DOG DIET

A good basic diet for dogs should be composed of 50% grains, which should ideally be boiled or steamed. This more closely matches semi-digested grains in the stomachs of the animals that dogs consume in the wild, which is an important part of their diet. The staple grain is usually brown rice, but other organic wholegrains such as oatmeal, barley, millet, corn or amaranth can also be added for variety. Vegetables should make up about 25% of the complete cooked diet and I also recommend boiling or steaming these lightly, then chopping them finely depending on the preference of the individual pet. Some larger dogs love their vegetables whole or raw and this is fine, while some smaller breeds may enjoy them made into more of a puree in a food processor. It is also fine to finely grate raw vegetables such as carrots or zucchini. Virtually all vegetables are acceptable, although favorites include carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, yellow squash, zucchini and Brussels sprouts.

The protein content should be also about 25% although some people prefer to feed higher, especially to young, active, working animals, pregnant females, and growing puppies. If the meat is organic and fresh it can be safely fed raw, which is the ideal. A healthy dog should have enough acid in the stomach to safely kill pathogenic bacteria. If the source of the meat is suspect it may be lightly steamed or boiled, and you may do this if you are nervous about feeding your dog raw meat, or if your dog is older or sick and tolerates lightly cooked meat better. I would not recommend feeding raw pork, because of parasites, and anyhow prefer beef, chicken turkey or rabbit as a protein source. Organ meats such as heart, liver or kidney can also be fed once or twice a week. Liver is very nutritious and large quantities are not required, or recommended because of the high levels of vitamin A but a small amount once or twice a week is a good addition to the diet. A large raw organic beef leg bone fed once a week is an excellent dietary addition and keeps your dogs teeth free of plaque and gum disease.

An occasional egg is also acceptable, and these can be fed raw or cooked, although some people prefer to remove the egg white when feeding them raw because this contains an enzyme which can denature biotin, an important B vitamin in the body. Personally I feed my dogs an occasional raw egg, just as they might scavenge in the wild, and have seen no problems from this, and they love it. Fish is also acceptable and this is also something that dogs, and other wild carnivores would eat in the wild if they had the opportunity to do so. The best way to measure the diet is to make mix 2 measures (such as a cup) of grains with one measure of vegetables and one measure of meat. It is also essential to add vitamins and minerals to the diet. A useful mixture, which was formulated by Dr. Pitcairn is given below:

2 cups of nutritional yeast with 1 to 1 1/2 cups of bonemeal and 1/2 cup of kelp powder. Mix together and add to the diet daily. See chart below for quantities. In addition mix separately 1 1/2 cups of olive oil, or safflower oil with 50 to 100 iu of vitamin E. I also like to add 1/4 cup of flaxseed oil, which is good for the coat.

up to 15 lb dog - 2 tsp of powder and 1 tsp oil mix daily
15 to 30 lb dog - 4 tsp of powder and 2 tsp oil mix daily
30 to 50 lb dog - 2 tbs of powder and 1 tbs oil mix daily
over 80 lb dog - 1/4 cup powder and 2 tbs oil mix daily (tsp = teaspoon, tbs =tablespoon)

Taken from http://www.petsynergy.com/diet.html

Yups, to me brown rice is good... better than white rice actually. I feed my dogs brown rice too!