Bouvier - Food & Toys

Lean Dogs Live Longer

Food Comparison Charts

Non Commercial Dog Food Comparison Charts

Bouvier Paella by Terry Minda

The Ireland Alternative Diet by Nancy Ireland

Healthy Liver Treats by Gretchen Miller

Food and Drug Administration/Center for Veterinary Medicine Report on the risk from pentobarbital in dog food

Healthy Supplement - Liver Recipe [author unknown]

Toy Killer - In Rambo's memory

The Buster Cube - safe toy

Rawhide - In Brianna's memory

A List of Unsafe Toys

Gryphon Nutrition - good practical information

Doggie Dietician - all kinds of nutritional information

Killer Mushrooms - toxins, symptoms & cures, especially in the fall season
Mushroom Index - pictures & notes

What's Really in Pet Food - an API (Animal Protection Institute) report

Billinghurst Food Seminar Notes

Karen Early's canine Nutrition Resource Page

What's in Commercial Dog Food?, What Should Dogs Eat?

What if I Don't Want to Spend A Lot to Feed My Dog?

Cooking for your Dogs

BARF diet

B.A.R.F. Top 50 Questions & Answers for beginners
B.A.R.F. Links
B.A.R.F. Tips & Tricks

Raw Meat & Bones [overview] - A Dangerous Fad Diet
Articles on Raw Meat & Bone Diets
Testimornials - First Hand Stories
FAQ About Food

Mycobacteriosis Tristan's Story

Dogs Eat Fish

Chocolate & Other Dangerous Goodies

Just Say "No" To Onions!

Foods You Should Not Feed Your Bouv & the reasons why

A Healthful Diet by Gretchen Miller

A Natural Diet is one person's opinion. An article by Bea Anderson, Wyatt's mom.

Dog Vomit

Raw Foods Compared

Natural Diets & other health books for pets @ Amazon

Dietary Management of Renal & Cardiac Disease
Diet & Supplements for Dogs with Kidney Disease

Compare Dog Food Ingredients - Wizard

Yahoo! Group re: Dog_Nutrition gen'l discussion

Yahoo! Group re: Home_Cooking for your dog

Truman & Sabrina's Kibble (mixed w dairy products, veggies, meat, chicken & supplements)
This is *not* to be considered an endorsement

Truman & Sabrina's Daily Food Regimen

Bouvier Paella by Terry Minda
Excerpted from "The Natural Food Recipes for Healthy Dogs" by Carol Boyle

Into a very large soup pot, or Dutch oven I add:

2 packages of long grain brown rice 28 oz.
2 packages Pearl Barley 16 oz.
Fill pot with water to about one inch below the top of the pot.
Cook til boil, then reduce heat to about 4 or 5 (low) for about 1/2 hr to 45 mins.
Add package of mixed veggies 32 oz. size, or fresh veggies like:

broccoli

cauliflower

tomatoes

whatever your dog likes, veggie-wise.

Add 7 eggs, I let them poach in the rice water.

I season the mixture with Adobo seasoning, I let the rice and barley mix
cook for another 45 minutes on about 4 (low) til the rice and barley and veggies are very soft. I was originally cooking the veggies and pureeing in the blender, then adding the veggie goop mix to the rice, but I think if the veggies are cooked til soft they will be easily digested.

This large pot feeds 6 dogs and 3 cats for about 4 days.

To this vegetable-grain mixture I make fresh each night 3 lbs. ground beef/ground turkey mixed. I top the above rice dish with the ground meats, about 2 or 3 nights a week I add one can of Chicken of the Sea Jack Mackerel 15 oz. size, the dogs and cats love it!

They also get as snacks fresh carrots, and 1 tablespoon of low fat cottage cheese each day, plus a few bites of chicken or turkey franks as treats. So they are getting grain, meat, poultry, fish, veggies, and occasionally a liquid vitamin supplement for the senior canines, also a liquid condroitin/glucosamine with MSM for joint mobility for Maxwell, Zac, Daisy and Murphy. All- in-all a pretty well-balanced diet from the basic food groups!

They get chicken livers instead of the ground meats every few weeks for variety, and a favorite special treat is a nice big marrow bone with some meat on the outside and marrow on the inside, this is my only raw contribution to their diet, and it keeps their teeth nice and white!

The Ireland Alternative Diet by Nancy Ireland

We look at delivering a balanced diet over a period of days, much like we as humans try to do for ourselves.

Our choice is to feed our dogs twice a day, with a two day schedule. We
will toss in a third day schedule once every few weeks.

Day One

AM

A mix of fresh vegetables of whatever is in our fridge or garden. We try to use at least four or five different types from a list of the following:

carrots (and tops)
peas
green and yellow beans
zucchini
beets (and tops)
broccoli
Brussels sprouts
cauliflower (limited)
squash
parsnips
eggplant (limited)
kale or whatever else looks good at the market!

Along with the vegetables I add:

two whole eggs
one banana
the tiniest pinch of salt once or twice a week
a clove of garlic
two super cod liver oil tablets (2500iuVitA, 200iuVitD3)

This all goes into our handy dandy food processor, along with a dash of water and is mixed till mushy. The dogs slurp this up willingly and depending on what we have added, they sometimes linger over their bowls and lick up every last morsel.

We sometimes add leftovers of our own dinner vegetable dishes along with overripe fruit.

PM

Two of our dogs and the cat receive ground beef (meat trimmings specially concocted by our butcher), sometimes ground lamb, along with a chicken heart each. How much depends on the dog and what the dog is doing. You will have to fiddle with the amounts.

Tug sometimes receives ground lamb but mostly chicken backs and necks. (he is allergic to beef) The amount depends on the size of the necks and backs. Usually at least a pound, probably more like two or so of the above. He also receives a chicken heart or two.

They get commercial dog cookies (maybe one or two at most) per day. We try to buy the healthiest type we can and read the labels carefully.

Day Two

AM

An apple each or pear.

PM

All animals get chicken back and necks. The amount depends on the dog. (note, the chicken is given with skin ON always.)

We also have a 'bone' day (once every two weeks or so) when the only thing the dogs get that day is a bone. We buy large knuckle bones and have them sawn in half at the butchers. Each bone half weighs at least 1lb or more and is consumed outside. We collect the uneaten bits in a bag and refrigerate till the next day or until completely gone or I'm too disgusted to feed the rest.

We try to use only fresh veggies but occasionally have used frozen in a pinch. We buy the meat in bulk and package each meal and freeze. It takes us about 1 hour to package the chicken, and one hour to package the beef. (usually done on separate days)

Lamb is usually bought in small portions (on sale!) and frozen. Prep time depends on the day and the food but the veggie concoction takes about 10 minutes to prepare (10 minutes too long according to the dogs) and the meat meals are thawed in hot water (or just in the sink) so take no time. I do cut up my cat's chicken back/neck as they are very large for him. (he gets what I call a 'rat size' portion of meat/bone/fat)

We try to buy enough meat for a month or so. I use a three percent bleach solution to clean up bowls, utensils and counters.

Cost wise we are paying about 59 cents per pound for chicken backs/necks. Up from 38 cents where we used to live. Beef costs us about $1.00 per pound, up again from 60 cents where we used to live....sigh. Lamb we try to buy at 99 cents a pound on sale. We feed two Bouviers, a border collie and a cat on this diet. We've been doing it for about eight years and every year all our animals are given a full blood chem/panel to keep track of their normalcy.

I'm sure I left something out but oh well, that's the gist of our feeding program. Tug is alive and doing well as are Bean and the cat. Maid has been eating this way for two years now (she's the latest arrival) and has done very well, even when she was working everyday. Bean also did well on it during her more stressful workdays. We would
incorporate our foster bouvs into this diet and they really seemed to blossom on it. (mind you sometimes any good, consistent diet will help those poor creatures!)

Truman & Sabrina Rifkinson's Daily Food Regimen

Frequency
Two meals twice daily in raised bowls
Noon Snack 1/2 Super Giant Wellness Biscuit or Carrot

Overview

1/2 cup wellness senior kibble mixed with adult kibble

AM meal add 1/2 can sardines in oil
PM meal add 2 tbl Ultra Rx-Joint Liquid Glucosamine Chondroitin MSM + Brewer's Yeast powder + Platinum Performance
Add prepared mixture (see below) cooked weekly & divided into 14 portions

Ingredients

+/- 3 # ground chuck
+/- 1 # ground turkey
6 eggs
1 bag frozen mixed vegetables or stalks from broccoli
vegetable oil
3 tsps chopped garlic
1 large sweet potato

Preparation

microwave sweet potato (7 mins)
Grind veggies, sweet potato, garlic & eggs w shells (dough consistency)

Directions

Pour vegetable oil into very large fry pan
break up meat/turkey as much as possible
over med flame, cook meat & turkey, keep turning over to cook evenly
when meat/turkey is cooked, add veggies/egg shells & mix in
continue cooking until fully integrated & somewhat 'reduced'

Afterward

Let cool
divide contents into 14 bags (2 lrge cooking spoonfuls per helping)
store in fridge

Serving

microwave two bag servings for 30-40 seconds before serving (1 each)
Mix well with kibble & cottage cheese or yogurt (one meal only)
add powdered supplements "Platinum Performance" & "Brewers Yeast" & "Nature's + Ultra Rx-Joint Liquid Glucosamine, Chondrotin, MSM" (one meal only)