For doberman Owners !?

Question

I want to optimize my dogs health. No one I know has any Dobe's. Can you offer diets and fitness pointers. She just made a year last month. When she runs with me she gets tired sometimes. Its only 5 miles in the morning. I dont like taking advice from petsmart and petco becuase I think the just wanna sell me stuff. Any tips on good foods? Snacks? Coat care? I just want her to be healthy and happy and in good shape.

Not to worried about the cost of the food . Just want the best for her. I will take the advice of experianced doberman owners and get whatever she needs.

Answer 1

If you want to feed the best I truly believe raw is the best. Check out www.rawfed.com or the Rawfeeding Yahoo Group.

Innova EVO is a grain free kibble, I feed this while traveling or moving. Anything with grains is completely inappropriate for a carnivores diet.

You are right about Petsmart just wanting to sell things, I used to work there years ago. I finally left because they insisted that I promote the store brand kibble and if sales were slacking on an item we were told to make sure we talk to people about it, no matter what it was. I was feeding my dogs raw at that time as well, I didn't actively promote it only because I didn't want to push people but if I was asked I told them what they wanted to know about it, that really caused some issues, they said I wasn't helping sales so I didn't need to talk about it.

Answer 2

Dogs are dogs regardless of their breed and five miles is a long run. Could you try splitting this and doing two shorter runs? Did you know that large dogs should not be exercised either before or after they have been fed. Large dogs can get stomach torsion (Bloat) consequently there should be a rest period of about two hours before and after they are fed.

Also large dogs can get arthritis and supplements can help to prevent this. I use one which contains Devils Claw and this helps with energy etc., it's called Flexadin and you can Google it. Or just give him Devils Claw.

DON'T BUY DOG TREATS as THEY CONTAIN RUBBISH. If you want training treats buy cooked chicken for human consumption, hot dogs, cooked liver or goats cheese. All of these are MUCH cheaper than dog treats and they are much healthier.

Consider a complete diet change, the experts now say that we should omit GRAIN (including rice) beef and it's derivatives and dairy food. I know that goats cheese is dairy however it's much easier to digest. I buy my food from a company in the UK called "fish 4 dogs" it has beet pulp as fiber and I am sure that in your part of the world you will be able to buy something like this. OMIT GRAIN AND YOUR DOG WILL HAVE MUCH MORE ENERGY.

Answer 3

Find a top quality dog food like Canidae or Timber wolf organics. All the grocery store foods and the ones they have at pet super mart are not good ones.
Snacks can be carrots, blueberries, yogurt every once in a while and a good exercises program.
Depending on her age 5 miles may be a bit tough on her to start with. You should gradually get her up to that much .

I'd have her vet checked to just to make sure she is up to that long of a run!

Answer 4

Get a good food. Ones like Innova Evo, Canidae, and Orijen.

For snacks, don't feed any table scraps. Get good treats made by companies like Innova and Canidae.

For coat care, wash only once a month at the most, and brush once a week.

No supplements are needed, and make sure to go to the vet regularly.

Exercise is a must, and if they are having trouble with the five miles, cut it to about 2-3 and get them used to it.

Answer 5

No matter what kind of dog you have, stay away from the discount store feeds such as wal marts ol'roy. Use I ams, Science Diet, Diamond e.t.c. Home made recipies are a no no also! Stick with high quality feed, flea shampoo e.t.c. and it will save you in the long run!