Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Tasty Tuesday-The Rotation Diet

Ah meal time, a hungry hounds favorite part of the day 




 

Some of our favorite bloggers like Tucker the Crestie, Southern Fried Pugs, and Kol's Notes have detailed their super healthy diets prey model raw, home cooked, and raw respectively.   I've tried a bunch of different diets with my guys from the Iams I fed Norbert and Tubby when I first got them (shudder) to pre-made raw and home cooked.   

I personally believe that fresh raw food is the healthiest choice for dogs.  However, I have to consider cost and practicality too.   The hounds dad has an aversion to raw feeding and we split care of the dogs 50/50 so when we did try raw it had to be pre-made and with 5 dogs that was a bit of a cost no-no, though we tried it for awhile.  When I tried all home cooking I became a bit of a crazy lady boiling up pots of meats and veggies and struggling with tables and calculators in an attempt to balance the meals.  The last straw broke when I spilled a 2 lb bag of bone meal on the kitchen floor.   

So in an effort to feed my dogs a healthy diet and save my sanity I've settled on the rotation diet.  The basic concept of the rotation diet is that we all living things need variety in their food and that no commercial food is 100% complete.  By rotating through a variety of high quality kibbles you get a range of ingredients and help balance out flaws.   For years vetrinarianas told clients to avoid changing their dogs food as it might cause stomach  upset, but eating the same diet for years is not natural and Ive found that with my dogs as long as I switch to grain free formulas there is no tummy upset when we start a new bag.   Plus, the rotation diet is believed to help prevent allergies as overly limited diets can be a factor in food sensitivities.

 You can customize the rotation diet to your own needs easily, some people switch foods daily or weekly or monthly and some mix foods together.  We order grain free foods from Mr. Chewy 


 and use brands from the Whole Dog Journal's  list of approved dried foods, including Orijen, Wellness, and Solid Gold.  Since we have five dogs we order the largest bags and freshness is still not an issue (we always store the food in the bag as that helps retain the nutrients).  We make sure to rotate through protein sources alternating primarily chicken, fish, and beef based kibble.


In order to give the kibble an additional healthy boost I make sure to add some fresh foods.   I regularly add yogurt, cooked eggs, sardines, cooked ground meat and fresh fruits and veggies.  In a few minutes I can cook up ground turkey with a nutrient rich vegetable such as kale and some antioxidant filled berries and make a kibble topper much healthier then canned food, and for less.   



I also add plenty of supplements (we have a whole counter full).  I rotate the supplements too, but I always give salmon oil, Glucosamine, digestive enzymes, a green food supplement, milk thistle for the liver, and usually Curcumin for its antioxidant benefits.

This diet isn't appropriate for ever pup but it keeps us smiling!


10 comments:

  1. It sure sounds like the rotation diet works for your furbabies! They are so lucky to have such a devoted Momma! Weasley, has no idea just what a great family he is coming into! :-)

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  2. We have used a rotation diet with great success and our pups love it

    Stop on by for a visit
    Kari
    http://dogisgodinreverse.com/

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  3. We do home cooked partially and then with our dry food we do the rotation and never had a problem, I think Haylie likes it because it changes up things. LOL I feel ya on the boiling pot thing, we now just started cooking the home cooked food in a slower cooker :)

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  4. Aw, what a great smile! Rotating makes perfect sense, and I like your added supplements too.

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  5. Great advice! I might have to try that with Betty, she tends to have bad allergies

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  6. Look at all those foodies you got...mom mixes raw with my Lily since she is finicky like a kitty
    Snuggles
    Benny & Lily

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  7. Mum says that changing ups the food isn't a bad idea. Mum changes up our foods every so often. I just started on Medi cal dental cuz I just saw the vets and I need a food for dental and joints. Anyways apparently there are some really good dog foods made here in canada... one of them is called GO. It is what our cats are currently eating. Another one is NRG and there is one more that Mum has heards good reviews of but we can't remember the name, all we remember is that it is mades in Abbottsford BC.


    PS Mum just announced a strict diets for me. I have to loose 3 kg over the next few months... I am encouraging all my pug pals to send snacks secrectly to me, I am afraid I may not makes it through this diet!!!!

    Winston

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  8. Gosh,, you have a lot of good food at your house! I want to come for dinner!
    love
    tweedles

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  9. Oh yummers! I love the idea of the rotation diet its good to have a change! It sounds like you have some good meal times in your home, do you need one more furry firend to come dine with you? Hmmm?? Love, Licks and Hugs from your Friend Frank xxxxxx

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  10. We used to do a kibble rotation here and it worked great. It has so many benefits to it, one being that your dogs are way less prone to stomach upset. If we had as many pups as you, we'd have t look at a different diet too! It's one of the things that keeps my puppy mania in check!

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