This and that..

****Please send your photos to service@luckydogbiscuits.com and put "photo contest"in the subject. Winners will be announced weekly starting JUNE 4th.**** Check out the nominees so far in the "Lucky Nominees" photo album. GOOD LUCK!

Good Morning! We've gathered some Lucky Dog Blog reader's questions over the last few days and here are our answers...

Tomatoes - Should or should you not add tomatoes to your dog's diet?

Tomatoes, along with peppers, eggplant and white potatoes belong to a family of vegetables called the Nightshade vegetables. While there isn't scientific proof, there are anecdotal reports which suggests that nightshade vegetables can aggravate arthritic conditions in humans. If you have a severely arthritic dog, you could avoid these ingredients in their food, whether made at home or purchased, and see if her condition improves. For the average, healthy dog however, tomatoes pack a scientifically proven healthy punch.

Tomatoes contain an antioxidant called Lycopene from the family of carotenoids. The studies to determine lycopene's efficacy in humans were taken from studies actually performed on dogs. Studies showed that lycopene fought free radicals in dogs which could help reduce the incidence of cancer. So we say add the tomatoes! In fact, lycopene is one of the few antioxidants that becomes more available with more processing so tomato paste has more available lycopene than raw tomatoes.

Calcium and adding Eggs and Eggshells to supplement your dogs diet

Calcium is very important to your dogs diet. It is one required nutrient your dog can't manufacture on his own and it's required for healthy bones and teeth not to mention muscle movement, just like us. If you are making a home made dog food eggshells are an excellent way to get calcium into your dog's diet. If your dog is eating kibble, your dog is getting all of the calcium he needs. If you want to supplement your dog's food with more protein and want to add eggs, you wouldn't add the egg AND the shell in this case. For instance, if you're feeding half a pound of kibble/dry dog food a day, you wouldn't add any additional calcium. If you add 3 eggs to your dogs meal, eggs weigh approximately 2 ounces each if you feed the large size. 3 large eggs weigh 6 ounces which is just shy of half a pound. Dogs require 800mg to 1000mg of calcium per pound of food and each eggshell provides 2000mg of calcium so in this case, you'd only want to feed a quarter of an eggshell. Eggs are an excellent source of additional protein and fat and are a great way to supplement kibble, however, you can likely leave the eggshells out unless your adding a lot of eggs.

Eating Grass

Dogs eat grass for two reasons. Either they enjoy it or they need it make themselves vomit. It's interesting that grass is consumed for either of these reasons but its true. If your dog is eating grass because she enjoys it, she will likely be picky about the grass she eats. Both Ruben and Calvin enjoy grass and feed from very particular patches of grass in the backyard next to the garden. If your dog were eating grass to vomit, she would not be so picky and likely eat whatever she could find.

Lyme Disease Vaccinations

Vaccinations are tricky. There are definitely some vaccinations like the ones your dog gets as a puppy that can prevent your dog from becoming fatally ill from viruses like parvo and distemper and there others which can be administered as frequently as annually that don't seem as beneficial.

Lyme disease vaccinations are not required nor suggested by all veterinary colleges.If you do choose to vaccinate against Lyme disease, vaccinations are not long lasting and need to be repeated often and all vaccines carry a risk when administered. Speak with your veterinarian as to whether they believe your dog is at risk of developing clinical signs of the disease.

June 4th is quickly approaching! Thank you so much for all of your fabulous pictures of your dogs, we're super excited to the the Lucky Dog of the Week contest underway starting next week!

Have a great day!

Bonnie

Comments

[kat]

Just wanted you to know how much I appreciate your site! Can't wait to order some of your biscuits for my two labs. {who are unbelievably picky!}

Thanks for using my KotyBoot's photo above for the Lucky Dog Contest. Naturally, I think she + Montana are adorable :)

[Kal Barteski]

Can I eat your biscuits?? I will admit to being tempted because they SMELL SO GOOD... are they safe for people?

[diet suppliments]

Nice post,good summary.I think we need diet plan to keep our body fit and healthier.Take the food in small,but more frequently.Do the exercises regularly,keep the muscles strong.