So it's been a little over six months since I started my quest on making homemade, healthy dog food for our two dogs. I've really got it down to a pattern now and it does not take very long.
Besides the health benefits for my dogs, the one thing I really love about the homemade dog food is what it does for their coats. I love petting my dogs because they now have such beautiful, soft, luxurious coats. The dogs also love the food for what it does for their skin, that is, the fact that they don't spend all day and night itching and scratching anymore. I think the biggest contributor to their coats is the raw eggs I feed them every morning.
Now, I have a friend whose dog's coat is absolutely terrible, and has been for years. She feeds him a commercial dog food. I had tried and tried to get her to at least try some homemade dog food, but she wouldn't budge. My only hope was that she loved my dogs' beautiful coats. So I recommended an all-natural supplement for her dog's coat - something she could just add to the dog food she already uses.
She's been using the supplement, which contains essential fatty acids (EFAs), for about 2 weeks now and you can already tell a difference in her dog. Jack's (the dog) coat is already noticeably less coarse and looks fuller and healthier.
Hopefully, in another couple of weeks Jack's coat will become as beautiful and soft as my dogs. But I'm actually happier that I know Jack's body will finally be getting some of the nutrients it has been starving for - Jack will be healthier because of this supplement, not just have a soft coat.
My ultimate goal is to just educate my friend on what she is actually feeding her beloved pet and how it is affecting his body and his health. Even if she stays with commercial dog foods, perhaps she'll be a little more discriminating in her choices.
It all started with constant dog itchy skin for me. From there I tried supplements, and now I'm feeding my dogs homemade, healthy dog food. Just one step at a time, and as long as the dogs get healthier, that's all anyone really wants. Right?
Healthy Dogs
Two Very Active Dogs - Shadow & Stella playing tug-a-war
Showing posts with label dog itchy skin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dog itchy skin. Show all posts
Please, Make My Dog Stop Itching!
During my research, I have found that the actual percentage of dogs that have real food allergies is small! The majority of the displayed "allergy symptoms" is just the way the dog is trying to get the crap out of his body!
Do you want to get your dog to stop itching (assuming it is not from fleas/insect bites)? The best way is to start feeding him homemade, healthy dog food. If you don't think you can do that, then at least try to buy an all-natural dog food.
Start feeding your dog healthy, nutritious food and you'll finally see your dog stop itching. I did. Now it doesn't happen overnight - it takes a few weeks, but you'll notice the gradual decrease of itching and scratching, until it finally stops.
Other benefits to feeding your dog homemade dog food include reduced gas, smaller stools, less eye discharge, softer coat, and no more doggie breath! I'm not just quoting something here - this is what I've actually experienced with both of my dogs - in about 2 months of homemade dog food. There are more stated benefits that my dogs never had so I can't verify - like: fewer ear infections, less diarrhea, less nasal discharge, no more "dog smell".
Want to find out more about homemade, healthy dog food? Want to finally, once and for all, learn how to get your dog to stop itching? Try this e-book, Dog Food Dangers, and all of your questions will be answered.
Do you want to get your dog to stop itching (assuming it is not from fleas/insect bites)? The best way is to start feeding him homemade, healthy dog food. If you don't think you can do that, then at least try to buy an all-natural dog food.
Start feeding your dog healthy, nutritious food and you'll finally see your dog stop itching. I did. Now it doesn't happen overnight - it takes a few weeks, but you'll notice the gradual decrease of itching and scratching, until it finally stops.
Other benefits to feeding your dog homemade dog food include reduced gas, smaller stools, less eye discharge, softer coat, and no more doggie breath! I'm not just quoting something here - this is what I've actually experienced with both of my dogs - in about 2 months of homemade dog food. There are more stated benefits that my dogs never had so I can't verify - like: fewer ear infections, less diarrhea, less nasal discharge, no more "dog smell".
Want to find out more about homemade, healthy dog food? Want to finally, once and for all, learn how to get your dog to stop itching? Try this e-book, Dog Food Dangers, and all of your questions will be answered.
Homemade Healthy Dog Food: Tip #3
So I just told you about using finely crushed egg shells for a calcium supplement, but I forgot to put in there that the eggs are a great source of protein, vitamins, and minerals for your dog.
So here's my shortcut/tip:
I boil some water, turn it down to a simmer and poach about a dozen eggs. If I can rinse off the egg shells right away, I'll do that. Otherwise I put them in a bowl of water and just let them soak until I can rinse them off. Then I use the egg shells as stated in Tip #2.
I tried hard boiling the eggs, hoping to make it easier, but sometimes (not sure why) it was just too hard getting the egg shells off the eggs without egg white sticking. Poaching just ends up being easier for me to "harvest" the egg shells.
After the eggs are poached/cooked, I put them in a container and put in the fridge. Cook only as many eggs as you can use within 3 to 4 days. Use the eggs as a protein source in your homemade dog food, either alone or with another meat.
Eggs are great to have around in case you run out of meat for your dog food. They only take a couple of minutes to cook, most dogs love them, and they are great for your dog.
If you want to find out more about foods that are good/bad for your dog, download this e-book, Dog Food Dangers.
- Side Note:
There is a huge debate over whether you should cook the eggs or can serve them raw! Raw egg whites have a protein which binds with and depletes biotin (a B vitamin). However raw egg yolks have enough biotin to actually prevent deficiency. Raw egg yolks can also contain Salmonella. I don't risk it - but there are a lot of people out there who feed raw eggs to their dogs with no problems.
So here's my shortcut/tip:
I boil some water, turn it down to a simmer and poach about a dozen eggs. If I can rinse off the egg shells right away, I'll do that. Otherwise I put them in a bowl of water and just let them soak until I can rinse them off. Then I use the egg shells as stated in Tip #2.
I tried hard boiling the eggs, hoping to make it easier, but sometimes (not sure why) it was just too hard getting the egg shells off the eggs without egg white sticking. Poaching just ends up being easier for me to "harvest" the egg shells.
After the eggs are poached/cooked, I put them in a container and put in the fridge. Cook only as many eggs as you can use within 3 to 4 days. Use the eggs as a protein source in your homemade dog food, either alone or with another meat.
Eggs are great to have around in case you run out of meat for your dog food. They only take a couple of minutes to cook, most dogs love them, and they are great for your dog.
If you want to find out more about foods that are good/bad for your dog, download this e-book, Dog Food Dangers.
Homemade Healthy Dog Food: Tip #2
Dogs need calcium! In the wild, they got their calcium from the blood and bones of their prey. Since our pets don't go out and hunt, we must provide them with the extra calcium needed. The best way to provide extra calcium for your dog with their homemade dog food is..... egg shells.
Rinse off the egg shells and let them air dry. Then place them in your oven at 275 for around 10 - 15 minutes (this makes it easier to crush the shells). Next you need to crush the shells into a fine powder form. The biggest thing is to make sure there are no sharp edges to the shells that could hurt your dog's insides. I went out and bought a marble mortar and pestle for around $15 to crush the shells. I then pass the powder through a small sifter to make sure I got it all.
You can also buy crushed egg shells online.
I use a ratio of 1/4 teaspoon of finely crushed egg shell to 1/4 lb of meat.
Learn more about vitamins, minerals, and supplements that are beneficial to your dog from Dog Food Secrets
Rinse off the egg shells and let them air dry. Then place them in your oven at 275 for around 10 - 15 minutes (this makes it easier to crush the shells). Next you need to crush the shells into a fine powder form. The biggest thing is to make sure there are no sharp edges to the shells that could hurt your dog's insides. I went out and bought a marble mortar and pestle for around $15 to crush the shells. I then pass the powder through a small sifter to make sure I got it all.
You can also buy crushed egg shells online.
I use a ratio of 1/4 teaspoon of finely crushed egg shell to 1/4 lb of meat.
Learn more about vitamins, minerals, and supplements that are beneficial to your dog from Dog Food Secrets
Homemade Healthy Dog Food: Tip #1
OK. So here is one of the shortcuts I use for homemade healthy dog food:
Vegetables:
I buy precut frozen vegetables - usually, not always, the kinds that have a couple of different veggies in them. Just make sure there are NO onions! I also buy whatever brand/veggie mix is on sale!
Some will say the frozen veggies are not as nutritious as fresh - others say the "fresh" veggies aren't all THAT fresh and lose some of their nutrients just sitting out. My opinion, they are good enough, fresh or frozen! (I don't use canned - for one, most have a lot of sodium, and two, most are pre-cooked)
Now I whip out my blender and throw some veggies in with some water and a couple of tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar (I'm a HUGE fan of Apple Cider Vinegar!!). My daughter calls this my dogs' veggie smoothies - they are a little more chunky than a regular smoothie, but about that consistency. I pour this into a container and it lasts for a few days.
And my dog's veggies are done! It's actually good to switch up the veggies that they get. My dogs have loved them all so far - they're not very picky eaters.
Here were some of my initial questions regarding veggies:
Visit my website to find out more about the benefits of homemade healthy dog food. I highly recommend this e-book, Dog Food Secrets, to get you started. It gave me the confidence to make my own dog food.
Vegetables:
I buy precut frozen vegetables - usually, not always, the kinds that have a couple of different veggies in them. Just make sure there are NO onions! I also buy whatever brand/veggie mix is on sale!
Some will say the frozen veggies are not as nutritious as fresh - others say the "fresh" veggies aren't all THAT fresh and lose some of their nutrients just sitting out. My opinion, they are good enough, fresh or frozen! (I don't use canned - for one, most have a lot of sodium, and two, most are pre-cooked)
Now I whip out my blender and throw some veggies in with some water and a couple of tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar (I'm a HUGE fan of Apple Cider Vinegar!!). My daughter calls this my dogs' veggie smoothies - they are a little more chunky than a regular smoothie, but about that consistency. I pour this into a container and it lasts for a few days.
And my dog's veggies are done! It's actually good to switch up the veggies that they get. My dogs have loved them all so far - they're not very picky eaters.
Here were some of my initial questions regarding veggies:
- Why puree the veggies instead of just cutting them up or whole?
- Don't you cook the veggies first?
- A dog's digestive system is not as long as ours. So they don't have the time in the digestive tract that is needed to digest the veggies. In the wild they got their veggies/grains from the intestines of the animals they killed and ate (naturally pureed, with enzymes thrown in also). You can cut them up, but they need to be small.
- You can, but you'll lose a lot of the nutrients (same with humans). And I like short-cuts.
Visit my website to find out more about the benefits of homemade healthy dog food. I highly recommend this e-book, Dog Food Secrets, to get you started. It gave me the confidence to make my own dog food.
My dog keeps itching, but it's not fleas.
It's amazing how many people I talk to tell me about how their dog is itching and scratching, but they don't see any fleas. I remember with Shadow, just constantly checking him and bathing him to try to get the scratching to stop. But I never saw any fleas on him or in the bathwater.
Why do I scratch? Number one reason - bug bite. But my dog doesn't have bug bites. Why else do I scratch? Sometimes when my arms and legs get real dry, they'll itch. So I thought, maybe my dog has dry skin. So I started feeding him supplements to help with skin and coat. And it worked!
Now add in another dog - and she came to us scratching without any signs of fleas. The thought of buying more supplements and more dog food just got me mad. Why 2 dogs with skin problems?? Then I talked to my sister - she just got back from her vet where her dog was given antibiotics and medication to help with her dog itchy skin (she had been scratching so much she got open sores - at least mine weren't that bad!).
Then I found homemade healthy dog food (actually my main reason for researching this was the cost of commercial dog food). The added benefits of better health for my dogs was the clincher! If you're skeptical, just try it for 2 to 3 weeks. It's not like you have to buy a bunch of special equipment - just regular food. And don't worry, your commercial dog food won't spoil - for like 2 years (ever wonder why it can last that long???).
Want to find out more about what is in your commercial dog food (like why your food has a 2 year shelf-life)? Download this e-book, Dog Food Secrets, to learn about what the commercial dog food industry is really like. Visit my website to find out more about the benefits of homemade healthy dog food.
Why do I scratch? Number one reason - bug bite. But my dog doesn't have bug bites. Why else do I scratch? Sometimes when my arms and legs get real dry, they'll itch. So I thought, maybe my dog has dry skin. So I started feeding him supplements to help with skin and coat. And it worked!
Now add in another dog - and she came to us scratching without any signs of fleas. The thought of buying more supplements and more dog food just got me mad. Why 2 dogs with skin problems?? Then I talked to my sister - she just got back from her vet where her dog was given antibiotics and medication to help with her dog itchy skin (she had been scratching so much she got open sores - at least mine weren't that bad!).
Then I found homemade healthy dog food (actually my main reason for researching this was the cost of commercial dog food). The added benefits of better health for my dogs was the clincher! If you're skeptical, just try it for 2 to 3 weeks. It's not like you have to buy a bunch of special equipment - just regular food. And don't worry, your commercial dog food won't spoil - for like 2 years (ever wonder why it can last that long???).
Want to find out more about what is in your commercial dog food (like why your food has a 2 year shelf-life)? Download this e-book, Dog Food Secrets, to learn about what the commercial dog food industry is really like. Visit my website to find out more about the benefits of homemade healthy dog food.
Why Did I Choose Homemade Healthy Dog Food?
So I've making been my own homemade healthy dog food now for about 1 month. My reasons for even trying it were two-fold. First, the cost of dog food. Second, our new dog's itching and scratching.
We had just adopted an 11 month old Mastiff, Stella. Some of our instructions were to feed her 8 cups of dog food a day! We already have a Catahoula Leopard dog (a herding dog) who got 1-1/2 cups of food a day. Needless to say we went through the normal 18 lb bag of puppy food in less than 2 weeks. And that was just from Stella.
Another of our instructions were to bath her regularly with a special shampoo because she had dog itchy skin. The problem with that - she doesn't really likes baths!
-------------------------------
Flashback......
Let's go back almost two years ago when we rescued the Catahoula, named Shadow. He had very bad itching also. Thinking back now, it was probably worse than Stella's. Not knowing then about the "evils" of commercial dog foods, I looked in the pet stores for something to help Shadow's itching. I found a liquid supplement to add to his food, which I did and the itching gradually stopped by around 3 weeks! As long as I added this supplement, no itching. I've run out a couple of times and thought "he's better now - he doesn't need this anymore". And the itching would come back within a week.
Now I just assumed the problem was within my dog - for some reason he just needed this "extra". I never made the connection in my mind that the reason I had to add this supplement was because it just wasn't provided in his commercial dog food. Now I wasn't buying the most or least expensive dog food - it was middle ground. And it was a name brand that I associated with "good health". I thought I was doing good for my dog.
-------------------------------
Back to the present.....
So I started researching on the web how to make your own dog food and got scared! I've got two kids already. How much time is it going to consume in my already busy day to make homemade healthy dog food?
I downloaded an e-book which helped with the millions of questions I had. I'll be honest, the first few weeks, I did spend quite a bit of prep time, but I've honed it down quite a bit and developed some of my own shortcuts. I'll post some of these later. A lot of them come from combining things I've watched and read about homemade healthy dog food - nothing in my mind as original, but when you are first starting, every little thing helps.
We had just adopted an 11 month old Mastiff, Stella. Some of our instructions were to feed her 8 cups of dog food a day! We already have a Catahoula Leopard dog (a herding dog) who got 1-1/2 cups of food a day. Needless to say we went through the normal 18 lb bag of puppy food in less than 2 weeks. And that was just from Stella.
Another of our instructions were to bath her regularly with a special shampoo because she had dog itchy skin. The problem with that - she doesn't really likes baths!
-------------------------------
Flashback......
Let's go back almost two years ago when we rescued the Catahoula, named Shadow. He had very bad itching also. Thinking back now, it was probably worse than Stella's. Not knowing then about the "evils" of commercial dog foods, I looked in the pet stores for something to help Shadow's itching. I found a liquid supplement to add to his food, which I did and the itching gradually stopped by around 3 weeks! As long as I added this supplement, no itching. I've run out a couple of times and thought "he's better now - he doesn't need this anymore". And the itching would come back within a week.
Now I just assumed the problem was within my dog - for some reason he just needed this "extra". I never made the connection in my mind that the reason I had to add this supplement was because it just wasn't provided in his commercial dog food. Now I wasn't buying the most or least expensive dog food - it was middle ground. And it was a name brand that I associated with "good health". I thought I was doing good for my dog.
-------------------------------
Back to the present.....
So I started researching on the web how to make your own dog food and got scared! I've got two kids already. How much time is it going to consume in my already busy day to make homemade healthy dog food?
I downloaded an e-book which helped with the millions of questions I had. I'll be honest, the first few weeks, I did spend quite a bit of prep time, but I've honed it down quite a bit and developed some of my own shortcuts. I'll post some of these later. A lot of them come from combining things I've watched and read about homemade healthy dog food - nothing in my mind as original, but when you are first starting, every little thing helps.
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