off your order!

Butternutbox Use this code for a completely free supply of meals for your dog! (It’ll last days or weeks, depending on the size of your dog)

And to find out more about what’s really in all those prettily-packaged foods and chews you see on the groaning shelves of your local supermarket or pet store, check out the Resources below.

But be prepared to have a few frights!

Don’t berate yourself for having given your dog these things in the past. The past is gone. Just be sure you know how to avoid them in the future!

And if you’re starting out afresh with a new puppy - check out this book which gives you the lowdown on when, how, and what to feed

RESOURCES:

🐶 Skippers: Use this code for 30% off your order!

🐶 Butternutbox: use this code for a completely free supply of food for your dog! (It’ll last days or weeks, depending on the size of your dog)

🐶 All about dog food Check out that food before you buy it!

🐶 Rawhide Chews for Dogs

🐶 Ingredients to Avoid in Dog Treats | Harmful & Unsafe Ingredients

🐶 Finding the Right Rawhide Chew For Your Dog

🐶 Becker, Karen. “Dogs Love These but They Can Crack Teeth and Become a Choking Hazard.” Healthy Pets, :, 10 June 2018

🐶 Burke, Anna. Are Rawhide Chews Dangerous for Dogs? American Kennel Club, 21 May 2020,
de Godoy, Maria R C et al. “In vitro disappearance characteristics of selected categories of commercially available dog treats.” Journal of Nutritional Science vol. 3 e47. 10 Oct. 2014, doi:10.1017/jns.2014.40, In vitro disappearance characteristics of selected categories of commercially available dog treats

🐶 Home Cooking Options for Dogs, Dodds, Jean. “Bones.” Dr. Jean Dodds' Pet Health Resource Blog, Tumblr, 31 Mar. 2015.

🐶 “The benefits, though, are tooth cleaning, fresher breath, physical exertion, and mental stimulation for the dog.”
 
Hooda, S et al. “In vitro digestibility of expanded pork skin and rawhide chews, and digestion and metabolic characteristics of expanded pork skin chews in healthy adult dogs.” Journal of Animal Science vol. 90,12 (2012): 4355-61. doi:10.2527/jas.2012-5333,  


🐶 Pell, Sheila. The Dangers of Rawhide Dog Chew Toys. The Bark, 18 Feb. 2020, https://thebark.com/content/dangers-rawhide-dog-chew-toys

🐶 United Pet Group Voluntary Recalls Multiple Brands of Rawhide Chew Products for Dogs Due to Possible Chemical Contamination. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 8 Feb. 2018.

What can my dog chew?

Many people buy the chews that cover whole stands in the aisles of their local pet shop in the belief that they are good, wholesome, and safe.

Sorry, but they may be none of those things!

You’d think that rawhide would come from the meat industry, but in fact it’s a by-product of the leather Industry - it’s technically an industrial waste product.

And far from foody substances being used in the manufacture of rawhide chews, lead, arsenic, mercury, chromium salts, quaternary ammonia, formaldehyde, and other toxic chemicals have been detected in rawhide, along with the occasional addition of e coli and salmonella. Not to mention the glue used to hold them in shape.

Though there are a very few companies making chews without this shocking list of ingredients, most of the rawhide chews sold come from countries where, shall we just say, the health of your pet is not their top priority.

What can go wrong?

While the toxins and bacteria listed above are not things we want our dogs or ourselves to be contaminated with, the chief danger is obstruction or choking. Some chews even carry this warning:

“Choking or blockages. If your dog swallows large pieces of rawhide, the rawhide can get stuck in the oesophagus or other parts of the digestive tract. Sometimes, abdominal surgery is needed to remove them from the stomach or intestines. If it isn’t resolved, a blockage can lead to death.”

Sure you want to give your dog that chew?

Yes, they can be useful to amuse a young puppy. Unless your pup is a new designer breed Velociraptor cross, they’ll mostly only mouth and soften the chew. As soon as they are able to swallow any of it, it should be removed and you should no longer give them to your pup, as they’ve now moved into the blockage danger category above.

Healthy alternatives

There will be downsides and possible dangers to anything in life.

Some folk like to give antlers - though for some dogs with iffy teeth these may be too hard and cause tooth damage.

Some people with strong stomachs and a poor sense of smell like to give pigs’ ears. Just keep in mind that the ear is often full of needle holes from all those hormones and what-have-you that are injected into factory-farmed pigs on a daily basis.

And some - with an even poorer sense of smell! - give hooves. Hoof slices were always popular with my dogs when I was trimming the goats’ and sheep’s hooves. But I wouldn’t be mad about them having a whole hoof, breathing horrible smells into the house, then bringing it up on the carpet later.

What do I give my dogs to chew?

I give mine raw meaty bones. Hugely popular, safe, unpolluted, untreated, truly natural, satisfying. The major benefits are teeth cleaning, physical exertion (ripping a bone apart is hard work!), mental absorption for an hour or so at a time, and high nutritional value.

Avoid marrowbones and weightbearing leg bones. The strength of these bones can result in tooth damage, so I’m told. But forty years of feeding bones to my own mix of large, medium and small dogs has never resulted in this. In fact the whiteness of my dogs’ teeth has often been remarked upon, and they die at a good old age (mid to late teens) with all their teeth intact.

You’ll find that your dog will vomit up any bits of bone or indigestible tendons a day or so later. This is a natural clearing out of junk from the stomach and does not mean anything is amiss. Too much information? Just forewarning you so you don’t panic! Dogs and cats have a simple digestive system: it either goes down or it comes up again.

Government food protection

We’re used to being protected by government legislation. But this legislation does not necessarily extend to our pets. It’s up to us to be aware of what’s in what we give our dogs to eat, to chew, or to play with.

Caveat emptor! Buyer beware!

While it’s easy enough to simply exclude these commercial chews from your home, understanding canine nutrition is a whole nother ball-game! And it’s another place where dreadful “foods” are promoted - even by vets! - which we should not give house-room to.

Check out this ingredients list on a popular, vet-prescribed, expensive, dog food from Royal Canin:

Rice, Vegetable Protein Isolate, Wheat, Animal Fats, Maize Gluten, Husked Oats, Maize, Hydrolysed Animal Proteins, Minerals, Soya Oil, Beet Pulp, Fish Oil, Flax Seeds, Fructo-Oligo-Saccharides, Mono and Diglycerides (Emulsifiers), Borage Oil, Marigold Extract, Antioxidants.

Yes, there is a teaspoonful of meat in there, not named or quantified, listed at no.8. The whole product is nutritionally rated in allaboutdogfood.co.uk - the site run by a canine nutritionist - at 22%.

22%! Vet-recommended! Currently £5 per kg!

Commercially-produced raw and cooked foods, on the other hand, show exactly what meat is involved (e.g. beef kidney, duck breast) and how much (often as high as 90%).

You can see that if this is news to you, you have your work cut out!

Don’t take anybody’s word for the quality of what you feed your precious dog. Do the work. Bone up on the knowledge ;-). You’re the one who will be paying the vet’s bills when you run into trouble with these awful “foods”.

But I don’t want to feed raw …

Here’s an article which goes into more detail about how best to feed your dog

It looks at what will suit you and your dog best. I’m not on a crusade about how you choose to feed - but I do want to make you aware that it’s not all unicorns and roses in the commercial petfood and dogchew world!

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