I need to make an impression on my mother about dog nutrition. Any good resources?

Question

My mother insists on feeding the family dog horribly and she (the dog, Indy) needs help! She goes for runs and plays with my dad, which makes her happy. However, my mom doesn't earn Indy's respect and love by... say training or just petting her. She just feeds her food... massloads of random food and leftovers. She's gaining weight fast, it's wreaking havok on her joints, her coat is dull, she's deprested, has bad breath, she's just not healthy.
Anyway, every time I tell her she needs to come up with an actual "diet" we get in a big fight about how feeding "real" food is better. I'm all for the real food diet as long as she really followed a good plan, which would not happen. I'd really like to get her a good senior food and feed the required amount when needed. I know Indy would still get a lot of scraps but I would feel better if she was getting a bit of kibble. Then I would know she was getting SOME good nutrients. Any good articles I could show her, any ideas... anything?!

P.S.
Here's how Indy gets fed:
Breakfast: maybe some scrambled or hard broiled expired eggs
Lunch: a stale bread peanut-butter sandwich
Dinner: leftovers (my mom puts all the random leftovers, extra grease, etc. into a tupperware and Indy gets a scoop out of it)
All day: every time my mom walks into the kitchen Indy follows her begging and my mom "has to" feed her because she's "hungry" so she gets a snack (half a peanut-butter sandwich, some leftovers, etc.)

Sorry, I have to add more details...
I feed my personal dog Nutro Natural Choice. We love it. I was thinking of taking a bag (of senior though) to my mom so she could try it on Indy. Any other feeling on this food?

Answer 1

I reccomend visiting the site www.dognutrition.com
I had the same problem but i was the culprit so I found this website and now my dog is as healthy as ever and he lost 5kg!

Answer 2

I would recommend Hills, Iams or the higher end Purina diets. Despite what many people say, vets DO NOT get paid to carry or recommend these products, they do so because they know they have the most nutritional value to animals. Think about it, these companies have spent millions of dollars researching the needs of the everyday pet, and what is most benificial. I am STRONGLY against the raw food diets so many breeders recommend, there is too much risk involved with food borne illness, I have seen many animals die from this but never have I seen a dog get Salmonella from dog food. Would you sit down and eat a pound of raw beef or chicken? If you want to make an impact with your mom, ask your vet to give you some case studies on how obesity affects animals.

Answer 3

You are right to be concerned. People food has almost no nutritional value to a dog. They need to be fed a good quality dog food to insure better health and a longer life. I am surprised this dog doesn't have a bad upset stomach all the time and poop several times a day. Any vet will tell you that feeding like that is wrong.
You could give her Pet Tabs vitamins, that would help some.
How can she be a grown adult and think that "real" food is better for a dog than dog food? God bless you for trying to help your dog.

Answer 4

"Real" food for dogs, isn't the same as for people or cats. Believe it or not, Purina has a great research center, and they turn out an excellent product... Table scraps are just not good for a dog --- they will survive, of course, but what people need, and what dogs need are different.. Check out some websites on dog food, call a vet, even Try Purina.com for ideas.... If you ever go to a Third World country (Central America, Mexico, Africa etc., those dogs eat what the people eat, and they can even be fat, but they are not healthy...._
(been there... seen them.. make ya cry.)

Answer 5

http://www.api4animals.org/facts.php?p=359&more=1

Here's a good one on low-quality dog foods.

http://www.leerburg.com/pdf/feedingrawdiet.pdf

That one's a great article/booklet on the benefits of raw food diets, and the proper way to feed raw foods and maintain a healthy diet at the same time.

And here's a list of good quality dry foods to try: Artemis, Avoderm, Canine Caviar, Fromm, Merrick, Wellness, Wysong, Verus, Timberwolf Organics, Organix, AgarX, Chicken Soup, Innova, Eagle.

BAD foods: Science Diet (ignore the vet, they get paid to say that it's good food), Iams, Purina, Pedigree, Alpo, Kibbles N Bits, Beneful, Ceasars, etc.


And lastly, a few articles on obesity in dogs:

http://www.canismajor.com/dog/obese.html

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1660&articleid=694

Good luck! My mom and I have fought battles over this for her dogs too, but I won in the end.

Answer 6

My suggestion would be speaking with a local vet.They might be able to give you some information.Or heck,take the dog to the vet and make your mother go with you.