Dog food for my Labrador. Yes, our dog is on a diet. That means less food for my Labrador named Bailey. Oh no, he will not like this at all. We did reduce his meals from 3 a day to 2 a day; and we increased his exercise routine. All the pros say that is preferable to feed a dog one or two meals per day rather than leaving food out all the time. That's what we do, except when our Labrador eats a meal, he eats all the food in his bowl. There is none left to sit all day. No worries about this.
Bailey weighed about 134 lbs, and that is a lot even for a big dog. We thought he'd only weigh 60-80 lbs when he grew from a puppy to big dog. But oh nooooo, he kept right on growing. Now I know that the Vet says he is overweight, and I believe it. But he doesn't look fat. He's just big. Anywho, our dog went on a diet. He's now 107 lbs. Here's what we did.
We fed him dry dog food and we've introduced three different kinds. We started with Eukanuba dog food, which the breeder sent us home with. He promptly puked it up. We didn't even finish the bag, and went immediately to Science Diet. That worked for awhile, but it didn't help his weight.
Now, Bailey enjoys Old Roy. It stays down, and he lost the weight. He is on a permanent two-meal a day plan. Old Roy comes in both dry and wet forms. So, we mix his meals up. Breakfast is all dry. Dinner is dry with some wet mixed into the dry food. Some canned food generally contains more dog protein and less grain than dry foods. Wet dog food. Loves it!
Evidently, plain dry food does not clean dog's teeth and is not an essential: We supplement Bailey's diet with treats designed to clean his teeth. Plus, I brush Bailey's teeth. He loves the peanut butter flavor.
Bailey rarely gets table scrapes. Experts say supplement all commercial dog foods with other foods, such as organic meats and steamed, pureed or finely grated vegetables (most cannot be very well digested by carnivores raw). Dog foods may be supplemented with tofu and cooked grains.
After much experience with the feeding and care of puppy dogs, we cook at least some of our dog's food at home. This lets us control the quality of the ingredients.
We try to change brands or flavors of dry food every three to four months to avoid deficiencies or excesses of ingredients that may be problematic for our dog. When changing dry foods, we mix 1/4 of the new food with 3/4 of the old food, and increase the new food a little each day.
Someday we plan to try a raw dog food diet made up of raw bones and meat, which many say is the best diet for a dog to live longer.
With any new food or supplement, we are careful to watch for subtle changes in Bailey's skin and coat, appetite, energy level, mood, itchiness, discharges or odors, body weight, and the size and consistency of stool. If negative changes occur, we act quickly to try a different food. If the change persists, we call our veterinarian.
That's it for today.