Feeding Vegetables

[BobbyTheBeagle]

What's the best way to get a dog to eat his vegetables?

I've been adding small portion of vege to Bobby's diet recently (eg. celery, silverbeet) but he doesn't seem to like it.

He simply avoids / filters it out all together, ..should I mash it up? or does he really need it??

Thanks!!

[huski]

In terms of them needing it - it depends what diet you are feeding. I feed vegies as I feed a BARF diet. There are many various ways to feed it - some people use a blender to mix it into a pulp like substance for eg - my dogs love vegies and fruit so I just grate a variety into their BARF mix. They also eat them whole.

Edited February 5, 2009 by huski

[BobbyTheBeagle]

In terms of them needing it - it depends what diet you are feeding. I feed vegies as I feed a BARF diet. There are many various ways to feed it - some people use a blender to mix it into a pulp like substance for eg - my dogs love vegies and fruit so I just grate a variety into their BARF mix. They also eat them whole.

Well I've been feeding raw since the beginning with some dog roll occasionally.

Bobby doesn't seem to like veges, I guess i need to mix veges with a blender ?

and what would be the nutritional benefits? more fibre??

[puggy_puggy]

BARF SLOPS INGREDIENTS & METHOD

Things I always include:

- container of alfala spouts

- bunch of spinach (roots cut off)

- bag of carrots

- bunch of celary

- 4 zuccinis

- 3 to 4 oranges (peeled)

- 1 pumpkin

- 2 to 4 apples (pips taken out)

- 2 to 4 bannanas (peeled)

- bunch of silverbeat

- 4 oranges

- 8 to 10 eggs (whole including shell)

- flaxseed oil (approx 250mL) (some people choose to not include this and add to the food daily)

- kelp (approx 100g)

What else you can put in:

- 1 to 2 green capsicums (stalk cut off & seeds out)

- 1 to 2 red caspsicums (stalk cut off & seeds removed)

- turnip

- squash

- 2 to 4 pears

- half to 1 pinapple

- brussel sprouts

- brocoli

- cauliflower

- bag of beans

- Apple Cider Vinegar

- Vitamin C

Chop up then process up in blender/food processor so that things turn to slops. Put each blender batch into a big bucket. Usually leave the eggs & flaxseed oil for things that don't blend very well like the pumpkin and carrots. Ingredients should fill up a bucket. Mix bucket with big ladel till all mixed through then put into take away containers & freeze untill needed.

[Cavandra]

No dogs do not need vegetable matter, they are carnivores ;)

Cooked mashed pumpkin has use in helping their gut re-balance when they have bowel troubles.

If I feed veg matter in my BARF diet it is fresh sprouts, garlic & herbs, occassionally green leafy veg............but it is not very often & always blended. I use herbs mainly for their medicinal properties though.

Mine also eat apples, carrots, beans, celery as a treat to give them something to do...but there is no necessity to feed it.

[Ravyk]

No dogs do not need vegetable matter, they are carnivores

Cooked mashed pumpkin has use in helping their gut re-balance when they have bowel troubles.

If I feed veg matter in my BARF diet it is fresh sprouts, garlic & herbs, occassionally green leafy veg............but it is not very often & always blended. I use herbs mainly for their medicinal properties though.

Mine also eat apples, carrots, beans, celery as a treat to give them something to do...but there is no necessity to feed it.

thats not actually true. dogs are omnivores, even though they are in the Order Carnivora and eat a wide range of things when allowed to. my dogs get more than enough food, but will still snack on the dropped apricots and plums from our trees, veggie scraps, anything they feel like eating when i'm not watching them. when an dog kills prey, usually the first thing that is eaten is the animals stomach and intestines that contain [if the prey was a herbivore] partially digested grasses and plant materials.

dogs however cannot digest plant material in its natural state [ie a whole carrot] because their digestive systems cannot break down cellulose [the cell walls of plant cells] to get the nutrients outfor them to get the nutrients, the plant matter needs to already be partially broken down. [hence why they eat the digestive organs of prey].

the easiest way for domestic dogs to receive veggies, is for them to be pulped raw to a mush-this allows for the cell walls to break down. some dogs dont like veggies and the easiest way I've found to introduce veggies into their diet is to mix the veggies in with mince meat or minced chicken necks [my preferred way] starting off with a small amount of veggies, and working up the amount gradually. there is nothing more unappetizing to a dog that has been fed a meat based diet to be fronted with a nice load of veggies instead of his usual meat!!

although i think i have a rabbits instead of dogs!! they will wolf through a bowl of pulped veggies [by themselves] in a blink of an eye!! i've even caught my bitzer chomping on a whole carrot like a rabbit!! she was nicknamed bugs bunny for the day

EDIT

puggy puggy-could i borrow that list please??

Edited February 6, 2009 by Ravyk

[puggy_puggy]

Yep sure Ravyk.

[Cavandra]

thats not actually true. dogs are omnivores, even though they are in the Order Carnivora and eat a wide range of things when allowed to. my dogs get more than enough food, but will still snack on the dropped apricots and plums from our trees, veggie scraps, anything they feel like eating when i'm not watching them. when an dog kills prey, usually the first thing that is eaten is the animals stomach and intestines that contain [if the prey was a herbivore] partially digested grasses and plant materials.

No they are carnivores, just because they CAN eat other stuff doesnt mean it does them any nutritional good! They are scavengers, they can eat most anything to survive, but there is no goodness in it, meat , bones, organs is all they need to get proper nutrition.........

Wild dogs do not eat the stomach contents of their kill, this is a myth, studies have been done on wild packs to disprove this old myth ....

[persephone]

when an dog kills prey, usually the first thing that is eaten is the animals stomach and intestines that contain [if the prey was a herbivore] partially digested grasses and plant materials.

Sorry- this is not true

Dogs/wolves will maybe eat the actual stomach/intestines... BUT after they are emptied

genitals, kidneys, tongue, brain and liver are all prized... gut comes way down the list.

[puggy_puggy]

I feed veggies and fruit just because I think it can't harm them and if they are absorbing the nutrition from it then it is helping to give them a balanced diet.

I would be very interested if a study was done analysing faeces and urine of dogs that are given veggies and fruit that are pulped to see if they are actually processing and using it in their bodies. This could be compared to dogs that eat veggies and fruit that aren't pulped and dogs the just eat meat and bones.

[Ms James]

Oh god, dogs eat genitals? And to think that my dogs going for the kitty litter cookies was bad enough to make me cry!

My Bella girl loves her veges and will eat cauliflower, cooked potato, broccoli, mushrooms whole if offered. But for ease of freezing and making her eat the less desirable foods, I stole puggy puggy's vege slops recipe (ta, puggy! ) and mix it in with her chicken necks, mince etc. She licks the bowl clean everytime, whereas if I offered spinach, she'd probably refuse it.

I swear I had an easier time making my daughter eat her veges than I do with my dogs

[espinay2]

when an dog kills prey, usually the first thing that is eaten is the animals stomach and intestines that contain [if the prey was a herbivore] partially digested grasses and plant materials.

That is actually a myth. A bit like the 'hormones in chicken' one. A few years ago eminent wold researcher Dr David Mech ran a seminar on the feeding behaviour of wolves from birth to death. He was specifically asked whether wolves eat the stomach content. He affirmed that they do not. They may eat the stomach itself, but the contents are shaken out and left. I have actually seen this for myself when spending time at a wolf research facility in the US. more than once I almost stepped on a pile of stomach contents from the whole prey being fed to the pack. No sign of the rest of the carcass, but the stomach contents were left to rot. Incidentally the prized pieces of the carcass are the other internal organs and the haunch.

Dogs are better classified as 'opportunistic carnivores' They will eat other things apart from other animals but to truly survive and thrive, that is what they need.

Whether you feed veggies or not is a personal choice, but not 100% necessary. If you do feed them though, as a dog does not have a digestive system capable of breaking down plant matter, you need to process it so that the cellulose wall is broken. Cooking and mashing, or pureeing raw using a blender or juicer (add the pulp back to the juice) is the best way to go. The benefit of this too is that you can mix it through the food - they can't pick bits out.

Edited February 7, 2009 by espinay2

[angelbrook]

BARF SLOPS INGREDIENTS & METHOD

Things I always include:

- container of alfala spouts

- bunch of spinach (roots cut off)

- bag of carrots

- bunch of celary

- 4 zuccinis

- 3 to 4 oranges (peeled)

- 1 pumpkin

- 2 to 4 apples (pips taken out)

- 2 to 4 bannanas (peeled)

- bunch of silverbeat

- 4 oranges

- 8 to 10 eggs (whole including shell)

- flaxseed oil (approx 250mL) (some people choose to not include this and add to the food daily)

- kelp (approx 100g)

What else you can put in:

- 1 to 2 green capsicums (stalk cut off & seeds out)

- 1 to 2 red caspsicums (stalk cut off & seeds removed)

- turnip

- squash

- 2 to 4 pears

- half to 1 pinapple

- brussel sprouts

- brocoli

- cauliflower

- bag of beans

- Apple Cider Vinegar

- Vitamin C

Chop up then process up in blender/food processor so that things turn to slops. Put each blender batch into a big bucket. Usually leave the eggs & flaxseed oil for things that don't blend very well like the pumpkin and carrots. Ingredients should fill up a bucket. Mix bucket with big ladel till all mixed through then put into take away containers & freeze untill needed.

Thanks for that ... there are some extra ideas there I can add to my mix ...

[sandgrubber]

Also . . . if you want them to eat veg, let them get a bit hungry. Feed the veg first without the meat in sight/smell. Or mix the veg with meat. Many dogs are happy to eat veg if they view it as the only thing or the best thing on the menu.