FEEDING YOUR CHESAPEAKE BAY RETRIEVER

Have you looked at the ingredients in “premium” pet foods lately? It may shock you...

• By-products - often includes tissue from dead, diseased, disabled & dying animals; hooves, hair, hide, beaks, feet, feathers, urine & fecal wastes.*
• BHA/BHT - can cause allergic reactions, fetal abnormalities and abnormal behavior; affects kidney and liver function. BHT is prohibited in England, Sweden and Austria.*
• Ethoxyquin - (santoquin) - anti-oxidant and herbicide which has been found to cause liver tumors and accelerate some forms of cancer.*
• Artificial colors - coal tar derivatives & possible carcinogens; increases sensitivities to fatal viruses and can cause mutations.*
• Artificial flavors - The same substances that have caused hyperactivity in children.*
  
• Sugar - (sucrose, dextrose, corn syrup, etc.) - interferes with the ability to digest protein, calcium and other minerals; inhibits growth of beneficial intestinal bacteria; can stimulate production of fat (outside its calorie content).*
• Sodium nitrate - produces nitrosamines (powerful cancer causing agents); known to have caused deaths; induced sever arthritic symptoms; mutagenic, teratogenic and toxic; linked to abnormalities of the immune system.*

These are but a few of the harmful additives used commonly in pet foods. Begin reading labels & checking those ingredient lists. Remember, ingredients must be listed in order of descending predominance; the first ingredient is the primary one, the second listed is next, and so on.

These products plus the supplements below, are available through mail order
Holistic Pet Center or 1(800)788-PETS.

Please read those labels and be aware of more than advertising hype.

Many companies are jumping on the health food band wagon with foods no better than the average grocery store variety .

Feel free to call us at any time for advice on foods, or whatever. We want your Chessie to have a long and vital life.

• Vegetables and Fruits Chessies usually  love fresh produce,  and puppyhood is the perfect time  to introduce them;  give your  pup a raw carrot for a  chew toy,  or try a broccoli stalk. Give fruits in small amounts so as not to cause diarrhea, but by all means, offer an occasional apple wedge or such. If veggies are added to the diet (vs. being used as a ‘chewie'), they will offer more nutritive value if they are cooked lightly. Berries, melons, apples, banana, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, oranges, squash, sweet potato, green beans, zucchini, garlic are often enjoyed by my crew.
• Grains cooked , whole grains (or rolled grains soaked overnight); oatmeal, brown rice, millet, barley, wild rice, etc.
• Dairy products use these very sparingly,  and take note  of any intolerance's  your dog may have (diarrhea).    Usually goat milk products and  cultured products are digested more easily (yogurt, cottage cheese).
• Meats can be used very sparingly;  as previously noted,  we feel  Chesapeakes do well when supplemented  with fish  (cooked)  i.e.  salmon, sardines, mackerel; keep muscle  meats to  a minimum, and offer occasional organ meats.
• Oils Flax seed and Safflower, 1 to 1 1/2 TBS. can be added over food daily.
• Fresh Raw Foods fruits, nuts, veggies, raw meat 2-4 times per week 1 teaspoon-1/4 cup depending on what each animal will tolerate.

  Chessies usually love fresh produce.

AGE
First four months
Five to eighteen months (gradually increasing)
Adult maintenance
Working

• Green Foods Cereal Grass, Seaweed and Algae are excellent organic sources for  micronutrients. These  products are a series of blue-green algae or land grasses, which provide micro-nutrients often missing in all foods. As they are from a food source the body can use them and what is not needed is excreted, unlike mined minerals such as oxides.
• Vitamin C For our recommended dosages please review the information above.
• MSM Nutritional sulfur - 1/8 - 1/2 teaspoon daily according to weight.