Gun Dog Forum

How do you guys add extra fats to a dogs diet?
I assume animals fats are better than ones from plants....
Has anyone tried Balanced Fats or actual beef tallow or duck fat made for cooking?

I cut up about 2 ibs of pork trim and boil it up in a quart and half of water and 6 cups of brown rice. I then feed them a half a cup of the mixture with their food once a day.

I give my dogs cooked or hard boiled eggs during the season. Good source of fat and protein. Cottage cheese is another easy supplement. I have read sardines are also a good source of fat/protein but I have never given them to my dogs. I actually like sardines but the ones I buy have jalapeños in the can.

One of my Vizsla's was a finicky eater so I might add an egg to her dinner when we are hunting to make sure she got food in her. I like to have hard boiled eggs in my cooler for lunch or breaks but will share if I didn't give them food that morning before hunting. Probably don't have too but no reason not too.

Turbo911 wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 24, 2020 4:25 am

How do you guys add extra fats to a dogs diet?
I assume animals fats are better than ones from plants....
Has anyone tried Balanced Fats or actual beef tallow or duck fat made for cooking?

If you are serving up good quality dog food why would you need a fat supplement? Only time I've used a fat supplement was for an old dog - fussy eater, losing weight/muscle.

Raw animal fat is the best source of energy for the dog. Moderate amounts of fat are very beneficial for the dog under exertion especially in hot weather. If the dog is not under regular exertion the fat in your current feed is probably plenty.

Pork and beef trimmings can be easily sourced from a butcher. Canned sardines are OK for a tasty snack and some additional calcium, but usually contain way too much salt to feed in nutritionally significant amounts.

When I had one dog and was hunting the poor .... 4 days a week...pretty much 6 hours a day...I supplemented with beef fat. Even so, he got awful thin by Christmas.

I would go to the supermarket during a beef sale and ask for fat trimmings, which they had by the barrel full. Most times they gave it to me for free or for like 10 cents a pound. I would cube it up in small cubes and freeze it in quarter pound ziplock bags. I would thaw two pounds or so every week during the season and feed the dog a quarter pound every night that he ran, along with his kibble which was 30/20. I always gave him more kibble than he would eat...but the fat was always gone. If he was getting too thin I would give him a quarter pound every night. If he was too tired, I would soak the kibble and fat in warm water and maybe add a couple spoonfuls of wet dog food to entice him to eat.


It is my understanding that a high energy, high performance dog can thrive on a diet that is as high as 50% fat.

RayG

Listening to Perfection kennels video today they were talking about adding a fat supplement to the dogs going to summer camp.
They only hunt the dogs every other day. Try to run 45 minutes but said it always goes longer.
I now feel better about my post asking this same question. I run swim my dogs almost every day for 30 minutes to a hour so I guess they do get run down and need more fat.
Me female is good on 4 cups of pp 30/20.
The neutered male who doesn't run/hunt as hard but swims more only needs about 3 1/2 cups.
The intact male who hunts and runs the hardest
needs 5 and I might go to 6 cups.