What do you feed your dog?

"What do you feed your dog?" . . .  easy question . . .  right?   Well the question is easy enough but in our situation the answer isn't simple at all.  When you read the instructions (or feeding guidelines) on the back of the bag of dog food many will look like a 'one size fits all' with slight variations for the weight (size) of your dog.  Some lines of dog food will specify that a particular type is for growing puppies, another for active adult and yet another for 'the mature' adult (read old and slowed down dog.)

While you can 'get by' with such a feeding program, we work to feed each dog according to it's particular current needs.  A young puppy gets fed different that an adolescent. The adolescent gets fed differently when it's in a growth spurt than it does between growth spurts.  If the young dog is in an extended growth spurt and is growing faster than it's immune system can keep up with it, it gets fed even differently.   The girl preparing for a heat cycle gets fed differently if we're planning on breeding her than if she is in a rest cycle.  A pregnant girl gets fed differently during her pregnancy according to what stage she is in.  As she prepare to whelp the feeding changes again and as she shifts into nursing mode her feeding is adjusted again.  Weaning puppies and recovering from the nursing cycle require different feeding too.  The males are fed differently as they are getting built up for a breeding cycle (although their adjustments are not nearly as complex as the girls require.)   Attention to the current needs of each dog and knowing something about nutrition and supplements is essential to raising quality pups.  We are very fortunate to have excellent vets who are exceptionally knowledgable about animal nutrition and how it plays a very important role in the continuing health of the dogs. We are in frequent contact with our vets and trust their consultations.

So . . . simple question, complex answer.  And notice that I have yet to really answer the question . . . As much as we vary the dogs diets, the basic feeding menu revolves around 4 kinds of dry dog food.  We use Eukanuba Large Breed Adult and Large Breed Puppy kibbles and Diamond brand Large Breed Puppy and their Natural Chicken with Rice kibbles.  We use high quality feeds (expensive) because they are nutritionally dense so the dogs get all the nutrition they need in smaller quantities of food resulting in less waste to clean up.  The down side to that is that these big dogs' tummies may still feel like they want more.  We help that by soaking the Euk Adult in warm water an hour before we feed. The kibbles swell up and the dogs 'feel' like they've eaten more.  Most all the dogs get a base of this soaked food and then one or more of the other kibbles are mixed into the soaked food and then topped with various supplements depending upon their needs. 

When all is going smoothly, it takes about an hour (twice a day) to mix and feed all the adult dogs. (Puppies are a WHOLE different story.) Once everyone is fed then we get to beging cleaning up, providing fresh, clean water and starting the visiting/exercise/training rounds with all of them.   Becasue of the shorter daylight in the winter, the dogs are content to sleep more so our work days are a little shorter.  Generally we spend 10-12 hours a day working with the dogs in the winter and 12-14 hours per day in the summer including puppy care requirements . . .  times two of us! . . .  some days we slack off and some days require more time on the phones and email.  The feeding, cleaning and basic exercise cycles are the first priority on all days.  Some days they get more 'fun time with the peoples' than on other days.  Lots of hours, lots of work but the rewards of the wagging tails and dog kisses ALWAYS makes it worthwhile. . .     until next time . . .  Eliot   www.rosehallkennel.com