Today I received the following dog food question from a UK dog lover via the Best Dog Food Guide – Contact Form.
“I feed my 8 week year old puppy chicken breast and vegetables with olive oil. Could you give me some tips of how much to feed him and what else to feed him? He is a Doberman, thanks.”
Below you’ll find the answer I gave him.
My STRONG advice to you is please feed your puppy a commercial dog food! If you insist on cooking for your dog then at least wait until he is full grown.
A diet consisting of chicken breast with vegetables and olive oil is deficient. Your puppy is at risk of developing All Meat Syndrome because you’re feeding a diet high in protein, high in phosphorous and low in calcium (no bones) and vitamin D. This risk is especially high since your dog is a growing puppy.
Since calcium blood levels are kept within strict levels the calcium in the bones will be mobilized leading to dysfunctional bone tissue formation. A possible effect is ‘rubber jaw’ syndrome where a dog cannot eat anymore since they can’t use their jaws to their full bite strength. More general your dog is at risk of developing fragile bones and other joint diseases.
The calcium to phosphorous ratio in dog food should be 1.2 : 1. It is very difficult to obtain this ratio when you assemble your dog’s diet by yourself without guidance from a veterinary nutritionist.
Please do not put your dog’s health at risk. Visit a pet specialty shop and buy a premium or super premium dry dog food to build a strong foundation. You can save the chicken breast to give as a treat.
Even if your dog would be mature then still the minerals in the dog food are important (I have found a recent medical case report about nutritional calcium and vitamin D deficiency in an adult dog should you want to read some in depth background information) but puppies are even more at risk and puppies of large breeds even more.
So forgive me if I’m repeating myself but seek advice of a good veterinarian which I’m sure will tell you the same as I have.
I wish you and your Doberman puppy all the best,
Barbara
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I have a couple of Staffordshire Bull Terriers. What I do is cook up large amounts of meat and vegetables in a big pot and then freeze most of it in containers so that I take out whatever is needed each day. The dogs love it and they look great. They won’t touch dog biscuits anymore. I put in reasonably good cuts of meat, nothing too fatty. But do check with the vet, as each dog’s needs are different.
Its actually not difficult to meet a dog or cats nutritional needs with a home prepared diet, provided one feeds whole foods, meaning, raw meaty BONES. My home bred and all raw diet raised Akita bitch just scored an excellent on her hip exam and has never eaten one bite of kibble in her life. And, I have no professional training not direct guidance under any vet in putting together a diet for my animals. I just read, read, read. Dr. Lonsdale has written a could wonderful books on the matter along with a few other vets who have also contributed to the subject.