
Buster is nearly 4 years old (DOB 20.07.03). Although a mis mark, he is a Dane of great substance, confirmation and temperament, therefore has been used in the foundation of our breeding programme.
My diet is based on that advised by Dr Ian Billinghust in his book: * Grow Your Pups with Bones*.
With Great Danes we want to grow them slowly to prevent all the bone/joint problems we see in this breed, and although they may be slimmer and not as roly poly as other kibble fed puppies; this is desirable because we are building them into a strong, lean and muscular body with healthy bone and joints.
The basic puppy diet consists of 60% raw, meaty bones and 40% of the patty mix (instructions follow).
This diet is divided into 3 or four meals per day. Dr. Billinghurst suggests feeding a puppy 10% of its body weight in food every day. Ie: an 11 lb puppy would eat about a pound of food daily, divided into 3 or 4 meals.
Common sense must prevail and this is not written in stone; the next thing to do is to watch and monitor your pups weight gain or loss.
For raw meaty bone meal
I prefer to give young puppies ground chicken until they are ready to cope with wings, carcasses etc. IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT THE GROUND CHICEKEN INCLUDES THE BONE. This is available from most good pet suppliers.
PATTIE MIX
Lean minced meat and veggies (pulped) WITH JUICE total weight is 2 kg or about 4 ¼ lb.
You add the following supplements:
Yoghurt: low fat and plain..1/2 a small tub
Eggs: raw about three
Flax seed oil,hemp oil3 tablespoons
Raw liver: a ¼ of lamb's liver, or 2 oz. chicken liver, beef heart, chicken or turkey gizzards
Garlic: 1 or 2 cloves
Kelp or greens powder: 3 teaspoons
B vitamins and vitamin C: a mega dose of each
Vitamin E: 100 IU daily for a 11 lb. Pup and gradually increase IU's as pup grows up, to 400 II for adult.
Cod liver oil: 1 to 2 ml. Daily
Mix the meat, veggies and supplements up , divide into meals and freeze.
Note: I prefer to add B and C vitamins separately, as well as Vit. E , as then I know that the individual pup has eaten the vitamins. Vit. E should not be frozen.
Meat for the Pattie mix can include any of the following minced varieties:
chicken , beef, lamb, rabbit, turkey, pork, venison .As long as it is RAW.
Veggies for the Pattie mix are juiced and can be any of the following:
carrots, beets, spinach, squash, celery, greens , apples, oranges, grapes, mangoes, bananas, peas, green beans, dried fruit, blueberries,etc.
I prefer to keep the fruits separate from the veggies in the mix and feed fruit occasionally with the raw meaty bone meal.
Cooked veggie scraps, rice, cottage cheese, scrambled eggs are good occasionally. For variety I also give canned or poached salmon (never raw), sardines, mackerel or unbleached tripe.
Large RAW Bones:
The other part of the diet is large bones; the long bones from the limbs of cattle. The femurs and tibia's of the hind legs or radius and ulna of forelegs.
Bones are great for teething and they get calcium/phosphorous/minerals from a natural source.
Bones are a natural tooth brush, you will keep those teeth pearly white.
These bones they need every day to chew on, not only does it keep them from chewing on furniture etc; it keeps their jaws and whole body exercised. It
provides valuable cartilage for producing healthy, disease free joints in pups.
Rawhide bones, pigs ears are loaded with chemicals plus they can cause a blockage in the intestinal tract AVOID THEM!
Must haves:
Vitamin C 1200 mg. Min. Daily I give as much as they can tolerate.(bowel tolerance) until they have a real loose stool and then cut back until stool is normal
Cod liver oil (in winter)
Ground flax or flax oil daily Hemp or Omega essential Balance oil 1tbsp. For variety I use salmon oil caps with ground flax seed. Flax seed in the AM and salmon oil (1000mg) caps in the PM. The key is to use a variety of EFA's
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