What do your dogs eat Tara?

I’m glad you asked – my dogs are currently alternating between ground beaver carcass or ground lamb mixed with ground duck. These are whole meats, nothing else added, and are not crap from the grocery store or animal doctor’s office! Then I give them ground beef organs which includes green tripe. I order online and it comes straight to my front door. No grocery stores or expensive, fancy pet stores. And absolutely NO Hill’s Science Diet pushed from the Vet’s office – who gets a kickback by the way, it’s not because he believes it’s so awesome for your dog.

For their added supplements I am adding Mr. Stud for the boys and Estrumate for the females. Along with nutritious yeast, DE mixed with bentonite clay and some pre and pro biotics, and some MSM along with ground pumpkin seeds.

Well, how much do you feed them? I don’t weigh my dogs food, I’m a mom, not a scientist, lol – so I notice if any of my dogs seem a bit chubby or lookin’ a little too thin to me. If they are lookin’ kinda chubby, I cut back some, if thin – well, I make sure they are healthy overall, not feeling sick, and then I give them more food! Like any mom would!

But here is a good rule of thumb:

STANDARD FEEDING GUIDELINES:

Age 5-10 weeks requires 8%-10% of body weight fed per day

Age 10-16 weeks requires 7.5%-8.5% of body weight fed per day

Adult dog’s maintenance needs are typically 2%-3% of body weight

These are just recommendations.  Always watch your dog’s physique.

You should be able to feel the ribs slightly and see a waist from above between the ribs and hips.

I’ll be adding some frozen beef bones for them to chew on this Summer – it’s warming up here in Tennessee so I will be doing that really soon.

Also, I’ll be adding more variety meats until our freezer is full of our organic rabbit meat that we are currently growing. The bunnies are getting big and our bunny food bill is increasing, lol. Although, living here in green Tennessee, we have plenty of yard for them to graze on. We don’t use any weed killer and most of our “grass” is some weed.

Our dogs are spoiled! They are fed the best – no additives, a big yard the size of their very own dog park to run and play, minimal toxins and lots of love and kisses from us.

If you get a puppy from me – just know that, it was hand-raised IN MY HOME, loved on, played with and fed species appropriate from the womb! I don’t think your dogs needs lots of vaccines every year, in fact if you do that to a dog you got from me, it makes the guarantee null and void. Absolutely NO oral or injected flea and tick repellents will be tolerated either. They are too risky and there are plenty of other ways that work with the dogs immune system instead of bombarding it with toxins and weakening it.

I hope this helps you understand a little more what we’re about here at Tara’s Schnauzers and maybe gets you thinking about a healthier, “crunchier” lifestyle for your sweet pet.