[Kratty]

• What is the daily menu for your Doberman’s diet? (Kibble, wet food, raw, home cooking, etc) and what made you decide to feed this way? Have you fed any other foods prior to your current menu?
• How many times a day do you feed them and how much?
• Do you give treats? If so, what kind? How many/often do they get treats each day?
• Do you add any supplements to your Doberman’s diet? If so, which ones do you give? What made you decide to add supplements?
• If you feed a super-premium dog food, what made you decide to switch to it? Where did you learn about the super-premium dog food? (word of mouth, internet, friends, vet, etc)

 

[Gracie's_Mom]

Gracie gets kibble
She gets fed twice a day 2 cups in the morning and 2 cups at night
She gets a few treats through out the day, table scraps or other dog treats
No supplements
I feed Nurtro or Canidae, I was told by the rescue to feed one of the two.

 

[Ann]

I feed Bil-jac dry kibble because I know somebody that sells it in my area.And when I got my dobe it was considered a very good food. not so much anymore. I also feed the healthy powder out of Dr. Pitcairn's Natural health for Dog's & Cats. And I've had very good lluck with It. Oh, I also give a oil supplement from my vet. I give biljasc treats a couple times a day. no special time. And I feed once a day.

 

[TracyJo]

I feed Nutro Natural Lamb and Rice and supplement with RAW a couple days a week. They also get table scraps sometimes (their dinner tonight was left over baken chicken and mashed potatoes, gravy and steamed carrots).
Chi gets a 1 1/2 cups kibble morning and evening (but I either don't give her any kibble in the evening if she's getting a "people dinner" or at all on days she gets RAW).
I give her glucosamine supplements and fish oil capsules, also a tablespoon of organic apple vinegar (great for the coat). During flea season she gets garlic supplements.
She gets a lot of treats throughout the day. Mostly all beef hotdog sliced or home-made dried liver treats and these gross little dried fish thinys that you can get here...

 

[Molari]

GKar gets home cooked food, Ground chuck, brown rice and peas and carrots or green beans. I feed him twice a day about 1.5 to 2 cups each time. I also use the Healthy Powder. Treats, pig ears, milk bones and the last bite of anything I am eating.

 

[Kratty]

• What is the daily menu for your Doberman’s diet? (Kibble, wet food, raw, home cooking, etc) and what made you decide to feed this way? Have you fed any other foods prior to your current menu?

We feed our girl a combination of kibble and home cooking. For her breakfast, she gets kibble (currently Canidae), one hard boiled egg, Boiled chicken, raw veggies (usually some cucumbers) and a dab of Ricotta cheese. For Dinner, she gets Kibble, boiled chicken, carrots and green beans. I add additional stuff for additional protien and fats, and for crunchy textures. I have tried out numerous kibble before turning to Canidae. I used Nutro, but it cause some awful gas issues, plus I think I read somewhere its copper or chromium content was awfully high. I tried Eagle Pack, which stopped the gas issue and really shined up her coat, but she never gained any weight while on it. She was still under a year old and I thought she should have gained some weight in that stage. I switched to Solid Gold's Wolfking when she had an allergy problem while on Eagle Pack, which cleared up, but can not confir, it was cause by Eagle Pack. WolkKing brought back the gas issue and she did not seem to be really digesting the food, which resulted in alot more poop.

• How many times a day do you feed them and how much?

She gets two meals a day, one morning and one evening. She consumes 4 cups of kibble a day, and the other stuff might equal another cup in quantity. My girl is pretty active so I am always watching to make sure she is not burning more calories than she is intaking.

• Do you give treats? If so, what kind? How many/often do they get treats each day?

She gets treats mostly one time at night. We give her either a pig's ear, bully sticks or dog biscuit. She also gets a few beggan strips also....

• Do you add any supplements to your Doberman’s diet? If so, which ones do you give? What made you decide to add supplements?

We supplement with NUPRO with Glucosamine complex. Since my girl likes to get lots of air while playing frisbee, I wanted to make sure her joints are more protected, plus it contains 16 vitamins, 15 minerals, 23 amino acids, 9 enzymes and fatty acids with MSM and Ester C

• If you feed a super-premium dog food, what made you decide to switch to it? Where did you learn about the super-premium dog food? (word of mouth, internet, friends, vet, etc)

I currently feed Canidae, which is considered a Super Premium brand. She's been on it almost two weeks now. Her coat is still shiny, no smelly gas, highly digestible, less poop and I am feeding less than the other brands I used. I have found out about these from another forum I belong to that recommends this. I have tried out other ones and I have found pros and cons about each one.

 

[Lexus]

Lexus eats entirely RAW. From raw chicken, ground beef, turkey, lamb (just a little now and then) deer, etc.... Typically in the AM she will have about 1 - 1 1/4 pounds of ground beef with an egg and a frozen blend of raw veggies, bananas, liver, apples, and little garlic (preblended and frozen in ice cube trays) usually one to two "cubes". Then in the evening she generally gets her bone meal, a stripped chicken back, or turkey thigh and leg, etc, all with bones. Also liver, heart, and gizzards are added as her suppy of organ meat.

She eats twice a day.

She gets treats periodically, during a working session she usually gets any left over meat, hot dogs, bologna, cut up really small, whatever is tasty and available. We have a variety of doggie treats from dry biscuits to beggin strips they get a few times a day for being irresistibly cute! In addition every two or three days she gets a recreational bone, like a knuckle bone, also raw, to enjoy.

The only supplements she gets are the added veggies. As of this time, she isn't in need of anything else.

I feed totally raw on the recommendation of those more experienced than myself on canine nutrition. After extensive research on my own, I truly believe it is the best that can be done for my dogs. My dog was a little over a year old and already developing tartar. After just a short time on RAW, tartar and bad breath gone, gas is gone, teeny tiny stools. Lexus had a VERY dry coat and dandruff all the time, she scratched and licked at her dry skin. Since RAW I have yet to see a spot of dandruff, and she has quit scratching, even though she spends the majority of her time now in front of the heater! Still no dry skin, and a dramatically shiner and softer coat with less shedding. There have been nothing but positives for me.

Edited to add - thanks dobe paws, I forgot to add the organ meat on this list list till I read your post ;-)

 

[LapDog]

We feed Duchess 3 times a day...6am, noon, and 5pm...She gets about 1 cup of dry Canidae food...then we mix in a 1/4 cup of wet food...she loves it we mix up the kinds...and flavors..but the canned food is always something like Petpromise...or I can't remember the other names...but there is a Natural Pet Market right by us. Then since it is kinda pasty with dry food and the wet food only ..so we add a tiny bit of water and stir! She loooooves it.
Sometimes we give her yogurt, apples without the peels, bananas, Bach CHoy(sp) as a little treat...

 

[2dobies]

Dar developed a corn allergy at an early age, so I feed Darmok and Sasha a mix of dry kibble (lamb & rice) with a good canned chunky meat & gravy dog food at 6 am. I only use enough canned to mix for a moist consistancy. Actually, I divide one can up between 2 dobes and 3 little dogs on their dry food each morning, so nobody gets a LOT of wet food. They each get 1 1/2 cups each feeding. Feeding time is again at 8 pm, and it's dry kibble only. They get random treats such as pig ears, Bil-jac liver treats, or most of the time I have small cuts of boiled beef liver in the 'fridge that I cook w/ a little touch of garlic powder. (That's their "good girl" treats, mostly.) I sometimes make my own dog biscuits every couple of months, and thet get peanut butter inside their Kong toys if they are bored.

 

[Dobe_Paws]

Ava eats an all raw diet. Her actual diet varies from day to day, week to week but includes chicken, turkey, beef, quail, duck, pork, lamb, buffalo, tripe ect. Her diet consists of raw meaty bones(turkey necks, chicken frames, to name a couple), muscle meat and organs. She gets an egg 1-2 times a week in her meals and occasionally I'll mix in some pureed veggies with her meals, usually things that I have extras of.

I started feeding this way because I felt that commercial diets weren't the best thing I could provide for her. I originally started out by researching home cooked diets and that's when I was 'reintroduced' to raw. After reading up enough on the subject and talking with many people who have successfully fed raw for years, I decided that the diet would be best for her.

Pre-raw feeding, Ava ate Wellness and then I switched her to Chicken Soup because it was more economical.

Ava eats twice a day and fasts once a week. She eats approx. 2.5-3 pounds a day.

Usually the only treats she gets are when we're training and I use the Nature's Balance rolls, cut into small pieces. I do admit to giving her Blue Dog Bakery cookies a couple times a week, only because she adores their molasses flavored biscuits...

As far as supplements go, she gets fish oil capsules daily and several times a week I give her powdered kelp and alfalfa mixed in with her meals. She doesn't like the taste of the latter two but they've helped quite a bit to thicken up her thin coat.

 

[hotpursuit]

wow, the raw thing has me interested.... at what age is raw good to start? any good info on the web to research this... thanks

 

[frznbuns]

]• What is the daily menu for your Doberman’s diet? (Kibble, wet food, raw, home cooking, etc) and what made you decide to feed this way? Have you fed any other foods prior to your current menu?
My dogs eat chicken soup dog food.. I was feeding them Nurto and was very happy with it but the chicken soup seems to be a better food and all the dogs really like it. they also get 1lb of cooked vegs in their food each meal. They also get some raw feeding also but not much..

• How many times a day do you feed them and how much?
they are feeded 3 times a day -1 cup per meal.
• Do you give treats? If so, what kind? How many/often do they get treats each day? They do not get a lot of treats as all could stand to lose a little weight but when they do get treat.. I make their dog cookies plus they get pig or cow ears. bull sticks,hooves,
• Do you add any supplements to your Doberman’s diet? If so, which ones do you give? What made you decide to add supplements?
I have my dogs on "Storm's regimen for supplements" we started givin them when we got Iris because her coat was so bad and in only a couple of weeks we started seeing a lot of improvement.
They take about 10 different vitamins a day plus they get brewers yeast and garlic in their food everyday.
• If you feed a super-premium dog food, what made you decide to switch to it? Where did you learn about the super-premium dog food? (word of mouth, internet, friends, vet, etc

I switch to Chicken soup just about a month ago after reading a lot about it from other forums We have been very happy with the results.

 

[TracyJo]

Hotpursuit,

There is debate on feeding very young pups RAW. Although many have had great success with it, others suggest that it is simply too difficult to monitor, measure and adjust the complex RAW diet to the ever changing needs of a growing pup. Here is a link to DoberKims RAW feeding FAQ http://www.dobermantalk.com/showthread.php?t=235
Hopefully it will answer your questions.
I started supplementing Chi with RAW when she was about 3 months old and have had no problem but like I said, I only supplement.

 

[Dobe_Paws]

Hi Hotpursuit, like Tracy mentioned you'd want to know what you're doing when your feeding a puppy(well you want to know what your doing when you feed any dog but a pup's needs are a bit different ) but many people have successfully raised pups on a raw diet and I've talked with two breeders who have been feeding strictly raw to their dogs for almost 20 years.

If you're still interested, I can send you the links to a few really good raw groups along with some links to websites I have stored away.

 

[hotpursuit]

i am intersted in investigating it and determining if it is something i may consider, the more knowledge the better, so yes if you would please send my some links it would be greatly appreciated

 

[Lexus]

I've heard (and it makes sense to me) that in feeding young ones raw, it proportions their growth rate better than kibble does, especially in large breeds like ours. The key is to feed a very balanced diet.

 

[CoAl-s-Mom]

Cole eats Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance. About 2 c morn and even. He gets Berry Balance to help prevent UTI's instead of having to eat the crappy RX diets for it. He also gets 3V caps in the winter to help with dry skin.
I give him 2 Old MOther Hubbard bones anytime I leave the house.
He eats table scaps, fresh fruits and veggies and anything my kids are eating. He has a passion for Biter Biscuits, unfortunatley so does my toddler.

 

[Murreydobe]

Both of my dogs are fed twice a day.

The adult male is given a semi-raw dehydrated food (raw veggies, lightly cooked meat) made by a company called Honest Kitchen. To that I add a variety of different raw meats and fish. Sometimes he gets premade raw beef/veggie patties instead of the HK food.

The puppy (7 months) is on kibble (California Natural) right now. She'll probably be shown in the near future, and that involves traveling with a handler, who doesn't want to deal with feeding raw. When her show career is over, she'll go onto the same diet as the male.

 

[SamHayne]

Max gets cheesy pretzels, ice cream, cookies
just kidding.

We feed him 2 1/4 cups 2 times a day of WolfKing Bison kibble.

When we have steak or chicken he gets some as well. The lady of the house also makes him vegatables a few times a week & on Saturday & Sunday he gets eggs.

He gets a bannana in the morning with the rabbits. Yeah we have 2 rabbits that he actually coexsists with, can't say the same for the outside bunnies, & they all LOVE bananna. The big boy bunny & Max like to steal the little girl bunnies bananna all the time.

Then when he is really lucky, he gets some home made concoction that gets frozen inside a Kong to keep him busy. The last one I believe had fat free peanut butter, fat free apple sauce, peaches, & strawberries.

 

[Kratty]

Thanks to Everyone who shared their feeding experiences. I think this was very educational to everyone that one way does not work for everyone.