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Dietary Questions


Guest gossimore

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Guest gossimore

Can greys eat legumes of any kind ? Pinto beans ? Red beans ? Kidney beans ? Any or all input is appreciated. I have a two year old grey and am trying to find out people food possibilities for when I may run out of dry food or my budget is tight ! Thanks in advance !

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It depends, some dogs do OK on beans, others get too much gas which could potentially led to bloat. So, must exercise some caution here. Instead of beans, look at giving rice (or noodles) and hamburg with some fully cooked veggies mashed up and tossed in. If you make a habit of doing this, you'll need to supplement with calcium and and vitamins. On the calcium, oyster shell is best and make sure that it does NOT have Vitamin D added.

 

You could also give eggs instead of hamburg but, some greys might be a bit finicky about the eggs.

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Guest Giselle

Most food is okay for dogs, as long as it is not a known toxic substance (i.e. chocolate, apple seeds, onions, etc.) and as long as you feed it in moderation. Remember: Dogs evolved because their predecessors learned to scavenge human trash piles. They're built for handling human food scraps. As long as it doesn't contain a known toxin and you use moderation, it's probably okay to feed.

 

The issue is: How bioavailable is the food to a dog? If you give plain brown rice to most dogs, for example, they will probably poop it out untouched. This is true for many beans and legumes, too. Beans, legumes, and whole grains tend to have very tough fibrous coats. This is what gives many beans/legumes/whole grains a pleasant "chew". As far as my experience goes, though, most dogs can't digest that fibrous coat and tend to pass beans/legumes whole in their poop. So, if you feed something, try to make sure that it will be something bioavailable. Rolled oats are, in my opinion, an excellent and cheap grain source. They're also easy to throw into a crockpot with a few slabs of stew meat (beef, turkey, rabbit, chicken, whatever), and easy to portion out and freeze for "emergency meals". If you insist on using beans, I'd recommend using bean flour to improve its digestibility.

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My guys get the occasional legume, and I agree with the above post...they can't digest through the thick skin (it comes straight out into their poop :P ). Dogs won't always get the nutritional benefits of foods that are good for us, starting with the fact that they aren't designed to really chew or grind their food to break it down. Any grain, legume or veggie will likely go straight through unless it is very well cooked, mashed and/or pureed. I wouldn't use legumes as a main protein source, but in moderation they should be fine. Wondering if they would cause a lot of gas though....

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Wouldn't suggest legumes, for the reasons given above. Instead try white rice cooked till mushy (add 30-50% extra water), ground beef, chicken, occasional tuna fish or jack mackerel (both salty), eggs (can produce gas but 2-3 a day should be OK) .... Some folks feed cooked oatmeal, white potatoes, sweet potatoes instead of rice but those have never worked well for my pups. Pasta and noodles usually go through nicely; also Cheerios and Shredded Wheat (low-additive people cereals).

 

You don't need to worry about calcium and vitamins for the occasional "OMG, I ran out of dog food!" meals.

 

One of my dogs eats exclusively home-cooked food. I stock up on our meats when they are on sale.

Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in Illinois
We miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10.

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Guest Giselle
.

 

One of my dogs eats exclusively home-cooked food. I stock up on our meats when they are on sale.

Same. I try to stretch out a medium-sized bag of kibble for a month, and this is only possible through frequent add-ins. I try to buy bulk meats on sale. I LOVE the idea of buying a whole animal or 1/2 a whole animal, but I don't have the freezer space for it. If this is available in your area or through a community-share program, do it! Great way to save money, support local farmers, and feed your dog!

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dogs can survive on just about anything. my daughter rescued a street dog - pup who was FAT- she survived 6months on the streets on san antonio and was out right FAT!did she have a marvelous coat?? nope- mange!! a neighbor's dog lived to the ripe age of 15 eating fried kosher calf liver every night, my saluki could only manage white rice after surviving parvo(lived to 12), had parvo at 6.my late addisonian scottie's kidneys started to go at the end- white rice or pasta, he lived well past most addisonians- 12.5yrs of age.

 

is it good for them? dog ate table scraps or foraged for themself for a long time, the dog food kibble industry is relatively new. also the grain free aspect of dog food is pretty new, 40 years ago there were very limited choices of food. you bought your kibble at a feed store or grocery store.

 

i agree w/ batmom, mushy white rice and other starches. they are easy on the digest. for white rice- buy either short grain or store brand WHITE rice in bulk- it does a good job stretching our meals as well!

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  • 2 weeks later...

My brother went through a rough financial spell and had 2 Saint Bernards to feed (in addition to his human family). The Saints make what a greyhound eats in a day look like an appetizer. They weigh around 200 lb! So - he found the most economical thing he could do was cook up crockpots full of chicken bought on sale in the "family pack" ground beef when it was on sale - 5 lb. rolls, not the lean stuff, and rice, with some sweet potatoes. He also added eggs every couple meals - eggs are cheap protein, and they ate the shells (some dogs will, some won't).

 

His dogs were GORGEOUS on that! And - it was far less expensive than a medium-grade kibble - and about the same price as a junk kibble - the dogs would've needed to eat so much volume of junk kibble it was crazy, and they just didn't do well on it.

 

It's basically what I fed my Sobe when he had Cancer - and it was a good diet for him - kept the wasting from destroying him and extended his quality of life for a lot longer than the vet expected, so I suggested it to my brother.

 

My brother - now on much better financial footing - still feeds his Saints half good kibble - half the home-cooked mix. They just thrive on it. And it cuts down lugging on the giant bags of dogfood they buy! He's figured out where to buy the meats at a good price - stock up when it's on a great sale - and use the big crockpot on the weekends. It's really not expensive or hard at all.

 

As others have said - dogs will survive on almost anything - but you can do a GOOD meal - on very little money.

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