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Columbia-Greene Humane Society
125 Humane-Society Road
Soft Paws By Aaron Clause 14 Days to a Better Dog Diet Hello, faithful readers! Your support has qualified me to put a photo next to my column, so I’d like to introduce my best friend, my wonderful Pit Bull Dasha. She was a shelter dog, of course, that I adopted in October. And, speaking of her, I did something very special with her in early January that I want to share with you today – a 14-day changeover to a healthier dog diet. I became concerned about her when her coat wasn’t shining and her nails were brittle, and I spent my first couple months of ownership researching a diet that would provide excellent physical conditioning. I started the diet in early January, and as I’m writing this column, her coat and nails continue to improve every day. I want to make it clear that neither the Columbia-Greene Humane Society nor the CHATHAM COURIER in any way endorse the products which I’m going to mention – this is information from my own personal experiences with our shelter’s favorite breeder, adoption assistant, and Chairperson of the C.G.H.S. Board of Directors, Charlene Marchand, and our shelter’s Manager and Veterinary Technician, Andrea Walker, that has worked for me. Their extensive experience with animal nutrition qualifies them unconditionally, and nothing would make me happier than to see all of my readers’ pets with healthy physiques. So, let’s get started! HEALTH FIRST: Before any changes are made to your pet’s diet, make a veterinary appointment and get two things: 1) A full-scale wormer (Panacur is excellent) to make sure that we are not getting parasites healthy instead of our dog, and 2) A supply of DermCaps or similar fatty acid supplements. The Panacur is vet-issue only, but DermCaps and other fatty acid supplements can be ordered from a variety of pet supply catalogs and stores. Follow your veterinarian’s instructions on how to use Panacur, and remember to do this before you start your diet changeover for best results. The DermCaps we will save for later. DRY FOOD: Let’s face it – dogs are carnivores, meaning, if at all possible, that meat will be their primary sustenance. And with their basic staple in today’s American society being grain-based “dry food,” it is essential that we choose one that is meat-based, well funded (the company needs customers to provide outstanding food!), and designed for high digestibility. I will not say what NOT to buy (you can probably figure it out, and I don’t want any phone calls from angry lawyers), but I will offer you some (of course, there may be more!) good suggestions for highly digestible quality dry foods. Take your choice: - Purina ProPlan - All Iams Products - All Nutro Products - Purina HiPro - Eukanuba - Science Diet - Purina O.N.E. - Sam’s Club Exceed - Blue Seal Ultra 27 Now, we aren’t going to just dive in and change the food over all at once. This can cause gastrointestinal distress and diarrhea. But, as you change over a course of two weeks, you will probably see your pet’s stools become more solid and smaller as they are able to digest more and pass less. Follow this time plan to change over your pet’s dry food: Days 1-4: ¼ cup less of your old food, and add a ¼ cup of the new “good” food. Days 5-7: ½ cup less of your old food, and add a ½ cup of the new “good” food. Days 8-12: 1 cup less of your old food, and add a cup of the new “good” food. Day 13 on: New “good” food only! MOIST FOOD: If you mix in moist food (i.e. canned) normally, you don’t have to stop. The majority of moist foods are mostly water, and although they give your dog’s food some palatability, they have very little to offer in the way of nutrition one way or the other. Try to stick to either one brand, or even one flavor of a particular brand to avoid loose stools. PROTEIN: On day 13 of your changeover, start adding natural protein to your dog’s food; once or twice weekly for dogs 60 pounds and under, and two to three times weekly for dogs over 60 pounds. Those protein supplements can be any or all of the following: - 1 cooked egg (any style, no extra grease!) - 1 Swedish Meatball sized amount of raw or cooked beef - ¼ cup of boiled chicken Just drop one of the above 2-3 times per week (depending on your dog’s size) in your dog’s regular food. Remember, added grease, gravy, butter, etc., can upset your dog’s digestive system! FATTY ACIDS: On day 14, start your pet on one dose of DermCaps or other supplement (that you should already have!) each day. Stay with your high nutrient dry food/protein booster/fatty acid supplement diet for 6-8 weeks, and then write to me with your success stories! A nice snack is a tablespoon of yogurt (yummy and healthy!). Also, if your dog is already on a “good” brand of dry food and protein supplements and still has a somewhat dull coat, a teaspoon of Safflower Oil added to a meal a day could change gears for you! I look forward to hearing from you on how well the diet is working. You can write to me at: Aaron Clause, c/o Columbia-Greene Humane Society, 125 Humane Society Road, Hudson, NY, 12534. Or, you can call with any questions at (518) 828-6044. Better yet, you can visit us – we’re located on Route 66, 1 ¼ miles south of the intersection with Route 9H – and spend some time with a few of our shelter critters. From the shelter staff, Dasha, and I, good luck!
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