# To veg or not to veg, that is the question....



## Rhena (Jan 30, 2009)

Do you give your dogs veggie meals?

If so, what do you give them? Why? How often?

If not, why not?

(There's so much back and forth on this out there, just wondering what folks on the forum are doing and what their experiences have been.)

Thanks!!


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## angelaw (Dec 14, 2001)

I do. I feel if I need veggies for vitamins, etc then so do they. I could live of meat alone, but not healthy for human so i do feed veggie mix. I get whatever I can lay my hands on fresh or frozen that's reasonable. 

This mix has squash, broccoli, raspberries, spinach, collard greens, cottage cheese, eggs, chicken livers, and I'm sure I'm missing something. I bought disposable muffin tins, about 1/2 cup portions, I spoon into muffin tins, freeze, pop out and put into a freezer bag for individual servings. I normally feed 3x a wk. 

Oh and all is put thru the food processor.


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## Rhena (Jan 30, 2009)

Love the muffin tin idea!! 

Thanks for sharing...


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## natalie559 (Feb 4, 2005)

I feed potatoes and carrots. I boil them together and mash them. They get some each morning and evening. 

I started with the potatoes b/c the dogs needed more calories in their diets but couldn't tolerate any extra fat. As a plus the potatoes provide a good amount of potassium and magnesium so less worry about those nutrients.

I recently began adding in the carrots for extra antioxidants and a smidge more vitamin a that their bodies would convert of they needed it.

One thing about veggies is that they have a lot of fiber which can be good or too much of a good thing for the dog, so just start slow and back off if there are loose stools.


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## Annemarie (Feb 12, 2007)

I feed veggies with the evening meal. I figure it has to be good for them.

I mix a variety of veg, usually I microwave with water and then puree.


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## Rhena (Jan 30, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: natalie559I feed potatoes and carrots. I boil them together and mash them. They get some each morning and evening.
> 
> I started with the potatoes b/c the dogs needed more calories in their diets but couldn't tolerate any extra fat. As a plus the potatoes provide a good amount of potassium and magnesium so less worry about those nutrients.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the reminder about the fiber situation!

Do you peel your potatoes? (I feel like I've read a lot of back and forth about whether potatoes are bad for dogs.)


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## Rhena (Jan 30, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: AnnemarieI feed veggies with the evening meal. I figure it has to be good for them.
> 
> I mix a variety of veg, usually I microwave with water and then puree.


Do you ever give them to them (pureed) raw? 

Does anyone have any information on the relative merits of raw veg versus cooked veg for a pup? 

(Maybe some vegetables like pumpkin and potato HAVE to be cooked?)


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## angelaw (Dec 14, 2001)

potatoes/tomatoes are only bad if your dog suffers from arthritis. 

as well as: 
* potatoes (not sweet potatoes)
* tomatoes
* eggplant
* sweet and hot peppers (including paprika, cayenne pepper and Tabasco sauce)
* ground cherries
* tomatillos and tamarillos
* garden huckleberry and naranjillas
* pepinos and pimentos

all can aggravate arthritis. If you dog doesn't have it, then why not. I give potato skins regularly, but not to duchess or oxana.

I do raw veggies, I don't precook, but they have gotten cooked leftovers from my meals.


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## Rhena (Jan 30, 2009)

Great info, Angela! (I'm going to have to keep that list in case Juno runs into problems as she ages...)


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## natalie559 (Feb 4, 2005)

> Originally Posted By: RhenaDo you peel your potatoes?


I do. The peels provide a lot of fiber. If your dog tolerates them it is fine to leave it on. I honestly don't know if my dogs would, I have always just peeled them. I do not peel the carrots though.

Raw vs cooked veggies: The cell wall of the veggies needs to be broken in order for the dog to be able to digest and use them. You can do this by pureeing or cooking and I think freezing does it to. You can look at USDA database to see if the veggie would be more nutritious raw or cooked

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/


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## Rhena (Jan 30, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: natalie559
> 
> 
> > Originally Posted By: RhenaDo you peel your potatoes?
> ...


Thanks for the help!


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## JerzeyGSD (Jun 26, 2008)

Great thread! I didn't realize that so many people fed veggies! I've given Jerzey some frozen peas, but haven't made it a habit... although, it seems as though I should.










I didn't realize that dogs could eat potatoes... I have a ton I haven't gone through and need to use them... I guess I'll just cook um up and give some to Jerz.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

When I eat sweet potatoes I give the extra and skins to the dogs. That is it.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Ok, so I have been dabbling in RAW feeding. 

My dogs like the chicken leg quarters a lot. But I feel that they need some other stuff. Once or twice a week substituting a leg for a morning or evening meal is ok, but if I want to do this more often than I have to feed some other stuff. 

So I got out the oatmeal and added apples, sweet potato (peeled), carrots, pumpkin, and gave them this with their leg. Most of them ate it just fine. 

Normally, when I feed them left overs, chicken, people food of any kind, I have no problems with poo. The exeption is sweet potatoes. 

There is no better way to explain it, I call it sweet-potato-poo. The poo is spattered with little chunks of sweet potato. For some reason my dogs are just not digesting the sweet potatoes. So I have decided to leave them out of my future concoctions. In fact, for now, I am going to just supplement with raw chicken, meat and bone. 

I am pleased with the results. Tori has gained two pounds, Whitney has gained five all together. Milla has gained three, and the rest are at their ideal weights.


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

> Originally Posted By: selzer
> There is no better way to explain it, I call it sweet-potato-poo. The poo is spattered with little chunks of sweet potato. For some reason my dogs are just not digesting the sweet potatoes.


Are you cooking the sweet potatoes until they are mush?

I feed a pureed fruit and veggie mush every day and during the summer my dogs help themselves to the pears, raspberries, and strawberries that grow in my yard.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

> Originally Posted By: RhenaDo you give your dogs veggie meals?
> 
> If so, what do you give them? Why? How often?
> 
> ...


I did when I first went raw years ago. Now it's been over 6 years since I gave them any veggies.

I DO give them green tripe a couple times a week as I see that being more of what they would naturally get in the way of plant matter.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Forgot to add ...

It comes down to a personal choice. I see no harm in feeding veggies as long as they do not make up more than 5-10% of the dogs daily diet.


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## Rhena (Jan 30, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: Elaine
> 
> 
> > Originally Posted By: selzer
> ...


Geez... color me jealous... your dogs have a better selection of fresh fruits than I do!! I'm hoping to get raspberry bushes at some point.... but it's the pears I'm particularly envious of!

Do you worry at all about the sugar intake with all the fruit? (Juno LOVES fruit, so I'd like to give it to her more often, but I'm not sure about the whole sugar issue.... sounds like your dogs don't have a problem with it....)


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

The pears are Bartlett too and are they ever good, at least when the dogs leave me some. They eat every single one that hits the ground and pick off all the pears that they can jump up and yank off the tree. 

You should see them grazing through the raspberry patch. All you can see are the tongues coming up through the leaves checking each berry for ripeness as they will only eat the ripe ones. Again, I don't get to eat very many as they eat almost all of them and it's a big patch.

I gave up planting tomatoes as they ate all of them off the plant, but I'm thinking about trying it again this year.

The fruit and veggie mush that I give them is more veg than fruit and I don't worry about the sugar content as I don't give them very much on a daily basis.


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