Yes you should, but they do not have to be the way you think. Usually you will get extra vitamins for your dog at their first puppy visit. There are many reasons why your dog should get vitamins and why they might need extra vitamins. All dogs have different nutritional requirements and not all dog food

There are many reasons to give your dog vitamins range from the fact that all dogs have different nutritional requirements to your dogs food not having enough. Even if your dog is on the raw food diet, they still might need additional nutrients depending on their breed sometimes. Older dogs especially need vitamin supplements because they are not eating as much food as they used to and could be lacking certain nutrients.

So what kind of vitamins do dogs need? Well, it helps to know what each vitamin is for. Vitamin A is for the skin. This might help prevent flaky skin and irritable skin in your dogs. Vitamin D is your dogs bone and teeth. Breeds like golden retrievers who are very susceptible to arthritis and hip problems will probably benefit greatly from taking a supplement of vitamin d. Vitamin E is an antioxidant vitamin and Vitamin K is the blood clotting vitamin. You also have vitamin b which is for healthy muscles, skin and blood and then vitamin C which is a vitamin for stress and antioxidant.

Some people will argue that a good quality pet food will contain all the vitamins and nutrients your dog needs. Others will tell you that is simply not true. The cooking process that some of the pre made dog foods go through might kill essential nutrients that are needed. While most pet foods will contain the “average” amount of recommended vitamins, they do not provide additional vitamins for protection against diseases.

Vitamins help regulated your dogs metabolism. Vitamins fall into two categories. One is water soluble (vitamin B and C) which have to be replenished every day. Vitamins A, D, E and K are what’s known as fat soluble vitamins. They are stored in fatty tissue and the liver and do not need to be replenished daily.

Also included in these supplements are minerals. Minerals keep our dogs body fluids balanced. Your dog needs minerals like calcium, magnesium, sodium (just a little) and potassium just like we do. You need to be careful though with minerals because they can affect each other if too much is taken.

When we talk about vitamins we do not just mean the pills that you can get from your vet. We are also talking about adding certain foods to their diets to make sure they are getting enough vitamins. If you are following the raw food diet, you want to make sure your dog gets a variety of vegetables to keep their vitamin intakes up.

If you are not giving your dog a vitamin or supplement, take a good long hard look at him. If you see he is losing weight, has skin lesions, or losing his fur he might have a vitamin A deficiency. Vitamin D deficiency is apparent when your dog loses some of his muscle tone. If you notice your dog might have a vitamin deficiency, talk to your vet to find out for sure. Your vet will either suggest that your dog begins to take the necessary vitamin or for you to change his food.

Most of the time vitamins deficiencies are more common in packaged dog food that you can get from your local supermarket. This is why it is important to read the labels on the dog food you buys if that is your feeding method. You want to make sure it contains all the vitamins your dog needs. If it does not, and you do not feel comfortable going to the raw food diet, talk to your vet about giving your dog vitamin supplements to keep him healthy.

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In a one word answer…yes. Yes your dogs diet can cause allergies. The thing to keep in mind though is that dogs do not have the same allergy symptoms as we do. They do not get stuffy noses, bad coughs or water eyes. Dogs react to allergies with skin problems such as itching, chewing, and their coat taking on a poor quality. Some dogs even suffer from chronic ear infections as a result of allergies.

While allergies can be caused by many things, we are going to discuss the food allergies that some dogs seem prone to. Food allergies do not come to surface as fast as they would with us. In fact you could be feeing your dog the same dog food for years and see that just recently they started having allergies symptoms. Once the symptom comes to surface though, that is it. Food allergies usually show themselves with itchy skin, anal itching, ear inflammation, and rubbing their face on the carpet. I have never personally owned a dog with allergies but have seen dogs with allergies that spend a good twenty minutes scratching the skin off of them when their allergies act up. They were so bad, they actually had bald patches on their coat from how fast and furious they scratched.

Keep in mind that dogs are not allergic to brands of dog food, but rather the ingredients that are in your dogs food. The most common food allergies are beef, pork, chicken, milk, soy and corn along with a few others. If you buys a brand of dog food with one of these ingredients, and find your dog is allergic, and then you buy another brand with the same ingredients you are going to find your dog is still allergic. Here is yet another reason why it is so important to read the labels of your dog food!

The first step to figuring out if it is your dog’s food that is causing your dog to suffer, take away your dogs food and feed them only a diet that consists of things that your dog has never eaten before. This should be protein and starch. You can try lamb or rabbit mixed with rice. Do not give them anything else during this trial period. Do not give them any treats, bones, table scraps or even chew toys. Keep them on this diet for a few days. Once the symptoms start to improve, go back to the original food for a few days and make a note of what you were given your dog. You know now they are not allergic to it. If they symptoms return, your dog is allergic to something in the food. The next thing to do is to return to the test diet and add one new ingredient a week to rule out allergies. For example try chicken one week and if the symptoms get better, you know it is not chicken. The next week try beef and if the symptoms return then it is safe to say your dog is allergic to beef. Try this though with all ingredients because your dog could be allergic to a number of ingredients in their food.

Once you find out the culprit or culprits, you can look for food that does not contain the ingredients you know your dog is allergic too. One of the best choices with brand dog foods is food that is made with lamb and rice. Both lamb and rice are consider hypoallergenic as long as it does not consider wheat, or corn. Corn is not digestible to dogs.

If you are feeding your dog the Raw Dog Diet, you would still follow the same steps to find out what they are allergic to and then just cut out the offending ingredients from their diet. I know this sounds like a lot and time consuming. It can take a while to discover to cause of your dogs allergies. But in the end it is worth it for your dog and you will end a lot of their distress.

You can always take your dog to the vet for an allergy diagnoses. They will perform a series of physical examinations and tests to determine what your dog is allergic to. While this is a quicker way to get to the bottom of the mystery, it can also be a costly one plus studies have shown that blood tests do not always show food allergies. The food trial diet is the best way.

Another thing to keep in mind is that no matter what the cost of your dog food, your dog could still develop allergies to it. Granted there are more reports of the cheaper brand food causing more allergies because of the fillers that might be included in those brands, but your dog has just as much of a chance of being allergic to the premium dog food as it does with the cheaper brand food. Dogs also do not grow out of allergies.

If you notice your dog suddenly itching a lot, or chewing at their skin first check for fleas and if you find none, they more than likely have food allergies and you should begin the food test diet right away.

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For as long as dog food as been around, some dog owners are getting very concerned about the dog food they are buying for their dogs after all of the recalls that have been issued this past year alone. Unfortunately the food you feed your dog today, could be the newest recall tomorrow and for some pet owners that is not a risk they are willing to take. If you look on the internet or join a dog lovers chat room you will find that a new diet is starting to become bigger and bigger and this is the raw food diet. The raw diet is not a new trend, though many pet owners think it is. This diet is basically mimicking what your dog would eat if he were out in the wild. Some people have even called it the BARF diet. BARF stands for Biologically Appropriate Raw Foods and also for Bones and Raw Food Diet.

If you are going to try this diet for your dog, remember the food is all raw and so are the bones. Never, under any circumstances give you dog cooked bones. They can splinter and cause internal damage. Also, people have stated that it might be easier for your dog if you switch the food from kibble to BARF with out any transition as long as you start simple.

So what does the diet entail? It is a meal made up of meat, and veggies. That is it. Half of your dogs meal will be the meat and the remaining ingredients make up the rest. If you can try and get your meat from a butcher to ensure freshness. Remember all the food is raw. Start off with just meat for a few days when you are switching your dog. Once your dog has settled into this you can start adding some bland veggies such as carrots. You should use a blender or food processor for your veggies. I find it easier to get my dog to eat his vegetables if I make it liquidity and mix the meat into it. By using a blender and pureeing it this will break down the cell walls that your dog can not digest anyway. Once those walls are broken down, your dog will get all the vital nutrients and enzymes it needs.

After you try your dog on meat and vegetables, you can then start adding richer foods like eggs or so. Once you have the hang of it start adding different veggies to make sure they get the best vitamins and nutrients.

The choice of veggies depends on you. You should though mix it up a bit. To make good choices on the types of veggies, it is good to know what each veggie contains and can do. Carrots should always be included because of the potassium, calcium and vitamins that it offers. You add green veggies one day with carrots because green has vitamins A and C in it. Watercress and mustard greens can help clean out your dogs intestine. Stay away from broccoli and cabbage as they can increase gas in your dog. I made the mistake of giving my dog broccoli one night and the effects were disastrous. It was the middle of winter and I had to sleep with my windows open the smell was so bad. Also stay away from onions and potatoes. Onions can cause problems in dogs if eaten in a large quality and have you ever been kissed by a dog that just ate onions? Potatoes should be avoided because your dog can not digest it well.
Also included in the raw dog diet are raw meaty bones. Examples of these bones are chicken backs, necks, wings, or turkey necks. They are soft enough for a dog to chew and eat and they provide and exercise for your dogs jaw and upper body muscle. These bones are excellent for your dog to eat due to the nutritional value they have. If you have a dog that tends to inhale their bones or an older dog whose teeth are not that good, you can always grind up the bones and sprinkle it on their food.

You can give some oils such as fish oil or flaxseed because they contain essential fatty acids such as omega-3. They support the heart and are important for a healthy skin and coat. They will also help with your dogs blood pressure (yes it does matter!). Some more benefits of essential fatty acids are less shedding which can be a blessing to owners of dogs who shed constantly. Essential fatty acids also help your dog with fleas. Studies have shown that dogs have these fatty acids included in their balanced diet deal with fewer flees. These are found in fish oils and flaxseed oils. There are a few benefits though to using fish oil over flaxseed. It is true that flaxseeds contain more omega-3 than fish oils, it is inactive omega-3. In fish oils the omega-3 is in active form. Most people recommend sticking with the fish oil especially because dogs can be allergic to flaxseed oil.

So what are the benefits of having your dog on a raw food diet? Well for starters, you will notice a big change in their breath. Some people might find this hard to believe because of the fact you are giving your dog raw food, but this is not true. The raw dog diet does not contain any unnatural preservatives that can cause bad breath. You will notice a difference in their teeth also because chewing on the raw meat bones clean your dogs teeth naturally.

You will also see an improvement in your dogs skin and coat. Skin problems will disappear and you will see a change in their coat. Their coat could become deeply colored and thick. The raw dog diet also improves the immune system due to a great balance of fatty acids and pure nutrients. This is also an excellent diet for dogs that are overweight. The raw food diet can increase your dogs metabolism.

Lastly the raw food diet tends to change a dogs stool. The first few weeks it is not uncommon for your dog to go through a detox period, where you might see their stools being a little more mucous then before. However once they get through this detox period you will notice that your dogs stools are smaller and degrade into the ground.

One thing though that tends to make people very nervous about this diet is the fact that you are giving your dog raw meat. When you think of raw meat, like raw chicken, words like salmonella poisoning and E Coli probably come to mind. Some think that following the raw dog diet is worse for your dog, then the brand name dog foods out there. Keep in mind though that the raw food you give to your dog should be perfectly safe for them as long as you handle it properly. You should make sure you defrost it properly and keep it in the fridge for the appropriate time. Clean all utensils and surfaces that you used to prepare the food. Wash your hands thoroughly also handling the meat. This will keep the bacteria down not only on your dog’s food but also in your environment and will keep your family safe too. Remember also that a dog has a shorter digestive tract than we do, so the raw food moves out of their systems much more quickly. The less time it spends in the digestive tract, the less likely it will form bacteria.

Another reason why some people are afraid of using this diet is because of the old wives tale that the raw food will turn their otherwise calm and mellow dogs into the blood thirsty hounds you might see in a scary comic book. The term for this is called blooding your dog and possibly making it want even human meat. This is not true. You will not be programming your dog to be a killer in anyway shape or form.

Now how do you choose if you want to raw feed your dog or bag him? Well for starters do you research. On the internet you will find people pro dog food and pro raw food. Read up as much as you can to gather information. Read more about the benefits of a raw diet. Read more about dog food. This might be a better choice for you due to the icky factor of having to prepare raw food for your dog. Though lately now there have been more and more companies who have been developing food that is part of the raw food diet that can be delivered to you already prepared.

You can also talk to your vet regarding this but keep in mind not all vets are familiar with the raw food diet or at least they were not taught about it in school. They were taught which brand of prepared dry dog food is best and they might not be able to give you an unbiased answer.

One thing you might want to consider doing is joining a forum for dogs lovers. Chatevo.com offers a lot of forums based on specific dog breeds, diet and nutrition. You will be able to get opinions from people who have been there and done that. Sometimes talking to other people who share the same love of dogs as you do, makes things a lot more clearer and you might be able to understand better than if you were to talk to a expert.

No one should bully you into picking what kind of dog food you should use for your dog. Nor should anyone scare by saying things like dry food causes more problems or that the raw food can cause e coli. You just have to look at all the benefits to decide if you will at least try it for your dog.

The raw food diet is not for everyone nor is it for every dog. Some dogs will thrive on it, while others do not. It may not be the answer for you or your dog, but the benefits that come from it are worth a try and there really is no harm in it.

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