Example Of Your Daily Greyhound Dog's Meals

[OwnedBySummer]

I read about the turkey neck being good for greyhound's teeth in "Adopting the Racing Greyhound" by Cnynthia Branigan. I definitely will try that. Where do you get them? The butcher?

We have a few raw food suppliers around here, specifically for dogs. So I just get it from them. I have heard, though, that some people have had success in Asian grocery stores, particularly for the raw chicken feet but sometimes for the necks. Possibly a small town type of butcher might be able to oblige you. If you have any local turkey farms who do their own processing, that might work (that's how I get my raw duck feet, from a big duck farm).

[maggiespet]

Natural Balance Limited ingredients Potato and Duck. Maggie does great on it - evenly maintains weight and solid poo. And she likes it! 1 1/2 cups in the morning and 2 cups in the evening mixed with warm water because she just won't bother eating it dry. Actually, Maggie does well on almost anything. Sam the wonder mutt has awful grain allergies. While trying to get him under control, we've gone through a bazillion foods (because I really, really want them to eat the same kibble unless it's really not gonna work) Blue Buffalo, TOTW, Merrick, Kirkland, etc. and Maggie could do any of them. The farm where we get our eggs also sells homemade chicken jerky so we use that for treats. But that's kinda it. My dogs think I'm no fun. No fun at all.

 

ETA - oops forgot a can of tuna in oil for her coat once a week or so. She loves that so much she practically meows while she eats it.

Edited April 25, 2013 by maggiespet

[Guest NancyS]

When I adopted my beautiful grey, Tipper, the adoption agency suggested I keep her on Purina Pro Plan since she was doing well on it - I give about 1 1/2 cups at 7 am and again at 6 pm. I followed their advice and have not had any digestive problems with my grey. It was also suggested I add a heaping tablespoon of pure canned Pumpkin in her morning food and in the PM add a tablespoon of low or no fat unflavored yogurt (I use Greek Yogurt). I do add hot water to moisten the food - Tipper is a chow hound and tends to scarf her food and then spit it out - wetting it and using a separated bowl has corrected this problem. She was 56 lbs when I adopted her last November and maintains at 57-59 lbs with no problem. For treats, once or twice a day I give her a "healthy bone" to help keep her teeth clean - no junk treats. If I am in the kitchen and she comes in I will give her a carrot, celery, pepper, fruit (she doesn't like bananas) a couple of times a week. Tipper loves lettuce with balsamic dressing. I am fortunate that she loves to eat - just have to keep her away from bread - that's her favorite of all.

Edited April 25, 2013 by NancyS

[Guest Gemma]

We used to raw feed Peyton but, now he's a senior, he doesn't seem able to digest it as well so we moved him to a grain free kibble.

 

He gets 1.25 cups in the AM with a little water, his arthritis supplement, and his pain meds in some wet food. Around 5pm, he gets his dinner, which is 1.5 cups kibble with a little plain yoghurt mixed in, salmon oil, his supplements, and his meds in wet food. For treats, I like the Natural Balance LID large biscuits. He also gets raw carrots/apple slices on occasion. Sometimes, as a special treat, he gets a plain bagel from DD.

[Guest Bean_Scotch]

All my dogs get Authority Lamb and Rice from Petsmart. that's it. few treats. no water. and no add-ins. They range in age from 6-12yrs old.

[cleptogrey]

morning- kibble soaked in water, 3 squirts of cold pressed salmon oil

evening- kibble soaked in water

 

78# male gets 1.75 cups

61#female gets 1.5 cups at each meal

blue seal lamb and rice here....great coat, good stools, healthy dogs, affordable

 

i would start a new pup w/ 1/2 food & 1/2 over cooked white rice as they get used to their new home.

[Guest psdirector]

We have two big boys, 83 lbs. and 78 lbs, and they run hard in our large yard several times a day. They were fostered in a prison program and their foster moms suggested 2 cups of kibble three times a day. We feed Iams green bag and they seem to be doing well on it. They had been getting 3 cups twice a day when they first got to the prison, but I guess they did better when their feedings were split up. We feed 2 cups in the morning with a dollop of yogurt for each, then they get two Kongs during the day (one when my husband leaves for work in the mid-morning and one after my daughter lets them out about 1 PM). They get their midday kibble in the Kongs (although it's less than 2 cups), along with some banana and peanut butter. They love, love, love their frozen Kongs and hardly notice we are leaving. They get another 1 1/2 cups of kibble in the evening with a dollop of canned Iams on each (or sometimes boiled chicken or beef). The only treats are maybe one Iams biscuit a day and a couple of the really tiny Mother Hubbard biscuits for going up to bed the first time we give the "Upstairs!" command, which is every night.

 

They have solid poos on the Iams, something that Hutch didn't have when we got him because of hookworms.

[RaineysMom]

you can find turkey necks at more mom and pop type stores as opposed to large chains like Jewel's and Dominicks (Safeway's out west). I can find them at my local Butera and Caputo markets here in the suburbs of Chicago. Sometimes Hispanic markets carry them. If you can't find them, talk to the butcher at the store you shop and see if he can help. You'll have better luck at markets that actually still HAVE a real butcher (Jewel and Dominick's don't IIRC).

 

We feed/fed Canidae to our first 3, then Zeke came this past January with a raging case of hookworms and baaaaad diarrhea. We eventually eliminated everything and tried Iam's "red bag" (lamb/rice) and he did better. We still don't really know if it was 100% from the worms or a combo of things (allergies?). We are now on Kirkland's (from Costco) lamb/rice formula and he's doing good. We are switching Larry over to this now as well, it's rated quite good and is cheaper than Canidae (well, not really if you consider every time I go to Costco to get it I end up spending $200 on more crap ).

 

we feed 2 times a day -- I would never feed just one time, I feel the chance for bloat is much higher. Until this past December, we actually fed THREE times a day. Both our angels Rainey and Anubis got bloat and the vet suggested to split their 2 into 3 so that's why we did. With just Larry, we went back to 2 times last December, it's just easier and I feel ok about doing it.

 

Larry is a porker right now, just under 80 (and should be about 75) so he's getting about 3 cups total split between 2 meals, along with a spoonful of pumpkin (to keep them firm, highly recommend) with one and a spoonful of low-fat plain yogurt with the other. I also add in an additional protein in the evening meal, sometimes a hard boiled egg, sometimes some canned salmon/tuna/sardines.

 

Zeke is STILL too skinny looking to me so he's actually getting FIVE cups of dry a day (split) plus some extra protein with dinner (and the pumpkin, but not yogurt yet). Both get a Kong that is plugged with peanut butter (Zeke's just has a little then pumpkin, Larry's just PB) -- keep them in the freezer and they make a great thing to give them in their kennel when we leave for work.

 

you probably already know, but there are several things poisonous to dogs -- grapes, raisins, onion, garlic, xylitol and chocolate. So never give them these items. Also, if you use an inhaler (for asthma, etc.) keep that out of reach too.

 

like others have said, take it slow. We didn't with Zeke (started with all the additional stuff right away, i.e. pumpkin, cooked chicken breast, eggs, fish, yogurt) and that might have been part of the big D he got. We're slowing adding stuff back and seeing if he has issues.

 

if you do switch foods, try to transition it -- like 1/4 new to 3/4 old for a couple days, then 1/2 and 1/2 for a couple, then 3/4 and 1/4, etc.

 

one last thing -- greyhounds fresh off the track are super likely to have worms -- it's just part of the way things are. The vet (Dr. Jennifer Barker) that the Greyhound Alliance uses for the dogs we get up from FL uses this protocol: http://greyhoundalliance.org/wordpress/about-the-dogs/greyhound-health/ You may want to ask the adoption group if she's had any worming done.

 

good luck!!! can't wait to see more pictures! she is lovely.

Edited April 26, 2013 by RaineysMom

[seeh2o]

I feed raw. Doodles gets 10oz twice a day, Carl gets 11oz then 10oz. Meals consist of 4oz of Xkaliber (a grind of green tripe, gullet, tongue, bone, heart, trachea & muscle meat), 4oz of another meat like turkey, beef, lamb, rabbit, 2 oz of an organ mix and 2 chicken feet. Poop is bouncing and behaving, coats are glossy, skin soft and supple, teeth are beautiful and bloodwork is perfect!

[Guest blueberri]

Raw here too. We don't measure specifically anymore, but found Sparky was losing weight on the 2% recommendation... Now we simply adjust as per his weight, and we seem to have it relatively under control.

 

He is fed, depending on the price and what's in the freezer:

Beef steak/mince/hearts & bones, veal bones

Lamb neck chops, shoulder chops, mince, and bones

Pork - infrequently, but will give chops, bones, heart, kidney

Chicken mince, frames, drumsticks, necks, gizzards, hearts, livers, raw egg

Green tripe, usually processed into patties or extruded into pellets for convenience

Snapper, mackeral and salmon heads, frames, or whole (salmon being frozen for several days prior to kill parasites)

Tinned mackeral, salmon (when caught on the hop)

 

He also gets plain unsweetened yoghurt (greek style), cottage cheese, flaxseed oil (would rather fish oil, but very hard to find here) and metamucil

Will also get porridge, banana, and any leftover baby food that is suitable.

 

Treats/training food is cheese, liver jerky, and freeze/dried meat, banana, berries or other fruits.

 

He literally eats better than us

[Guest FreeholdHound]

Nothing shocking to add - monster baby Harry (85lbs) gets 1.5 cups of Victor High Energy 2x's a day with some water & digestive enzyme powder added in.

 

I really just wanted to post SHE'S GORGEOUS!!!

[Sambuca]

I feed costcos natures domain. Sailor gets 2 cups twice a day. Bu gets as much as he wants. Usually 6-8 cups a day. His metabolism is nuts.

I feed them when I wake up, anywhere form 7-noon and dinner is from anywhere from 10pm to 2am, which is before bed.

Make your own schedule that works for you and your dog.

 

I only add water to new dogs foods to slow down their eating, but otherwise it's a pain to me.

Edited April 28, 2013 by Sambuca

[Guest Waterdog66]

I am a very new adopter. (Just brought my hound home on Saturday)

 

I had planned on trying out a few different brands of high quality kibble and as it turned out, Audrey loved the first one I selected. I did some homework and started with Merrick Grain Free. (Chicken and Sweet Potatoes) She has been horking down her meals since she came home and based on recent bio-breaks, seems to be agreeing with her.

 

She turns her nose up at several of the treats I got for her and even refused the cookies at the counter at Petco. She also turned her nose up at a spoonful of peanut butter. (I guess she missed the memo about hounds loving PB) Last night I mixed in a couple of spoonfulls of Merrick Grain Free Turkey Dinner (Canned) and she seemed to enjoy the variety.

 

My guess is I got very lucky but plan on finding some other brands/flavors of food just to mix it up.

 

She gets kibble dry and I am planning on giving her a spoonful of Yogurt tonight with Dinner to see how she likes it.

[Guest Scarter55]

We feed Lady a nice variety of food. After doing some research on it, mostly asking friends that own dogs, we decided there were two routes to take. Find a good kibble and feed Lady that. This would make her a non-picky eater and meal time a breeze. Or give her a variety of foods; making meal time a little more work on our part and providing her with what we hope is a more balanced diet. That is working pretty well, and after the fact we realized two things with the help of our trainer (who used to be a vet tech). The first is dog food has only existed since around the 1950s. Before that, dogs ate whatever their humans were eating. For centuries. That seemed to work fine. The other thing is imagine feeding a child a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (assuming that was the healthiest option available) for 5-6 years. Then a friend gives them a cup of apple sauce. How is their system going to handle that? We saw this in reality when Lady's friend, who just gets kibble, had some kids visiting the house. The kids got a kick out of feeding both dogs random stuff when the adults weren't looking (too bad you can't put kids in the crate). Lady was fine with it while her friend threw up later that night.

 

We often give her scraps of what we have for dinner, making sure that they are appropriate for dogs. We also keep leftover veggies (broccoli stems, etc) and cook them up with some rice. We add the rice to her kibble, along with a rotation of dairy (milk, yogurt, or cottage cheese), a little olive oil occasionally, and a raw egg usually once a day. She also gets chicken necks for a meal about every two days. Every once in a while, I just give her kibble to keep her humble

 

For kibble, we use Blue Buffalo brand, which we really like. If you find they are reluctant to eat just plain kibble, a vet recommended that we microwave it briefly. This brings out the scent, which makes them much more inclined to eat it. Being a marketer, I definitely agree with what everyone said about current catch phrases. Don't focus on anything on the label, focus on the ingredient list, which marketers have very little control over. Do a little research on pet food ingredients and than get a brand that you are comfortable with. And most importantly, that your new family member is comfortable with.

[forevergrey]

I used to do a mixture of Taste of The Wild and home-cooked. I now only feed raw. I find that it works very well for my two greyhounds. They look great, have shiny soft coats, great white teeth and just shine with good health, (hopefully I did not just jinx myself). I use Primal or Bravo chicken, beef or turkey grinds. I also add chicken parts-legs, thighs, wings, gizzards, and pieces of beef. I vary the foods every few days. About twice a week I give them beef bones-NOT the heavy weight bearing ones, as these can chip their teeth. I also add a veggie mix. I get Grandma Lucy, you just add water and make enough for a week. I add canned pumpkin and in the mornings they also get yogurt or cottage cheese. And a spoonful of coconut oil with each meal. I do brush their teeth daily and they also also get chews, (bully sticks, flossies). I know this sounds like a ton of work but I got it down to a system so that it takes no more then 5 min. to get their meals ready. It took some experimenting-feeding raw is not an exact science but it works very well for my dogs. Also Onyx came to me with chronic digestion issues which cleared up completely on the raw diet. It's not for everyone. And it can be inconvenient but I am a fan. :-)

[deboosh]

When we adopted our girl, the adoption group recommended limited ingredient or grain-free, but she had diarrhea that wouldn't clear up. After trial and error, Bonnie now eats 1 1/2 cups of brown rice that I mix with 1/3 can of green tripe which is followed by 1 cup of Nutro's Sensitive Skin & Stomach kibble. She eats this twice a day with no more bouts of diarrhea. Once her system was humming along, I gradually started adding in the extras~~canned salmon or sardines, dehydrated liver, frozen marrow bones, freeze-dried chicken feet, the occasional turkey neck.

[Guest 2greys2cats]

Congratulations on getting your new dog.

You'll find that most of us do add a bit of warm water. They are used to eating "mush" at the track, and most of the greys I've had, or fostered, choke on dry food. We feed twice per day, 8 am and 6 pm. We feed Natural Balance Lamb and Rice.

All I recommend is starting SLOWLY. They take some time to adjust. First get your new grey used to commerical dog food, then start slowly adding in other things to his diet one at a time so you can eliminate allergens.

Good luck and congrats again!

[Guest chickenpotpie]

IAMS green bag 2 cups in the morning with teaspoon of plain yogurt 1 tablespoon of oats. In the evening she gets 1/2 cup frozen green beans and 3oz of a raw protein source ( usually beef heart , liver, or salmon) she walks 2 times a day ...and she gets treats via her kong food toy, or, during our training sessions.

 

She eats a lot slower in the evening, but she really likes veggies!

 

Her poops stunk when we first got her but she's doing lots better. Also, her gas levels aren't so killer.

 

Her teeth look pretty good. I gave her a beef bone which I'll replace every other week

[Guest BuckeyeAmy]

Honestly the best thing to do is experiment and see what works best for your dog. She will let you know what she likes. I've been feeding Iams (green bag) which works really well with greyhounds because it helps firm up their stools. My boys prefer their food moist but I also feed dry when the circumstances call for it.