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It's not just hunting dogs- any active dog will benefit from a truly balanced diet that also includes fats. In fact more fat than carbs is better. They process it differently than we do.
What is sad is that a lot of people project that what is best for them is also best for the animal, and frankly that is a very dangerously misguided thing. Dogs are dogs, not humans. I generally walk 10-15 miles per day when bird hunting, sometimes 20. My dogs easily cover 3-5 times that amount, their senses are totally on fire and they weigh 1/3rd or less of what I do. You better believe their needs are different!
Unrelated to the original post but just wanted to say your dogs are gorgeous and it's clear they're loving what they were born to do.
I understand what you are saying but I still think the salt content in ham is to be avoided for dogs. Don't you agree?
Yes- that's why I said my dogs get NO processed meat products. No ham, no jerky- nothing like that. When I smoke pork shoulders I'll normally shave off a raw hunk and save it for the dogs. I'll lightly boil it and then save it in vacuum bags for them. They also eat venison liver, heart and meat scraps, trout, ham and beef trimmings.
No processed foods. Their normal kibble is free from most additives as well. Heck as a family we avoid processed foods.
Our guys got small pieces of our ham with no ill effects.
Correct. My pets eat meat, bones, organs without salt or additives. Whatever I buy for myself, raw meat wise, and then the innards that I wouldn't eat unless I was starving to death, they get. But a little bite here and there of some "forbidden fruit" (as long as it's not cocoa, and a few other things), is not a big deal.
This is what we are currently feeding our 20 sled dogs on a daily basis. It is mixed and fed as a thick stew. Meat has a lot of water in it so they will drink less.
25lbs raw ground beef
6lbs raw beef fat
6lbs raw chicken fat
3lbs raw ground liver
2.5 coffee cans of high quality kibble (for fiber)
5 cups of dehydrated egg
3 cups of black strap molasses
2 cups of vegetable oil
2 cups of bone meal
1 cup of of zinc powder
7.5 gallons of water
This mix produces about 10 gallons of feed. The average dog in our kennel gets about 8 cups of this stew and it’s heated up in a 100 qt cooker which helps keep their core warm in cold conditions. Freezer pending…this mix changes in the summer, with less fat or changing the main protein source to chicken or turkey as beef is expensive and not necessary during light training months. We have also fed tripe, beaver, venison, rabbit, squirrel, fish, and horse. There are many options and we usually don’t turn down free meat if we can get it. Some mix in rice for carbohydrates too.
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