No single dietary plan can be considered the best for every dog out there.  Always make sure you consult with your vet before making any changes to your dogs diet.  Here are some general guidelines and tips to follow to ensure that your dog remains healthy.

• Be sure to choose a reputable and well reviewed brand of dog food. Double check with your veterinarian for recommendations and advice on purchasing new dog food.

• Select a dog food that’s appropriate for your dog’s age, weight, activity level or size. Make sure to feed your dog dry food as well as moist canned food to help keep his teeth clean.

• Be sure that the protein ratios in your dogs diet are appropriate for your dog’s size, age and breed. Typically (check with your vet), a dog food with 20 to 30 percent protein content provides a healthy balance for a healthy dog food diet.

• Avoid overfeeding your dog as obesity can lead to a variety of medical problems.  One of the best ways to maintain a healthy dog diet is to avoid overfeeding.

• Feed your dog a measured amount of healthy dog food twice a day.  Ask your vet if they have any recommendations for proper dog feeding schedules.

Things to Remember

• If you decide to switch dog foods, do it slowly over a week period by increasing the ratio of new dog food to old dog food. This will help avoid digestive upsets in your dog
• Avoid feeding your dog too many vitamins and minerals. Some vitamins and minerals can be toxic to dogs in high dosages.
• Never ever under any circumstance feed your dog chocolate. Chocolate is toxic for dogs and so are grapes and olives.  Avoid these!

• Always consult your veterinarian before starting your dog on a diet

• Have your vet help you determine the corect number of pounds your dog needs to lose to be healthy. A general rule is the amount will equal your dogs obese weight minus their optimal healthy weight.

• Feed your dog healthy dog food that is formulated specifically for weight reduction.  A.K.A The Best Dog Food Diet

• Provide dry dog food that contains less than 10% fat and more than 15% fiber.  Check with your vet first to see if this is the correct ratio

• Purchase food that has both Association of American Feeding Control Officials (AAFCO) and Animal Feeding Trials (or Animal Feeding Tests) on its label.

• Provide weight-reducing food to your dog at every meal. Feed the allotted amount twice daily or based on the recommendations from your vet.

• Reduce the amount of food you provide if your dog obtains additional food elsewhere.  This mainly applies to hunting dogs, service dogs, or dogs that consume a large amount of treats

• Weigh your dog every two weeks to monitor its health and weight loss

• Play with your dog several times a day.  Getting exercise is one of the best ways for your dog to lose weight and get healthy

<iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=youbon-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=0813801192" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>

<iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=youbon-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=0813821495" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>

With an eye to the long-term health of pets, Dr Donald Strombeck outlines diets that the care giver can prepare at home or in the clinic. He offers nutritional and dietary guidance for animals with particular problems, from obesity, allergies, and gastrointestinal complaints to diseases of the kidney, pancreas, heart and joints. Each recipe includes nutrient content for proteins, fats and calories and all rely on unprocessed foods that are widely available and marketed for human consumption. Full of useful information about nutritional and dietary needs of cats and dogs, this book will be an indispensable guide for all those who are particular about what they feed their pets or their feline and canine patients.

      1lb   2   3   4    5    10   15   20   25   30   40   50   60   70

5wk   100   200 300 400  500  1000 1500

6      90   180 270 360  450   900 1350

7      80   160 240 320  400   800 1200

8      75   150 225 300  375   750 1125 1500

9      70   140 210 280  350   700 1050 1400

10          130 195 260  325   650  975 1300 1625

11              180 240  300   600  900 1200 1500

12                  224  280   560  840 1128 1400 1680

13                  208  260   520  780 1040 1300 1560

14                       240   480  720  960 1200 1440 1920

15                             450  675  900 1125 1350 1800

16                             420  630  840 1050 1260 1680 2100

17                                  585  780  975 1170 1560 1950

18                                       720  900 1080 1440 1800 2160

19                                            825  990 1320 1650 1980

20                                                 900 1280 1500 1800 2100

       lb             Inside Outside  ing    ing

2.2     64      141     130     *

4.4     53      233     211     *

5.0     50      250     225     *

5.5     49      269     242     *

6       48      288     258     *

6.5     47      305     273     *

7.0     46      322     287     *

7.5     45      337     300     *

8.0     44      352     312     432

9.0     43      387     342     477

10.0    42      420     370     520

11.0    41      451     396     561

12.0    40      480     420     600

13.5    39      526     459     661

15.0    38      570     495     720             795

16.5    37      610     528     775             858

18.0    36      648     558     828             918

20.0    35      700     600     900     990     1000

22.0    34      748     638     968     1065    1078

25.0    33      825     700     1075    1182    1200

28.5    32      912     770     1197    1317    1380

30.0    31      930

32.0    31      992     832     1312    1443    1472

36.0    30      1080    900     1440    1584    1620

40.0    29      1160    1000    1560    1716    1760

44.0    28      1232    1100    1672    1839    1892

50.0    27      1350    1250    1850    2035    2100

57.0    26      1482    *       2052    2257    2337

66.0    25      1650    *       2310    2541    2640

88.0    24      2112    *       2992    3291    3432

118.0   24      2832    *       3894    4283    4602

150.0   24      3600    *       4800    5280    5850

* dogs under 8 lbs should not be "outside" dogs, and dogs weighing

  more than 50 lbs should not be exclusively "inside" dogs.

Concentration of theobromine varies with the formulation of the chocolate

• Milk chocolate has 44mg/oz (154mg/100gm)
• Semisweet chocolate has 150 mg/oz (528mg/100gm)
• Baking chocolate 390mg/oz (1365 mg/100gm)

As always, consult with your vet as much as possible.  Do not be foolish and put your dogs life at risk.  When in doubt, consult with your vet or a certified breeder who knows that they are doing.

Toxic amounts of chocolate

Dog's         Amount of         Amount of         Approx. Mg.

Weight        Milk Choc       Unsweet. Choc       Theobromine

 5 lb.          4 oz.             .5  oz.              200

10 lbs.         8 oz.            1.0  oz.              400

20 lbs.         1 lb.            2.5  oz.              900

30 lbs.         2 lbs.           3.25 oz.             1300

40 lbs.         2.5 lbs.         4.5  oz.             1800

50 lbs.         3 lbs.           5.5  oz.             2250

60 lbs.         4 lbs.           7.0  oz.             2700

70 lbs.         5 lbs.           8.5  oz.             3400

in metrics:

Dog's         Amount of         Amount of         Approx. Mg.

Weight        Milk Choc       Unsweet. Choc       Theobromine

 2.2 kg.       113.4 g.          14.1 g.               200

 4.5 kg.       226.8 g.          28.3 g.               400

 9.0 kg.       453.6 g.          70.8 g.               900

13.6 kg.       907.2 g.          92.1 g.              1300

18.0 kg.       1.134 kg.        127.5 g.              1800

22.6 kg.       1.360 kg.        156.0 g.              2250

27.2 kg.       1.814 kg.        198.4 g.              2700

31.7 kg.       2.268 kg.        240.9 g.              3400

This is just a basic chart on how much you should feed your pitbull puppy.  As always do the proper research and consult with your vet before taking on a new feeding schedule for your dog:

Product Description

Here are a few examples of homemade diets for dogs, adapted from Liz Palika’s book “The consumers guide to dog food” as well as other sources.

homemade diet

• 1 lb ground meat, browned and drained of fat
• 1 potato, cooked and mashed
• 2 c cooked whole grain brown rice
• 1/2 c cooked oatmeal
• 1/2 c cooked barley
• 1/2 c grated raw carrots
• 1/c c grated raw green veggies (broccoli, green beans..)
• 2 T olive oil
• 2 T minced garlic

homemade performance diet

• 1 lb ground meat, browned but not drained
• 4 hard boiled eggs
• 2 c cooked whole grain brown rice
• 1 c cooked oatmeal
• 1 potato, cooked and chopped
• 1/4 c wheat germ
• 1/2 grated raw carrots
• 1/2 grated raw green veggies
• 3 T olive oil
• 2 T minced garlic
• optional, when serving: cottage cheese, yogurt, vitamins, herbal supplements

vegetarian diet

Ok, I must admit I have no idea why people would try to feed a carnivore a vegan diet, but some people want to.

• 3 c cooked whole grain brown rice
• 2 c cooked oatmeal
• 2 c cooked barley
• 2 hard boiled eggs
• 1/2 c grated raw carrot
• 1/2 c grated green veggies
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 T minced garlic