We have a black Labrador Retriever. I love her. She is my good friend and trusted companion. She tolerates my faults (I apparently don’t provide nearly enough treats) and I tolerate her’s ( incessant nagging to play fetch just one more time!!! Please!) Contrary to most Labradors, she tends to be picky about the food she eats, if it’s not people food. Although I don’t share my meals with her, she has been know to help herself if something is left a little too close to the edge of the counter. Cookies, butter, pork chops…
I have tried a ton, literally a ton, of different dry dog foods and have finally settled on one that she likes most of the time. In order to get her to eat better I supplement her dry dog food with other foods. Variety! Sometimes I will combine cooked rice with browned ground turkey or ground deer, vegetables and a touch of dried rosemary for seasoning and mix a little of this concoction in with her kibble. She loves it! During hunting season I bottle some of the meat scraps and have a ready dog food supplement. Deer and elk meat are always a hit!
This last spring I noticed that her coat was kind of dull and she had dry skin. Doggie dandruff!! I started putting a cooked egg (fried, scrambled or hardboiled, without seasoning) on her breakfast. Within a short time, her coat transformed. Sleek, soft, shiny black…and no white specks of dried skin! That incredible edible egg!! Eggs contain many fats, vitamins and minerals that are good for a dogs coat. Two that stand out are lutein which helps to keep skin hydrated and biotin which helps to promote healthy skin and coats. After all, how many of us take a biotin supplement for our hair and nails?
My dog food recipe is a variation of a couple recipes I found on Allrecipes.com.
2 cups cooked rice (I used white)
1 lb. ground turkey or ground game meat
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup diced or grated zucchini
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
1/2 tsp. fresh rosemary
I cook my rice in an electric pressure cooker. You could use an instant-pot, microwave rice cooker or cook on the stove top. Brown your meat. Combine vegetables and rosemary with meat and cook until softened. Add rice, stir. Cool and serve. I substitute 1/2 cup of this recipe for 1/2 cup of dry kibble. Remember though, I have a big dog. As always, watch for a change in your dog’s stools when changing up feeds. Store leftovers in the refrigerator…or freeze some to have on hand.
You won’t have to deal with leftovers, that’s for sure!
