Dry food question

[Greysfriend]

Hi All,

We adopted Rocket 3 months ago now, he is our first dog so we are discovering things as we go! So my question may seem very basic!

We kept feeding him what the group we adopted him from recommended, which is dry food only (it's also as we understand what he had during his racing career). 

So basically he receives dry food morning and evening, but we do sometime add things in the food as complement (oat for his coat, olewo carrot for his poop ).

However we do like also giving him some other foods to keep it diverse. I add rice when I cook rice, or add salmon skin when we have salmon at home.

My question is regarding replacing some of the dry food with other type of food. Is there an easy way to know how much of dry food I should remove if I add a certain amount of other food?

Rocket has taken a bit of weight since we have him (he needed to) but we would like to avoid getting him too fat or skinny and we are not sure of the best way to manage!

He is a food lover and wants to try everything, and I am sure I could keep giving him food he would always eat! 

[greysmom]

You're from another country so take what we're going to advise and see what is in your country.

Generally, greyhounds are easy keepers and do well under a variety of feeding systems.  What you're aiming for is keeping him at a good weight - not too fat and not too skinny!  You should be able to easily see his correct physical outline from the side, and maybe a rib or two, a defined waist when viewed from above, and a nice tight tuck up.  The other component to feeding is enough energy for his activity level.  A dog hiking or jogging every day is going to need more food than one hanging out on the couch with some yard turnouts.  So that's the goal - a stable weight with good energy.

The final thing is good "output" from his digestive system.  Too much of any one thing - protein, fat, carbs - can throw the balance off and create runny stools or even medical conditions like pancreatitis.  A dog should have well-formed poops that can be easily picked up/cleaned up.  Not *too* hard because that can mean pain when they go, but not so soft it doesn't clean out their scent glands!

Most of us do feed kibble as the main component of meals.  This should be a kibble with about 20% protein, contain a whole grain for heart health, a good protein source, and various vitamins and minerals to make it a "complete" food.  Usually fed with water to help them eat it easier.  Some add in a spoon or so of commercial canned dog food, or a homemade stew of some kind, to make it more palatable.  Many add "toppings" such as you have been doing to add calories and help them be more eager to eat.  It's also fine to add a portion of a raw diet, if that is of interest to you.

It's advisable to add a good probiotic of some kind to help their gut stay in balance.  That can be a commercial product like Forti Flora, other commercially available products, or natural ones like yogurt or buttermilk.  I have one dog that also needs to have fiber added to her food to maintain all of the above.  We use a product called Olewo Dehydrated Carrots, but you can also use portions of regular vegetables (green beans are common), or other fiber additives (without fake sugars).

That's a lot of information, but it really just means you need to find what works for your dog.  You can search through this section of the forum to read about what works and what doesn't.  Just keep the goals in mind - good weight, good energy, good poops!!

[macoduck]

Greysfriend, here's a reference guide for you.

http://greyhoundcrossroads.com/index.php?page=weight

Depending on the height and build of the dog, the "right" weight can be judged by appearance rather than in a weighing scale.

Edited March 9, 2023 by macoduck

[Greysfriend]

54 minutes ago, greysmom said:

 

That's a lot of information, but it really just means you need to find what works for your dog.  You can search through this section of the forum to read about what works and what doesn't.  Just keep the goals in mind - good weight, good energy, good poops!!

Thanks!

Yes it is a lot but good information! We also have found the Olewo carrot and with all the recommendations we bought some recently and started adding them!

[Greysfriend]

36 minutes ago, macoduck said:

Greysfriend, here's a reference guide for you.

http://greyhoundcrossroads.com/index.php?page=weight

Depending on the height and build of the dog, the "right" weight can be judged by appearance rather than in a weighing scale.

Thanks for the guide!

Will read in details!

[1Moregrey]

5 hours ago, Greysfriend said:

My question is regarding replacing some of the dry food with other type of food. Is there an easy way to know how much of dry food I should remove if I add a certain amount of other food?

How much add in food is he getting?  I do not do add in foods to meals, but when training and using treats heavily for new behaviors I do cut back by 1/8-1/2 cup of food if needed.  This is dry food for protein and is close to 1:1.  Not sure how much dry food (protein mix) for straight carbs.  Just have to experiment based on body condition.

 

[Greysfriend]

11 hours ago, 1Moregrey said:

How much add in food is he getting?  I do not do add in foods to meals, but when training and using treats heavily for new behaviors I do cut back by 1/8-1/2 cup of food if needed.  This is dry food for protein and is close to 1:1.  Not sure how much dry food (protein mix) for straight carbs.  Just have to experiment based on body condition.

 

The main supplement is Olewo Carrot which is a high volume and weight (100g of carrot while we give him usually 250g of kibble) but I know it's not rich in protein or calories so I usually just remove 20g of the kibble. 

We do train him a lot on weekends so I will also remove a bit of kibble if he got a lot during the day that's a good point.