# Is this a balanced diet?



## Lavinia (Jan 1, 2013)

Some of you may remeber the hardships of switching Sophie to kibble. Well, it would work out much easier if my parents stopped giving her table scraps! I've been trying to make them stop for 2 weeks now, but they can't bear to see Sophie begging for food, even if most of the time she doesn't even bark anymore! So i guess this is a lost battle. I'm "plotting" with grandma: she will try to go walking with her during dinner time, but she can't do it forever.

Therefore i've thought to ask you what you think of her current diet. It's not by any means perfect, but i don't know what else to do. She is the perfect weight for the moment, i can feel her ribs, but i notice some fat is starting to build on there. Anyways, here's her daily menu:

-2 Orlando salami sticks for breakfast 
-some hard cheese, bits of meat or even nothing for lunch
-either cheese, egg or some meat for dinner while we eat, then time to get her to eat some Acana. This is a real challenge, i think of all sorts of games to get her interested, but she loses interest so quickly. She gulps down about 10 pieces, then leaves, comes back after 10 minutes, gets some more and so on. It's so frustrating! The weight of how much she eats varies: from 50 g/ 1.7 0z (the recommended weight for her) to 25 g/ 0.88 oz.

So i'm wondering: does the Acana she eats gets noticed in her diet at such a small quantity? She has good days and bad days regarding how much she eats, but i've been told by a friend that she sees that her coat is looking better already. I don't know what to do, i'm stuck in this situation. I would like for her to eat Acana in the morning, too, but those salami sticks are her favourite treat and i sometimes think it would be cruel to take that away from her too. Plus, she vomits if she skips breakfast...

Any thoughts on this?


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## Carley's Mom (Oct 30, 2011)

If you want her to eat dog food, stop giving her everything else. Give her her food, wait 10 mins and if she has not eaten it, remove it. Later in the day give it to her again and repeat until the food is gone. She will learn to eat when she has the chance. 

I just realized I did not answer your question... I think eggs are great for her and meat that is not processed would be fine as well.


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## N2Mischief (Dec 3, 2012)

I don't know what an "Orlando salami stick" is. Is that something made for dogs or for people? Either way, salami is very processed. Not something that is good for people OR dogs. Of course she loves it if it is full of fat and other additives that make it taste and smell good. 

The meat and egg that she eats...is it plain meat and/or egg, or is it part of what you have cooked for yourselves? If it is from what was made for people it could have many spices, including onion, that dogs should never eat.

My husband LOVES his cat. He is killing him with what he thinks is kindness. Though the cat only gets cat food, he is over fed and obese. I try to tell him, over and over but he feels bad for the cat because the cat "loves his food" and continues to feed him. He thinks he is making the cat happy. I can't make him understand and I know he will feel guilty if his cat becomes sick. Animals do not know what is good for them. It is up to us to make sure they eat what they need.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I think with the quantity of non balanced and human food you are giving her, you really need to look at the overall balance. I'd be a bit concerned about the salami sticks constituting such a high proportion, too. If you really cannot stop your family feeding her from the table, I would take a small portion of the healthier part of your own meal - lean meat, eggs, cheese, some vegetables - and mix it with some Acana, and give it to her in another room as you sit down to eat. Your family don't have to feel sorry for her, you are breaking the bad habit of her begging at the table, and you know precisely what she is eating. If the human food and treats contistute more than around 20 - 25% of her diet you really need to make sure you are at least balancing phosphorus and calcium, perhaps by adding some ground eggshell to her diet.

There is good advice on adding fresh foods to commercial food on DogAware - DogAware.com: Adding Fresh Foods to Commercial Dog Food Or you could start cooking for her, which may be the easiest way out!


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## sulamk (Nov 5, 2011)

Try grating or crumbling a little of the salami on her kibble for the smell and taste and mix it up a bit


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## Lavinia (Jan 1, 2013)

Carley's Mom said:


> If you want her to eat dog food, stop giving her everything else. Give her her food, wait 10 mins and if she has not eaten it, remove it. Later in the day give it to her again and repeat until the food is gone. She will learn to eat when she has the chance.
> 
> I just realized I did not answer your question... I think eggs are great for her and meat that is not processed would be fine as well.


Since i posted this, i decided to give the method a try. Or at least my own version. So she got kibble for breakfast - rejected it and threw up later because of hunger. Still, she didn't give in and only ate for dinner, about 1.4 oz. Still, that's about enough because she only needs 1.7 oz daily. Now she is trying to "kill" a chewing treat (i've decided that she will get only 1 treat daily, in the evening, only if she has eaten enough kibble).





N2Mischief said:


> I don't know what an "Orlando salami stick" is. Is that something made for dogs or for people? Either way, salami is very processed. Not something that is good for people OR dogs. Of course she loves it if it is full of fat and other additives that make it taste and smell good.
> 
> The meat and egg that she eats...is it plain meat and/or egg, or is it part of what you have cooked for yourselves? If it is from what was made for people it could have many spices, including onion, that dogs should never eat.
> 
> My husband LOVES his cat. He is killing him with what he thinks is kindness. Though the cat only gets cat food, he is over fed and obese. I try to tell him, over and over but he feels bad for the cat because the cat "loves his food" and continues to feed him. He thinks he is making the cat happy. I can't make him understand and I know he will feel guilty if his cat becomes sick. Animals do not know what is good for them. It is up to us to make sure they eat what they need.


Those salami sticks are for dogs and from what i've read online, most dogs adore them.

About the meat, it's cooked, and so is the egg (boiled egg, no other spices).

About the spoiling part from my parents, today i've had her in another room with my grandma while we ate because i was sure she would've got some steak if she had been there. 



fjm said:


> I think with the quantity of non balanced and human food you are giving her, you really need to look at the overall balance. I'd be a bit concerned about the salami sticks constituting such a high proportion, too. If you really cannot stop your family feeding her from the table, I would take a small portion of the healthier part of your own meal - lean meat, eggs, cheese, some vegetables - and mix it with some Acana, and give it to her in another room as you sit down to eat. Your family don't have to feel sorry for her, you are breaking the bad habit of her begging at the table, and you know precisely what she is eating. If the human food and treats contistute more than around 20 - 25% of her diet you really need to make sure you are at least balancing phosphorus and calcium, perhaps by adding some ground eggshell to her diet.
> 
> There is good advice on adding fresh foods to commercial food on DogAware - DogAware.com: Adding Fresh Foods to Commercial Dog Food Or you could start cooking for her, which may be the easiest way out!


So it seems she gets too much non-dog food. Well, since we don't have the time to cook for her, i will do my best to refrain my family from giving anything to her from now on. And honestly, that's the hardest part!



sulamk said:


> Try grating or crumbling a little of the salami on her kibble for the smell and taste and mix it up a bit


I've tried that, even put chicken broth on it or added some canned food, but she wasn't interested.


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## N2Mischief (Dec 3, 2012)

It sounds like you are on the right track! Keep it up, I think after awhile the dog will quit begging and be much healthier. Its hard to say without sounding patronizing, but good for you! Seriously, its hard to go up against other people let alone your parents to do whats right for the dog. You've taken a big step!


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## Lavinia (Jan 1, 2013)

Thank you! I just hope they don't give anything to her while i'm at school... Anyways, she ate a little bit of kibble for lunch, now i'm waiting for dinner to come and see what will happen.


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## Lavinia (Jan 1, 2013)

Things haven't been going that well. I was out of town for 2 weeks and Sophie was left with my parents. What do i discover? She won't touch her kibble once more...

Since summer holidays are approaching and i will be away for another 3 weeks i need some input on this diet and on how i should supplement it. She gets cooked chicken, cheese, some egg (she only eats it sometimes, not more than once a week). But this is all she wants; sometimes even some yoghurt. Do you think i should give her some calcium supplements or anything else? Yesterday she ate some watermelon, but that's the only variation she gets.

It makes me really sad to see this happening, but i have no choice, i can't win this battle alone.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

She will definitely need a calcium source, and a wider variety. Could you persuade your family to cook for her according to one of the home prepared balanced diets on DogAware.com: Diet & Health Info for Man's Best Friend if they absolutely insist on feeding her with human food?


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## Lavinia (Jan 1, 2013)

My grandma does the cooking and she is not that keen on the idea...
What do you think we should include for greater variety? 
As for the supplements, i guess i will check with the vet as soon as possible.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I would feed her several different meats, making sure to include some offal (liver, kidney, chicken giblets, etc), as well as occasional eggs, oily fish (salmon, sardines, mackerel - tuna doesn't count because of the way it is processed) and possibly a little cooked vegetable mix. I add rice or dry bread to the fish as otherwise mine find it too rich. The easiest way is to cook up a batch, measure out meal size portions, and freeze them - that way you just have to remember to defrost the next meal. Avoid onions and grapes, which are known to be dangerous for dogs. If you grind up eggshells and add at the rate of one teaspoonful per pound of meat (two teaspoonfuls per kilo) that should be about right for the calcium. But do watch her weight - a tiny bit too much every day will quickly pile the weight on. Is she still growing? It is even more important to get the balance right for puppies.


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## patk (Jun 13, 2013)

if you can't stop your parents from feeding at table, maybe you could prepare little packets of whatever you want your dog to eat and ask them to feed that instead? they can even hand feed if it's kibble. it's not good training for if you ever have company over (speaking from experience here). on the other hand, it may enable you to make sure she is getting the nutrition she needs. if your dog is a companion, it's hard not to treat him/her as such. i do remember someone telling me years ago about a couple with a gsd. every friday, they grilled three steaks. guess who the third one was for? he was family and that's how they treated him.


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