Healthy Extras

Supplementing Your Dog's Diet

Even if you feed a high quality kibble, your dog could still be missing out on vitamins and minerals that will promote a healthy, long life. Below are a few different foods you can add to your dog's meal on a regular basis to make the meal more vitamin-rich and nutritionally-balanced.

Vegetables and Fruits

Feeding your dog fresh, raw vegetables and fruits is the best way to provide her with almost all of the vitamins she will need to stay healthy. The best types of vegetables to feed are green, leafy veggies like romaine lettuce, bok choy and kale. Other fruits and veggies like mangos, pears, apples, carrots, and summer squash can be added in small quantities as well. Herbs like parsley and garlic are high in antioxidants and vitamins and they are an excellent edition to your veggie mix. Dogs have very short intestines and cannot break down and digest whole vegetables. As a result, it is important to crush or pulverize the vegetables and fruits to a paste consistency. The best way to do this is with a food processor.

Eggs

Adding a raw egg with the shell, one or two times a week provides your dog with protein, vitamins A, D, E, and B group, iron, phosphorus, and zinc, as well as omega-3 fatty acids. The crushed shell will provide calcium. Feeding raw eggs to your dog is not dangerous because, according to an FDA news release, salmonella is not harmful to dogs.

Organ Meats

Kidney, liver, and heart are full of vitamins and minerals and can be added to your dog's diet raw or cooked.

Cottage Cheese

Cottage cheese is an excellent souce of protein for dogs of all ages. The amino acids in cottage cheese help in wound heeling and muscle building. It is an excellent supplement for growing puppies, pregnant or lactating females, working and sport dogs, as well as aging pets with mobility difficulties.

Yogurt

Plain yogurt, (with live, active cultures) is an excellent supplement for dogs. It is a source of calcium, protein, and vitamins B and A. The bacteria in live culture yogurt also promotes healthy stomach and intestinal function by supplying natural probiotics.

Left Overs or Table Scraps

Leftovers from your family's meals are nice occasional additions to your dog's meal. Feeding leftovers cuts down on waste, and provides your dog with vitamin and mineral variety they wouldn't normally get from kibble.

There are a few foods that you should never feed your dog: onions, chocolate, grapes or raisins and food with a lot of spice in it.

IMPORTANT: To make sure your dog doesn't become overweight, always feed leftovers and all of the above supplements as part of their daily food ration - not above and beyond their normal amount. For example, if your dog always gets 2 cups of kibble per day, make sure they are still only getting two cups when you combine the kibble with leftovers etc.