Sardines for dogs...

Our five Yorkies go mad for any tinned fish (even ones in tomato sauce). But, as other posters have said, don't overdo it, once a month is sufficient as it can "disagree" with their stomachs and you are left with some major poo clean-up!

What's the point in adding supplements like sardines or salmon oil to your dogs feed? Is it for a treat or to make the food more appetising or to improve dogs coat?

Its just I give my dogs Burns and I sent them an email asking should I add salmon oil or similar to the food. The response I got is below.

"Dear Paul,

Thank you for your recent e-mail enquiry.

If you are feeding the Burns diets then there should be no need to add any
extra oil to the diet.

We believe if a dog has a dull coat or a coat in poor condition it is a sign
of waste toxin build-up. This indicates the diet is exceeding the dogs needs
in some way which can be a number of reasons such as;
- too much food
- the diet is too high in protein & fat for the dogs needs
- too many treats or tit-bits are fed with the Burns diet
- there is an ingredient within the food which is not suiting the dog or the
dog is finding it hard to digest.

As long as you are reducing your dogs daily intake of Burns to compensate
for the Kelties given this should be fine.

Kind regards
Rebecca"

PS Kelties are Burns dog biscuits.

iguana wrote: »

Would you be happy spending your entire life eating a perfectly nutritionally balanced composite? My dogs enjoy their dog food but that enjoyment compares nowhere near to how much they adore their fish/chicken/meat. The pleasure derived from eating is nearly as important as the nutrition.

I suppose it depends on what dry kibble you are feeding. I think with some foods you can get away with supplementing your food. But if you have a complete food which has all the necessary nutrients are you messing up the balance which your dog gets from a complete food? Anytime I have been in touch with Burns they have told me not to add anything extra. Recently I was thinking of adding some tinned dog food (for a change) to the Burns kibble but I was told not too. Also I was thinking of adding salmon oil - Burns told me not too.

My dogs are doing really well on Burns kibble on its own so I decided not to add anything extra.

I think Burns is one of those foods that you have to be careful with. For example, my Mum has a Bichon. He is on Burns and really enjoys it. Recently he started having blood in his stools. After contacting Burns we figured out we were overfeeding him by about 10-20g (he only weighs 6kg). So I just get the impression that the nutritional content/balance in Burns is such that you can't add anything to it. Maybe that is why its only sold through vets?

All I am saying is if you want to add sardines and the like - fine - and yeah your dog will love it. But there any other complete foods out there like Burns which probably wouldn't be a good idea to add anything extra to them. For example Orijen has a high protein content - would Orijen advise you to add something extra to the food aswell? Your dog would like the extras - sardines, chicken, etc. - but Orijen is packed with protein so why add more? Would it mess up the nutritional balance?

mymo wrote: »

Burns is not only sold through vets, I know several pet shops and animal supplies places selling it. I tried it myself with my two dogs and it didn't agree with them, one had dry skin on it the other upset stomach. They also will tell you not to mix anything into it as you would be buying less of their food. Its what any business would say.
Mixing in a little fish, or giving raw treats occasionally is fine, so long as you substitute it for an equal amount of the dry food.
Pretty much all the dry food on the market is complete food, but its down to us each as owners to decide how and what we feed.

As for the blood in the stools, I would be worried by that, no food should cause that.

Most foods say they are a complete food. I can go into my local pet store and get a 15kg bag of food for a low price - its suppose to be complete! I suppose foods at that price need to be supplemented because nutritionally they are lacking IMO. But the better quality foods (and more expensive foods) don't need to be supplemented IMO.

I agree there is nothing wrong with giving sardines to your dog as a treat now and again - as you said just re-adjust the feeding amounts. Its just I feel if you give your dog the right dry kibble from the start then there shouldn't be a need to continually supplement it. I am sure there are alot of people adding sardines/salmon oil to their dogs food to improve the condition of the dogs coat - surely though you get this from your food if you have the right one?

PS I forgot you can get Burns from ZooPlus and other online sites. I get mine from a Vet/Farm shop - cheaper than the local vets. Didn't think you could get it in pet stores in Ireland - no pet stores are listed as suppliers on Burns Ireland website. Burns was developed by a Vet if that makes a difference!

PPS " they tell you not to mix anything into it as you would be buying less of their food" - not sure about that statement. If I was going to add Salmon Oil, that wouldn't mean I would buy less of Burns?

iguana wrote: »

Would you be happy spending your entire life eating a perfectly nutritionally balanced composite? My dogs enjoy their dog food but that enjoyment compares nowhere near to how much they adore their fish/chicken/meat. The pleasure derived from eating is nearly as important as the nutrition.

I have to agree with you, Iguana. I couldn't eat the same food day after day and I don't see why dogs should do so either. My lot get plain dry food for breakfast (with a tin of sardines divided between them once a week) but for dinner they always get any leftovers from our meal - bits of fat, chicken skin, leftover potatoes, remains of a stew, etc - mixed in with their own dinners (the amount of dog food they get is reduced in accordance with how much of the remains is mixed in). If we're having salads (in one of my periodic attempts to lose weight) I make up gravy to put on their dry food for dinner. They love it.