I figured to have a mix of commercial soft and kibble food, a more or less daily vitamin, a sardine and egg for the oils and biotin and other nutrients and some bones and meat - plus treats - might be a good way to go.
So ok, she is about 1 year old and weighs 59 lbs atm. (up 3 lbs from a few weeks ago)
After some experimenting and observation of her likes, dislikes and eating habits as well as sensitivities, I feed her more or less this:
- 1 to 1 1/2 cans/d of soft commercial dog food
- about 1 cup/d of lamb based kibble
- a meaty bone or a soup bone (she LOVES this) - best for her work beef neck bones.
I know - the small bones. The loose ones I take out, and she chews well. I figure, wolves eats all kinds of bones - but then, their live span is not that long. In any case, I think dogs are basically equipped to handle raw meat and bone.
- 1 sardine/d - for the oils, and I might up that to 1-2/day.
- 1 raw egg about 3-4 times/week
- and she gets lots of treats during training
Since she is not very food oriented - I kept having to upgrade from kibble, to hot dogs to meat cubes and now to cheese and cooked carrots and I use the sardine as a treat as well - because she LOVES it. I use it all in the course of the day...only during training.
OH she gets 2 large dog biscuit/d from someone else.
I found when I feed her more, she looks like she gains too much weight. So I adjust it week to week. She gets more when it is very cold outside (she is an outside dog).
So far she's been fed twice a day - after early morning and late afternoon/early evening training...plus the treats during other training sessions.
So far she is happy, healthy and vigorous with this and has a nice shiny coat.
These photos are from this morning playing in the sun.
