Healthy foods for a german shepherds

[cristofa]

can anyone give me some ideas for healthy foods for german shepherds?

[LaRen616]

RAW, Orijen, Evo, Blue Buffalo?

[Jax08]

Since you posted in the recipes area....

Are you looking for home cooked food?
RAW?
Kibble?

[cristofa]

im wondering if eggs are good, wat about carrots and some vegetables.. i belive onions and other foods are toxic and poisenous.

[Jax08]

Dogs can't break down the cell wall of vege's so they would have to be cooked, or processed in some way, for them to get any benefit. A guy I work with gives his lab a frozen carrot every morning to clean his teeth.

Eggs are good.
Canned pumpkin
Yogurt

Probably is you look in the RAW area you'll find lots of ideas.

[Stosh]

How old is your dog? Carrots are good, just watch the amount since they have a high sugar content. My dogs love cooked sweet potatoes, green beans, eggs are good, plain yogurt, raw chicken. Are you going to supplement dry food with these other items? There are lots of articles about feeding on the forum.

[cristofa]

thanks stosh and jax08, my female is 3 and my male is 7. how would i give the carrot, does it need to be cooked? how much do i give a week? im learning about what foods are good for them so i can add some extra stuff in there diet which is good for their joints and may help prevent hip dysplasia in the future, my mum gets them the royal canin bag of dry food when she can afford it as im not working yet i am a student, im greatful for your help !!

[Jax08]

if you are looking for joint healthy items then you need to look at Vitamin C (blueberries), Glucosomine (chicken feet), Omega 3 (sardines, salmon, cold water fish)

But I would just buy a supplements for that instead of trying to use food. I would buy a complete supplement for joints and add Vit C, Fish Oil and Vit E.

If you are looking to supplement their food with a RAW diet, that's a whole new ballgame and you should start looking through the RAW section of this board.

[cristofa]

thanks jax

[Gib Laut]

Originally Posted by cristofa

can anyone give me some ideas for healthy foods for german shepherds?

Yikes, that's quite a question!!!LOL.....one that has no simple, short answer....but, best effort is this: unprocessed, biologically appropriate foods would be the best food. That means the majority of diet coming from a variety of animal protein and very limited vegetables in the form of puree. This is a subject than can give some a headache while reading, but well worth it....there are many, many great links in the diet and nutrition and BARF area to help you with the journey. I understand finances are an issue, but depending on what you can beg, borrow and plead for in your area from farms, butchers, abattoirs or stores, it can be cheaper to feed unprocessed. And, in the end most find vet bills are much lower, so the overall benefits are much greater.

PS You can do much better for the money than RC....it's very over priced for what you are getting...you will find much discussion here about that also. If you post a location, you will find people will be able to give you pricing.