My Dobermans' Diets as of 2020
How long and how many parts of this recipe you continue with is your choice.
I have seen even just some of the ingredients on some days improve health far more than no supplements at all ever.
How long and how many parts of this recipe you continue with is your choice.
I have seen even just some of the ingredients on some days improve health far more than no supplements at all ever.
|
Dobe up to 12 weeks old
3 meals per day or nibble dry food 12 hours or 24 hours a day and a “snack” of their mix ins and supplements once a day, please aim for the same snack time of day. 3 meals per day = easier house breaking Per meal: Up to 1½ cups dry all breed puppy food enough water to cover dry food Doc Roy's Healthy Bones supplement 1 tablespoon of canned food or “mix in” 250 mg per day of human ester C vitamin ¼ teaspoon apple cider vinegar ½ teaspoon edible fossil flour 1 Nuvet Plus supplement tablet |
Dobe 3 months to 1 year
At 12 weeks old gradually switch to a Large Breed Puppy food- amount to maintain a body condition score of 4 to 4 1/2 on a scale of 1-9 (your vet can help you determine this) 3 meals per day or nibbling with snack if that is working, 2 meals per day recommended at 6months old Per meal: dry food and enough water to cover dry food Healthy Bones the pups I have kept have never needed more than the 30# dose/day because I limit their time on hard surfaces as much as possible. But some surfaces may require the full dose until 1 year old. ¼ cup of canned food or “mix in” at 6 months 500 mg ester C 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar ½ teaspoon edible fossil flour 1 Nuvet Plus supplement tablet |
Dobe 1 year and older
2 meals per day or nibbling and snack if that is working. Sometimes my schedule forces one meal a day but that might increase bloat risk.
Large breed puppy food up to 2 years old if your pup is doing well on it. Male's fast metabolism may require high protein/performance/working dog/all breed puppy formula diet for life starting at 1 year old.
(Yup that's right! Some boys start out on all breed puppy, grow on large breed puppy, then live on all breed puppy food for life!)
Relaxed females may need Large Breed Adult formulas to avoid weight gain. Most of my adult females here do well on “active” formulas in between these two extremes. But my own adult males always need the extra “working dog” fuel for their fast metabolisms.
My own adult Collies and Dobes here: I try to maintain 2 meals a day of dry food and water, ¼ to ½ of their diet is rotating mixins depending upon the day. And some days there are no mixins/supplements. Apple cider vinegar 1 teaspoon of per day. Canned pumpkin without any spices 1-2 tablespoons (for beneficial fiber) with each meal that has meat/boiled eggs with shells in it . 500 mg Ester C and 1 teaspoon of fossil flour per day. Or: 2 teaspoons of fossil flour per gallon of water and 500 mg of Ester C per dog in their drinking water every day with a fresh “batch” everyday- this is great for the ranch pyrs who usually have feeders of dry food, and “snacks” of their supplements and mix ins. 1 Nuvet Plus per day as needed for health or work load. Note- none of my dogs have sensitive stomachs on this continually rotating diet (and this rotation has “cured” a couple of adults with “sensitive stomach” that I have adopted). Healthy Bones only for adults moms while nursing puppies- not when they are pregnant and eating an all breed puppy diet for pregnancy.
Ingredient Sources
Doc Roy's Healthy Bones supplement can be ordered from https://www.revivalanimal.com
Nuvet Plus supplement can be ordered from http://www.nuvet.com/45950
Large Breed Puppy formulas can be found out grocery stores and most pet food stores. Most of the brands I use I find at livestock feed stores.
Edible fossil flour/livestock diatemaceous earth can be found at livestock feed stores and at it can be found for people at human health food stores.
Vinagar, Ester C vitamins, mix ins and canned dog foods can be found at grocery stores.
My puppies' favorite dry Large Breed Puppy formulas: Loyall/Loyall Life from Nutrena, KLN Nutrisource from Ranchway, Diamond Naturals (only lamb protein LB pup in my area), Exclusive from Purina livestock grain stores, Purina One and Iams from grocery store. For my adult dogs you can add the brand names Tuffy's Gold from Ranchway grain stores and Victor from livestock stores to this list. Many of these brands are available on Murdoch's website. Purina and Iams may be the only brands on this list that available in grocery and big pet stores. Note- I have never fed “grain free” formulas ever, and after recent news I doubt I will ever try ( just my choice and my budget). Favorite canned foods are Nutrisource, Diamond Naturals, Diamond from livestock feed stores. Murdoch's website offers shipping. Canned Lamaderm Natural Life, Newmans, Purina One, Pure Balance are my favorites from grocery stores. My pups have always done the best on Nutrisource and Lamaderm Natural Life and rotating mixins.
Mix ins at room temperature- scrambled egg, milk, cottage cheese, cooked fish without bones, canned sardines with tomatoe sauce but without spices, mackerel or salmon (brine rinsed off), gently cooked meats without bones (ground beef, pork, turkey, chicken, etc. cook very fast and mix in easily). Raw or lightly cooked and rinsed liver or gizzards. The best mix in is rotation!
At 3 months old I start a once a month “intestinal” wormer – fenbenzadole. If you have heartworm in your area please start heartworm monthly as your vet recommends. Before 3 months old piperazine, pyrantel and fossil flour are the recommended wormers.
The Details of Why these ingredients, beyond the results I have seen in my own dogs and puppies:
Dry all breed puppy food to support rapid growth before 12 weeks old and by 12 weeks old please switch to a “Large Breed” puppy food to help control rapid growth and reduce hip dysplasia risk. If pup is growing fast enough to get bowed legs switch to large breed puppy earlier. Eliminate time on hard surfaces. AND please get Doc Roy's Healthy Bones ASAP, I have really seen it work.
Enough Water to cover the dry food and for mixing and because canines were designed to digest meat that is 70% water (not food as dry, processed and unnatural as living on potato chips) but dry is economical and easily stored.
Even at the (small) amounts the following ingredients add considerable nutrition for my puppies and adult dogs and I absolutely believe they are the reason for my dog's long and healty lives. I have listed them in order of importance because of how much they have helped me raise 3 generations in 4 different breeds so far.
Doc Roy's Healthy Bones supplement from Revival Animal Health website. Dobe puppies in particular are prone to “weak, soft, bowed legs” during their growth spurts on modern diets. Especially if the pup spends time on hard surfaces! I have seen front legs “cowboy bow” in 20 minutes on concrete!! Concrete, pavement, hard ground is not normally an option for this breed until at least 1 year old ! This supplement, a Large Breed Puppy diet, and monthly worming can both prevent and fix this condition. Bowed puppy leg info is on the internet. If you can keep your Dobe on Healthy Bones until it is 1 year old and walk it on the grass or softer dirt beside the sidewalk or pavement your pup should have healthy, straight legs for life. If you can just get 1 bottle of Healthy Bones it should last through that 4 month old growth spurt. But I have personally seen Dobermans with bowing legs up to a year old. And if it is not fixed or prevented before the leg bones harden (sometime before their 1st birthday – the age can vary) then the dog will have “cowboy legs” for life, which I have also seen with my own eyes.
Human Ester C vitamin (in the orange box) at the grocery store (easy to break in half if you want to add it to 2 meals a day intstead of one) helps develop strong cartilage and ligaments and greatly reduces hip dysplasia risk.
Grocery store Apple cider vinegar “with the mother” can greatly improve digestion and vitamin/mineral absorbtion. Apple cider vinegar without “the mother” will also help far more than none at all, almost as much as “with the mother”. This must be fed with canned food or a mix in because it is not a flavor canines have evolved for. But this is a rare case of a food (like canned pumpkin) that is not part of canine evolution but incredibly good for them with no ill side effects (unless massively overdosed).
Edible fossil flour/diatemaceous earth is a natural parasite reducer and also helps digestion. 60 cents a pound from a livestock store or $13 a pound human health food store. Our animals use it from the livestock store and my family uses it from the human health food store with great results.
(NOT swimming pool de- it will can an elephant! And everything else that is smaller)
Nuvet Plus supplement tablet from Nuvet labs. The unique ingredients really help fill in the nutrional gaps of modern pet food. Your puppy has been eating Nuvet mixed into it's meals along with the rest of this recipe. If you can just get 1 bottle of Nuvet Plus it will last until your pup is 5 months old and help it through the 4 month old growth spurt and teathing. If you can get 3 bottles it will last for the first year when your pup's growth and development can affect it's health for the rest of it's life. If you can give Nuvet for life I believe your pup will benefit from it greatly. Nuvet Plus can be ordered from nuvet.com 1-800-474-7044 order code 45950
I hope you can continue this diet for the life of your puppy, but I do not require it!
My own dogs get these recipes most days, but not all days, and I still see the difference in their health.
Sometimes I think my dogs live so long and healthy just so they can keep enjoying their diet!
One of my foundation Ranch Pyrs “Laddie” is now a vet verified 13 years old and he is still a running, playing, jumping, standing on his hind legs, happy, coyote chasing guy! Of course I have been very careful not to tell him that he is 13 years old !
2 meals per day or nibbling and snack if that is working. Sometimes my schedule forces one meal a day but that might increase bloat risk.
Large breed puppy food up to 2 years old if your pup is doing well on it. Male's fast metabolism may require high protein/performance/working dog/all breed puppy formula diet for life starting at 1 year old.
(Yup that's right! Some boys start out on all breed puppy, grow on large breed puppy, then live on all breed puppy food for life!)
Relaxed females may need Large Breed Adult formulas to avoid weight gain. Most of my adult females here do well on “active” formulas in between these two extremes. But my own adult males always need the extra “working dog” fuel for their fast metabolisms.
My own adult Collies and Dobes here: I try to maintain 2 meals a day of dry food and water, ¼ to ½ of their diet is rotating mixins depending upon the day. And some days there are no mixins/supplements. Apple cider vinegar 1 teaspoon of per day. Canned pumpkin without any spices 1-2 tablespoons (for beneficial fiber) with each meal that has meat/boiled eggs with shells in it . 500 mg Ester C and 1 teaspoon of fossil flour per day. Or: 2 teaspoons of fossil flour per gallon of water and 500 mg of Ester C per dog in their drinking water every day with a fresh “batch” everyday- this is great for the ranch pyrs who usually have feeders of dry food, and “snacks” of their supplements and mix ins. 1 Nuvet Plus per day as needed for health or work load. Note- none of my dogs have sensitive stomachs on this continually rotating diet (and this rotation has “cured” a couple of adults with “sensitive stomach” that I have adopted). Healthy Bones only for adults moms while nursing puppies- not when they are pregnant and eating an all breed puppy diet for pregnancy.
Ingredient Sources
Doc Roy's Healthy Bones supplement can be ordered from https://www.revivalanimal.com
Nuvet Plus supplement can be ordered from http://www.nuvet.com/45950
Large Breed Puppy formulas can be found out grocery stores and most pet food stores. Most of the brands I use I find at livestock feed stores.
Edible fossil flour/livestock diatemaceous earth can be found at livestock feed stores and at it can be found for people at human health food stores.
Vinagar, Ester C vitamins, mix ins and canned dog foods can be found at grocery stores.
My puppies' favorite dry Large Breed Puppy formulas: Loyall/Loyall Life from Nutrena, KLN Nutrisource from Ranchway, Diamond Naturals (only lamb protein LB pup in my area), Exclusive from Purina livestock grain stores, Purina One and Iams from grocery store. For my adult dogs you can add the brand names Tuffy's Gold from Ranchway grain stores and Victor from livestock stores to this list. Many of these brands are available on Murdoch's website. Purina and Iams may be the only brands on this list that available in grocery and big pet stores. Note- I have never fed “grain free” formulas ever, and after recent news I doubt I will ever try ( just my choice and my budget). Favorite canned foods are Nutrisource, Diamond Naturals, Diamond from livestock feed stores. Murdoch's website offers shipping. Canned Lamaderm Natural Life, Newmans, Purina One, Pure Balance are my favorites from grocery stores. My pups have always done the best on Nutrisource and Lamaderm Natural Life and rotating mixins.
Mix ins at room temperature- scrambled egg, milk, cottage cheese, cooked fish without bones, canned sardines with tomatoe sauce but without spices, mackerel or salmon (brine rinsed off), gently cooked meats without bones (ground beef, pork, turkey, chicken, etc. cook very fast and mix in easily). Raw or lightly cooked and rinsed liver or gizzards. The best mix in is rotation!
At 3 months old I start a once a month “intestinal” wormer – fenbenzadole. If you have heartworm in your area please start heartworm monthly as your vet recommends. Before 3 months old piperazine, pyrantel and fossil flour are the recommended wormers.
The Details of Why these ingredients, beyond the results I have seen in my own dogs and puppies:
Dry all breed puppy food to support rapid growth before 12 weeks old and by 12 weeks old please switch to a “Large Breed” puppy food to help control rapid growth and reduce hip dysplasia risk. If pup is growing fast enough to get bowed legs switch to large breed puppy earlier. Eliminate time on hard surfaces. AND please get Doc Roy's Healthy Bones ASAP, I have really seen it work.
Enough Water to cover the dry food and for mixing and because canines were designed to digest meat that is 70% water (not food as dry, processed and unnatural as living on potato chips) but dry is economical and easily stored.
Even at the (small) amounts the following ingredients add considerable nutrition for my puppies and adult dogs and I absolutely believe they are the reason for my dog's long and healty lives. I have listed them in order of importance because of how much they have helped me raise 3 generations in 4 different breeds so far.
Doc Roy's Healthy Bones supplement from Revival Animal Health website. Dobe puppies in particular are prone to “weak, soft, bowed legs” during their growth spurts on modern diets. Especially if the pup spends time on hard surfaces! I have seen front legs “cowboy bow” in 20 minutes on concrete!! Concrete, pavement, hard ground is not normally an option for this breed until at least 1 year old ! This supplement, a Large Breed Puppy diet, and monthly worming can both prevent and fix this condition. Bowed puppy leg info is on the internet. If you can keep your Dobe on Healthy Bones until it is 1 year old and walk it on the grass or softer dirt beside the sidewalk or pavement your pup should have healthy, straight legs for life. If you can just get 1 bottle of Healthy Bones it should last through that 4 month old growth spurt. But I have personally seen Dobermans with bowing legs up to a year old. And if it is not fixed or prevented before the leg bones harden (sometime before their 1st birthday – the age can vary) then the dog will have “cowboy legs” for life, which I have also seen with my own eyes.
Human Ester C vitamin (in the orange box) at the grocery store (easy to break in half if you want to add it to 2 meals a day intstead of one) helps develop strong cartilage and ligaments and greatly reduces hip dysplasia risk.
Grocery store Apple cider vinegar “with the mother” can greatly improve digestion and vitamin/mineral absorbtion. Apple cider vinegar without “the mother” will also help far more than none at all, almost as much as “with the mother”. This must be fed with canned food or a mix in because it is not a flavor canines have evolved for. But this is a rare case of a food (like canned pumpkin) that is not part of canine evolution but incredibly good for them with no ill side effects (unless massively overdosed).
Edible fossil flour/diatemaceous earth is a natural parasite reducer and also helps digestion. 60 cents a pound from a livestock store or $13 a pound human health food store. Our animals use it from the livestock store and my family uses it from the human health food store with great results.
(NOT swimming pool de- it will can an elephant! And everything else that is smaller)
Nuvet Plus supplement tablet from Nuvet labs. The unique ingredients really help fill in the nutrional gaps of modern pet food. Your puppy has been eating Nuvet mixed into it's meals along with the rest of this recipe. If you can just get 1 bottle of Nuvet Plus it will last until your pup is 5 months old and help it through the 4 month old growth spurt and teathing. If you can get 3 bottles it will last for the first year when your pup's growth and development can affect it's health for the rest of it's life. If you can give Nuvet for life I believe your pup will benefit from it greatly. Nuvet Plus can be ordered from nuvet.com 1-800-474-7044 order code 45950
I hope you can continue this diet for the life of your puppy, but I do not require it!
My own dogs get these recipes most days, but not all days, and I still see the difference in their health.
Sometimes I think my dogs live so long and healthy just so they can keep enjoying their diet!
One of my foundation Ranch Pyrs “Laddie” is now a vet verified 13 years old and he is still a running, playing, jumping, standing on his hind legs, happy, coyote chasing guy! Of course I have been very careful not to tell him that he is 13 years old !