[Ab2zz]

I have heard a lot of Different things to put in a dog's food for different things. Most of these I am sure are rubbish but i am sure some are based in fact, here are a few examples:
Cottage cheese mixed with the food when a German Shepherd puppy is teething adds calcium to the diet and makes his ear cartilage stronger.

Raw egg in the food helps with a shiny coat.

Olive oil in the food helps with stronger nails.

I was wondering if any of. These are true, and if anyone else had heard any similar ideas, what benefit they are supposed to give, and if they are true or not?

 

[Kathyy]

Never heard the olive oil one before. I wouldn't use vegetable oil as a supplement, dog food doesn't need more Omega 6. I would put some canned salmon/sardine/herring/mackerel in for lots of fragile Omega 3 that is destroyed by the kibbling process.

Any fresh food added to kibble is going to boost the food's value. Kibble is low in fat and the artificial vitamins added are a poor substitute for the real thing found in fresh foods. If your dog tolerates that much egg it is fine to mix it in. Just start with part of an egg at first. If you would rather cook the egg that is fine as well.

Puppies don't need more calcium, maybe it is the protein in the cottage cheese that makes the cartilage stronger. Artie is getting more protein now and I think his half mast ears do stand more than they used to. Probably my imagination, he is 3-4 years old!

Here is a short article about adding fresh foods to kibble.
http://www.dogaware.com/diet/freshfoods.html

 

[bumblegoat]

Never heard the olive oil one before. I wouldn't use vegetable oil as a supplement, dog food doesn't need more Omega 6. I would put some canned salmon/sardine/herring/mackerel in for lots of fragile Omega 3 that is destroyed by the kibbling process.

Good thing you brought this up, as it seems like a lot of people think that omega 6 is something we would want to supplement with. This is not the case, since dog food doesn't need more omega 6, like you said. This is why I don't want to see a vegetable oil in any dog food, there is just too much omega 6 in them.

Olive oil is probably one of the least bad ones though, as the omega 6 levels aren't as high as in sunflower oil for example, but that still doesn't make olive oil good to supplement with. I don't even think most vegetable oils are even good for humans, and much less for dogs.

 

[stephwoods63]

I add parsley and cranberries to my dogs food for her breath. It seems to work great! Raw egg is good in moderation!