Economic stress is here. Folks who don't consider themselves 'preppers', or 'survivalists' still have to stretch their shekels. Frugality isn't frivolous. Counting change, conserving coin, and clipping coupons can contravene connivers cultivating cataclysmic catastrophe.
So how's that relate to Rover? Well, Rover or Fido or whoever is a close member of your family. You want to give them the best nutrition possible. You probably feel the need to have dog food stored for emergencies. There are times when you can't get to the store to get hound dawg food.
So you're going to stockpile some dog food. If you're like me, you'd like to have food the dogs will eat. At this point, my family has been getting a salmon and sweet potato dog food that doesn't seem to appeal to the dogs. They will put up with it, but loose interest fast. Now what? Is this a good thing? If the dogs eat lightly, they won't get fat, right? But if they're leaving their food, should we feed less, or check to see if there is something wrong with the food? Could it be rancid, or just off a little? Could it need a little something to help the taste? I've tried making a gravy dressing with canned dog food or boullion or canned meat, and the two smaller dogs clean their plate, but the Malamute still isn't that impressed.
So I'm troubleshooting, and welcome any ideas on emergency dog rations and good dog nutrition.
A couple of thoughts...
ReplyDeleteI don't think hungry dogs are picky dogs; if the dogs get hungry enough they'll probably eat anything edible.
The same survival principles should apply to dogs, so if they can expend less and consume less, its a good thing. With enough dieting, you may find their bodies naturally consuming less calories, which is a good thing.
I don't have a good answer for what to do to make them eat the food, besides wait until they get hungry. I can tell you that as part of our family, Lily would play her role of protecting the pack, and much less calorie consuming fetch.
Thanks for the inaugural comment! You should get a prize for a helpful response. Hmm..maybe I can make some homemade treats from Dr. Fox's recipe for when Lily comes to see us.
ReplyDeleteI suspect smaller dogs are more energy efficient, can go farther on less food. Most native dog teams in the Arctic are made up of compact, midsize dogs in the 40-50 lb. range. They go whooping up the trail on a dried salmon a day, lick snow for moisture, get along ok.