Easing Up On The Supplements

Happy New Year! --- almost, anyway.

Gracie turns 10 this coming year. It's a good time for a dietary review. Like any good Doggie Chef  I periodically take some time to think about what I feed my dog and why.

I've decided to gradually stop feeding Gracie vitamin supplements and nutritional yeast. I'll continue essential fatty acid and calcium supplements (corn oil, sunflower oil, ground flax seed, bone meal powder) but I'll phase out using the Doctors Foster and Smith Lifestage Select Premium Multivitamin and Mineral Supplement For Adult Dogs, and the Red Star Nutritional Yeast.

I think supplements can help if a deficiency or nutrient absorption problem exists. Yet I'm beginning to wonder if they're necessary when a dog is healthy and eats a balanced, high nutrient diet.
Gracie has thrived on homemade meals for almost six years. I've given her multivitamins for only a year. She seems to be just as healthy taking the multivitamins as she was without them. I don't think she actually need these multivitamins at this point in her life.

"Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide To Natural Health For Dogs and Cats," by Richard H. Pitcairn (click here for my review of that book), gave me the confidence to make my dog's food myself. The author recommends feeding dogs nutritional yeast regularly, in small amounts. So ever since I started making Gracie's food I've sprinkled Red Star Nutritional Yeast on her meals periodically. Nutritional yeast contains B-complex vitamins which promote skin, coat and general health. However, I believe Gracie's good health and healthy coat are mostly the result of the nutritious foods she eats and the regular grooming she receives. For now I think she'll be just as healthy without the nutritional yeast supplement.

There's definitely some trial and error involved in being a Doggie Chef! I think it's okay as long as dietary changes are made carefully and gradually; with close watch kept on the dog to monitor the results.

Egg Breakfast 11-12-08

Scrambled egg, cooked in corn oil

Whole wheat bread

Black beans

Red Star Nutritional Yeast flakes

Gracie, age 9

PLAYTIME!

Chicken Dinner 9-16-08

Chicken cooked in canola oil

Brown rice

Cooked broccoli

Yogurt

The photo above shows how Gracie's food dish looked when I prepared her meal. I always try to keep the various food items seperate to figure the percentage of "protein," "grain," etc..., I give her at each meal. Right before I feed Gracie I thoroughly mash up any vegetables in her food dish and mix them together with any meat and grain or bread I serve her. When I include a dairy food in Gracie's meals (yogurt, cottage cheese, etc...) I usually leave it separate. Just before I served Gracie the meal pictured above it actually looked like this:

CATCH!

Baths --- How Often?

Some dog care “experts” say bathing more than once a month is bad for a dog’s skin. A few suggest a shampoo bath once a month and a water-only bath more often, if needed. I disagree.

Every dog is different. Gracie starts smelling a little “fragrant” about 10 days after getting a bath. If I didn’t bathe her, with shampoo, every other week (on average) she would smell offensive and so would my home.

Gracie's allowed everywhere in my house. Her favorite resting spots are the beds and couches. And I enjoy snuggling with her at least once a day. Bathing her once every seven to 14 days is necessary and does not harm her skin. It actually keeps her coat silky and promotes a healthier, more pleasant home environment for us and our visitors.

I use human shampoo on Gracie. For several years I used White Rain Kids’ shampoo. It made Gracie smell fantastic, left her coat soft and shiny, and never irritated her skin. Unfortunately, that shampoo is no longer available in my local stores! Lately I’ve used Pantene shampoo for dry/damaged hair and it’s worked well.

Bath time is always a big production because we have a deep, claw foot bathtub. I place a rubber-suction bathmat in the bottom of the tub to give Gracie sure footing. In order to get her into the tub comfortably I line the tub with her cushioned dog bed. I place a large, overturned laundry basket next to the tub for her to step up on. A little coaxing and a large crunchy biscuit get her into the tub.

I wet Gracie down and rinse her with a Rinse Ace Indoor/Outdoor Pet Sprayer. It's a hand-held shower head/8-foot hose that attaches to the bathroom sink faucet (a really handy device) and reaches to the tub. Click here to see a picture and learn more about it.

The first few times I bathed Gracie her I tried filling the tub up halfway so she could stand in the water. She didn’t like it at all so now I just give her showers in the tub.

As soon as I rinse Gracie off and shut the water, she knows it's time to start shaking. She gets a small crunchy treat each time she shakes herself off while I'm drying her. Our bathroom is small and a bit cramped so water gets all over the place during bath time. We’ve been meaning to re-do our bathroom for many years. When we do, a shower stall will be high priority to make bath time easier on everyone.

*** POST UPDATE: We finally re-did our bathroom and added a shower stall. Click here to see my June 22, 2010 post showing Gracie in the new shower stall!