How do you make dry dog food more interesting

[Patchyman1]

So our dog has dry dog food 3 times a day. How can I make it more interesting for him. If I add veg he picks it out! Can I add gravy? Did this once and he loved it but not sure if gravy is good for them.

Yes - they get that from walks and being outside- they are outside off lead exploring stuff for a good part of the day. They are happy, healthy dogs. Hiding food is unnecessary for them.

You can always do both. Why does it have to be one or the other?

Of course you can. I think the food thing is pointless though, but all my dogs have been calm and happy so I've never needed to make food complicated.

I add salmon oil and wet with water every feed, or if not water I make my own chicken stock and add some of that.

Then I will add any of the following -

Sprats
Sardines
Chicken
Carrots
Broccoli
Frozen peas
Blueberries
Raspberries
Apple (no peel)
Cucumber (no peel)
Egg including shell

Mine have grated cheese mostly. If there’s no cheese then one will hit the peddle on the bin to remind us to sort it out 🙈

I don’t agree that they don’t care about what they have - I grated some leftover Red Leicester from a Xmas cheese board for them and they wouldn’t touch it. Has to be extra mature cheddar (feta or Parmesan will be tolerated if needs be).

I may get some salmon oil after reading this thread though. May work out cheaper than keeping 2 dogs in cheese!

But the dogs who are fed a variety of foods in a variety of different ways are calm and happy too.

It's not something people are doing because their dogs are otherwise unhappy, it's just a nice extra way of enriching their lives a bit more for free.

I actually add kibble to their normal food along with a bit of wet dog food. Rather than the other way round. They're 13 and 14 , happy and fit with good physiques. The dog food industry is worth billions and is a very new concept in comparison to how long dogs have been around. Having said that there are some decent brands.

One meal of cooked beef with a handful of kibble and about 10% fruit and veg- carrot, cucumber, broccoli, apple, banana etc.

One meal of cooked chicken with cheese, sardines in spring water or egg, blob of plain yogurt and a small pouch of wet food.

Wet dog food, obviously. I cant imaging you would like to eat dry biscuits 3 times a day, every day. Give the poor dog something better

Ffs, really!!!!

Nobody's saying they're not fine with it - just that food is great way to provide added enrichment to your dogs' life without spending a fortune (or for free if you just use their regular food).

The dog food industry is worth billions and is a very new concept in comparison to how long dogs have been around

Exactly. The concept of feeding dogs a diet of dry biscuits in a bowl twice a day is a very modern one.

Even 40-50 years ago most dogs lived off scraps.

Ha! My dog is. We have regular stand-offs about it.

His favourite thing to jazz it up is cheese.

i have 2 labs, and much as they love their food, they do respond to some enhancement on the kibble. Current topper of choice is Bone Broth , as the older one has arthritis. I warm iIt up on cold days 😏
It’s very very low calorie, but gives them that gravy effect and smells very meaty.
They also have salmon oil for their coats and I generally alternate between these 2

My dog is obsessed with cheese. His absolutely favourite is blue cheese but unfortunately for him, that's on the same list as onions and grapes.

Grated parmesan is his treat- a little goes a long way so he's happy and I don't feel guilty for him having some.

I sometimes give mine a couple of teaspoons of grated parmesan mixed through his. He loves it.

I didn’t know that about blue cheese but I’m not keen on it but it’s always useful to know.

What about Wensleydale with apricot/cranberries? Asking for a friend ☺️

@007DoubleOSeven I had a cat once who was obsessed with blue cheese

My housemate tried to give him some basic supermarket cheddar and he turned his nose up, smacked it on the floor and walked off 🙈

I've not heard that dogs can't have it but I only found out they couldn't have blue cheese recently!

@coffeecupsandwaxmelts 🤣 cats are brilliant

Corned beef. Just a cube, via the microwave for a couple of seconds, then mixed in so all the kibble tastes of corned beef. A tin lasts about 10 days.
Also any oily cheap fish like sardines.

Sardines in olive oil every so often

I add tuna in spring water every now and then and my dog loves it
He also loves cooked carrots, parsnip and broccoli added to his dry food
My daughter adds a tiny bit of grated cheese every now and then

CSJ do something called "gravy works" for adding to dog food. You make it up with warm water and obviously it's dog safe. Very popular here!

We wave what ever dog friendly food we have in the fridge over the kibble theatrically with dog watching 😂

a little whey from yog or feta , a trickle of sardine , anchovy or tuna oil , a shake of a Parmesan pot. That sort of thing.

Human gravy is too high in salt. I used a spoonful of tinned tripe with a little water to make a sauce.

Liquid sheep's fat
Salmon oil
Raw egg and shell
Sardines
Yogurt
Coconut oil

Our 5 dogs are fed raw so not fussy.