| Icelandic Sheepdogs in Canada |
 |
| What do you feed your Icelandic Sheepdogs? Hi Folks, I try and always listen to my puppy owners in what my website needs to have added, and have found that a number of folks lately say that I need to talk about Food Question One What do I feed my dogs? Answer One I feed my dogs a base of dried Kibble of good qaulity . I personally do not feed private label holistic or organic food to my dogs. Question Two Do you feed your dogs any Fresh Food? Answer Two Yes, I do feed my dogs fresh food off the farm, my dogs often get a table spoon or two of fresh live active culture yogurt on their food. At least once a week, they will get some canned fish mixed into their kibble. Normally twice a week they will get a farm fresh egg mixed into their kibble. I always save my veggie water ( anything that is cooked in water) and this is poured over the kibble. Once or twice a month, I will measure and put a very small amount of Omega 6 an 3 oil on their kibble but mainly I use my own fresh free range Duck/Turkey/Chicken eggs for this purpose. In winter I will also sprout and grind them to mix into the dogs kibble twice a month or weekly as needed bases on their coats and overall gleam of health. Question Three Do you feed raw? Question Three I personally do feed a very small amount of raw food to the dogs, mainly veggies, but also a little home raised rabbit or chicken depending on the time of year. I have feed raw to the dogs, and I did it all, I had the books and followed all the rules and I didn't like the results on my dogs, they were always a little to thin, their coats didn't have the bloom I like to see, and they often seemed to have more upset tummies on total raw diet. I don't personally recommend a total raw diet for my puppies, I won't stop a puppy buyer from making that choice if they believe in it, but I don't believe that its the ideal diet, and I personally found it to be very costly to feed the dogs this way, living in the high artic most likey added to this Question Four What do you offer for snacks/Chewing? Answer Four I love raw veggies and large raw knuckle/Soup Bones for this. My dogs love to chew carrots, cored apples, turnip is a big favorite, in fact as I write this, I had just put a large number of turnips taking out of the garden this weekend to dry on the table, and have had to go rescue two or three large turnips from the hounds that have reached up and stole one to go sit down and chew on it. When we have broccoli, the stems given to the dogs for a treat and snack. Question Five What do you use for training Treats? Answer Five In House training, I often use half of their main food, in terms of kibble. Outside Training-Most often I use Cat Kibble-Its a major favorite with the dogs Show training-High Value treats-Mainly use Roll-over, but will also use cooked liver(Beef or Lamb), hotdogs, any cooked left over meat for us, chicken/beef/pork or lamb. Treking or Woods Hiking/Outdoor training- I normally use Cheese Sticks, dogs love them, great snacks for us, and soft nibbly food for the dogs. Wow does that ever sound good- no wonder the dogs get so excited about training time. Question Six How much should my Dog Eat? Answer Six Read your food bag, it should give you a rough idea of what approx you should be feeding. Having said that, grow those puppies slow an steady and LEAN. The big thing to learn to do is feel your dog, you should not feel a fat on back, hips. The dog should look solid and very healthy, but you should only be able to feel a very light covering of fat on the ribs, you don't want to be able to see ribs or hip bones. If they are a little heavy, cut back on the food a bit and if they are a little light, add a little extra to the food for a while, you will find a balance. Its important to note that the amount of food required will change depending on the age of the dog, the time of the year and how active you are being with the dog.. so once again, feel your dog and adjust the feed according to what you can feel and see.. a healthy dogs coat should almost glow with good health and the dog should look and move like it feels well. Question Seven Will Altering my dog effect my dogs weight? Anwer Seven No, it will not effect your dogs weight, adjust your dogs feed according to the way their body feels It will however effect your dogs coat, Altered dogs carry more coat. Question Eight What do I want you to feed your puppies or adult ISD? Answer Eight I want you to feed your puppy a good qaulity food in whatever feeding system you! feel comfortable with, I have wonderful loving familes across Canada and the United States that feed their icelandic Sheepdogs Puppies and adults holitic kibble, Main stream Kibble, Home cooked Diets, Raw food Diets(one of the hardest to do correctly to me) All the dogs are doing great, I honestly believe that no one food or feeding system is perfect and that the whole overall lifestyle needs to be considered, not just what goes into the food bowl when it comes to the health of your Icelandic Sheepdog. Did I forget anything?? If you have a question, you think should be here, please let me know? |